5 Best Practices for Google Seller Campaigns Follow

So, you are interested in listings and targeting home sellers. How can you get the most return for your investment? Here are 5 best practices to guide you: 

BUDGET

How much should I spend? Budget amounts vary based on the number of people in the areas you want to target. A good baseline is to start at $150 and then increase by $100 for every additional 200,000 population – so you could spend approximately $500 in a city of 1 million. With this approach, you have enough budget for a competitive campaign, but you are not forced to raise your bids to spend your entire budget, diminishing your return on investment. Unless there is a strong seller demand in an area, population size will often dictate seller search traffic. The more search traffic, the more opportunities for seller lead conversion opportunities.

GEO-TARGETING

How many / what type of areas should I target? With Google Sellers, we are only able to target at the county, city, and zip code levels. Seller campaigns are “geo target-based” – meaning we target areas based on their physical-boundaries. The home seller needs to be physically located in the area for them to see the ad. Therefore, Google must be able to recognize the area. At this moment, Google recognizes areas at the county, city, and zip codes levels.

Again, ensure you are targeting enough area to capture substantial search traffic. Unless a single zip code is densely populated or has strong home seller demand, targeting such may lead to low ROI.

DEMAND

Why is the seller CPL higher than buyer? There is far less search traffic for home selling than for home buying. Many more people are searching “Homes for Sale in Atlanta” than “How much is my Atlanta Home Worth?” With fewer sellers to target, competition is intense and raises the cost to “win” a user from a competitor. It is not unusual for a seller cost-per-lead (CPL) to be 2-3x's higher than a buyer CPL.

SELLER CYCLE

I would like “now” leads, how long will it take? We always aim to attract the highest quality lead; users with good contact info who are highly motivated to sell. However, seller campaigns tend to take longer to mature than buyer campaigns. Our seller campaigns generate interest for home selling -- thereby stimulating an opportunity for you to start the conversation and close the lead.

Many visitors have yet to make the decision to sell their home. By targeting these people, we are introducing your brand for the first time, so it is common to have a percentage of “curious-lookers.” These visitors will eventually become motivated home sellers and will remember your brand and seek your expertise when they are ready to sell.

ALIGNING YOUR GOALS

Should I add a Google Seller campaign to increase lead volume? It depends on your goals. If you have recognized a home-seller trend in your market, a Google Seller campaign will neatly align with your goal. However, if you want to supplement your current buyer lead volume, a seller campaign may create challenges for your goal. Remember, seller CPLs are higher than buyer CPLs due to less search traffic.

The key takeaway: Google Seller campaigns run differently than Google Buyer campaigns. Having a firm understanding of these factors and how they align with your goals, budget and market area will help maximize your ROI and success.