5 types of traffic you should target on Google Ads (most brands only capture 2)

The average Google Ads account is only capturing a tiny slice of their total addressable market.

If I had to put a number on it…

They’re probably hitting 5-10% of what’s possible out there.

I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but pull up most accounts and you'll understand what I mean.

They only go after the “easy sales” like branded keywords and BOF terms.

These are profitable, but they have a ceiling, and that ceiling is low.

The good news is, other types of traffic exist. You just haven't built a strategy to capture them yet.

And to do that, you need to understand the 5 types of traffic you can target on Google Ads.

Every way of getting sales on Google falls within these buckets:

1. Branded traffic

These are people searching for your brand name or specific products you sell.

This is the easiest money you'll make on Google.

ROAS consistently hits 5-20+, and CPCs usually stay under $0.30-0.40.

2. Comparison & competitor

These are searchers either comparing options:

"best protein powder," "[competitor] vs [competitor]," "[product] reviews."

Or searching for a competitor product:

"casper mattress," "huel protein powder alternative."

Buying intent is high. Volume is decent.

This works especially well if you compete in a crowded space or have competitors with weak brand protection.

3. Product category

These are shoppers who know what product type they want but haven't decided on a brand yet.

"Running shoes." "Resistance bands." "Protein powder."

For ecom, this should be the bread and butter of your prospecting.

These are active buyers with high purchase intent.

The only issue is that you’ll have to compete with other brands and show people why they should choose you.

So it’s super important to get the top spots in the Search & Shopping results.

4. Problem-aware

This traffic comes from people searching around their pain point before they know what product solves it.

They're searching things like "how to sleep better" or "how to fix back pain from sitting all day."

You can capture this through:

• Search campaigns targeting these keywords

• Dynamic Search Ads pointing to blogs or advertorials

• Discover placements inside Demand Gen.

On Google Search, these queries have 5-10x the volume of product category terms… at a fraction of the cost.

On Discover, it's a blue ocean. Almost no one targets this traffic properly.

5. Unaware/Cold traffic

These are people not searching for anything.

You reach them through Demand Gen and YouTube Ads while they're just browsing.

This works extremely well if you have a strong creative testing process, similar to Meta.

The volume here is practically unlimited.

This traffic also strengthens your BOF performance.

By building awareness upstream, you increase overall demand, which lifts your branded and product category campaigns over time.

Just expect longer attribution windows and lower immediate ROAS as the traffic is colder.

My recommendation:

Every brand should master branded and product category traffic first.

They bring in the best roi and don’t require a complicated funnel to work. Non-negotiable for ecom.

Once that's dialed in, start layering in the others. They have less buying intent but a much bigger TAM.

But if you're serious about scaling Google Ads, you'll need to figure them out eventually.

The key is knowing where your targeting stands today and where to go next.

That starts with an honest assessment of what traffic you’re capturing... and what you’re NOT capturing.

This is what we help brands uncover in our Google Ads audit.

We’ll review your account, identify the traffic you’re missing out on, and give you actionable steps to target them.

If you’re spending at least $20k/mo on Google and want to see where your traffic “gaps” are…

You can grab a call with us here.

Jackson

Founder and CEO of Echelonn.

How we can help:

Get a free Google ads audit: For brands spending more than $20k/mo. or making over 1 million annually, we’ll identify the key bottlenecks in your account, and turn it into a free 90-day scaling plan. Click here.

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