We tested Google Discover ads for a client. The results surprised us

One of our biggest wins lately for cold traffic is Google Discover.

It’s becoming one of our strongest prospecting placements, driving up to 4.5x ROAS in some campaigns.

If you’re not familiar with it, Discover is basically Google’s “News” feed.

It pops up when people open the Google app.

And a lot of users scroll through it like a news site, looking for something interesting to read.

What makes Discover different from other Google placements is how people interact with it.

These audiences aren’t doom scrolling like on socials.

They’re not searching for an answer like on Search.

They’re browsing, reading articles, and actually engaging with the content.

So there’s a lot of potential for revenue here, if your product blends naturally into this environment.

However…

From what we’re seeing, barely anyone is advertising properly.

Most brands are running direct promotion ads that push a product or a sale.

That approach does NOT work for a top-of-funnel placement like this.

For Discover to perform, your ad angles and landing pages need to read like an article.

This is where advertorials, listicles, and sales pages work extremely well.

Instead of pitching the product, you introduce it naturally and let the content do the selling.

Check out this article for example…

You can easily position your product as a recommendation from a top chef.

Or you can feature a skincare product in an article that reads like a dermatologist’s guide…

"Top Dermatologists Recommend This Face Cleanser For Sensitive Skin"

Or position your supplement as a recommendation from nutritionists.

"The Ancient Ingredient That's Making People Ditch Their Standard Vitamins."

The key is making it look and feel like something you'd find in a legitimate publication.

One important thing to keep in mind:

The audience on Discover skews older.

That can be an issue if you sell primarily to younger audiences.

But it's a massive advantage if you target older demographics.

They spend more time consuming the content, which usually translates to higher conversion rates.

Now, to be clear… this approach isn’t new.

If you’re familiar with native ads, you’ve probably seen this type of funnel a lot.

What’s new is how few brands are testing these formats inside Demand Gen, using Discover as a placement.

But because of that…

The cold traffic we’re acquiring there is some of the most profitable we’ve seen.

So if you’re running educational pages like advertorials or listicles, definitely try this out.

And if you want to see whether Google Discover makes sense for your account…

Or if you’d like to explore what other cold traffic channels you can run with Google Ads……

Grab a call with us here.

We’ll take a look at your account and show you what you can add to scale your brand incrementally.

Jackson

CEO & Founder 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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