Customer Match Boosts Leads

In September 2015, Google announced the launch of Customer Match. Customer Match allows advertisers to upload email addresses and create an audience “match list” in their AdWords account. In this post I’ll explain the success we’ve had using Customer Match as part of a B2B lead generation program.

Google was not the first to offer this type of email list targeting.  Both Facebook and Twitter have similar options available on their platforms. The network you choose to use will depend on your company (or client).  I’ve found Google’s Customer Match works very well for our B2B clients. I have not tested it against Facebook or Twitter but feel those audiences would be better suited for a B2C company.

How Customer Match Works

Customer Match allows advertisers to upload a list of email addresses and create an audience match list in their AdWords account. Marketers are able to serve ads to their customer list when these people are signed into Google Search, YouTube or Gmail.

You can also create similar audiences which will enable you to reach new customers on YouTube and Gmail. Since these users “mirror” current customers, they are more likely to be interested in your product and services, than general searchers.

Customer Match Compared to Traditional Remarketing

There are some key factors to keep in mind when implementing a campaign that will use your Customer Match email audience. Your keywords are your key to success. Like any search campaign, your customer match campaign will need to be developed around a targeted keyword list.

This is one of the biggest differences between a traditional remarketing effort and a Customer Match campaign:

• With traditional remarketing you reach customers who have shown an interest in your product or service by visiting your site, showing them relevant ads across the Google Display Network.
• With Customer Match you are reaching users through the Search Network while they are signed into their Google account.

B2B Case Study

I launched my first B2B Customer Match campaign in November 2015, our client’s customer file contained approximately 4,000 email addresses. The customer match campaign quickly became our top performing remarketing campaign, consistently generating the most leads each month.

Our campaign includes the top converting search terms. I have found the average cost-per-click (CPC) for the keywords to be approximately 40% lower than they are in a traditional search campaign. The conversion rate on the Customer Match campaign is approximately 70% higher than our overall PPC (Pay-Per-Click) program. To date the client has been very happy with the campaign performance.

A Few Additional Tips

Here are some important points to keep in mind when running a Customer Match campaign…

Don’t forget negative keywords.  I’ve found it to be imperative for my client that I check the search query reports several times a week to negate out all irrelevant search traffic.

If possible keep your email list fresh by importing new email address on a consistent basis. We have found that updating the file every 90 days works well, but how often you upload a new file will be based upon how large your email list is.

Test Customer Match

Overall I feel that Customer Match is a cost-effective, precise way to reach qualified prospects. The program allows marketers to step up their campaign by introducing new and improved targeting methods by narrowing down your marketing efforts to prospects who already show an interest in your product. I would recommend using Customer Match to expand your traditional search marketing programs.