Set new customer acquisition goals

Google recently introduced its newest type of goal for advertisers: customer acquisition goals.

The Customer acquisition objective efficiently finds new customers through different Google Ads campaign types based on marketing goals.

In its recent tutorial video, Google broke down how the new customer acquisition objective works and how it’s supported.

How the customer acquisition objective works

New customers are identified via three data sources:

• Customer Match Lists (First Party Data)
• Google tag
• Automatic detection signals

Google supports two different customer acquisition modes:

• New customer value mode. Bid higher for new customers than for existing customers. The retail and online sales goals are supported with this option.
• New customer only mode. Only bid for new customers. Retail, online sales, and lead generation goals are all supported with this option.

The customer acquisition goal can be set up for new and existing campaigns.

Setting up the goal for new Performance Max campaigns

Customer acquisition goal selection for a new Performance Max campaign is done during campaign creation.

First select Performance Max as campaign type and name the campaign.

The second step is to set the bid in which the new acquisition target type resides.

When using New Customer Value mode.

Once the customer acquisition box above is checked, the advertiser will be prompted to select from existing audience segments.

After the target groups have been selected, a value must be assigned to customer acquisition.

The value is attributed to new customer conversions, which helps Smart Bidding to optimize for new customers.

Google recommends setting the value to a new customer’s expected future organic revenue for best results.

Once the value is set, continue setting up the Performance Max campaign as usual.

When using New Customers Only mode.

The process for adding the customer acquisition goal is the same as above, except you choose this option instead:

• “Bid for new customers only.”

This limits targeting to finding new customers.

Google recommends setting up a separate campaign for existing customers so as not to limit the reach too much. ROAS targets should differ between the two campaigns based on user behavior and past performance.

Setting up the goal for existing campaigns

The customer acquisition objective is available for these existing campaign types:

• power max
• Seek
• video action

#1: Configure Customer Acquisition Goal in Conversions

To do this, navigate to “Tools & Settings” >> “Conversions” >> “Customer Acquisition – Setup”

The target setup is the same as the previous instructions:

1. Select existing customer lists
2. Set the value assigned to customer acquisition

This is now set up at the account level and can be added to existing campaigns.

#2: Configure the customer acquisition goal in the campaign

First, select the campaign that will use the new goal type. Click on the “Settings” tab in the left menu bar.

Then check the “Customer Acquisition” box, which opens the target window.

Finally, select the appropriate customer acquisition type for the respective campaign and then click on “Save”.

How to measure the performance of new customers

The reporting upgrades are among the most exciting updates to the Customer acquisition objective type.

A new column for “new customers” is available in the Google Ads online interface.

The New Customers column shows the number of new customers acquired by each campaign type with the goal.

In addition to the new reports available, it helps calculate key metrics like customer acquisition costs.

Summary

Google’s newest customer acquisition goal helps advertisers use their marketing spend more strategically.

By balancing the need for new customers and key business metrics like ROAS or profitability, the customer acquisition goal helps attract new customers while meeting those goals.

Check out the full Google Ads tutorial here.

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