Geo-targeting tips digital marketers must follow

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The reason geo-targeting hasn't taken off is that many brands don't use it effectively, so it isn't boosting their ROI as much as they hoped.

How to create more effective geo-targeted campaigns

Creating geo-targeted campaigns isn’t difficult, but you’ll need to invest some time setting them up. If you aren't having much success with geo-targeting, you should follow the tips outlined below.

Create separate campaigns for different regions for your contextual campaigns

If you're primarily running paid search campaigns, you can simply use location identifier tokens in your ad copy, instead of setting up separate campaigns for each region. The keywords that convert the best on one region will probably perform better elsewhere. You can always create separate, region-specific campaigns later if you want to create more locally targeted ads, but creating a single campaign is usually best to get the volume you need to test keyword targeting.

However, if you are promoting on contextual traffic sources, such as the Google display network or RTX Platform (formerly known as 50 on Red), it's a good idea to create separate campaigns. With contextual traffic sources, you'll need to optimize by blacklisting poor performing domains. Many of your best performing domains will be local news sites and blogs, so you'll need to create separate campaigns for each region you target.

Keep an eye on the competition

It's always a good idea to monitor your competition. See what types of ads they're using to attract similar visitors.

Unfortunately, you can run into a couple of problems:

• You may not be able to see local ads in other regions, which may be better tailored to local customers.
  
• Google and other search providers personalise ads for you, which can make it difficult to see what other consumers will.

You can get around these problems by using one of the best VPNs to connect to a server in the area of interest.

Be aware of local laws

Laws differ across country and state lines. You will need to be aware of them before launching any digital marketing campaigns.

Gambling related ads are one of the biggest examples. In 2007, Google and Yahoo! had to pay out over $31 million in fines for allowing online gambling ads in the US.

Other advertising laws are less commonly known. As an advertiser, you can also be held liable for offering prohibited services or failing to abide by ad copy requirements in a given jurisdiction.

If a certain service or ad type is prohibited in one jurisdiction, you will need to block it from your targeting options.

Understand pain points across geographies before creating landing pages

Let’s say that you are generating leads for real estate agents across the United States. Your have accounts are in New York City and Birmingham, Alabama.

Could you use the same landing page to cater to users in both cities? Yes. Should you? No.

Keep in mind that people in both cities are going to have different needs. People in NYC may be worried about the rapidly increasing cost of housing. Or they may be real estate speculators that want to buy a property to flip after the next pricing surge. On the other hand, home buyers in Alabama may be more concerned with finding a house in close proximity to their job or family, which can be difficult since there is a smaller supply.

If you are operating in several large markets, it is a good idea to research the needs of people in those areas. You will want to test angles that relate to those customers.

Never assume that their pain points will be the same as yours. People’s issues differ throughout the world.

Geo-targeting is an art

Geo-targeting can be a very powerful way to boost your ROI. However, you need to use it wisely.

The purpose of geo-targeting is to make your ads more relevant to your customers. Always keep that in mind while optimizing your campaigns.

Try to figure out what people in different regions are looking for and tailor your ads to their needs.