Tired of bidding on the same old keywords as the million other brokers on Google Ads? Good news. ChatGPT just released a brand new ads platform that lets you advertise directly to their users, and because it's so new, almost no one knows about it yet. In this guide we'll walk you through getting it up and running.
First, head over to ads.openai.com and start creating an account. It's still in beta, so it's really important you enter the correct details, otherwise the account creation will fail. The rules:
Use a business email.
Next, select your country. This service is currently available only in the US, but OpenAI is expected to roll it out to other countries soon.
Set advertiser type to Business. Individual type will fail.
Get these right the first time, because your email is locked after the account is created.
Once that's done and you've entered a few more details about your business, you can create your first campaign. You'll be able to set a target country, though for now it's limited to places like the United States and United Kingdom. This is also where you set your daily budget.
After that comes the important part: the ad group. This is where you configure your CPC and your context hints. Set the CPC fairly high, otherwise you risk your ads not being shown properly. The context hints are the equivalent of keywords on Google Ads, but instead of typing keywords you simply describe who your target market is and what they might be searching for. Here's a good example for a Greece based charter company:
Crewed yacht charters along the Ionian Islands. Private sailing holidays and luxury charter vacations in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Travellers researching where to go in Greece, Greece trip planning, things to do on the Greek coast, Aegean and Mediterranean sailing itineraries, and island-hopping routes. Conversations comparing Italy to Greece, Croatia or France for a coastal or sailing holiday.
Practical charter questions: motor sailer vs catamaran vs motor yacht, crewed vs bareboat, the cost of chartering a yacht in Greece, what's included on a private charter, and how to book.
Next you can create the ad itself. Keep the description short and clear. You may see a truncation warning, but don't worry about that.
Once that's done you'll reach a review page where you can check everything over and start running your advert. Set up billing and you should begin receiving impressions.
With everything up and running, expect a real jump in enquiries through your website, though it usually takes a few weeks before your ads start showing in front of the right people. In the meantime, create your YCC account here so you can get all those new contracts signed super fast.