Mastering Custom Affinity & Custom Intent Audiences in Google Ads

Google Ads is a vital tool in many marketers’ toolboxes. Over the years, their targeting has become more and more advanced. For digital marketers, Google Ads is often the go-to platform for businesses that are chasing online sales or high-quality leads. Developing Custom Affinity and Custom Intent audiences (both broadly known as Custom Segments) has allowed advertisers to take this to the next level and reach people based on laser-targeted audiences that are personalized to their business.

Custom Affinity vs. Custom Intent

In a nutshell:

• Custom Affinity Audiences target users based on hobbies and interests.
• Custom Intent Audiences target users based on their intent to purchase (that’s why they’re called in-market audiences). 

So, one targets interests and behaviors while the other hones in on people who are ready to buy.

Custom Affinity Audiences are ideal for brand awareness campaigns (top of the funnel), while Custom Intent Audiences serve better for conversion-focused initiatives (bottom of the funnel). Custom Intent Audiences are also great to pair with retargeting lists, but usually, they’re not part of a top-of-funnel strategy.

Custom Affinity Audiences

Google Ads offers standard affinity audiences for Display and Video campaigns to help advertisers reach potential customers based on a predefined set of interests, but what happens when you want to reach an audience that’s not listed? What if you could build your own audience?

Custom Affinity Audiences allow you to do exactly this, and can be generated by using the “People who searched for any of these terms on Google” and “People who browse these types of websites.” Alternatively, “People who use these types of apps” can be used too. 

Building an audience from these elements lets you personalize your message and reach users you might not otherwise reach. So, what are some potential ways to build this audience?

Creative Techniques For Building Custom Affinity Audiences

There are many ways to build an audience that specifically targets people who have hobbies or interests that align with your offer – here are some ideas:

• Keywords: Create a list of keywords that describe the audience’s hobbies and/or habits to find them based on their affinities.  You could also use an SEO tool to find your competitors best performing organic keywords and use those to create a list.
• Websites and apps: Add related websites and apps related to your audience’s interests, hobbies, and habits.  You can even create a list based on your competitor’s URLs so you target their customers (shhhhhh….. don’t tell……)
• Use Google Analytics data: Identify demographic information to tailor your audience further based on your Google Analytics data. 
• Buyer personas: Consider creating custom affinity audiences based on specific buyer personas or competitors’ customer bases to reach even more targeted segments.

Pro tip: Use available tools like Google Analytics, Google Keyword Planner, and other market research to generate a comprehensive list.

Applying a Custom Affinity Audience in Google Ads

Once you’ve created your Custom Affinity Audience, you’ll need to add it to your campaigns. Here’s how.

1. Log into your Google Ads account and navigate to the top under “Tools and Settings.”
2. Find the Shared Library tap “Audience Manager.”
3. Select the “Custom Segments” tab.
4. Click on the plus button to create a new audience.
5. Name your audience segment.
6. Choose “People who searched for any of these terms on Google.”
7. Add your terms.
8. If you’d like to expand your audience, add “People who browse types of websites” and/or “People who use types of apps.”
9. Save this audience.
10. Now, assign your custom audience to your desired Google Ads campaigns.

Applying Custom Affinity Audiences to Performance Max Campaigns

From the Custom Segments tab, you can only add your audiences to some types of campaigns. If you want to add your Custom Affinity Audience to your Performance Max campaigns, you’ll have to do this in the audience signals under “Custom Search Terms.”

Custom Intent Audiences

Custom intent audiences allow advertisers to target people based on their purchase intent. You can build one by compiling a list of interests and purchase intentions. There are various ways you can approach building this audience. 

Creative Techniques For Building Custom Intent Audiences

Keeping in mind that these audiences have buying intent, here are some ways to build out your list:

• Search terms: Mine your search terms for terms that convert REALLY well, and create a list with these as keywords.
• In-market audiences: Use your Insights report to understand which in-market audiences click your ads.
• Search term categories: Use search term categories from your Insights report.
• Google Analytics data: Scour your data to find in-market audiences and other data collected from your website visitors. Use these as is or to develop a combined audience that matches those traits.

Pro tip: Leverage tools like SEMrush and Google Trends to identify top keywords and related search terms.

Applying Custom Intent Audience in Google Ads Campaigns

Ready to apply your audiences? Follow the same instructions as the Custom Affinity Audiences. You can easily add your audiences via the Audience Manager. For Performance Max, you’ll need to add them directly to the campaign.

The Road Ahead: Future of Audience Targeting

As audience targeting continues evolving, it’s crucial for marketers to stay informed of new advancements, such as potential influences on Custom Affinity and Custom Intent Audiences. Google regularly changes its features and has been infusing all aspects of ads with AI technology.

Moving forward, it will become vital to understand the role AI plays in your audiences in addition to other parts of your campaigns.

Takeaways

By mastering Custom Affinity and Custom Intent Audience creation and application, marketers can enhance Google Ads campaigns for better results. Continuous experimentation and optimization will ensure the highest levels of performance and success when using these advanced targeting tools.