Google Ads: Choosing the right type of campaign

In our previous blog, “Beyond Events: How Google Ads Can Elevate Your School’s Brand”, we explored the fundamentals of Google Ads and how to get started effectively. Now, let’s dive deeper into selecting the right campaign type to achieve your commercial objectives. The campaign you choose will determine where your ads appear, who sees them, and how efficiently you generate leads or sales.

When to use search vs display vs performance max

Each campaign type has a different purpose:

• Search campaigns target users actively looking for your service. They are ideal for capturing high-intent leads, such as enquiries for school marketing services, recruitment support or consultancy.
• Display campaigns focus on awareness, showing visual ads across websites, YouTube and Gmail. Use these campaigns to build brand visibility, remarket to past visitors or maintain top-of-mind awareness with potential clients.
• Performance Max campaigns leverage Google’s AI to optimise ad delivery across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail and Maps. These are effective for broad coverage but require clear conversion tracking and high-quality creative assets to perform well.

Setting budgets realistically

A realistic budget is key to success:

1. Define your goals – for example, 50 enquiries per month.
2. Estimate cost per lead (CPL) – use historical data or industry benchmarks.
3. Allocate budgets by campaign type – prioritise high-intent campaigns like Search.
4. Monitor and optimise – track performance weekly and reallocate budgets to the best-performing campaigns.
5. Consider seasonality and competition – adjust budgets during peak periods to maintain visibility.

Building industry-specific keywords

Keywords should reflect your audience and the services you offer:

• Focus on the short, practical terms people actually use, for example, “school marketing”, “teacher recruitment” or “digital advertising schools”. These are often two-word phrases rather than longer sentences.
• Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify search volume and competition.
• Group related keywords into ad groups to improve ad relevance and Quality Score.
• Apply negative keywords to remove irrelevant searches, such as “free”, “volunteer” or unrelated sectors.

Avoiding common mistakes

Be aware of common pitfalls that can reduce campaign effectiveness:

• Overusing broad match keywords – can lead to irrelevant clicks.
• Ignoring negative keywords – wastes budget on unqualified traffic.
• Not tracking conversions – makes it impossible to measure success.
• Poor landing page experience – your ad must align with the landing page content and include a clear call to action.

Want to be sure your ads are working?

If you’re running Google ads and not quite sure they’re working, you’re not alone. Many clients tell us they’re spending time and budget on campaigns but can’t always see what’s really making the difference.

That’s why we’ve introduced Digital Power Hours – one-to-one sessions with our digital marketing specialists, Patrick (Google) and Michelle (Meta).

Each Power Hour includes a focused 60-minute session packed with practical, personalised advice (write-ups or additional troubleshooting can be added separately if needed).

A Power Hour might be right for you if:

• Google Ads are eating budget with little to show for it.
• Your Facebook or Instagram ads look great but don’t generate enquiries.
• You’re unsure how to track or measure what’s really driving results.

If you are interested in finding out further details, please get in touch.

Final thoughts

Choosing the right campaign type, setting a realistic budget, and building targeted keywords are essential for Google Ads success. Avoiding common mistakes ensures your campaigns deliver the best ROI.

If you’d like expert support creating or managing your Google Ads campaigns, our team at Ambleglow can help you generate measurable results.

Get in touch with us here.