How to Use Google Ads for Effective Mid-Funnel Marketing in 2025?

The digital marketing landscape is evolving rapidly. Mid-funnel strategies are essential for businesses to engage customers during the consideration phase, especially in automotive and e-commerce sectors with complex customer journeys. However, traditional attribution models can’t fully measure mid-funnel campaigns. The tightening privacy regulations and phasing out of third-party cookies make matters worse. Fortunately, Google Ads provides advanced tools like Enhanced Conversions and incrementality testing. These tools close the measurement gap and ensure privacy compliance.

In 2024, Google’s Pixel team and Creative Lab launched the “Best Phones Forever: AI Roadtrip” on Instagram Reels. The campaign used Google Advertisement and generative AI to let users decide the trip destinations of Google Pixel and iPhone. This highly interactive approach engaged the mid-funnel audience, promoted user participation, and demonstrated Google’s AI capabilities, all while adhering to privacy standards.

This article explores how businesses can optimize Google Ads for mid-funnel marketing. By integrating innovative measurement strategies and privacy-compliant solutions, businesses can achieve growth while staying compliant.

I. Understanding Mid-Funnel Marketing in Google Ads

Mid-funnel marketing focuses on nurturing potential customers who are in the consideration phase. Unlike upper-funnel strategies that aim to create awareness or lower-funnel tactics that drive conversions, mid-funnel marketing ensures consistent engagement and builds trust. This is particularly important in industries with long customer journeys, such as automotive, where consumers often take weeks or months to make a purchase decision.

Google Ads offers a variety of tools for mid-funnel marketing, including video ads, display campaigns, and retargeting. For example, YouTube ads can effectively engage users who are researching products but are not yet ready to buy. Similarly, display campaigns can keep a brand top-of-mind for users who have previously visited the website.

However, traditional click-based attribution models often undervalue mid-funnel efforts. This is because conversions in this phase may not result from direct clicks. For instance, a user might watch a YouTube ad, continue browsing, and later visit the website without clicking on the ad. In such cases, the ad’s impact would not be captured by traditional attribution models.

To address this, businesses need to adopt more sophisticated measurement strategies that account for indirect interactions and cross-device behavior. Enhanced Conversions and incrementality testing are two such tools that Google Ads provides to deliver deeper insights into mid-funnel performance.

II. Enhancing Measurement with First-Party Data

First-party data has become the cornerstone of effective measurement in the era of privacy-focused marketing. Unlike third-party data, which is collected from external sources, first-party data comes directly from a business’s interactions with its customers. This includes data from website lead forms, CRM systems, and offline interactions.

Google Ads’ Enhanced Conversions for Leads (ECL) is a powerful tool that leverages first-party data to improve conversion tracking. ECL works by using first-party data, such as email addresses, to enhance the accuracy of conversion measurement. This is particularly useful for tracking offline actions, such as phone calls or in-store purchases, that result from online ads.

One of the key benefits of ECL is its ability to capture cross-device and browser-restricted conversions. For example, a user might click on an ad on their mobile device but complete the purchase on their desktop. Traditional tracking methods would often miss this conversion, but ECL can stitch together the user journey by using first-party data.

Carwow, an online car marketplace, implemented ECL to improve its mid-funnel measurement. By using first-party data to enhance conversion tracking, Carwow was able to attribute 7% more conversions to its mid-funnel campaigns, particularly on YouTube. This allowed the company to allocate budgets more effectively and optimize its marketing strategies.

Similarly, Topkee’s comprehensive approach to first-party data integration ensures businesses can maximize their measurement capabilities. Through tools like TTO initialization settings, Topkee enables businesses to manage multiple advertising accounts, associate media budgets, and authorize ad accounts seamlessly. This setup ensures accurate and diverse data tracking, which is essential for leveraging first-party data effectively. Additionally, Topkee’s TM settings provide a flexible customer tracking solution, allowing businesses to generate landing URL links with TMIDs for precise ad performance monitoring. These tools, combined with Google Ads’ ECL, empower businesses to achieve a holistic view of their customer journeys and optimize their mid-funnel strategies with confidence.

III. Implementing Incrementality Testing

Incrementality testing is a powerful method for measuring the true impact of marketing efforts. Unlike attribution models, which assign credit based on user interactions, incrementality testing compares the behavior of exposed and unexposed groups to determine the additional value generated by a campaign.

Google Ads offers several tools for incrementality testing, including geo-lift tests and conversion lift tests. Geo-lift tests compare regions where ads are run with regions where they are not, providing insights into the incremental impact of campaigns. Conversion lift tests, on the other hand, measure the additional conversions driven by specific campaigns.

Just Eat Takeaway.com, an online food delivery platform, has embraced incrementality testing to optimize its marketing efforts. By running over 200 tests in 2024, the company achieved a 63% increase in channel effectiveness. This was accomplished by identifying and eliminating wasteful spending, as well by optimizing campaigns for maximum impact.

To implement incrementality testing effectively, businesses should appoint a dedicated “incrementality chef” to oversee the testing framework. This role involves designing the methodology, running the tests, and analyzing the results to drive continuous optimization.

IV. Leveraging Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)

Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) is a holistic approach to understanding the impact of marketing spend across channels. Unlike attribution models, which focus on individual interactions, MMM analyzes the overall contribution of each marketing channel to business outcomes.

Google Ads’ Vertex AI can be used to automate MMM and generate actionable insights. For example, Swappie, a smartphone refurbisher, used Vertex AI to build a dynamic MMM that accounts for diminishing returns and time-varying coefficients. This allowed the company to optimize its marketing efficiency by 15% and increase awareness of its circular economy mission.

MMM is particularly useful for mid-funnel marketing, as it provides insights into the long-term impact of campaigns. By understanding the holistic contribution of each channel, businesses can allocate budgets more effectively and drive sustainable growth.

V. Navigating Privacy Challenges

The shift away from third-party cookies has created new challenges for marketers, particularly in the area of measurement. However, Google Ads offers several privacy-compliant solutions that can help businesses navigate this transition.

Google’s Ads Privacy Planner is a valuable tool for assessing a company’s data protection status and implementing privacy-friendly strategies. For example, Freenet used Google Consent Mode to reconstruct 70% of unmeasurable conversions, while Mooris achieved a 16% increase in conversion value with Enhanced Conversions.

These tools not only ensure compliance with privacy regulations but also improve campaign performance by providing more accurate measurement.

VI. Optimizing Mid-Funnel Campaigns in Google Ads

To optimize mid-funnel campaigns, businesses should adopt a multi-faceted approach. Start by leveraging upper-funnel formats like Demand Gen to drive awareness, then utilize YouTube and display ads to engage customers during the consideration phase. Allocate budgets strategically based on incremental insights derived from testing and Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM). For example, integrating Topkee’s TTO tools can streamline ad account management and enhance data tracking, ensuring campaigns are both efficient and measurable.

Key metrics to monitor include incremental conversions from mid-funnel campaigns, cross-device and cross-channel attribution rates, and cost per incremental conversion. Tools like Google Ads’ Enhanced Conversions and Topkee’s TM settings can provide granular insights into these metrics, enabling businesses to refine their strategies continuously. By focusing on these performance indicators, businesses can maximize ROI and achieve measurable success in their mid-funnel efforts.

Conclusion

Success in mid-funnel marketing with Google Advertisement requires a combination of advanced measurement tools, first-party data, and privacy-compliant strategies. Enhanced Conversions and incrementality testing provide deeper insights into customer journeys, while Marketing Mix Modeling helps optimize spend across channels. Privacy-friendly tools ensure compliance while improving performance.

Businesses should start by assessing their current measurement frameworks, implementing tools like ECL and the Ads Privacy Planner, and adopting a test-and-learn approach to continuously optimize mid-funnel campaigns.