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Discovery Ads: A Law Firm Guide to Google’s Newest Campaign Type

by Kevin Vermeulen • July 6th, 2020 • Search Engine Marketing | Blog

Google Discovery Ads for Law FirmsDuring the Ads Innovation Keynote at Google Marketing Live, Google mentioned several new developments that can make marketing and advertising even more effective. One of the most exciting announcements was the new Discovery Ads. Similar to what you might have seen with Facebook carousel ads, these offer swipeable, interactive content. Here’s everything law firms need to know about discovery ads, how they work, and how to fit them into your overall digital marketing strategy. 

A Law Firm Marketer’s Guide to Google Discovery Ads

Where do Discovery ads appear?

One great feature of Discovery Ads is that their reach goes beyond the Google Discover platform. These ads won’t just show up in Google Discover, they’ll also be served on YouTube, and in Gmail’s social and promotions tabs. 

What is Google Discover?

Google Discover is a feed that appears on the homepage of the Google app, as well as the mobile Google.com homepage. Users are able to personalize their feeds so they see content that pertains to them. While not as popular as Facebook or LinkedIn, the feed is expected to grow in popularity. As of now, more than 800 million people use Discover monthly.

What do Discovery ads look like? 

Most importantly, Discovery ads will rely on visual content to entice viewers. Similar to Facebook’s carousel ads, these ads allow law firm marketers to display one or more images that showcase a service. So when you’re creating your own ads, the key is to have eye-catching, high quality images. According to Google’s creative guidelines, “Aspirational imagery and copy is crucial.”

How are Google Discovery ads similar to Facebook and LinkedIn?

Discovery ads are a visually-rich ad format that utilize social media-like targeting, as opposed to keyword-based intent targeting used by Google Ads. Legal marketers can leverage Discovery ads to target their campaigns by audience and/or demographic, just like they can using paid social media

Similar to Facebook Carousel Ads, Discovery Ads allow law firms to display one or more images that showcase their services or offerings in a slideshow format on the Discover feed (among other locations). It’s clear that Discovery ads are aimed at advertiser’s paid social dollars.

How are Discovery campaigns targeted to reach my audience?

Google is shifting away from keyword targeting with the new Discovery ads, and focusing more on audience-first targeting features. Google uses a combination of machine learning and Google audiences: interest, in-market, affinity, or custom audiences to target ads. These audiences are generated based on signals spanning Google properties, including users’ search activity, YouTube watch behavior, visits to Google Display Network sites, and apps downloaded from Play store.

How does Machine learning play a key role in Discovery ads?

When your law firm is setting up Discovery ads, they’ll enter one landing page URL, at least one image, a logo, and up to five headlines and five descriptions. Ideally, you’ll want to start by addressing a variety of different pain points and selling points in your copy so that Google has more options to work with. From there, Google will use machine learning to serve the best combinations of your headlines, descriptions, and image creative to your prospects—across the best-performing placements.

Why invest in Google Discovery ads?

Google Discovery ads are an exciting new ad type for your law firm to test out. They can be used to showcase new services, increase brand awareness, build your brand image, or expand reach of your current campaigns. Given their placement in the Google Discover Feed, the ad gives legal marketers a new way to expand the reach of their social campaigns.

Takeaway

Discovery ads were designed to help law firms and businesses get their services discovered by potential audiences across Google’s popular properties. Google’s Discovery campaigns harness sophisticated audience signals and machine learning to serve your visually-rich law firm’s ads to the right, receptive audience. We’re excited that they’re now available to marketers everywhere!

If you’d like assistance getting started with Google Discovery ads, contact us for a consultation today. We can help you deliver the highest quality traffic and ensure you’re seeing a true return on your investment.

Google Ads for law firms

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