Hagakure method: what is this way of structuring your Google Ads campaigns?

If there is one certainty that advertisers can have, it is that in the future, Google Ads will become more and more automated, and there will be less and less control over advertisements, and that To adapt to this evolution, the Hagakure method appeared in 2018, with which Google Ads experts are very familiar.

The Hagakure method consists of structuring its Google Ads campaigns in such a way as to facilitate the work of Google’s smartbidding, thanks to less granular campaigns. The end goal? Maximize the performance of its advertisements on Google.

The Hagakure method embodies the evolution of SEA

From the days when Google Ads experts structured their campaigns in a very granular way

Paid referencing has always been akin to “relevance marketing”, the challenge of which is to match an advertisement with a specific consumer intention, expressed on a search engine.

This is why it was customary for Google Ads account managers to opt for very granular campaign structures, to ensure maximum control over the bids and ads displayed for a given keyword (as with the SKAG structure for example ).

For example, on a ready-to-wear site, an “SEA pilot” in manual mode could have created:

• a campaign women’s t-shirt
• a campaign mens t shirt
• women’s pants campaign
• a campaign for men’s trousers
• a women’s jeans campaign
• a men’s jeans campaign
• etc

SEA paid referencing has moved to a “semantic” logic

As search engines have become smarter than they were in 2000, SEO and SEA professionals now know that it is the user’s intent that counts more than the keyword in them. -even.

An advertisement that would be triggered by a request such as “landscaper” could also interest an Internet user who would search for “to have his hedges cut”.

This is why in SEA (as in SEO), the destination context takes precedence over the keyword itself.

Precisely, according to the hagakure method, it is no longer the keyword the input key, but rather the destination URL. The principle consists in grouping together all the keywords associated with a given landing page, in the same AdGroup.

Structuring your Google Ads campaigns according to the Hagakure method

The principles erected by the Hagakure method

So how do you concretely structure your Google Ads campaigns, according to the Hagakure method?

• The entry key is no longer the keyword itself, but the destination pages that are promoted (1 ad group = 1 destination URL).
• The Hagakure method recommends using Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) campaigns/adgroups to capture queries that would have been “missed” in traditional campaigns (after all, there are always new queries popping up every day – 15% to be precise – and it is impossible to anticipate in advance).
• The purist of the Hagakure method will prefer a broad type of match of keywords, in order to leave more freedom to the algorithm to learn more quickly, on a larger semantic field.

The result: simplified accounts that are easier to manage and tailored to Google Ads automation

Therefore, the Hagakure method recommends a simpler, less extensive campaign structure than in the past.

This simplification of the account obviously brings operational benefits:

• The reading, interpretation and reporting of the account are greatly simplified.
• Google’s machine learning has “room to learn” to learn fast, and thus deliver better results, faster.

A simpler campaign structure, to aggregate more data

The challenge of the method for the advertiser is that each campaign can collect a large volume of statistics, quickly. This makes it possible to better feed Google’s smartbidding, which automatically manages the advertiser’s bids in real time.

In other words, the formula of the Hagakure method is:

• More data at the level of each ad group,
• for an algorithm that learns faster,
• and which can thus bring better advertising results,
• faster

In a perfect world, Google estimates that an ad group with more than 3,000 impressions per week is in a good position to get the most out of smartbidding.

Note, however, that over time, Google engineers manage to improve the algorithm so that the results are there, even with less data than that.

Hagakure Method + Google Ads Automation = better together

The Hagakure method embodies a new mindset, which embraces the automated features of Google Ads

Adopting the Hagakure method makes sense if you deploy the full panoply of Google Ads automated features:

• automatic bidding ( smarbidding )
• Dynamic Search Network Campaigns ( DSA )
• responsive search ads ( RSA )
• hearings ( RLSA )
• data-driven conversion attribution ( DDA )

Optimizing a Google Ads account with the Hagakure method requires tact, and space for the algorithm

Since your goal with such an account structure is to “educate” Google’s machine learning, you will be careful not to make too sudden changes, which could disrupt the algorithms (for example, going from a ROAS of 4 to 8 at once). It is recommended to make gradual adjustments of no more than 15% to gradually achieve the desired performance.

The Hagakure method of structuring campaigns also makes it easier to use the broad match type for your keywords. With an account structure tailored for automation, it makes sense to remove as many constraints as possible from the system to let it learn and adjust freely.

Conclusion

The Hagakure method embodies this change in the SEA paradigm, which gives pride of place to the automation of your entire Google Ads account.

However, this does not sound the death knell for more granular account structures, which allow for more control. It is indeed necessary to find the right balance between “control” and “automation”. »

It is common for SEA experts to opt for hybrid structures, where very granular campaigns will be set up for the strategic keywords (those that represent the bulk of the spend), and campaigns implemented according to the principles of the Hagakure method for the rest of the account.

Hagakure Method FAQs