How to make your Google Ads campaigns work in overseas markets

For those already using Google Ads, you’ll know how it helps your business reach new customers online. If you’d also like to expand into new markets outside of Indonesia, here’s a quick guide to getting started.

To make sure your ads, keywords and landing pages sound local, consider using a professional translator. Note that you may need to change entire phrases and sayings, rather than just translating your ads word-for-word. It helps to be mindful of local contexts and frame of references.

Your keywords, ads and landing pages aside, you’ll also need to localise your website based on cultural nuances and preferences. Here are some examples:

• The colour of your website: Is the existing colour well-received in the new market?
• Calls-to-action on your website: Are your existing CTAs phrased appropriately? If you’re entering a market where politeness is prized, such as Japan, you might want to reword your CTAs to be more deferential.
• Videos on your website: If you house videos on your website, but you’re expanding into a market where internet speeds are slow, consider using static images or animated GIFs instead.

Finally, read up on how consumers in your target market browse the internet and make purchases online, so that you can fine-tune your digital strategy in time to come.

To do this, check out Market Finder's free reports and data. If you want to do a deep dive, you may use Market Finder to create customised reports detailing online access and device usage in the countries you’re targeting. Market Finder also gives you insights into each country’s online purchase behaviour, purchase breakdown by product, use of smartphones in online purchases, and more.

When setting up a new Google Ads campaign, the two most important things to consider are:

• What are your campaign goals?
• What type of campaign do you want to run?

Firstly, decide on your campaign goals. Do you want to sell more products? Grow customer loyalty? Engage with more customers? Think about what makes sense for your company, and brand.

Next, choose whether you want to run Search or Display ads. Go with Search if you want to reach people searching for specific goods or services, or choose Display if you’d like to capture attention earlier in the buying cycle with a variety of ad formats. If you’re not keen on both Search and Display, there are other campaigns that you can choose from, including Video, Shopping, and App campaigns.

The more ads, ad groups and campaigns you have, the more complex your account gets. Here, it’s important to organise your account, so that you can keep track of your ads and ensure that your campaigns are running smoothly.

Learn more about organising your Google Ads account.

Naming conventions

Even if your naming feels simple, this might get tricky as you expand to new countries. Try using standard abbreviations in names, and things like country, language and targeting method should be in your labels wherever possible.

Automation

The more you expand, the more ads and activity you’ll have to manage. Google’s automated tools can come in handy here. These include:

• Automated bidding, which automatically optimises your bids based on your goals
• Ad customisers, which adapt your text ads to what someone is searching for, taking into account their device, location, and even the date, time, and day of the week

When entering a new market, you’ll need to adapt your keywords, ads, and landing pages to the market. First, use the free Market Finder tool to ensure that your marketing messages resonate with your overseas audiences. Once you’ve got your campaign up and running, organise your account and use the same naming conventions throughout, and consider using automated bidding and ad customisers to reduce your workload.