Matt Oates
Performance Marketing Director at Skayl. 10+ years experience in Google Ads, Paid Social and Analytics.
Google Ads is constantly evolving, adapting to the latest technologies and user trends. In the past, advertisers had to micromanage their campaigns to achieve success. But with advances in data-driven marketing and automation, a new approach to Google Ads management has emerged: the Hagakure method.
The Hagakure method is a simplified approach to Google Ads that emphasises automation and broad match keywords. This approach allows advertisers to focus on their overall goals and strategies rather than getting bogged down with overcomplicated campaign management.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the Hagakure method in more detail and discuss how it can help you manage your paid search campaigns more effectively.
The Basics of the Hagakure Method: Core Principles
The Hagakure method is based on the following core principles:
Simplicity: The Hagakure method advocates for a simplified campaign structure, with fewer campaigns and ad groups. This makes it easier to manage and optimise your campaigns.
Automation: The Hagakure method encourages advertisers to use Google’s automation tools, such as Smart Bidding and Dynamic Search Ads. This allows advertisers to focus on their overall goals and strategies rather than manually adjusting campaigns, ad groups and keywords with basic optimisation techniques.
Broad match keywords: The Hagakure method recommends using broad match keywords, which allows Google’s algorithm to show your ads for a wider range of relevant searches. This can help you reach more potential customers and grow your business.
Why the Shift to the Hagakure Method?
Traditional Google Ads management can take time and effort. Advertisers need to deeply understand the platform and its many features to create and manage effective campaigns. They also need to constantly monitor their campaigns and make adjustments as needed.
This can be a challenge for even the most experienced advertisers, especially those managing multiple campaigns or needing more resources.
Benefits of Automation
Google’s automation tools can help advertisers to simplify and streamline their campaign management. These tools can automate bidding, targeting, and ad creation tasks. This frees up advertisers to focus on their overall goals and strategies.
Automation can also help advertisers to improve their campaign performance. Google’s algorithms are constantly learning and improving, and they can often make better decisions than humans.
The Need for Simplicity
Advertisers must be able to move quickly and adapt to change in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. The Hagakure method provides a streamlined approach to Google Ads management that can help advertisers stay ahead of the curve.
The following are some of the benefits of using the Hagakure method:
- Saves time and resources: The Hagakure method can save advertisers significant time and resources by reducing the manual work required to manage their campaigns.
- Improves performance: The Hagakure method can help advertisers improve their campaign performance by allowing them to leverage Google’s machine learning algorithms.
- Grows your business: The Hagakure method can help you grow your business by enabling you to reach more potential customers and generate more leads and sales.
Comparing the Traditional vs. Hagakure Method
Traditional Method
Traditional Google Ads management is often complex, with multiple campaigns, ad groups, and keywords. This can make it challenging to manage and optimise campaigns.
Hagakure Method
The Hagakure method advocates for a simplified campaign structure with fewer campaigns and ad groups. This makes it easier to manage and optimise campaigns and allows Google’s algorithms to work more effectively.
The Hagakure method for Search and Google Ads – Think with Google
Key Differences
Campaign Structure
| Traditional | Hagakure | |—|—|—| | Complex, with multiple campaigns, ad groups, and keywords | Simplified, with fewer campaigns and ad groups |
Management
| Traditional | Hagakure |
| Manual | Automated |
Focus
| Traditional | Hagakure | |
Micromanagement of campaigns | Overall goals and strategies |
Benefits of the Hagakure Method
- Easier to manage and optimise campaigns
- More effective use of Google’s algorithms
- Scalable approach
How to Implement the Hagakure Method
Assessing Your Current Campaigns
Before implementing the Hagakure method, it is essential to assess your current campaigns. This will help you to determine if the shift would be beneficial for your business, and it will also help you to plan the transition process.
To assess your current campaigns, you can consider the following factors:
- Campaign structure: Are your campaigns complex, with multiple campaigns, ad groups, and keywords?
- Management: How much time and resources do you spend managing your campaigns?
- Focus: Do you focus on micromanaging your campaigns, or do you have a more strategic approach?
- Performance: Are your campaigns meeting your goals?
If your campaigns are complex, time-consuming, and not meeting your goals, then the Hagakure method may be a good option.
Setting Clear Goals
The Hagakure method is most effective when advertisers have clear campaign goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve with your Google Ads campaigns? Do you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales?
Once you have clear goals, you can tailor your Hagakure campaigns to achieve those goals. For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, you should focus on broad match keywords and display ads. If your goal is to generate leads, you should focus on search ads and landing pages designed to capture leads.
Transitioning Your Campaigns
To transition your campaigns to the Hagakure method, you can follow these steps:
- Simplify your campaign structure: Create fewer campaigns and ad groups and focus on targeting your ideal customers.
- Set up broad match keywords: Broad match keywords allow Google to show your ads for a wider range of relevant searches.
- Leverage automation: Use Google’s automation tools, such as Smart Bidding and Dynamic Search Ads, to automate your bidding and targeting strategies.
It is important to note that the transition to the Hagakure method may take some time. Monitoring your campaigns closely during this transition period and adjusting as needed is essential.
Here are some additional tips for transitioning your campaigns to the Hagakure method:
- Start with a small number of campaigns and ad groups. This will make it easier to manage and optimise your campaigns.
- Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches.
- Regularly monitor your campaigns to see how they are performing.
- Make adjustments to your campaigns as needed.
By following these tips, you can successfully transition your campaigns to the Hagakure method and improve your Google Ads performance.
Potential Pitfalls and Considerations
Over-reliance on Automation
While automation is a critical component of the Hagakure method, it is essential to note that it is not a replacement for human oversight. It is important to regularly monitor your campaigns to see how they are performing and make adjustments as needed.
Here are some tips for monitoring your Hagakure campaigns:
- Review your search terms report to see what keywords are triggering your ads.
- Check your conversion tracking to see if your campaigns generate the desired results.
- Monitor your spending and ensure you are paying attention to relevant clicks.
Understanding Broad Match Keywords
Broad match keywords can be a powerful tool for reaching a wider audience, but it is essential to use them carefully. If you are careful, you may show your ads for irrelevant searches, which can save your budget and damage your brand reputation.
Here are some tips for using broad match keywords effectively:
- Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches.
- Start with broad match keywords and then narrow them down as needed.
- Use ad extensions to provide more information about your business and offerings.
Balancing Simplicity with Customisation
While the Hagakure method emphasises simplicity, it is essential to note that it is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Each business and campaign is different; you may need to customise your strategy accordingly.
For example, you may need to use more specific keywords if you are selling a niche product or service. You may also need to create additional campaigns and ad groups to target different audiences.
The key is finding the right balance between simplicity and customisation for each campaign.
Top Tips From Skayl Experts
Start by auditing your account.
Assess your current account structure and identify areas where you can simplify. You likely have many campaigns with a similar ROAS/CPA target that can be consolidated into one campaign. Examine the granularity of your ad groups. If there are too many, consider consolidating similar ones.
Choose your keywords carefully.
Focus on your top keywords with a proven track record of driving conversions. Run a keyword and search query report for the three months and filter keywords with more than one conversion.
Analyse both reports and identify the profitable search terms, and then you can discard the rest.
We recommend running two similar reports for the last twelve months to eliminate any seasonality.
Use the native Google Ads tag for conversion tracking.
This will ensure your conversion data is transferred to your Ads account quickly. Importing conversion data from GA4 causes 12 to 48-hour delays, so we recommend avoiding this method.
Use the data-driven attribution model.
Your customer’s path to conversion is complex. With data-driven attribution, credit will be assigned to your campaigns based on true contribution. To further improve attribution, ensure you have set up enhanced conversions too.
Use Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) to create dynamic and relevant ads.
Use dynamic keyword insertion to tailor your ads to each search query.
Keyword insertion is an intelligent way to keep your ads relevant. When you use keyword insertion, Google Ads will automatically update your ads with the specific keywords from your ad group that triggered their display. This ensures that your ads align closely with the user’s search intent.
More relevant ads are more likely to capture the attention of potential customers and improve ad performance metrics, such as click-through rates.
Track your performance closely.
Don’t expect to see results overnight. It may take time for Google’s algorithms to learn and optimise your campaigns. After you’ve activated your campaigns, we do not recommend making any changes to the structure or settings in the first 7-10 days. However, monitoring the search terms report for traffic quality is essential. Wait until your conversion delay has passed before evaluating the effectiveness of your changes.
