The two campaigns compared
- Searches for your business name
- Low cost per click
- High conversion rate
- Protects your name from rivals
- Searches for your services
- Higher cost per click
- Finds customers who do not know you
- Where real growth comes from
Why keep them separate
Brand searches convert so well that they flatter any campaign they sit in. A blended account can show a great cost per lead while non-brand ads lose money. Splitting them shows the true cost of finding new customers, and lets you budget each one on its own.
Do you need brand ads at all?
If you rank first organically for your name, some brand clicks would come anyway. Brand ads still help when competitors bid on your name or directories outrank you. They also put sitelinks and a call button at the top. Test it. Pause brand ads for a few weeks and watch total leads.
Competitors and your trademark
Google's trademark policy does not restrict using trademarks as keywords, so competitors can bid on your business name. Using your trademark in their ad text is a different matter. Trademark owners can file a complaint to restrict that in ads from direct competitors.
Good example. A dental office runs a small brand campaign that protects its name from competitor ads and reports brand and non-brand leads separately each month.
Bad example. A dental office reports one blended cost per lead. It looks strong, but nearly all leads come from people searching its name.
Our rule. Brand leads mostly come from people who already chose you, through referrals, signs or past visits. Non-brand leads show what ads add. We report both, and judge growth by non-brand.
Our Google Ads management separates brand from non-brand in every account.