It can be difficult for smaller insurance agencies to compete when looking for new leads and potential customers. Could Google Ads be the answer to your marketing problems?

Google Ads, previously known as Google AdWords, is a paid online advertising platform where you can create marketing copy to appear at the top of related search engine results.

Google Ads will always appear above organic searches for the keywords you've chosen. But, just because you've paid for your ad, it doesn't necessarily mean it will appear right at the top. There will always be other paid advertisements competing for this space.

For example, if you search on Google for “insurance agencies near me," you'll see the top handful of results are sponsored content. 

Google Ads uses pay-per-click (PPC) marketing, which means you pay a small fee whenever someone clicks on your ad. 

As Google Ads also functions as a marketplace, marketers must bid on keywords to secure their space. It isn't always a case of “the highest bid wins," so you'll need to do your research before creating your ad copy.

Of course, you should make sure you have a way to monitor how well your marketing is working, especially if you're paying for it. To get the most out of Google Ads, you should consider using it alongside a sales enablement tool. This means all the data collected can be used to follow up on potential leads and create customer lists and new marketing campaigns.

You can also connect Google Ads and Facebook ads to Google Sheets, making it simpler to generate reports on your progress. This means you can easily see whether or not your current approach is benefiting your agency.

Here are four benefits of Google Ads for small agencies: 

1) You can use your niches to your advantage. If you provide some sort of specialty insurance, such as coverage for classic cars, Google Ads can set you apart from more generic insurance brokers. By cleverly using keywords in your ads, your company can ensure it shows up in more searches than mainstream agencies.

2) Easily tweak your keywords. One of the best things about Google Ads is that advertisements and campaigns are adjustable. So, if an ad is generating fewer clicks than you were hoping, you can change it. Play around with keywords to see which ones attract the right audience.

3) You can change directions quickly. The results with Google Ads are pretty fast, so you'll quickly know whether your ad campaign is working. This means you'll waste less time and money in the long run.

4) You have control over your budget. Not only does Google Ads use a PPC format, but you can set limits, meaning you don't have to continuously check whether your campaign has gone over your allotted expenditure.

Grace Lau is director of content at Dialpad.