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How To Target People Who Aren’t Searching For My Products?

This question comes from David and he writes:

Dear Kyle, 

Firstly, thanks for all the content you provide.

I really appreciate it. I hope I’ll soon get a solid background on Google Ads and deal with more serious issues, I guess. But for now, I have a problem with keyword research. Can you please give me a tip regarding keyword research? Because it’s kind of a starting point for me. 

Mainly, I sell sneakers with some particular designs related to different interests, Vikings, hippies, et cetera.

Runes Symbol Runic magic, .vision, miscellaneous, logo png | PNGEgg

Let’s say I want to make the campaign for my Viking collection (a sneaker with Viking, symbols, and runes on it) How to find and use keywords with search intent if nobody is searching for it? Nobody searches sneakers with Oden’s symbol on it. But when I find that those people, for example, on Facebook, they like them and buy, but how to use Google ads for this product and generally for products that are not in customers’ minds (but once they found out about them, they buy them)?

I’ve tried playing with informational search and wrote a blog about Norse mythology, caught a lot of cheap traffic on keywords related to Norse mythology, but they come read the blog and bounce.

Nobody checks the sneakers. Do you have some smarter approach, and how to use intent keywords in this case? 

Thanks a lot. 

Sincerely and desperately,

David

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So basically, David is wondering how to get people to buy things that they’re not searching for.

Basic answer:

In my experience, do not try to go down this road. Google Search Ads are there to work for things that people are searching for. If someone is searching for a specific product and they see your ad for it, there is a chance that they will buy it or that they will contact you for your service.

If a customer doesn’t know that they want it, Facebook is going to work for that type of thing. It targets people in different audiences based around multiple interests, so you can show them something they didn’t even know that they wanted, and now they will want it.

The cost of Google Search Ads is just too much and it prohibits that strategy from working.

The only way that this could really work with Google Search Ads is to find things that are somewhat related to what you are selling.

For example, if you’re targeting a keyword, like Viking sneakers, you’re gonna get a lot of things related to football, thanks to the Minnesota Vikings. While both are related to Vikings, it isn’t what you want, so those types of things need to be avoided. 

If there are no Google searches for sneakers with an Odin symbol on them, people may be searching for other types of clothing or items with Norse mythology symbolism on them.

You will need to think outside of the box a little if you’re going to attempt to get Google Search to work. But if you go too far outside of that box, it won’t work! Google searches are based on intent – you need to put your ads in front of people who are intending to find an answer to their problem.

If your ‘answer’ is not solving a problem that they have, Google Search Ads will not work. They’re just too expensive for that. It’s not a good fit. 

Now, if you’re able to show these types of ads to people on Facebook and they end up liking and purchasing them, there is potential for you to get this to work with Google Display and/or YouTube Ads. Those types of ads are more audience-based; you’re going to put your product in front of people based on their interests or based on what they are looking at. 

I’m sure that there are also websites related to Norse mythology. Someone who is on that website and sees an ad for your sneakers could be a good fit. That person could end up coming to your website and make a purchase. 

The same goes for YouTube. Maybe there are some YouTube videos related to the types of things you’re selling. If you’re putting your ad in front of those people, their interest level may be high enough that they come buy something they didn’t know they even wanted.

Overall, Google Search is not a great way to get people to buy items that they are not searching for. Google Display and YouTube are potentially better ways to achieve this. It’s going to be less expensive and less cost-prohibitive compared to Google Search Ads. You just have to try and find out what works best for you.