The smart marketer’s guide to Google Ads audience segments & when to use them

So, as a PPC expert, you’ve literally spent precious business hours crafting a Google Ads campaign. You’ve done meticulous keyword research, written compelling ads, set your bids, and hit launch. 

But weeks later, your conversion rate isn’t moving. Your client hits you up with queries like, “Why aren’t we getting the sales we expected?”

Sound familiar? 

You’re not alone.

Here’s the truth: Keywords alone won’t cut it anymore. They will help you join the right conversations, but audience targeting decides who sees your ads and whether they’ll respond.

That’s why Google Ads audience segments are your secret tool. These finely tuned groups help you focus your ad spend on the people who actually care, at every stage of their journey, whether they’re just getting curious or ready to pull the trigger on a purchase.

If you’ve ever wondered…

~ What exactly are the different audience types in Google Ads?

~ How do I know which audiences to target at each funnel stage?

~ What’s the best way to combine or layer audiences for max impact?

…you’re in the right place.

In this guide, with our rich repertoire of 13+ years of expertise in the SEM sphere,  we will walk you through every key Google Ads audience segment, share pro tips on when and how to use them, and explain how to map them onto your marketing funnel for razor-sharp targeting.

Let’s get started.

Why audience targeting can help you level up your Google Ads game?

Let’s explain this with an example. 

Suppose you are at a networking event. Keywords are like the conversations you hear, which tell you who’s talking about topics that might interest you. 

But audiences? Well, my friend, they’re the people you actually choose to walk up to and chat with.

Without well-defined targeted audiences in place, your ads run the risk of becoming background noise. You know the ones that are seen by many, remembered by few, and clicked by even fewer.

Now that’s not what you want, for sure!

Google Ads audiences leverage data about people’s interests, behaviors, and interactions with your brand to zero in on the folks who are most likely to engage and convert. 

And with Google’s machine learning behind it, this targeting can get quite precise.

But with great power comes complexity, and understanding the different audience types is the first step toward wielding that power effectively.

On that note, let’s get down to the brass tacks of it! 

Decoding the core Google Ads audience segments

Google’s audience segments fall into six main categories. 

Each serves a unique role depending on your campaign goals and where your prospects are in their buyer journey.

Here’s a detailed walkthrough:

1. Affinity audiences ~ Target people by their passions and lifestyle

In this audience segment, users are grouped based on their long-term interests and lifestyles, such as their online activities and interests. Think “Sports fans,” “Beauty buffs,” “Superhero fans,” or “Foodies.”

Here’s when to use them: Affinity audiences shine in top-of-funnel campaigns when your goal is brand awareness or reaching a large, relevant audience. Since these users aren’t necessarily looking to buy right now, your ads should focus on building recognition and interest.

We recommend not relying on affinity audiences alone, as their broad nature can lead to wasted spend. Instead, layer them with demographic filters or keywords. 

For example, targeting “Fitness buffs” aged 25–40 who live in urban areas can help your gym campaign find the right crowd.

2. In-market audiences: Reach users who are actively shopping

So, Google identifies people who are actively researching or comparing products and services in a particular category, for instance, “In-market for Smartphones” or “In-market for Travel Packages.” This targeting is based on recent behaviors indicating strong purchase intent.

We recommend using in-market audiences for mid-funnel campaigns aimed at consideration and conversion. These are the shoppers edging closer to buying.

You could start with Observation mode to monitor how your in-market audience performs alongside your keywords. Once confident, switch to Targeting mode to restrict your ads strictly to those audiences.

3. Detailed demographics: Pinpoint users by long-term life facts

These segments allow you to target users based on immutable life characteristics such as age, gender, parental status, education level, and household income.

You could use detailed demographics to refine your existing audiences or tailor messaging to groups with proven higher conversion rates.

It’s recommended always to analyze your campaign’s demographic reports. You might find surprising high performers, for example, a beauty brand discovering that parents aged 35–44 are its best customers, even more than the younger demo they expected.

4. Life events: Target people in the throes of or experiencing major milestones

This segment targets users going through significant life changes like getting married, moving homes, or graduating from college. These events often trigger new purchase needs.

It’s the perfect fit for time-sensitive, relevant offers such as wedding planners targeting “Recently Engaged” couples or furniture stores targeting “Recently Moved” individuals.

On that note, Life Events segments are usually smaller and highly engaged, so customize your creative to speak directly to their current situation and urgency.

5. Custom segments: Build tailored audiences based on what you know

Custom segments let you define audiences by entering keywords, URLs, and apps your ideal customers interact with. This gives you control beyond Google’s pre-built segments.

You could use them when your product or niche is unique, or you want to target competitor audiences or highly specific behaviors that Google’s default segments don’t capture.

Try to think creatively when building these. For example, a SaaS company targeting users searching competitor software names combined with “best alternative” or “pricing” can capture high-intent prospects early.

6. Your data segments: Harness your own customer data

Here you could figure out your data segments that may include;

~ Remarketing lists: People who’ve visited your website, used your app, or watched your YouTube videos.

~ Customer match: Upload lists of emails, phone numbers, or mailing addresses to reach your existing customers.

~ Similar audiences: Google creates lookalike audiences based on your data segments to find new users resembling your best customers. However, please note that lookalike segments are only available in Demand Gen campaigns. You might be interested in our detailed offering, titled 101 Guide on Lookalike Segments in Google Ads: Boost Your Campaigns with Precision Targeting.

They are ideal for bottom-of-funnel campaigns such as remarketing and customer re-engagement, and for scaling with similar audiences.

You could segment your remarketing lists by user behavior (e.g., cart abandoners vs. blog readers) for tailored messaging that improves conversion rates. Also, regularly refresh your customer lists to maintain accuracy and performance.

How to map Google Ads audience segments to your marketing funnel

One of the biggest challenges is knowing when to use each audience type. Here’s a simplified funnel-mapping to guide you:

By smartly aligning your audience targeting with this funnel map, your campaigns become sharper, and each dollar finds the right user at the right time.

Pro tips to make your audience targeting work for you

Now that you know the main audience types, here’s where the magic happens by learning how to use them smartly so your campaigns don’t just run, but perform.

~ Start by watching and learning: It’s tempting to jump in and restrict your audience right away, but hold up. Run your campaigns in “observation mode” first. Think of it as dipping your toes in the water; you want to see which audiences actually respond before you start narrowing the pool.

~ Mix audiences with keywords: Remember, keywords tell you what people are searching for, and audiences tell you who those people are. When you combine the two, you get a much clearer picture, which means your ads reach the right folks with the right message.

~ Don’t waste money on past buyers: If someone just bought from you, showing them the same ad again is like trying to sell snow to an Eskimo. Exclude users who’ve already converted, so you’re spending where it counts.

~ Keep your lists fresh: Audience lists aren’t something that you can set and forget. Over time, people move on or lose interest, so update your remarketing and custom lists regularly to keep your campaigns sharp and avoid spending on cold leads.

~ Watch out for overlaps: One sneaky way budgets get wasted is when your different audiences overlap and end up competing against each other in the auction. Use Google Ads’ Audience Manager to spot these overlaps and avoid bidding wars with yourself.

This approach might seem small, but it’s these little tweaks that really give your audience targeting the edge.

The road ahead

Want to know why your CPC are so high even though your Google Ads are relevant? You might want to explore ~ Google Ads Quality Score Explained: How to Check, Fix & Optimize It.