Running Google Ads campaigns across multiple languages or countries is a powerful way to expand your reach, but it requires careful strategy to avoid wasted spend and ensure relevance. Based on our experience managing high-volume, multi-market campaigns at Sagum, the key is to treat each market as a unique opportunity while maintaining efficient, centralized control. Below, I’ll break down the essential steps and best practices.
1. Set Up Your Google Ads Account Structure Correctly
Your account structure is the foundation. For multi-country or multi-language campaigns, the standard approach is to use separate campaigns for each country or language group. This gives you precise control over budgets, bids, and targeting. Here’s how we recommend organizing it:
- Separate campaigns per country: For example, create one campaign for the United States, one for the United Kingdom, and one for Germany. This lets you adjust bids based on local competition and performance.
- Language targeting within each campaign: Within a country campaign, you can target specific languages (e.g., Spanish and English in the US). But if you’re running ads in multiple languages in one country (like Canada with English and French), consider separate campaigns for each language to fine-tune ad copy and keywords.
- Use location targeting wisely: In the “Locations” settings, choose “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations” rather than “Interest” to ensure you’re reaching actual users in that region, not just those interested in it.
Avoid lumping all countries into one campaign with broad location targeting. That approach leads to irrelevant impressions and poor quality scores. At Sagum, we’ve found that a lean, targeted structure-like a “lean startup” approach-helps us identify winning strategies faster across markets.
2. Adapt Your Keywords for Local Languages
Simply translating your existing keyword list is not enough. You need to research local search behavior because people in different countries use different terms, even for the same product. For instance, “sneakers” in the US might be “trainers” in the UK or “chaussures” in France. Here’s how to handle it:
- Conduct local keyword research: Use Google’s Keyword Planner set to the specific country and language. Look for common phrases, slang, and spelling variations (e.g., “color” vs. “colour”).
- Create separate keyword lists per language: If you’re running campaigns in Spanish for Spain and Spanish for Mexico, treat them as distinct. Cultural nuances matter.
- Use negative keywords consistently: Exclude terms from other languages or countries that don’t apply. For example, if you only ship to the US, add “UK” as a negative keyword in English campaigns.
3. Localize Your Ad Copy and Landing Pages
Machine translation often produces awkward or incorrect copy, hurting your Quality Score and conversion rates. Invest in professional localization for your ads and landing pages. At Sagum, we prioritize empathy for the customer-meaning you need to speak their language, both literally and culturally.
- Write native ad copy: Hire native speakers for each language market. They’ll understand local idioms, currency formats, and call-to-action preferences (e.g., “Get Started” vs. “Sign Up Now” depending on the market).
- Localize landing pages: Ensure your landing pages match the language of the ad and reflect local customs (e.g., using local currency, date formats, and payment methods like Bancontact in Belgium). Mismatched pages increase bounce rates.
- Leverage extensions: Use location-specific ad extensions like call extensions with local phone numbers or sitelinks pointing to region-specific content.
4. Manage Budgets and Bids Strategically
Different countries have varying costs per click (CPC) and conversion rates. A one-size-fits-all budget won’t work. Here’s a practical approach we use with clients:
- Set separate budgets per campaign: Allocate more budget to high-opportunity markets (e.g., the US or Germany) and less to test markets. Monitor performance weekly and shift funds where needed.
- Adjust bids based on local competition: Use bid adjustments for device, location, and time of day. For example, mobile bids might be higher in markets where mobile usage dominates, like India.
- Start with manual bidding: In new markets, manual CPC bidding gives you control. Once you have data (typically 30-60 days), you can switch to automated strategies like Target CPA or Maximize Conversions, but always review the data first.
5. Monitor and Optimize with Data-Driven Dashboards
Multi-language campaigns generate a lot of data. Without proper tracking, you’ll be blind to what’s working. At Sagum, we use custom BI dashboards (partnering with tools like Grow) to centralize analytics. For your own campaigns, follow these practices:
- Set up conversion tracking correctly: Use Google Tag Manager to track conversions across all markets. Ensure your tracking is consistent regardless of language.
- Create a reporting system: Build a dashboard that shows performance by country, language, and campaign. Key metrics include impressions, CTR, conversion rate, cost per conversion, and ROAS.
- Test and iterate: Run A/B tests on ad copy, landing pages, and bidding strategies for each market. Use the 30-60-90 day framework: in the first 30 days, test and learn; in days 30-60, optimize based on data; by day 90, have a proven strategy for scale.
6. Avoid Common Pitfalls
Even experienced advertisers can make mistakes when expanding internationally. Here are a few to watch for:
- Ignoring local regulations: Some countries have strict data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR in Europe) or advertising restrictions (e.g., on alcohol or gambling). Ensure your campaigns comply.
- Not adapting to local competition: A keyword that’s cheap in one country might be expensive in another. Don’t assume global uniformity.
- Forgetting about time zones: Set ad scheduling to align with business hours in the target country. There’s no point running ads at 3 a.m. local time unless you have data showing it works.
Running multi-language or multi-country Google Ads campaigns is a rewarding challenge. The key is to start lean, test thoroughly, and scale only when you have proof of performance. As we say at Sagum, efficiency and communication are everything-so keep your structure clean, your data clear, and your goals aligned with what matters to your business in each market.
