Target your ads to email addresses with Google Customer Match

Good news! Google has a new targeting method for your ads: Customer Match. This feature allows us marketers to upload an email list,for example, from your CRM. To then target specific ads here to leads who are logged into Youtube, Gmail or Google with their email address.

Perhaps this already looks familiar to you....

In fact, Facebook and Twitter have had this feature for a while, but it is mainly focused on reaching people on the platform itself. Google goes a little further. You can actually compare the new Customer Match feature to remarketing only now you target based on email addresses instead of previous visits to your website.

The power of Google Customer Match is that as long as a user has an email address linked to an account on YouTube, Gmail and Google, for example, you can reach your leads or existing customers at specific times with highly targeted ads.

And this doesn't just apply to the email addresses you already have.

You can also use Customer Match to target your ad to an audience based on a so-called "Customer Match list. At least, in Gmail and YouTube. Unfortunately, not yet in the Google search engine itself.

How does it work?

I will explain it using a brief example and a roadmap.

Example

We sell Marketing Automation software and we want to start advertising for it. First, we create a list of the email addresses that our customers have given us. For example, when they requested a demo. Then we create a campaign and target it to the email list we just created. This campaign is then visible to all customers who are logged into Google with their email address.

Set up your email list in 12 steps:

1. Login to your AdWords account;

2. Click on shared libraries in the left bar;

3. Click on target groups;

4. Now you come to a page where you can add a remarketing list. If you click on this, a drop-down menu will appear where you then choose customer emails;

5. Name the new list;

6. Choose to upload email addresses;

7. Select the list of email addresses you have collected. You can upload them encrypted with Customer Match SHA2 converter, but this is not mandatory;

8. Provide a URL where people can choose to unsubscribe from the list. Same idea as the choice you always get under emails;Specify how long you want to target people. For example, one month. Here you need to think about how long it makes sense to show the ad;

9. If you like, you can now give a slightly more detailed description of your list;

10. Press save. You will then see under "target groups" when your list has finished uploading;

11. Add your email list to a campaign:

• To show your ads in Gmail: add the list to a "Display network only" campaign. Open the campaign → click the Display Network button → click targeting → choose your campaign and audience → press add targeting → select interests and remarketing → finally click remarketing lists and select a list;
• To display your ads in search results: add your listing to a "Search Network only" or "Search Network with Display Select" campaign;
• Display ads in Youtube by: adding your listing to an "online video" campaign.

The requirements of Google Customer Match

Now you know how to create an email list and link it to a campaign in Google Customer Match. Still, you're not there yet. That's because Google has laid out some requirements that you/your email list must meet before you can upload it:

• You can only upload your list as a .csv file no larger than 17MB;
• Email addresses are separated by commas or a blank line;
• You may not target your member list for more than 180 days;
• Email addresses that do not comply with Customer Match's policies have been removed (for example, e-mail addresses that were not legally obtained);
• Your campaign must have at least 1,000 active visitors/users;
• Make sure you clearly reflect in your own privacy policy that you share customer e-mail addresses with third parties to perform services on your company's behalf;
• Use only approved API or interface from Google to upload the email addresses;
• Make sure you comply with applicable laws and regulations.

For more information about Customer Match click here

Grow your email list and reach your ideal client

In a nutshell, Customer Match allows us to reach leads and visitors who have already visited your Web site using their e-mail address, rather than data. But then, of course, you have to collect email addresses (legally).

Want to know exactly how to increase your email database, contact contact us.