What the Hell is RLSA and Why Use It?

What the Hell is RLSA and Why Should Advertisers Use It?

Want to stay one-step ahead of your competitors in your Adwords paid search campaigns and introduce a strategy they probably aren’t using? In 2013, Google rolled out a new advertising feature called Remarketing List for Search Ads or RLSA. This advertising feature has gone largely unutilized, since many advertisers don’t quite understand how it works, or because Adwords Managers are content with their existing campaign performance. Let’s face it, change is hard, and after optimizing the campaign for Search, Display and Display Remarketing, why introduce something new that might consume existing budget or change the landscape of your account?

What if I told you that there is a way to adjust your bids for people that have been to your website before and are now searching on a keyword that is contained within your Adwords account. Would that visitor be of more value to you? Do you think that visitor has an increased likelihood to convert? You are probably shaking your head “yes”, saying “that is exactly the type of visitor I want to see my ad and appear higher on the page for”. Remarketing List for Search ads allow you to do just that. You can increase your cost per click bids just for those users.

When layering RLSA RSLA remarketing

into your Adwords campaign, you can think about your Adwords customers differently; those that know me and those that don’t. Mixing strategies around broad terms or long tail terms and which audience should see your ads at a specific moment make RLSA a very powerful tool to help increase your conversions and maximize success. You can also tailor messaging to these users within your RSLA lists or even RSLA negative lists.

Setting up your RSLA is as follows… (as listed in Adwords Help Center)

Set up your remarketing lists for search ads campaign

When you visit the “Audiences” section of the Shared library for the first time, you’ll find the “All visitors” list that we’ve created for you. This list will also appear on the Audiences tab, under the main Campaigns tab. Follow these steps to start using remarketing lists in your campaign:

1. Create a new “Search Network only” campaign, or select an existing search campaign and ad group.

2. Click the Audiences tab, next to the Keywords tab.

3. Click + Remarketing.

4. Click the Add targeting drop-down menu and select Remarketing.

5. Click the Select categories drop-down menu and select Remarketing lists. You’ll find the “All visitors” list and any other rule-based lists you’ve created for your different groups of site visitors. Add the remarketing list to your ad group.

My advice is to begin to think about segmenting your keywords and ad copy to target those Google searchers that have visited your website versus Google searchers that haven’t. By taking this approach, you will quickly see the value of Remarketing for Search Listing Ads (RSLA) and how it will change your campaign performance and structure.