The Benefits of Using Single-Product Ad Groups for Google Shopping Campaigns
When running Google Shopping campaigns, one key decision is how to structure your product grouping—whether to use single-product ad groups (SPAGs) or multi-item ad groups (MADGs). While MADGs allow for consolidating budget across similar products, SPAGs provide more granular control and optimised performance. This guide will explore the advantages of taking the SPAG approach.
Single Products Get Single Focus
With SPAGs, each unique product has its own dedicated ad group. This gives searchers a clear, focused proposition when they encounter your ads—they know exactly what they’re clicking on.
By contrast, when multiple items are grouped together in a MADG, the displayed product may not exactly match the searcher’s intent. They might click, expecting to find one thing but land on a page with various options. This reduces relevance and wastes clicks.
The single-minded focus of SPAGs ensures your ads are always optimally tuned to convert for that specific item. Google’s algorithms can learn precise relevancy signals based entirely on how people respond to each product individually.
Better Tracking of Product Performance
Breaking items out separately also gives invaluable metrics visibility. With MADGs, you wouldn’t know which products within a group are driving sales versus just clicks.
SPAGs surface detailed performance data attributions down to the SKU level. Marketers can see the exact conversion rates and costs for each item to guide optimisation and budget allocation on a micro scale.
This granular tracking reveals your true top sellers to double down on. It exposes underperformers to potentially tweaking or removing them. And it helps maximise ROI by efficiently allocating spend where it converts best.
Room for Testing and Experiments
The fine-grained control of SPAGs opens up testing possibilities. You can A/B test different aspects like ads, bids, and target audiences for each product to find winning combinations without interference.
For instance, one item’s ads may work better in image format versus text. A different product’s landing page could be optimised by including related up-sells. Such nuanced variations are difficult to uncover with broader-grouped sets.
These controlled experiments help uncover previously unseen potentials for skyrocketing individual products’ metrics. Imagine uncovering a 2x sales lift just by testing a new headline for that best-selling SKU! SPAGs make such discoveries much easier.
Streamlined Account Structure
In terms of campaign setup and maintenance, SPAGs provide a cleaner structure that scales better as your catalogue grows.
Each individual ad group forms a logical silo, keeping your account organisation intuitive and searchable. This prevents disorganisation issues seen when consolidating various unrelated items in vast “catch-all” groups.
Additionally, handling future changes like new products, inventory changes or price updates becomes a simple copy-paste—just add or modify the dedicated ad group. Maintaining cohesive MADGs requires more manual tweaking effort as catalogues expand over time.
Target Specific Customer Segments
With SPAG granularity, you gain targeted targeting options too. Leverage tailored audiences to show the right products at the right times.
For instance, if you notice women favouring a certain dress, apply an audience bid modifier to boost its ad ranking specifically for female shoppers. Or promote discounted close-out items primarily to repeat customers likely to take advantage.
Such hyper-focused targeting is not possible at the broader MADG level. SPAGs empower tapping different customer segments for every product to efficiently match demand.
FAQs about SPAGs
How much does each ad group need in daily budget?
There’s no set rule, but generally, $1–3 per day is a good starting point. This allows decent testing and learning within Google’s algorithms while keeping costs low. Adjust each item’s performance over time.
What if I have thousands of products?
While SPAGs scale well, manual setup for thousands of ad groups can be daunting. Tools like Google Merchant Centre feed uploads or API/scripting assist with bulk operations to lighten the work .
Will my campaigns be less optimised?
No, SPAGs actually allow for higher optimisation through granular testing and targeting compared to broader MADGs. Plus, Google’s automated bidding and optimisation still function well even with many individual groups.
Can I still do manual CPC bidding?
Yes, manual CPC bidding is supported for each SPAG, just like any other campaign/ad group. This gives full control over bids and is especially useful for testing different values. Just beware of the workload at large scales.
What if some products are variations of others?
For closely related variants like sizes and colours, consolidating into the same ad group may still make sense for budgeting purposes. But aim to break out any products with unique selling points, descriptions or target audiences.
Key Takeaways
- SPAGs provide laser focus on individual products for maximum relevance and performance optimisation
- Finely tracking each item’s metrics helps guide budgeting and uncover hidden potentials
- Isolating products allows controlled testing without interference from unrelated items
- Clean structure scales better as catalogues grow compared to “catch-all” MADG approaches
- Hyper-targeting specific audiences promotes the right products to the right shoppers
So in summary, SPAGs unlock powerful advantages through granularity when running Google Shopping campaigns. The insights gained far outweigh any perceived budget consolidation benefits of broader grouped sets.