by Austin LeClear
on November 7, 2022 Google Ads is one of the most effective advertising channels for eCommerce brands of all shapes, sizes, and budgets. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a local chocolatiere that’s trying to expand their reach throughout the state with a $200 a month ad budget or a major shoe brand that already has international reach and 10k a month in ad spend. It can be effective for everyone across the board.
Knowing how to actually create strong, well-written, well-optimized Google Ads is something else altogether, however, and it can be particularly challenging for eCommere brands.
We’ve got an entire guide on Google Ads Copywriting, but sometimes it’s also helpful to see examples of different ads succeeding at the same things you want to accomplish. Let’s take a look at seven eCommerce Google Ads examples to draw inspiration from.
What Your eCommerce Google Ads Need to Accomplish
When it comes to eCommerce Google Ads, Google Search Ads and Google Shopping Ads are going to be the backbone— and center— of your campaigns.
Both of these campaigns work by showing your ads and/or products to users who are searching for https://bak.or.ke/ keywords that either match your product information (Shopping Ads) or that match the keywords you’re targeting (Search Ads). This allows you to capture users during the research and consideration processes, giving you extraordinary visibility and reach.
So here’s what these ads need to accomplish in order to get clicks, build brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales:
- Be relevant to the search at hand
- Explain what you have to offer and how it aligns with the user’s need
- Highlight your unique selling proposition (USP)
- Potentially overcome objections, if possible
- Appeal to your specific target audience
That’s a lot to accomplish in just a few words, but there are plenty of ads that manage to do it well. The following are seven eCommerce Google Ad examples from both Shopping and Search Ads that really showcase how to do each of the above.
1. Pottery Barn
First up, we’ve got an ad from Pottery Barn that was triggered for for the search “Halloween Wreaths.” The ad in question:
This is a very specific, hyper-seasonal search, and it’s likely that Pottery Barn is using dynamic keyword insertion in order to highlight the user’s specific keyword in the ad text without having to create a large number of unique sets of copy.
Here’s why this is so effective: If I’m searching for “Halloween wreath” and I see an ad that says “Pottery Barn – Halloween Decorations” instead of “Halloween Wreaths,” I may not be likely to click, especially if other ads specify that they’re selling wreaths.
As the customer, I’m going to click on the ad that immediately tells me they’re selling what I need, which is why dynamic keyword insertion can be so useful. It won’t work for every ad campaign you’ve got, but for tight-knit keyword groups it can be a major time-saver and relevance booster.
2. Brilliant Earth
It’s common for users to search for products that align with specific pain points or that offer certain distinct qualities. If you’re able to showcase how you can meet those needs in your ad, you’ll set yourself apart from more generalized copy from competitors and you can likely earn the click.
Here’s a great example from the jeweler Brilliant Earth, which appeared upon searching for “ethical diamond ring” in Google:
You can see that they stress “ethical diamond rings” in the ad headline and that they also mention “ethically sourced” and “conflict free.” This isn’t just an afterthought they’re tossing into their ad; it’s a core portion of the ad, designed to appeal to exactly this subset of potential customers who are concerned about making a moral decision with their diamond rings.
Brands that offer unique perks that will appeal to some parts of their audience— like conflict-free, eco-friendly, energy rated, and more— should have ad copy specifically tailored to these unique paint points and needs. By doing so, you’ll more effectively capture larger sections of these niche segments of your audience.
3. Away Travel
We’re big advocates of Google Ads extensions here at GrowMyAds, and this is a great example of why from Away Travel:
In the ad above, you can see that they’re using an extension to feature different links along the bottom of their ad. Not only does this increase their overall ad real estate (taking up a little extra room in the search results), but it also allows them to link to different popular product pages and landing pages on their site.
Instead of just seeing “perfect luggage with a 100 day trial,” they see links to individual products like “the carry-on,” “the bigger carry-on,” and “save on sets.” These links can capture high-intent users and take them to the exact destination they’re looking to go to, all while showing the customer that the brand has what they’re looking for.
The shorter the destination the user has from ad discovery to conversion, the more likely they are to convert. Ad extensions can do everything from provide more information, make it easier for users to get in touch, or find the right products faster. Learn how to use them here.
4. Bosca & Amish Made Belts
Your unique selling proposition (USP) is the value offer that sets you apart from your competition. Understanding what your brand’s USP is and how it appeals to different audience segments is a crucial part of marketing and advertising.
A great example of two brands who successfully highlight their own (and diverse) USPs can be seen from competitor’s Bosca and Amish Made Belts in the ads below, which both appeared for the search “men’s leather wallet”:
Bosca’s ad stresses “Fine Italian Leather,” “Luxury Leather Products,” and “Only 1% of hte World’s Leather Supply Meet Our Standards.” This is made to feel exclusive, luxurious, and of course, a little expensive.
The Amish Made Belts, however, has a different USP altogether. They aren’t prioritizing luxury at all. Instead, they’re using terms like “rugged and long-lasting,” and “built with full grain leather.” They’re still emphasizing quality and careful craftsmanship, but you aren’t getting a mental image of supply, smooth leather the same way you would from the first ad.
These are two different ads that will ultimately appeal to two different audience segments, making them great examples to look at when you want to get a good idea of how to speak to your core target audience to make an impact.
5. Fireplaces Direct
Understanding your USP, which we looked at in the last Google Ads eCommerce ad example, will come down to knowing what language to use to let your audience know you have what they need. Sometimes that means directly calling out your audience in the ad itself.
You can see a great text Search Ad example from Fireplaces Direct here:
The ad copy talks about “unmatched pricing opportunities for contractors and business accounts.”
This is crucial. They’re not trying to appeal to customers with language like “Find the perfect fireplace for your home.” They want to reach the contractors and businesses who are going to have a large-scale need long-term; that’s this company’s target audience, and by calling out contractors directly in the copy, they have a much better chance of getting the clicks they want.
They also have a solid chance at eliminating clicks they don’t want; as a customer looking for a propane fireplace for my home, I’d be unlikely to click on an ad that’s clearly marketing to contractors. So as long as they’re okay with eliminating me from the click-pool, this ad was effective.
6. Lace and Liberty
In marketing, we often talk a lot about storytelling. Stories can be resonant and impactful— but they rarely make an appearance in Google Ads due to the tight character count and the highly specific nature of most searches.
That being said, elements of storytelling can work incredibly well for some ad types to help capture user’s interest and drive those clicks that you want.
Let’s look at an example from Lacy and Liberty:
The ad here showed up for the search “custom wedding gown,” and while they do mention features like “made to measure,” the ad is also fairly open-ended and talking about “exploring” and “journeys.”
These are storytelling element; they encourage the user to “explore our unique wedding dress design process” and to “begin your custom journey.” They’re going beyond selling a dress, encouraging the user to envision themselves designing their dream dress.
Another hypothetical example: You might see ad copy like “See their face light up with Valentine’s chocolate hearts.” It’s not just “grade A premium chocolate.” You’re telling the story of what happens when someone receives the gift.
If you’re selling anything that has an emotional component, this could be a copywriting strategy worth testing.
7. Select Blinds
Knowing how to overcome objections is important in sales, but it can also be valuable in Google advertising when it comes to eCommerce ads. And when it comes to Google Ads and their limited space, this is typically going to involve directly addressing a core pain point that many users may have with competing products.
You can see a great example of this from Select Blinds here:
You’ll notice that they say “Smooth Up and Down Operation” in the headline— that’s a core issue that many customers have with competing products. There are issues with rising or lowering blinds, so them advertising that they don’t have this issue sets them apart and overcomes a potential objection.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to create strong eCommerce Google Ad campaigns is made much easier when you’ve got a few great examples to inspire you. These seven examples of eCommerce Google Ads all accomplish different tasks very well, and all likely were incredibly successful and driving end results.
Want to learn more about excelling with Google Search Ads? Check out our free Google Search Ads Hub here.
