You are probably asking yourself what Smart Shopping Campaigns are and why you should care about them! To answer that, Imagine being able to visually display, and sell your products directly on Google search!

Consider a Ugandan boutique based in Kampala dealing in gentle shoes, sneakers and general clothing merchandise. The boutique would like to maximize its online presence and boost its revenue online. Smart shopping campaigns would enable the business to display their products and inventory to users searching for products on the Google search engine. Not only will the products be displayed but they would have a direct purchase option , for customers to instantly buy the product.

smart shopping campaign illustration

This would make your products stand out allowing you to dominate your SERP (Search Engine Result Page).

Smart shopping campaigns are a solution for businesses that are seeking to place their products directly in front of the customers when they are still on the search page.

The visual advantage would allow you to showcase your merchandise letting the searcher see that you have got exactly what they need.

Not only are your products displayed on Google search results page, but the entirety of all other Google advertising platforms!

In this article, I will tell you all you need to know to get started with Smart Shopping Campaigns.

How To Create Smart Shopping Google campaigns

Smart shopping campaign ads are displayed from Google search results pages and across google affiliated websites on the google display network.

For a brand, individual or advertiser to create a smart shopping campaign the user must sign in to a Google ads account.

Instructions

Sign in to Google Ads using an existing Google account.

Google ad account

Create a new campaign by clicking the plus button, then select New Campaign.Set and select Sales as the campaign goal.

sales shopping campaign

Select and link a Google Merchant Center account which includes the products and services that your business would like to advertise through the shopping campaign.

Merchant center account
Merchant center


The Campaign subtype is a Smart Shopping campaign, so select smart shopping campaign to Continue.

smart shopping campaigns
smart shopping campaign type

Create a name for your smart shopping campaign. Set a daily budget threshold for the campaign.

campaign description
Campaign description

In case your business marketing team has a specific performance goal, a set target return on ad spend (ROAS) can be added.

Select specific products or product groups that your business would like to advertise through your smart shopping campaigns.

new campaign
ad campaign

Enter your business website URL that people will be directed to when they click on your smart shopping advertisement.

ad preview
ad preview

Preview your smart shopping campaign ad in different layouts for smartphones and desktop computers. Save .the changes made to your ad and run your first smart shopping campaign ad.

Best practices for Smart Shopping campaigns

Budget

Business owners can set a budget for their smart shopping campaigns. In other words, marketing teams are able to set a daily budget threshold limit that the campaign should not exceed.

to display a bugdet example of shopping campaigns
smart shopping campaign budget

Target ROAS

Business marketing teams can set a  minimum return goal for advertising campaigns, by setting a target return on ad spend (ROAS). In addition, setting a return on ad spend target optimizes your business search ads daily budget.

Products

With smart shopping campaigns, businesses can get the most out of their shopping ads by adding as many products as possible. In other words, pick a number of products and product ranges within a campaign and your shopping campaigns will perform better.

smart shopping campaign examples
smart shopping examples

Custom parameters

With the custom parameters feature, Google gathers insights about the products on your website that your visitors have shown the most interest in.

Advantages of Smart Shopping campaigns

Broaden your reach

Display your business products across the Google network through various google advertising platforms. This eventually gives your products the reach to billions of users that use various Google platforms such as Google search, YouTube and other Google affiliate blogs.

Drive traffic and sales

Shopping campaigns drive more sales for your business and enable more customers on Google to access your product and your store. Since more customers will be able to purchase your business products directly from Google.

Uncover insights and trends

Find out how your products are performing and which shopping campaign ads are performing well through insights and trends provided by shopping campaigns. With shopping campaign insights a business can be able to map out product trends during peak season and sluggish months.

Where are Shopping Campaigns Displayed?

Google Search

Smart Shopping campaigns are displayed to users browsing products online through Google search. Therefore, this ensures that your products are placed directly in front of shoppers looking to purchase your products on Google. 

Google Display Network

Shopping campaigns enable your business to display products to potential customers that are browsing their favorite blogs and mobile applications. The blogs that display your business services are significantly relevant and affiliated to the Google ads services.

Youtube

Business products are discoverable through various YouTube channels that are relevant to your products.

Gmail

With shopping campaigns, your business products are displayed to millions of active Gmail users every month. 

Work with different Shopping Campaign partners

Seamlessly get your inventory onto Google and promote your products through a Smart Shopping campaign directly through these partners.

These campaigns enable business owners to integrate their adverts with other online shopping platforms such as Shopify and Magento e-commerce.