4 min read
Gmail can arguably be termed as the most popular and most handy email service nowadays. Even though Google was quite late in launching its email service and in the earlier days of the Internet, the email market was dominated by Hotmail (now known as Outlook) and Yahoo.
When Gmail saw the light of the day for the first time in 2004, circumstances meant it had a lot of catching up to do. But Gmail did that in style. Gmail set out on a mission to roll large-scale innovation in the email provider industry which hadn’t even been imagined before. Owing to these unique offerings Gmail is enjoying a comfortable lead over its peers with over 1 billion users.
It is this immense popularity of Gmail with users worldwide that has translated into a boon for Google in so many ways. Serving an extremely loyal user base means Google can now open up Gmail for advertisers and milk some hefty sums of money. Yes, I am referring to the ads that appear under the Promotions tab in your Gmail inbox. And as a consequence, corporations (varying in size and business) have capitalized on this opportunity in huge numbers particularly in South Asia, as this region is home to millions of active Gmail users.
Below are a few run-down stats related to email marketing (Gmail specific only) in India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka for the calendar year 2015.
Standard Gmail Advertising Values for India
- Click-through Rate / Click Rate: 9.09%
- Cost per Click: USD 0.04
- Gmail Ad Impressions: 1500m to 1600m (approximately)
- Gmail Clicks: 135m – 140m (approximately)
Miscellaneous Stats:
- Internet users: 400m
- Mobile Internet Users: 371m
Standard Gmail Advertising Values for Pakistan
- Click-through Rate / Click Rate: 8.24%
- Cost per Click: USD 0.06
- Gmail Ad Impressions: 7.5m – 7.9m (approximately)
- Gmail Clicks: 0.55m – 0.7m (approximately)
Miscellaneous Stats
- Internet users: 35m
- Mobile Internet Users: 15m
Standard Gmail Advertising Values for Sri Lanka
- Click-through Rate / Click Rate: 9.82%
- Cost per Click: USD 0.03
- Gmail Ad Impressions: 1.5m – 1.6m (approximately)
- Gmail Clicks: 0.1m – 0.2m (approximately)
Miscellaneous Stats
- Internet users: 4.7m
- Mobile Internet Users: 3.6m
Creating Gmail Ads
Gmail ads can be created using the Google Adwords tool. Creating a Gmail ad using Google Adwords is pretty straightforward and highly rewarding provided you truly understand your target audience and target them wisely. Using innovative and catchy graphics as well as fully functional landing pages is also a must-accompany sort of stuff for an ad to achieve the desired results.
If you’re going to launch your first Gmail ads campaign, follow these steps:
- Sign up for Google Adwords account. Gmail users can use their current email address for creating an advertiser account. However, it is recommended to make a separate account that should be the property of the business you want to promote.
- Once your account is created, it’s the time to setup your first campaign. To target Gmail users, make sure you start the ‘DISPLAY Campaign’ and create an Adgroup after completing the ‘Targeting’ section. Targeting allows you to target people based on their locations, languages and other similar distinctive demographics to make your campaign as effective as possible. It should not be taken lightly!
- While creating the Adgroup, further refine your targeting by adding Keywords and Topics, and do not forget to add mail.google.com as the Google Placement in order to let your ads serve to Gmail users.
- Next comes the creative section that involves graphics. Google Adwords now allow advertisers to add responsive ads with Aspect ratio 1:91:1 (landscape). Dimensions: 1200×628 (suggested), 600×314 (minimum). File size: 1MB limit. It also allows ads of 650×500 and 650×1000 dimensions.
Since Gmail is yet to mature as far as marketing is concerned, you can count yourself extremely lucky and make the most out of the lower advertising costs being offered currently. Last, but certainly not the least, you can set keywords yourself and ensure there aren’t any contextual loopholes whatsoever as far as ad delivery is concerned.
