Solved: Looking for a better Google Ads manager for my local salons

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🚀 Executive Summary

TL;DR: Managing Google Ads for multiple local salons often suffers from decentralization, inefficient spend, and poor scalability. The solution involves centralizing control with Google Ads Manager Accounts (MCC), automating tasks with Google Ads Scripts, and personalizing ads dynamically using Business Data Feeds for hyper-local relevance and improved ROI.

🎯 Key Takeaways

Implement Google Ads Manager Accounts (MCC) for centralized control, consistent branding, and scalable management across all salon locations, structuring client accounts per individual salon.
Leverage Google Ads Scripts to automate tasks such as bid adjustments, performance monitoring, ad extension management, and budget alerts, enhancing efficiency and responsiveness.
Utilize Business Data Feeds with Ad Customizers to create hyper-local, dynamic ad copy that displays specific salon names, offers, and contact details based on user location, improving relevance and CTR.

Struggling to effectively manage Google Ads for multiple local salon locations? This guide dives into advanced strategies and technical solutions to centralize control, optimize ad spend, and drive higher ROI for your multi-location business.

Symptoms: Why Your Current Google Ads Setup for Local Salons Isn’t Working

As a DevOps engineer, you understand that inefficient systems manifest as tangible problems. When managing Google Ads for multiple local salons, a poorly structured approach leads to a predictable set of bottlenecks and suboptimal performance. If you’re encountering any of these, it’s time for a strategic overhaul:

Decentralized & Inconsistent Branding: Each salon location manages its own ads, leading to disparate messaging, pricing, and promotional efforts that dilute your overall brand identity.
Inefficient Ad Spend & Budget Bloat: Without a consolidated view, it’s challenging to allocate budgets effectively. You might be overspending in one area while underspending in a high-potential market, or duplicating keyword efforts across locations.
Labor-Intensive Management: Manually logging into multiple Google Ads accounts, updating ads, and adjusting bids for each salon is a monumental and error-prone task, especially as you scale.
Poor Performance Tracking & Attribution: Difficulty in attributing conversions (calls, bookings, store visits) to specific ad campaigns or locations, making it hard to identify what’s truly working and why.
Lack of Scalability: Adding a new salon location means repeating the entire setup process from scratch, which is unsustainable for growth.
Suboptimal Local Targeting: Generic campaigns fail to leverage the unique advantages of local search intent, resulting in wasted impressions and clicks from users outside your service areas.

Solution 1: Centralized Management with Google Ads Manager Accounts (MCC)

The foundation of efficient multi-location ad management lies in centralization. Google Ads Manager Accounts (MCC) are designed precisely for this purpose, allowing you to manage multiple Google Ads accounts from a single dashboard. For local salons, this translates into a robust hierarchy that ensures consistency, control, and scalability.

Structuring Your MCC for Local Salons

An effective MCC setup for local businesses typically follows this structure:

Manager Account (MCC): Your overarching account. This is where you’ll access consolidated performance data, manage users, and link all individual salon accounts.
Client Accounts (Individual Salons): Each of your salon locations (e.g., “Downtown Salon,” “Uptown Spa”) should ideally have its own Google Ads account linked under your MCC. This allows for specific billing, budget control, and data segmentation per location.
Campaigns & Ad Groups: Within each client account, structure campaigns based on services (e.g., “Haircuts,” “Manicures,” “Spa Treatments”) and geographical targeting specific to that salon’s service area.

Example Naming Convention for Clarity:

MCC ID: 123-456-7890 (Your Agency/Brand Manager Account)
  - Client Account 1: 111-222-3333 (SalonName - Downtown)
    - Campaign: [Search] Haircuts - Downtown Geo
      - Ad Group: Women's Haircuts Downtown
      - Ad Group: Men's Haircuts Downtown
    - Campaign: [Search] Manicures & Pedicures - Downtown Geo
      - Ad Group: Gel Manicures Downtown
      - Ad Group: Pedicures Downtown
  - Client Account 2: 444-555-6666 (SalonName - Uptown)
    - Campaign: [Search] Haircuts - Uptown Geo
    - Campaign: [Search] Spa Treatments - Uptown Geo

Benefits of MCC

Unified Dashboard: View performance data across all salons in one place.
Simplified Billing: Manage billing for all linked accounts, or consolidate it onto a single invoice.
User Management: Grant and revoke access to different team members across multiple accounts with ease.
Template-Driven Campaigns: Create a successful campaign structure for one salon and quickly replicate it for others, then customize for local nuances.
Cross-Account Analysis: Identify top-performing keywords, ad copy, and strategies that can be applied universally.

Solution 2: Automation via Google Ads Scripts for Local Relevance & Efficiency

Once you have a solid MCC structure, the next step is to introduce automation. Google Ads Scripts allow you to programmatically interact with your Google Ads data and accounts, performing tasks that would otherwise be repetitive and time-consuming. This is where your DevOps mindset truly comes into play.

Practical Applications for Local Salons

Bid Adjustments: Automatically adjust bids for specific location-based keywords during peak booking hours or based on local events.
Performance Monitoring: Identify campaigns or keywords with low impression share in specific geographic areas, or high CPCs without conversions.
Ad Extension Management: Ensure all locations have up-to-date local ad extensions (location, call, structured snippets for services).
Budget Management: Alert managers if a daily budget is projected to run out prematurely in a specific salon’s campaign.
Broken Link Detection: Periodically check if landing pages for ads across all locations are still active and accessible.

Example Google Ads Script: Identify Low-Converting Location Keywords

This script helps pinpoint keywords that generate clicks but aren’t leading to conversions within a specific date range. This is crucial for local businesses where every conversion matters.

// Google Ads Script: Identify Low-Performing Location Keywords
// Purpose: Finds keywords with clicks but no conversions over a period,
//          writing them to a Google Sheet for review.

function main() {
  // --- Configuration ---
  var SPREADSHEET_URL = 'YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEET_URL_HERE'; // IMPORTANT: Replace with your actual Google Sheet URL
  var MIN_CLICKS = 10; // Minimum clicks for a keyword to be considered
  var MAX_CONVERSIONS = 0; // Keywords with conversions <= this number will be flagged
  var DATE_RANGE = 'LAST_30_DAYS'; // e.g., 'LAST_7_DAYS', 'YESTERDAY', 'LAST_30_DAYS'

  // --- Script Logic ---
  try {
    var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl(SPREADSHEET_URL);
    var sheet = spreadsheet.getActiveSheet();
    sheet.clearContents(); // Clear previous data
    sheet.appendRow(['Keyword Text', 'Campaign Name', 'Ad Group Name', 'Clicks', 'Impressions', 'Cost', 'Conversions']);

    var keywordIterator = AdsApp.keywords()
        .withCondition("Impressions > 0") // Ensure we only look at keywords that had impressions
        .forDateRange(DATE_RANGE)
        .get();

    while (keywordIterator.hasNext()) {
      var keyword = keywordIterator.next();
      var stats = keyword.getStatsFor(DATE_RANGE);

      if (stats.getClicks() >= MIN_CLICKS && stats.getConversions() <= MAX_CONVERSIONS) {
        sheet.appendRow([
          keyword.getText(),
          keyword.getCampaign().getName(),
          keyword.getAdGroup().getName(),
          stats.getClicks(),
          stats.getImpressions(),
          stats.getCost(),
          stats.getConversions()
        ]);
      }
    }
    Logger.log('Report generated successfully for low-converting keywords in ' + DATE_RANGE + '.');
  } catch (e) {
    Logger.log('Error encountered: ' + e.message);
    // You might want to send an email notification here for errors
  }
}

How to Implement a Google Ads Script:

Create a Google Sheet: Make a new Google Sheet (e.g., "Low Converting Keywords Report") and copy its URL.
Access Scripts in Google Ads: In your MCC or individual salon account, navigate to "Tools and Settings" > "Bulk Actions" > "Scripts."
Create New Script: Click the blue '+' button. Give it a name.
Paste Code: Copy the script above and paste it into the editor.
Update URL: Replace 'YOUR_GOOGLE_SHEET_URL_HERE' with the actual URL of your Google Sheet.
Authorize & Preview: Authorize the script to access your Google Ads account and Google Sheets. Use "Preview" to test without making changes.
Schedule: Set the script to run daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on your reporting needs.

Solution 3: Dynamic Local Ad Customization with Business Data Feeds

To truly excel in local advertising, your ads need to be hyper-relevant to the user's immediate context. This means showing them not just the right service, but the right salon, the right offer, and the right contact details for their specific location. Google Ads' Business Data Feeds combined with Ad Customizers enable this level of dynamic personalization at scale.

How Business Data Feeds Work

You upload a structured data source (often a Google Sheet) containing information about your various salon locations. This data can then be dynamically inserted into your ad text based on various conditions, such as the user's location or the specific ad being triggered.

Feed Structure Example (Google Sheet)

Each row represents a specific salon or location-based offer:


Target_Location	Salon_Name	Phone_Number	Special_Offer	Offer_Expiry
City, State - Downtown	[Your Brand] Downtown	(555) 111-2222	20% Off First Visit	2024-12-31
City, State - Uptown	[Your Brand] Uptown	(555) 333-4444	Free Hair Consultation	2024-11-15
City, State - Westside	[Your Brand] Westside	(555) 555-6666	Complimentary Mani Upgrade	2024-10-31

Implementing Ad Customizers in Your Ads

Once your business data feed is uploaded to Google Ads (under Tools and Settings > Business data), you can use special syntax in your ad copy to pull data dynamically.

Example Ad Copy with Customizers:

Headline 1: Book Now at {=Feed.Salon_Name}!
Headline 2: {=Feed.Special_Offer} - Ends {=Feed.Offer_Expiry}
Description: Get amazing service at your local {=Feed.Salon_Name}. Call {=Feed.Phone_Number}!

When an ad triggers for a user in the "Downtown" area, the ad might display:

Headline 1: Book Now at [Your Brand] Downtown!
Headline 2: 20% Off First Visit - Ends 2024-12-31
Description: Get amazing service at your local [Your Brand] Downtown. Call (555) 111-2222!

Benefits of Dynamic Ad Customization

Hyper-Local Relevance: Ads feel tailor-made to the user's exact needs and location, improving click-through rates (CTR) and quality scores.
Reduced Manual Effort: Create one ad template that dynamically adapts to all your locations and offers, rather than creating hundreds of individual ads.
Real-time Updates: Update your offers or salon details in the Google Sheet, and your ads automatically reflect the changes.
Improved Conversion Rates: Users are more likely to convert when they see highly relevant and timely information.

Comparison: Manual per Location vs. Centralized MCC with Automation

Let's put these strategies into perspective. The choice isn't just about features; it's about the operational impact on your business.

Aspect	Manual Management (Per Location)	Centralized MCC with Automation & Customization
Setup Complexity	Low (per location), High (overall)	Moderate (initial MCC & feed setup)
Ongoing Effort	Very High, repetitive, error-prone	Low to Moderate (monitoring, script maintenance)
Scalability	Extremely Poor; adding new locations is a burden	Excellent; templated rollout for new locations
Consistency (Branding/Offers)	Poor; prone to discrepancies between locations	Excellent; centralized control ensures consistency
Reporting Detail	Fragmented; requires manual consolidation	Consolidated at MCC level, granular per location
Cost (Tooling/Time)	High "time cost" for manual labor; low tooling cost	Moderate tooling cost (Google Sheets, native scripts); significantly lower "time cost"
Agility & Responsiveness	Low; slow to react to market changes or errors	High; scripts can run frequently, feeds update quickly
Ad Relevance	Often generic, less localized	Hyper-localized, dynamic, context-aware

Conclusion: Building a Robust Google Ads Ecosystem for Growth

Moving from fragmented, manual Google Ads management to a centralized, automated system is a strategic imperative for any multi-location business. By leveraging Google Ads Manager Accounts for structure, implementing Google Ads Scripts for efficiency, and utilizing Business Data Feeds for dynamic ad customization, you transform your ad operations from a reactive chore into a proactive growth engine.

This approach not only saves countless hours and reduces human error but also enables you to deliver highly relevant, localized ad experiences that capture attention and drive conversions. Embrace these technical solutions to ensure your local salons not only survive but thrive in a competitive digital landscape.