Opportunity Abounds – Multilingual Google Ads

Language is a great way to bridge cultural gaps and relate to a specific audience. Did you know that Google Ads lets you use language targeting in your advertising? When running Google Ads campaigns in countries with multiple official languages, you can use multilingual Google Ads as a powerful tool to target an audience that speaks a specific language and customise your messaging for them. This is an excellent way to increase relevance of your ads to improve user experience and enhance conversion rates.

There are a few things to keep in mind, however, when using Google Ads language targeting to make sure you get the best out of your campaigns. The most important thing to keep in mind is that your campaign uses the languages you are targeting across all touch points – specifically, ad copy, keyword selection and landing page/s. 

Google Ads Language Targeting and Keyword Selection

Google Ads can target audiences in one specific language, multiple languages or all languages. Google Ads has a sophisticated language recognition system that enables your ads to appear in searches conducted in a variety of languages. When setting up a multilingual Google Ads campaign, you can select the languages your audience speaks, ensuring your ads are displayed to the right people. However, it’s important to note that Google Ads was designed for and primarily operates in the English language, meaning that translation and localisation of keywords can be challenging.

Keywords are the cornerstone of any Google Ads campaign, and when working across multiple languages, the challenge is to maintain consistency in messaging while adapting to linguistic differences. Translating keywords directly may not be effective as a keyword in English may not have a direct translation in another language or might require a different phrasing to resonate with local audiences. Understanding cultural nuances and search behaviors in each language is also helpful for best results.

Location Targeting and Audience Definitions

Location targeting in Google Ads allows you to narrow down your audience based on geographical boundaries. In multilingual regions, this feature is invaluable as it enables you to serve ads in the appropriate language based on the user’s location. For instance, in a country like Switzerland, you could target French speakers in Geneva, German speakers in Zurich, and Italian speakers in Lugano with different ad sets tailored to each language group.

Moreover, Google Ads allows you to define your audience based on demographics, interests, and behaviors, which can be refined further by language preferences. This means you can deliver consistent messaging across different language groups while still respecting cultural and linguistic differences.

Creative Constraints: Headlines, Descriptions, and Beyond

One of the key challenges when creating multilingual campaigns in Google Ads is dealing with the platform’s constraints on headline and description lengths. What fits perfectly within the character limits in English may exceed them when translated into languages like Spanish or French, which often require more words to convey the same message. This limitation requires marketers to be creative, ensuring that the core message is not lost while adhering to the platform’s restrictions.

By prioritising essential details, using concise phrasing, or finding clever abbreviations, you can craft impactful ads that stay within the limits. Testing different versions allows you to discover what resonates best with your audience while maximising the available space. Google ads is becoming an increasingly visual experience as people change the way in which they interact online. This means that you do not need to solely rely on your written copy to communicate your message. Imagery and video options are also great communication tools to consider using when crafting your Ads campaign. 

Running multilingual Google Ads campaigns is an effective and rewarding way to communicate to your users. By leveraging Google’s language recognition, fine-tuning keyword selection, and strategically targeting by location and audience, you can effectively communicate your message to a diverse audience. It also encourages creativity as marketers may need to find new ways to communicate a message effectively with the platform’s constraints. With careful planning and a deep understanding of your audience, multilingual campaigns can drive significant results.

If you are interested in running multilingual Google advertising campaigns and need assistance, the team at Unbound are here to help. Let’s Chat.