Google Ads for heavy equipment dealers. One campaign for each category you want to sell more of.

Every build is read by Sean Cooney before it is sent.
Running Google Ads since 2001, including for construction and farm equipment brands.

Machines

The buyer choosing a machine

excavator for sale · 20 tonne excavator · compact tractor price

A long decision and a large sale. They search by category, size class and brand over weeks, and what you get is an enquiry or a quote request, not a purchase.

In the campaign: one campaign for each category page, with ad groups for size classes, for price searches and for buyers comparing brands.

Offers

The buyer waiting for the right deal

excavator finance · tractor deals · end of financial year sale

Finance offers, package deals and end of financial year sales have a start and an end, and the searches rise and fall with them.

In the campaign: a campaign of its own for each offer page, so it can be switched on and off without touching the category campaigns.

Parts, service and hire

The owner who needs a machine working

excavator parts · tractor service · equipment hire

Plenty of searches and often urgent, but a different customer and a far smaller sale. Left inside a machine campaign, they take the budget meant for sales.

In the campaign: campaigns of their own if you want that business, and negative keywords if you do not.

An example for one category. In Performance Max the groups are asset groups and audiences, and they still lead to the one page.

Three categories to advertise is three builds.

Count the pages you want to send paid traffic to. That is the number of campaigns your dealership needs.

See the Search build →

See the Performance Max build →

Or open a complete sample build, made for a fictional retailer: Search sample · Performance Max sample. Free, no email.

From running the accounts

What I have learned doing this

• An equipment account is never one campaign. For one equipment brand I have built more than 14: a campaign for each category, then campaigns for particular products, for specials and for end of financial year.
• Finance is its own campaign. I have built campaigns for equipment finance offers alongside the machine campaigns. The search is different, the page is different and the offer has an end date.
• Dealers and the brand meet on the same searches. A national brand campaign and its own dealers can end up bidding on the same brand terms. Decide which searches are yours before the budget is set.
• A retail structure wastes money here. A campaign structure that works for a shoe retailer will quietly waste money for a business selling excavators.

Sean Cooney, founder of Omologist. Google Ads for construction, farm and mining equipment, for brands and for their dealers.

Brand names and claims

What your ads can say

• The manufacturer’s name. Google’s trademark policy allows a reseller to use a trademark in an ad when the landing page is mainly about selling that product, shows commercial details such as prices, and makes clear you are a reseller.
• Your dealer agreement. A manufacturer may set its own rules for how dealers advertise the brand. Check yours before the headlines are written.
• Finance and price claims. A rate, a repayment or a price in an ad is a claim. Consumer law does not allow false or misleading claims, so the terms belong on the page the ad leads to.

Sources: Google Ads trademark policy · ACCC, false or misleading claims.

A build fits if

• You know which categories you want to sell more of
• Your website has a page for each of them
• You, your marketing manager or your agency will run the account
• You want to know whether the numbers work before you spend on clicks
• You are an agency with an equipment client and need the campaigns built properly

Hire an agency instead if

• You want someone to manage the account every week and report every month
• You want an audit of an account that is already running. We do not review accounts
• You want to talk it through on a call. We work by email and do not take calls
• You have no category pages yet. A campaign needs a page to send people to
• You run a dealer network large enough that one person should be watching the account full time

Does Google Ads work for heavy equipment dealers?

It can, and it depends on three numbers: what a click costs in your market, how many enquiries become sales, and the margin on a machine. The sale is slow, so judge it over the length of your sales cycle and not the first month. Every build includes a budget forecast that works the numbers through before you spend.

How much should an equipment dealer spend on Google Ads?

There is no single figure, because click costs change with the category and the market. The build forecasts what your budget can buy, using live search data for your own market, so you can set the spend with the numbers in front of you.

How many campaigns does an equipment dealer need?

One for each page you want to send paid traffic to. That usually means a campaign for each category, then campaigns for particular models, for specials and for end of financial year. For one equipment brand, Sean Cooney has built more than 14.

Should an equipment dealer use Search or Performance Max?

Search shows your ad to someone who has just typed the machine they are looking for. Performance Max also runs across YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Display, and works best once conversion tracking is in place. You can order either, or both for the same page.

Can I use the manufacturer’s brand name in my ads?

Usually, if you sell the product. Google’s trademark policy allows resellers to use a trademark when the landing page is mainly about selling that product and makes clear you are a reseller. Your dealer agreement may add rules of its own.

Do you build campaigns for used equipment, parts or hire?

Yes. Each is a campaign of its own, built around its own page, because the buyer and the search are different from a new machine sale.

Do you build for farm and mining equipment as well as construction?

Yes. The build starts from your own category page and the search data for your own market, so it works the same way for tractors and harvesters, excavators and loaders, or mining trucks.

Do you manage the campaign after it is built?

No, deliberately. You own the campaign and run it yourself. If you later hire a freelancer or an agency to manage it, they start from a properly structured account.

We already have a marketing agency. Can they use the build?

Yes. The build is an editable spreadsheet that you own. Hand it to whoever manages your account.

Do I need to give you access to my Google Ads account?

No. You receive a spreadsheet. Access is only needed if you add the optional $79 upload, where we load the finished campaign into your account, paused.

Which countries do you work with?

Any. Builds use live search data for your own market and currency. Prices are in US dollars.