As Google continues to make changes to the paid search platform, we learn more about the best practices of the year for things like paid search and PPC. You should review your current practices and realign them to improve your performance and gain opportunities.
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1. Fully utilize new features in Google Ads.
All Google advertisers were required to switch to the new ad experience by last October. This change introduced many exclusive features available on the new ad experience platform, including:
- Promotion extensions – Discounts or percentage off can be added to accounts at the ad group level. This is beneficial if you were using links to sites or ad copy for promotions.
- Bid adjustments for phone calls – You can use the new ad experience to increase bid adjustments on ads that have call extensions on them. Those ads can be served more often. You should review ad impressions and call impressions to determine the best strategy for bid adjustments.
- Outstream video campaigns – If you use mobile only videos outside of Google and YouTube, they must be on partners sites or apps.
2. Branch out into new platforms.
Many platforms are presenting paid channel offerings to advertisers. No longer do you have to focus on Google, Bing, and Facebook. Instead, you may consider paid advertising on LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Snapchat. Each of these platforms has different offerings and promotions towards a different audience. You should evaluate your needs and spread your advertising strategy among the platforms.
3. Focus on mobile first.
Mobile devices have increasingly become primary search tools. Today, mobile phones are the primary devices used by searchers, followed by computers, and then tablets. As many as 58 percent of conversions come from mobile users. Additionally, they have the lowest cost per conversion.
It’s time for businesses to customize their mobile ad experiences. PPC marketers who fail to recognize the value of mobile will be waiting their paid advertising budgets. Lacking mobile ads will equate to lost opportunities in the target market.
4. Utilize new advertising features in Bing Ads.
In addition to the changes made by other platforms, Bing Ads has added features that promise a significant impact. Bing Ads’ newest feature, Audience Network, is an AI-powered device that can improve your current search campaigns. Audience Network can analyze billions of intent signals from Microsoft and others, creating relevant in-market lists to help you reach appropriate searchers right when they’re looking to make a transaction. There are more than 200 in-market categories on Bing’s Audience Network, which can improve your advertising strategy.
5. Integrate audiences with search.
Advertisers were once limited to keywords in search engines. However, now PPC users can target audiences and demographics to refine their keyword campaigns. An audience is a list of all users grouped together by interest, behavior, or another manner. Bing Ads has targeted audiences for some time, but now Google Ads will as well.
- Demographics will be used, including marital status, home ownership, parental status, education level, and household income.
- In-Market and intent customization will be possible through searches and online behavior that signals buying cues.
- Remarketing will be available for advertisers for website visitors and YouTube.
6. Utilize Scripts effectively.
People who use PPC should use scripts and other tools to automate their repetitive tasks. There are free and template scripts that can be used to reduce complexity. Google also has workshops throughout the nation to train people to use Ads more effectively.
7. Prepare for voice search.
Although various equipment has had the capability to voice search for years, it has only recently become more popular. It’s best to review the trends in your account to determine how much voice search is brining you traffic. It’s important to identify voice search queries and cater to them in your paid advertising.
8. Review your budget in 2019.
Many paid advertisers get familiar with their tasks and fail to reevaluate and redistribute their budgets. In 2019, you should establish guidelines for when your budget should be reviewed. Although you will likely want a year-long focus, it’s best to break PPC up into smaller pieces and review relevant information more frequently.
Consider the following when evaluating your 2019 budget:
- Which of your 2018 campaigns were successful and had a positive ROI?
- Can you capture additional traffic to grow your results for winning campaigns?
- Do you have additional budget from less successful campaigns that can be allotted to winning campaigns?
- Should you shift your budget from less successful channels to those with higher performance?
- Can you request a budget increase to make better investments?
9. Consider your reporting.
PPC metrics have been reported similarly for years. Perhaps it’s time to replace that data or make additions to your reports. Bing Ads and Google Ads both recently updated their Overview pages, allowing you to pull and graph data easily.
When considering your reports, evaluate:
- Do we need this specific data? Does it tell us anything?
- Is the information we pull actionable?
- Are there new metrics we can integrate into our reports?
10. Collaborate with others.
If your paid advertising strategies are going nowhere, reach out to others and get second opinions. The science behind PPC is unique, often lending to individual approaches by everyone. Others may give you ideas or contribute to your strategy. Review ebooks, Twitter feeds by experts, and industry publications for new ideas to improve your 2019 paid advertising plan.
Discovering New Paid Advertising Trends
PPC now looks different than it has in the past. You will want to review new features on old advertising platforms and expend to new devices. You will have opportunities in Google Ads and Bing, but also YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and more. Don’t limit yourself in reach or budget to improve your results in 2019.
If you have questions or would like to talk to Travis or another team member about growing your firm via PPC, feel free to call us directly or schedule an appointment using the link below.
