Multi-location PPC advertising involves a complex set of strategies tailored to each locale a business serves. Unlike a one-size-fits-all approach, this method considers geographic, demographic, and competitive differences to maximize each campaign’s effectiveness. From local keyword nuances to region-specific ad customizations, the landscape of multi-location PPC demands precision and creativity.
This guide aims to demystify the process of setting up and optimizing PPC campaigns for businesses operating in multiple locations. We will walk you through the essential strategies for structuring your accounts, targeting effectively, and customizing your ads to resonate locally. Whether you’re a small business expanding into new markets or a large enterprise refining your existing campaigns, you’ll find actionable insights and advanced techniques to enhance your PPC performance across all your locations.
What is a multi-location business?
Multi-location businesses can be broadly categorized into three distinct types, each with its own operational structure and management needs. Understanding these categories is essential for devising effective strategies tailored to each business model.
Enterprises
Enterprises are typically large companies with operations that span multiple geographic regions, including international borders. These businesses maintain a unified brand identity across all locations, which requires a cohesive strategy for branding, marketing, and operations. They often deal with complex logistics and must align their corporate policies across diverse markets to ensure a consistent brand experience.
Franchises
Franchises operate under a model where individual business owners buy licenses to open and operate a store under a larger brand’s name. While each franchisee owns their outlet, all locations share a common branding and business model provided by the franchisor. This setup allows for local adaptation within a standardized business framework, making it crucial to balance uniformity with flexibility to meet regional customer needs and compliance.
Brands with multiple stores
A single brand with multiple stores refers to a business that operates several retail locations under one corporate umbrella. Unlike franchises, these stores are not independently owned but are managed directly by the company. This model allows for more direct control over operations, marketing, and the customer experience at each location. Tailoring products and services to local tastes and preferences, while maintaining overall brand consistency, is often a key strategy for these businesses.
Understanding multi-location PPC
Multi-location PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is a digital marketing strategy in which businesses manage and optimize PPC campaigns across multiple geographical locations. This approach involves creating separate campaigns or tailoring existing campaigns specifically to different areas, cities, or regions where the business operates. The goal is to target local audiences more precisely by using region-specific keywords, ad copy, and landing pages that resonate with the local demographic, cultural, and economic contexts of each location.
Advantages of multi-location PPC advertising
In today’s digital-first world, consumers expect personalization and relevance in advertising. The rise of local search trends, facilitated by mobile internet access, has made it increasingly important for businesses to adopt a localized approach to their advertising efforts. Google reports that “near me” or local intent searches have grown significantly over the years, and optimizing PPC campaigns for specific localities can help businesses capture these high-intent searches.
Moreover, as businesses expand into new markets, a one-size-fits-all strategy becomes less effective. Multi-location PPC allows businesses to compete locally, which is crucial in markets that are culturally diverse and geographically dispersed.
Increased relevance and engagement
By tailoring ads to the local context, companies can increase the relevance of their messaging, which in turn improves user engagement and conversion rates. Localized ads can address specific weather conditions, local events, or regional preferences, making them more appealing to the audience.
Scalability and flexibility
Businesses can scale their efforts up or down based on the performance of individual locations. This flexibility allows for more efficient budget allocation and the ability to quickly adapt strategies in response to market changes or business priorities.
Enhanced competitive edge
Multi-location PPC strategies enable businesses to outmaneuver local competitors by targeting niche markets with highly specific ad campaigns. This localized focus can be especially effective in densely populated or highly competitive markets.
Improved cost efficiency
By focusing ad spend on targeted regions rather than a broad, less specific audience, businesses can achieve higher ROI. Localized campaigns often have lower cost per clicks (CPC) due to less competition for highly specific keywords compared to more generic, highly sought-after ones. For instance, a keyword phrase like “coffee shop downtown Phoenix” is likely to have less competition than a more generic term like “coffee shop,” leading to a lower cost per click.
When campaigns are localized, they specifically target the demographic most likely to be interested in the product or service, which inherently reduces wastage of resources on uninterested audiences. This precise targeting ensures that each dollar spent is reaching a potential customer, rather than being diluted across a wide area where the interest may be sporadic.
Better data insights
Running campaigns across multiple locations generates valuable data on consumer behaviour in different regions. This data can inform broader marketing strategies and help businesses understand market trends, regional preferences, and effective messaging.
To recap, multi-location PPC advertising not only meets the demand for personalized and localized content but also provides strategic benefits by improving engagement, maximizing efficiency, and offering deeper insights into different markets. As businesses continue to expand and diversify, the ability to effectively manage PPC campaigns at the local level becomes a critical component of digital marketing success.
Challenges of multi-location PPC
When deploying multi-location PPC advertising strategies, businesses face a variety of challenges that can affect the success and efficiency of their campaigns. Addressing these issues requires careful planning and strategic insight. Here are some of the common challenges faced:
Differing local competition
Managing PPC campaigns across different locations means facing varied local competitors with differing levels of PPC sophistication and budget. In some markets, local businesses may dominate, making it difficult for new entrants to gain visibility. Advertisers must constantly research and adapt their strategies to each market’s competitive landscape, which can be resource-intensive.
Geographic targeting nuances
Effective geographic targeting requires understanding local search behaviours, language preferences, and cultural nuances, which influence ad effectiveness. Mistakes in targeting can lead to ads reaching irrelevant audiences, wasting budget, or missing key demographics due to overly broad or inaccurate targeting efforts.
Budget distribution complexities
Allocating budgets across multiple locations involves determining how much to spend in each area based on market size, potential ROI, and competitive intensity. Ineffective budget allocation can underfund successful markets or waste resources on low-return areas, diminishing the overall campaign efficacy.
Local consumer behaviour variations
Consumer behaviours vary widely due to regional economic, cultural, and social differences. Advertisers need to customize their messaging and offers to meet local expectations and preferences, which requires in-depth market research and continuous A/B testing to refine approaches.
Regulatory and legal considerations
Different regions may have unique advertising regulations, such as data privacy laws, which affect campaign setup and data handling. Non-compliance with these regulations can lead to legal repercussions, financial penalties, and damage to brand reputation.
Language and cultural barriers
Creating campaigns in multiple languages and adapting content for cultural relevance is crucial when targeting diverse locations. Poor translation or cultural adaptation can alienate potential customers and decrease the overall effectiveness of advertising efforts.
Management and coordination efforts
Coordinating PPC campaigns across various locations requires robust management systems and efficient processes. Without streamlined management, campaigns can suffer from inconsistencies in execution and difficulties in performance monitoring, complicating optimization and scaling efforts.
Setting up your multi-location PPC campaigns for success
Account & campaign structure
For businesses managing PPC campaigns across multiple locations, choosing the right structure for Google Ads accounts is critical. Different strategies can be employed depending on the size of the business, the diversity of the market conditions, and the specific management preferences. Here is an overview of how to set up your multi-location PPC campaigns, exploring both multi-account strategies and single-account strategies, each with its own set of strategies and benefits.
Hierarchical account structure using MCC (My Client Center)
Managing PPC campaigns across multiple locations can be streamlined using a hierarchical account structure with Google’s My Client Center (MCC). This approach organizes individual Google Ads accounts for each location under a central MCC account, allowing businesses to maintain a unified overview while granting autonomy to each location. This structure is ideal for large enterprises or growing businesses that need to separate their marketing efforts by region while keeping centralized control over the overarching strategies and budgets. The MCC setup enhances organizational clarity, facilitates better financial management, and provides the flexibility needed to adapt to local market conditions effectively.
Setup
Create a master MCC account to serve as the central command point that oversees individual accounts for each location.
Pros
Centralized control with brand-specific advertising
The MCC structure is particularly beneficial for businesses operating under a house of brands or businesses that may own other sub-brands, child companies or federations where each business has its own distinct branding and marketing needs. By using an MCC account, these businesses can manage and execute separate advertising campaigns while maintaining centralized control and oversight at the MCC level. This setup allows for tailored marketing strategies that respect the unique identity of each brand, yet it streamlines administration and provides cohesive performance insights across all brands and locations.
Financial flexibility
Each location can have its own payment method, allowing for more flexibility over budget allocation and financial management.
Tailored advertising
Allows for highly customized marketing strategies that cater to the local audience’s specific needs and conditions.
Scalable management
Easy to add new locations as separate accounts under the MCC, facilitating expansion and maintaining organizational clarity.
Enhanced oversight
Provides a comprehensive view of performance across all locations while maintaining the ability to drill down into specific regional details.
Cons
Complex setup and management
Establishing and managing a hierarchical structure with individual accounts for each location can be complex and time-consuming. This complexity requires a high level of expertise and often a dedicated team to manage the intricacies of multiple accounts.
Increased administrative overhead
Each individual account under an MCC may require separate billing, reporting, and compliance management, which can significantly increase administrative overhead.
Potential for inconsistencies
With campaigns being managed in separate sub-accounts, there’s a risk of inconsistencies in advertising messages and strategies, which could dilute the brand’s overall messaging and effectiveness.
Resource intensive
The need for detailed oversight and the ability to drill down into regional details demand more resources, both in terms of manpower and budget, to effectively monitor and optimize campaigns across all locations.
Single account structure
Using a single Google Ads account to manage PPC campaigns for multiple locations can also be strategically advantageous when structured properly. This approach involves setting up distinct campaigns within the account, each tailored to different geographic levels, whether they be specific locations or broader regions. Here’s how to structure and differentiate these strategies:
Separate campaigns for each location
For businesses operating multiple service areas or stores within a single corporate entity, setting up separate campaigns for each location within a single Google Ads account provides a balanced approach to local advertising. This method allows for detailed customization of marketing strategies to meet the unique demands of each location while maintaining streamlined account management. By dedicating individual campaigns to specific locations, companies can tailor their advertising messages, keywords, and budgets to enhance local relevance and effectiveness, making it easier to track performance and optimize ROI on a per-location basis.
Setup
Create an individual campaign for each physical location or major area where the business operates. This could mean a separate campaign for each city where a store is located or each service area within a city.
Pros
Optimal resource & budget allocation
Marketers can allocate budgets more precisely, directing funds to locations showing the best performance or highest potential. This ensures that spending contributes directly to areas of the business where ROI is maximized.
Scalable performance
Campaigns can be scaled up or down at the individual location level based on performance metrics, market conditions, and seasonal demands, allowing for agile responses to market opportunities.
Highly relevant advertising
Campaigns can be highly customized for local audiences, increasing relevance and engagement.
Detailed performance tracking
Allows for granular analysis of metrics and performance by location, facilitating more informed marketing decisions and budget adjustments.
Adaptability
Each campaign can quickly adapt to changes or opportunities within its specific market without impacting other areas.
Cons
Increased management complexity
While having separate campaigns allows for targeted advertising, it also increases the complexity of campaign management, requiring more time and expertise to oversee effectively. As the number of locations increases, the account can also become cluttered with campaigns, making it harder to manage. This setup might not scale well with business growth, especially if new locations are frequently added.
Risk of suboptimal spend without close monitoring
Managing separate campaigns for each location within a single account can lead to challenges in resource allocation. Balancing budgets, bids, and adjustments across numerous campaigns can become cumbersome and may lead to suboptimal allocation of advertising spend if campaign performance is not closely monitored.
Risk of inconsistent brand messaging
Managing multiple campaigns independently risks creating inconsistencies in brand messaging and customer experience across different locations if not carefully coordinated.
Risk of overlapping audiences
Without careful management, there can be overlap in targeting across campaigns, which could lead to internal competition and increased cost per click, reducing overall campaign efficiency.
Separate campaigns for different regions (cities, provinces, states, countries)
Alternatively, businesses that cover larger geographic areas, such as multiple cities, provinces/states, or even countries, may benefit from organizing their Google Ads into separate campaigns for different regions within a single account. This strategy focuses on regional customization, aligning marketing efforts with the broader economic and cultural characteristics of each area. It simplifies management compared to handling numerous local campaigns and allows marketers to allocate resources more efficiently by focusing on regional market trends and potential. This approach is particularly useful for companies looking to leverage regional brand presence while maintaining the ability to adjust and respond to regional market dynamics effectively.
Setup
Organize campaigns according to broader geographic divisions, such as by major city, province, state, or even country, depending on the business’s scale and market presence.
Pros
Enhanced scale efficiency
Managing fewer, broader campaigns reduces complexity, allowing for a more centralized approach to oversight. This setup is particularly advantageous for medium to large businesses that operate in numerous locales but want to maintain control from a central hub.
Resource & budget optimization
Focusing resources on fewer, larger campaigns can allow for more strategic budget allocation. Marketing funds can be directed towards regions showing the greatest potential for growth or ROI, ensuring optimal use of available budgets.
Leverage regional trends
With a broader view, it becomes easier to identify and leverage regional trends that may not be apparent at the micro-local level. This can create opportunities to pioneer market shifts or innovation within the region, giving businesses a competitive edge.
Streamlined localization
By approaching localization on a regional scale, businesses can achieve a balance between tailored content that speaks to local audiences and the efficiencies gained from broader targeting. This strategy is particularly effective in areas where regional identities are strong and where differences between neighboring locales might not be stark enough to necessitate highly individualized marketing efforts.
Cons
Generalization risks
While this strategy simplifies management by reducing the number of campaigns, it might also force a generalization of advertising efforts. This can result in ads that are not as finely tuned to local nuances as they could be, potentially reducing their effectiveness.
Difficulties in fine-tuning
Managing broader regional campaigns may make it difficult to fine-tune strategies for specific local markets within those regions. This could lead to missed opportunities in particular locales that have unique characteristics or needs that are not addressed by broader regional strategies.
Complex geographic segmentation
Effective segmentation and targeting at the regional level require sophisticated understanding and implementation of geographic targeting settings. This complexity can be a barrier, especially for businesses without advanced PPC expertise.
Optimizing your multi-location PPC campaigns
Conducting keyword research tailored to each locale
When managing PPC campaigns across multiple locations, optimizing each campaign to align with local preferences and search behaviours is crucial. This involves conducting thorough keyword research tailored to each locale and understanding the nuances of local dialects and search habits. Here’s how to approach these tasks effectively:
Use local search data
Start by accessing search data specific to each location. Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner allow you to filter keyword searches by geographic areas, providing insights into what local consumers are searching for. This data should guide your keyword selection process.
Analyze competitor keywords
Look at the keywords that local competitors are targeting. Tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs can provide insights into the keywords that drive traffic to competitors’ sites within specific locales. Adapt these findings to your advantage by either targeting these same keywords or identifying gaps in the competitors’ strategies.
Keyword localization
Adapt keywords to reflect local language nuances, including regional dialects or slang. For example, the term for “soda” varies significantly in the U.S., being commonly called “pop” in the Midwest and “coke” in some Southern areas.
Seasonal and cultural variations
Be aware of local events, holidays, and seasons that might influence search behaviour. Tailoring keywords to include references to local festivals or seasonal activities can capture timely traffic.
Creating ads that resonate with local audiences
For businesses operating in multiple locations, the ability to create ads that resonate with local audiences is key to enhancing engagement and improving conversion rates. This involves not only tailoring the ad content to reflect local culture and language but also dynamically adjusting ads based on real-time factors such as location, time, weather, and other local conditions. Here’s how to effectively craft and adapt your ads:
Time-sensitive adjustments
Dayparting: Tailor ad presentations during different parts of the day to match local routines. For example, coffee-related ads might perform better in the morning, while ads for entertainment or dining could be more effective in the evening.
Time zone considerations: When dealing with locations across different time zones, adjust your ad scheduling to appear at optimal times in each zone.
Weather-triggered advertising: Use real-time weather conditions to trigger specific ads. This technique is particularly effective for products or services that are weather-dependent. For example, promoting air conditioners during hot spells or umbrellas when it’s raining. Tools like Google Ads scripts can automate these adjustments based on weather APIs, enabling ads to change content automatically when certain weather conditions are met.
Dynamic location insertion
Location insertion in responsive search ads is a powerful feature that allows advertisers to dynamically tailor ad headlines and descriptions to the user’s specific location. This enhances ad relevance and can significantly improve engagement rates. Here’s how to effectively implement location insertion in your ad campaigns:
To implement location insertion, use the {LOCATION} parameter in your ad text. This parameter can be added to headlines or descriptions. For example, “Find the Best Pizza in {LOCATION(City)}!” Google will automatically replace {LOCATION(City)} with the city name based on the user’s location or the location targeting settings of your campaign.
It’s essential to provide fallback text in case the location data isn’t available. This is done by specifying default text within your insertion parameter, such as {LOCATION(City):the city}. In this case, “the city” will be used if the specific location can’t be determined.
Set up location extensions
Enhance your ads by adding location extensions. These extensions display your business address, phone number, and a map marker alongside your ads, providing a quick way for potential customers to see how close they are to your business. To do this, you simply need to link your Google Business Profiles to your Google Ads account and ensure location extensions are enabled under your account assets.
Optimizing campaigns with localized landing pages
Creating localized landing pages is key for businesses operating in multiple geographical locations, as it enhances user engagement and increases conversions by making content more relevant and relatable. Here’s how localizing your landing pages can transform your digital marketing efforts:
Dynamic location text insertion: Use dynamic location insertion in your landing page headlines and text to automatically include the user’s city or region, making them instantly relevant and increasing conversion rates.
Cultural resonance: Incorporate local landmarks, cultural references, and essential information like store hours and directions to enhance relevance and improve user experience.
Localized promotions: Tailor offers to local events and holidays to drive traffic and conversions, leveraging insights from different regional landing pages to refine marketing strategies.
Utilizing localized content and dynamic location features in your landing pages not only strengthens regional engagement but also enhances your overall marketing efforts by connecting more deeply with diverse audiences.
Advanced techniques and tools for multi-location PPC
Leveraging advanced tools like budget pacing and PPC management software is crucial for effectively handling multi-location PPC campaigns. These tools not only streamline operations but also enhance the precision and effectiveness of your advertising efforts across various geographies.
Budget pacing
Budget pacing tools are crucial for effectively managing advertising spend across diverse campaigns and locations. These tools help ensure that your budget is used strategically, preventing both overspending and underspending. By adapting in real-time to changes in campaign performance and market conditions, they are particularly valuable for businesses operating across multiple regional markets, maintaining a balanced ad spend throughout the campaign’s duration.
Effective spend management
Budget pacing tools are essential for managing how your advertising budget is spent over a specified period. These tools ensure that you don’t burn through your budget too quickly or under-spend and miss out on potential market opportunities. For campaigns spread across multiple locations, this means you can allocate your budget proportionally, ensuring that all locations receive adequate funding based on their specific needs and market dynamics.
Real-time adjustment
These tools adjust your spending in real-time based on a variety of factors including campaign performance, changes in competition, and shifts in market demand. This is particularly beneficial for businesses managing campaigns across different time zones and regional markets, as it allows for adjustments that align with each location’s unique operating hours and peak periods.
PPC management software
When managing PPC campaigns for multiple locations, using powerful PPC management tools can streamline your efforts and optimize performance. Platforms like Optmyzr and Skai (formerly Kenshoo) offer a suite of features that cater to complex, geographically dispersed campaigns. These tools provide everything from automated bid management to detailed analytics, helping you make data-driven decisions that enhance campaign effectiveness.
Centralized control
PPC management software provides a central platform from which to manage all aspects of your campaigns across multiple locations. This centralized approach simplifies the management process, providing a holistic view of performance metrics, which can be drilled down by location. Such an overview is invaluable for identifying which areas are performing well and which need adjustment.
Automated optimizations
With features that automate bid adjustments, keyword optimizations, and ad placements, PPC management software reduces the workload on your marketing team. Automation ensures that campaigns are optimized based on the most current data, leading to more informed decision-making and improved campaign performance.
Detailed analytics and reporting
These tools offer robust analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing you to generate detailed insights about each location’s performance. Understanding these analytics enables marketers to tailor strategies to maximize ROI specifically tailored to regional characteristics and consumer behaviours.
Ready to grow your multi-location business?
Shifting to a localized PPC strategy not only meets specific market demands but also capitalizes on local trends, optimizing ad spend and sharpening your competitive edge. Multi-location PPC poses unique challenges, from diverse competitive landscapes to varied consumer preferences, emphasizing the need for sophisticated management tools. By integrating advanced strategies and tools like those offered by seoplus+, you can ensure that your campaigns are adaptable, data-driven, and strategically aligned. As the digital landscape evolves, mastering these dynamic, localized approaches is crucial for not just surviving but thriving in your current markets and beyond, turning geographical diversity into a significant competitive advantage.
Ready to elevate your multi-location PPC campaigns to the next level? Contact seoplus+ today. Our team of experts is equipped with the tools and expertise needed to refine your PPC strategies, ensuring they are perfectly tailored to each of your locations. Let us help you maximize your ROI, outmaneuver the competition, and achieve outstanding results across all markets. Get in touch with seoplus+ now and take the first step towards transforming your digital advertising strategy.
