Selling a Service with No Search Volume

During a recent marketing consultation with a client, we ran into a few challenges. After initially talking about the service, our team looked at the keyword research for the term and found an issue. The term had almost no search volume, but the client was interested in running Google Search campaigns. 

This is a semi-rare issue that usually occurs when someone is advertising a product or service that their audience isn’t aware of, or that hasn’t existed, until now. Or, perhaps, the service is so specific that it’s nearly non-existent in search.

Why We Pivoted from Google Search Ads 

That’s a problem when you want to run a Google Search Ad campaign.

Why?

Because those ads rely on people searching for key terms and sentiments that match the content of your ad. 

For example, if the ad is promoting “pickleball paddles,” then the ad would appear when someone searched for “pickleball paddles,” or a set of similar terms you included in your targeting (perhaps “best pickleball paddles,” or “carbon fiber pickleball paddles” if applicable). 

If no one searched for this client’s service, and there were no other similar terms to target, the ad wasn’t going to show up. 

Our Solution: LinkedIn 

Instead of carrying on with the Google Search Ads, we stopped and talked through our concerns and recommendations with the client. 

For this client, the solution was easy: run the campaign on LinkedIn instead of Google Search so we could educate the client’s specific audience about their service. There, the ads would show up even if no one searched for them.

Bonus? The client’s audience was most targetable through that platform thanks to LinkedIn’s ability to target based on job titles (other ad platforms allow you to do this as well, but since people go to LinkedIn specifically to promote their job title, it’s a very reliable platform for this). 

Tapping Into The LinkedIn Audience Network 

Of course, we also made sure to note that running ads through LinkedIn doesn’t mean they only show up on LinkedIn. 

Certain LinkedIn ad formats allow you to utilize the LinkedIn Audience Network, which publishes your content on LinkedIn as well as third party sites and apps. 

Better yet, though, is the fact that in the advanced settings we can manage which sites and apps we want to display the ads. 

Where Consulting Helps 

Like most aspects of marketing, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. 

What we loved about this scenario was that a client came with a great service and a desire to run digital ads, and we were able to help them find the best platform for the job. 

If you’re unsure of where to run your ads, or want someone to manage them for you, reach out to us to set up a marketing consultation. 

We’ll advise you on the best platform for your campaign and, if you want us to, provide a zero-obligation follow up proposal with how much it would cost for us to run and manage it.