Paid Search: Nailing the US Market

You’ve done your homework. You’ve checked the logistics, sorted website localisation, stress-tested your pricing. And you’ve decided the US is your next big move. But now comes the real question: where do you actually start?

First Things First: KPIs

Before you touch Google Ads, we need to talk KPIs. And not the copy-paste-from-the-UK kind. Launching in the US means setting market-specific KPIs based on proper insight. What’s happening in your category, how competitors are behaving, and what “good” really looks like over there. Because here’s a truth we often have to gently (but firmly) point out: The US is massive. So the idea that one neat little strategy will work coast to coast? Sadly, no.

Go Regional or Go Home

If you want to make your budget work harder, you’ve got to think regionally. Different states. Different cities. Different behaviours. Different costs.

Identifying growth areas will depend on your industry, but doing this early helps you:

• Understand how expensive US advertising really is
• Spot where demand is strongest
• Focus spend where it’ll actually make a dent
  

Top tip from the trenches: don’t panic if your CPCs are double what you’re used to in the UK. That’s not failure - that’s America.

The Big Levers to Pull

• Audience targeting: Your US audience probably won’t look like your UK one. Different demographics, different motivations, different buying power. One of our favourite tools here is household income targeting in Google Ads. If you’re a premium brand, honing in on the top 10% of earners can seriously cut down wasted spend. Less noise, more signal.
• Product mix: Yes, start with your bestsellers, but treat the launch phase as exactly that: a test-and-learn moment. US customers might favour different variants, bundles, or hero products entirely. We’ve seen it happen more times than we can count. 

Follow the data. Don’t get emotionally attached to your UK favourites.

Paid Search Can’t Do It Alone

We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t say this: Paid Search isn’t a silver bullet. It’s brilliant at capturing existing demand quickly, which is why it’s such a strong entry point. But long-term growth? That only happens when Paid Search is supported by upper-funnel activity like Paid Social, affiliates, and demand-gen campaigns. Think less “quick win”, more “sustainable growth engine”.

How We Approach US Launches at Genie

Once your strategy’s locked in, it’s time to go live. But here’s where our approach tends to look a little different. Yes, PPC is designed to drive revenue. But when you’re launching in a new market, ROAS shouldn’t be your north star just yet.

Instead, the early goal is to:

• Drive qualified traffic
• Learn how users behave
• Build confidence in your targeting
  

That means paying attention to softer metrics, like:

• Click-through rate (CTR)
• Average engagement time per session
  

If you’re an ecommerce brand, Performance Max is usually your best friend here, especially when paired with Brand Search at launch. It’s a smart way to capture demand while learning fast.

The “don’t forget this bit” checklist - because the devil is always in the detail:

• Set US-specific KPIs
• Define softer channel KPIs for launch
• Refine your location targeting
• Keep a close eye on competitors
• Monitor your product mix
• Launch Performance Max to capture demand
• Optimise relentlessly, and break PMax out if needed
• Test. Learn. Test again
• Build towards a full-funnel approach with Paid Social and Affiliates
  

A tailored, localised approach isn’t a “nice to have”, it’s what makes US expansion actually worth the investment.

The beauty of Paid Search is that it gives you a relatively low-risk way to enter a new market, gather real insight, and sense-check your assumptions before you scale. Dip a toe in. Then a foot. Then, if the water’s good, dive in properly.

And if you want a hand figuring out where to start, you know where we are.

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