TLDR;
- Stop thinking about location. For businesses without a physical footprint, geography is one of the weakest and most misleading targeting signals you can use.
- Your most powerful targeting tool isn't a postcode; it's your customer's specific, urgent, and expensive problem. You need to target their *intent*, not their address.
- A high-intent keyword strategy on Google Search is your primary weapon. Focus on what people search for when they're actively looking for a solution like yours, not where they are when they search.
- This article includes an interactive calculator to help you figure out your customer lifetime value (LTV) and what you can *actually* afford to pay for a lead, freeing you from chasing cheap, low-quality clicks.
- The ultimate goal is to build campaigns around *problems*, not places. This shifts your entire approach from "who is near me?" to "who needs me right now, regardless of location?"
I see this question a lot, and the panic behind it is palpable. You've built a business—a SaaS product, an eCommerce store, a consultancy—that can serve anyone, anywhere. And yet, every advertising platform seems obsessed with asking you "Where?". You feel like you're at a disadvantage because you can't just draw a neat little circle on a map and say "sell to these people".
Let me tell you something that might sound a bit backwards: you're not at a disadvantage. You have a massive advantage. You're being forced to skip the laziest, most ineffective form of targeting (geography) and jump straight to the only kind that actually matters: targeting user intent.
Relying on location is a crutch for businesses that haven't properly figured out who their customer is. A plumber in Peckham has it easy; their targeting is "people with broken pipes in Peckham". But for you, the world is your oyster, and that forces a level of discipline and strategic thinking that location-based businesses can often ignore, much to their detriment. The truth is, most campaigns fail not because the location is wrong, but because the message and targeting are misaligned with the customer's actual problem. This is a common theme we explore when we diagnose why so many paid ad campaigns fail to deliver.
So, is it possible to run effective Google Ads without a specific location? Not only is it possible, it's the most profitable way to do it. You just need to change the question from "Where are my customers?" to "What nightmare are my customers trying to escape?".
Why is targeting by location so flawed anyway?
Think about it. What do all people in Manchester have in common? Or London? Or even a specific borough like Islington? Not a lot, when it comes to their specific business needs or consumer desires. Targeting "London" for a B2B software product is like trying to catch a specific type of fish by throwing a net over the entire Atlantic Ocean. You might catch a few, but you'll mostly get boots, seaweed, and a massive bill for the effort.
Location is a demographic. And as I've said before, your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a demographic; it's a problem state. The Head of Engineering at a tech startup in Shoreditch who's terrified of a data breach has far more in common with a Head of Engineering in San Francisco facing the same fear than she does with the barista who serves her coffee every morning. Their location is irrelevant. Their shared, career-threatening nightmare is everything.
This is the fundamental shift you need to make. You're not selling to a postcode. You're selling a solution to a problem. And problems are borderless. This approach, focusing on the customer's pain, is the core of our 'Nightmare' strategy for cutting wasted ad spend.
Let's look at the difference in scale this thinking provides.
So, how do you actually target intent on Google Ads?
Your primary weapon on Google Search is the keyword. This is where you intercept someone at the precise moment they are expressing their problem. You don't need to guess if someone in Birmingham needs your accounting software; you can target the exact phrase "xero alternative for small business" and know with near certainty that the person searching is a qualified prospect, regardless of their physical location.
The trick is to focus ruthlessly on keywords that demonstrate commercial and transactional intent.
Here’s a breakdown of the types of keywords you should be thinking about:
- Problem/Solution Keywords: These are searches where the user is describing their pain point. E.g., "how to stop developers quitting", "my aws bill is too high", "manage remote team tasks". These are gold.
- Competitor Alternative Keywords: People searching for "salesforce alternative" or "cheaper than mailchimp" are not just browsing; they are actively looking to switch and make a purchase decision. This is a high-intent audience ready to be converted.
- Category & 'Best Of' Keywords: Searches like "best project management tool for agencies" or "crm for financial advisors". The user has already identified the category of solution they need; your job is to convince them yours is the right one.
- Integration Keywords: Someone searching for "software that integrates with hubspot" has a specific technical need and is likely a sophisticated buyer. If your product fits, you have a very warm lead.
What you want to avoid are broad, informational keywords. A search for "what is project management" is from a student or someone just learning. A search for "trello vs asana" is from someone deep in the buying cycle. You must focus your budget on the latter. This is the foundation of how we advise clients to target problems, not just locations, to build highly effective campaigns.
I remember one B2B software client we worked with. They sold a tool for medical job matching. Initially, they were spending a fortune trying to target specific hospital postcodes and cities with high concentrations of medical professionals. Their Cost Per Acquisition was over £100, which was just about breaking even. It was a nightmare. We completely scrapped the location targeting. Instead, we built campaigns around keywords like "locum doctor jobs platform", "find nursing shifts app", and competitor terms. We paired this with ad copy that spoke directly to the frustration of finding flexible medical work. The CPA dropped from £100 to just £7. That's not a typo. We reduced their acquisition cost by over 90% simply by switching from 'where' to 'what'.
Isn't this going to be incredibly expensive?
This is the next logical question. Yes, a click on a high-intent keyword like "apollo.io alternative" will be more expensive than a click from a broad awareness campaign targeted at "small business owners in the UK". But a hundred cheap, irrelevant clicks are infinitely more expensive than one costly click that turns into a £10,000 customer.
This is where most businesses get their maths completly wrong. They obsess over low-level metrics like Cost Per Click (CPC) or even Cost Per Lead (CPL), without understanding the only metric that truly matters: the ratio of Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
You can't know what you can afford to spend on ads until you know what a customer is worth to you. Let's do the maths. It's simpler than you think.
With a healthy 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio, you can afford to spend up to £3,333 to acquire this customer.
Once you know you can afford to spend, say, £3,000 to acquire a new customer, suddenly paying £50 for a click from a C-level executive searching for a solution to a problem that costs their company tens of thousands doesn't seem so crazy. It seems like a bargain. You're now free from the tyranny of cheap clicks and can focus on profitable growth.
How to structure campaigns for a borderless world
Okay, so we've established we're targeting problems, not places. How does that translate into an actual Google Ads account structure? It's simple: you structure your campaigns around problem themes.
Let's say you sell a project management SaaS tool. A bad structure would be:
- Campaign 1: UK
- Campaign 2: USA
- Campaign 3: Australia
A much better, problem-centric structure would be:
- Campaign 1: Competitor Alternatives (Targeting English-speaking developed countries)
- Ad Group: Asana Alternatives (Keywords: "asana alternative", "cheaper than asana", "asana vs [Your Brand]")
- Ad Group: Trello Alternatives (Keywords: "trello alternative", "better than trello", etc.)
- Campaign 2: Agency Workflow Problems (Targeting English-speaking developed countries)
- Ad Group: Client Reporting (Keywords: "automate client reporting", "project management for client work")
- Ad Group: Team Collaboration (Keywords: "remote team task management", "agency collaboration tool")
- Campaign 3: Specific Use Cases (Targeting English-speaking developed countries)
- Ad Group: Construction Project Management (Keywords: "construction scheduling software", "gantt chart for builders")
- Ad Group: Event Planning Software (Keywords: "event management platform", "tool to plan a conference")
See the difference? We are organising everything around the customer's specific context and intent. This allows us to write incredibly specific ad copy and send them to highly relevant landing pages. Someone searching for an "Asana alternative" sees an ad that says "Tired of Asana's Clutter? Get [Your Brand's] Streamlined Workflow" and lands on a page directly comparing your features to Asana's. The conversion rate on that journey will be ten times higher than a generic ad pointing to your homepage.
If you're still seeing traffic but no conversions, it's often a sign of a deeper issue. We've compiled a complete guide on how to diagnose these situations in our paid ads troubleshooting playbook.
To help you visualise how to think about this layering, here's a simple decision flow:
What if I'm not using Google Search?
The principle remains exactly the same, you just use different tools. On platforms like Meta (Facebook/Instagram), you can't target keywords, but you can target interests that represent the same intent.
Instead of targeting people who live in a certain area, you can target:
- Interests in competitor software: People who like or follow pages for Asana, Trello, Monday.com.
- Interests in industry tools: People interested in HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack.
- Interests in industry publications or influencers: People who follow TechCrunch, Jason Lemkin, or SaaS-focused blogs.
- Job title targeting: "Project Manager", "Head of Operations", etc.
You're still targeting the problem, just through a different lens. You're making an educated guess that someone who follows three of your main competitors on Facebook is probably in the market for a tool like yours. It's less direct than a search keyword, but it's a thousand times better than just targeting a random geographic area. Getting this right can be tricky, and if you find yourself struggling, our complete guide to fixing paid ad targeting nightmares can provide a more detailed framework.
The same logic applies to LinkedIn, where you can get hyper-specific with job titles, company size, and industry, allowing you to reach the exact decision-makers who feel the pain your product solves, no matter where their office is located.
Your action plan to escape the location trap
Switching your mindset from location-first to problem-first can feel daunting. It requires more research and a deeper understanding of your customer. But the payoff is enormous: you stop wasting money on uninterested audiences and start attracting high-value customers from across the globe. Some bussiness owners prefer to hire an expert for this, and if you're in the UK, it's worth understanding how to find a paid ads specialist who can help rather than just settling for someone local.
This is the main advice I have for you:
| Phase | Action Required | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Strategy Redefinition | Forget geography entirely. Spend a day brainstorming the top 3-5 'nightmare scenarios' your product solves. Who experiences this pain? What is their job title? What does it cost them? | This shifts your entire focus from a lazy demographic (location) to a powerful psychographic (pain), which is the foundation of all effective advertising. |
| 2. Keyword Research | Using your 'nightmare' list, find the exact phrases people type into Google when they're in that state. Use tools to find competitor names, 'alternative to' queries, and problem-based searches. | Your keyword list is your new map. It tells you where your customers are online, which is far more important than where they are physically. |
| 3. Financial Modelling | Use the LTV calculator in this article to determine your true Customer Lifetime Value. Then, calculate your maximum affordable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) based on a 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio. | This liberates you from chasing cheap clicks and gives you the confidence to bid aggressively on the high-intent keywords that actually drive revenue. |
| 4. Campaign Restructure | Pause all location-based campaigns. Rebuild your Google Ads account with campaigns structured around problem themes and ad groups focused on tight keyword clusters. | This structure ensures maximum relevance between the search query, your ad, and your landing page, which dramatically increases conversion rates. |
| 5. Ad Copy & Offer | Write ad copy that speaks directly to the 'nightmare'. Use the Problem-Agitate-Solve framework. Ensure your landing page offer (e.g., free trial, audit, tool) provides immediate value and solves a small piece of their problem for free. | Your ad must grab the attention of someone in pain, and your offer must be compelling enough to make them act. Generic copy and a "Request a Demo" button will fail. |
Executing this strategy requires a different way of thinking, and frankly, a lot of work. It involves deep customer research, meticulous campaign setup, and continuous optimisation. It’s not as simple as just drawing a circle on a map, but the results are on another level entirely.
If you've tried this and are still struggling, or if you'd rather have an expert apply this framework to your business from day one, it might be time to get some help. We specialise in this exact type of intent-based, location-agnostic advertising for businesses like yours. We offer a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session where we can look at your specific situation and give you some actionable advice. It's often the first step to breaking free from the location trap and unlocking truly scalable growth.
