Should Small Businesses Advertise on Google Ads?

One of the oldest online marketing myths is that Google Ads is not suited for small, and sometimes even medium businesses. I can't really trace it back, but it was considered an "old myth" even when I started my career in digital marketing back in 2012.

So today, I will answer this question once and for all, but I will do it the other way around.

See, I already know the answer, so I might as well save you some time and start with it. Then, I will explain why I think that and explain my reasoning.

Should Small Businesses Use Google Ads?

In short, yes. The full answer is that, like many other aspects of online marketing, it depends.

Google Ads suits every business, regardless of industry or size. That's because of its huge inventory of places where it can show your ads, either on search, video ads on YouTube, Gmail Ads, or banner ads on any of the millions of websites on Google's Display Network (GDN).

Ways Google Ads Benefit Small Businesses

Below, I listed a few ways I believe Google Ads benefits small businesses. One is by evening the playing field against larger businesses, and the other is by simply allowing small businesses to appear in front of potential new clients.

Strong User Intent

Unlike banners or social ads, with search campaigns on Google Ads (or Microsoft Ads, for that matter), you can trigger an ad to appear as soon as someone searches for a service or a product you offer.

Showing up as soon as a user searches for a business such as yours is very valuable, as, in many cases, the user has clearly indicated that they're interested in your services and, in many cases, is ready to buy.

Scalability

Even though it's not always straightforward, you can scale up or down your campaigns to suit your needs or business growth.

Advanced Technology Made Accessible

With changes that allowed all advertisers to use advanced automated bidding strategies that were previously only available for big companies with access to expensive technologies, small advertisers not only compete head-to-head with the giants - in many cases, they even get better results.

Remarketing is another targeting method we take for granted these days but it is one of the most effective ways of warming up users and leads.

Finishing Thoughts

If your service or product is something users search for when they need it, it means that your business is searchable, and paid search can probably help you get more clients.

The real question you should ask yourself is not whether small businesses should use Google Ads but whether Google Ads is the most suitable advertising platform for your business. If if you need help figuring that out, reach out we'll be happy to help.