How to “Close” Leads from Google Ads

Why are my leads not converting?

So, you’re just getting started with online marketing. Your business is successful enough that you’re now re-investing money back into Google advertising to scale your business faster. You’ve hired an amazing ad agency, and the phones are ringing. But, you’re not closing sales. Something is wrong.

“These leads are different” is something I hear a lot from clients that are new to online marketing. Let’s look at the difference so you can learn how to utilize these new leads effectively.

Referral Leads vs. Google Leads

While leads coming in from a Google search are far more motivated than someone that found you on a display banner via Facebook or YouTube, there is still a fundamental difference between your typical, old-school referral lead and a Google lead.

The first difference is how pre-sold the person is. Think back to the last time you asked a trusted friend or family member for a referral. They were honored to be asked. So, they thought long and hard and then pulled out of their “rolodex” the name of someone they thought would be a good fit for you. The coveted referral was provided. You called that service provider, and they did a hell of a job for you. Why? Because of the “Chain of Trust.”

The Chain of Trust

There is a certain Chain of Trust with referral business. You trust your friend; they referred you to someone they’ve successfully worked with in the past. The chain keeps getting longer and stronger.

That service provider has it easy when he gets a referral. The invisible “Chain of Trust” does the hard work in preselling. But, Google searches don’t use the coveted “Chain of Trust” technology.

You’re Selling Trust

When you pick up a sales call from a prospective customer that originated from a Google search, you need to, first and foremost, establish trust.

The customer already shows the urgency in doing business with you since they took the time out of their day to search and even call you. But, they’re skeptical. Even though they’ve seen trust symbols on your site and have possibly read about you, they’re still not nearly as pre-sold as when you get a referral.

How Can I Establish Trust Quickly?

You cannot say something specific to get people to trust you. In fact, you will need to do the opposite. In my more than 20 years of selling and training people to sell, I’ve realized that less talking and more listening is the “magic trick” in establishing trust.

Here is a simple script.

“Thank you for calling (insert business name here), my name is (Insert your name here). How may I help you?”

After asking that very simple question, the next thing you should do is even easier.

Listen.

I would suggest having a notebook or online CRM where you can take notes. Jot down quick bullet points of what your prospective client is telling you, and repeat it back to them.

They won’t know why, but they will start to feel like you’re trustworthy very quickly. They will appreciate the fact that what they are saying is being acknowledged.

People have become less attentive to others more than any other time in history. Parents don’t listen to their kids; kids don’t listen to their families; and people have been distanced from each other and feel isolated with no one to hear them. When you genuinely listen to someone and acknowledge what they have to say by repeating back what they just told you, they will feel respected. This type of interaction will be the beginning of a new “friendship.”

While there is quite a bit more to establishing trust in online sales, I’d say this one first step will easily increase someone’s sales percentages by 50% or more.

With that said, now the million-dollar question is, how do I close more sales with my google ads campaigns? To avoid generating low conversion leads from your google ads campaign, there are some things you can do to optimize your ads. Let us mention some.

Add Negative Keywords

Suppose you want to eliminate users that won’t help you close sales. In that case, you can start by adding negative keywords to your campaigns or ad groups. Negative keywords will help you ensure you are excluding searches not relevant to your products and services which will not help you close sales with google ads campaigns.

Doing this will attract valuable and high-converting traffic to your ads and increase the chances of generating more sales for your business.

Target Long tail keywords

Another Google Ads optimization practice to close more sales is targeting long tail keywords in your ad groups. Long tail keywords have a higher conversion rate as they are queries performed by users looking to complete a purchase to satisfy a specific need. Instead of targeting broad keywords, be more specific in your Google Adwords campaigns, and you’ll be attracting the right audience that drives sales to your business. Analyze your keyword match types and decide whether you should replace broad keywords with more specific search terms.

Use Google ad extensions

Google Ads extensions allow you to create high-quality ads more likely to attract high-converting users. With them, you can provide more relevant information about what they will find on your landing pages. You could use site link extensions, callout extensions, location extensions, or price extensions. By using extensions, you will be attracting the right audience with your Google ads campaigns.

Create Google Shopping Ad campaigns

Shopping Ad campaigns allow you to present your products to your target audience. There’s no best way to start closing more sales than presenting a user with a product as a solution to their needs when they perform a search query for answers. Optimize your shopping ad performance by including images, prices, and descriptions so that you can offer all the information the customer needs to make a decision. Combine these types of ads with your Google search ads, and you will start noticing the difference in the number of sales your business will be closing.

Use Remarketing with Google Dynamic Ads

Dynamic search ads include the remarketing feature, which displays your ads to users who had interacted with it before but did not complete a purchase. Google looks at users’ search patterns and displays your ads based on related searches. Reminding users about your products or services is a great way to ensure closing more sales with your google ads account. Additionally, with the Google display network, it is more likely that your ad gets displayed on platforms such as YouTube or Blogger.

Look at your Google Ads campaign metrics

The only way to optimize your Google ads campaigns is to look at what you are doing wrong or what could use some improvements. Your Google ads metrics will show you what type of audience is looking at your ads, how they interact with them, their demographics, and more. We recommend looking at Google Analytics data to make well-informed decisions on your campaigns. Once you have all the data you need, optimize your campaigns or ad group to ensure you get the most profitable results.

Need help improving your website rankings or generating leads from Google? If so, feel free to contact our team for a free marketing plan.

Nikitas Tsoukales, Marketing Junkie