Advertising with Google Ads in multiple countries may sound straightforward.
After all, if you already have a Google Ads program in place for one country, how hard could it be to extend that program to other countries?
It’s not as easy as you might think. And it can quickly become unwieldy if you’re not careful.
Consider this simple example. Say you decide to extend your Google Ads program to 10 new countries. At a bare minimum, you’ll need a branded and non-branded campaign for each. That means 20 campaigns to manage right from the get-go.
If you intend to include an English-language version of every non-English campaign, the number of campaigns will grow even more.
Things can quickly spiral out of control, so you must make wise decisions about where and how you extend your program—and how you organize and manage your account.
Where should you put your advertising dollars?
If you’re considering extending your Google Ads campaigns to other countries, there are many factors to consider, such as:
- How many countries should you target?
- Which countries are the priority? Where would you benefit from growth the most?
- Which countries already have a strong brand presence? Does it need strengthening?
- Which countries have little to no brand awareness? Is building that brand awareness a priority?
- Which countries have high engagement? Is that engagement sufficient? Or do you want to build on it?
- Do some countries have budgetary constraints?
- Is there enough local sales support in the countries you choose?
- What does the competitive landscape look like in each market?
Grouping countries by region – or not
In a perfect world, you’d create country-specific campaigns for every country, but this isn’t always feasible or manageable.
That’s why we often group countries by region.
Grouping countries by region may also be necessary to ensure you have sufficient budget for each campaign. The last thing you want is dozens of country campaigns spending $5 a day. No thanks.
Another option is to group countries into a “primary” and “secondary” group.
The key here is not to get too granular. Google needs conversion data for its machine learning. And if you don’t have enough conversion data to feed its needs, you’ll struggle to optimize these campaigns.
Be aware of your Google Ads account time zone setting
Pro tip: If you have campaigns with limited budgets, be mindful that scheduling in your Google Ads account is based on your initial setup.
If you set up your account in the U.S., your daily ad spend resets will be based on U.S. time zones—not the time zones of the campaign’s targeted location.
If you’re not careful, you can reach the daily budget limit for a region before their day has even begun.
Scoring systems can help with budget allocation, goal setting, and KPIs
In my experience, there is some degree of rinse and repeat when building a multi-country program—but it depends on the program you already have in place.
For example, we work with a US-based robotics company. We built a comprehensive program that spans awareness, consideration, engagement, and lead capture. When our client asked us to take on their EU ad programs, we started with the same model and tweaked it as needed. When the client later asked us to expand to other regions, we did the same again.
In this case, we implemented a scoring system to determine how to allocate budget and set goals and KPIs.
The budget allocation favored awareness in regions where they were still gaining a foothold. It favored lead capture in regions where the brand was well known.
Our goal setting and KPIs also took into account profitability. Spain might convert well, but if profitability is higher in France we set the KPIs accordingly.
Navigating the challenges of multi-country advertising
Expanding your Google Ads program into other countries can become a high-maintenance project with diminishing returns if you’re not careful.
However, with meticulous planning, ruthless priority setting, and clear communication with clients, you can scale campaigns internationally while maintaining control and maximizing ROI.