As Google Chrome is sent to send Cookies to the dustbin this year, digital marketers will lose one tracking mechanism on which they have come to rely…perhaps too much so.
A primary application for browser cookies in marketing is the ability to remarket/retarget a browser (person) that has been to the website. This seems great, as it shows interest. But, it has led to lazy marketing habits.
Blanket remarketing gives no real thought to context or timing. It intrudes on users when they are completely removed from the context or concerns that led them to the advertiser in the first place.
But doesn’t Google automation deal with this? Not really. In theory, it should. But we’ve all experienced the unsettling sensation of being “followed” around the Internet by a site we visited.
As Google pushes everyone to trust their AI, it expands on the concern raised by blindly retargeting users based on cookies: that, as marketers, we are relinquishing our control to a black box of automation. We are told this improves our marketing ROAS, but I am not convinced.
I think AI will improve results when it comes to unmanaged programs. For marketers who do not have the time to monitor and adjust their campaigns, AI provides a level of optimization that is bound to make things better.
I have seen dedicated campaign managers do much better for the average company. One thing AI is good at is finding the low-hanging fruit. A freshly launched program managed by AI can get quick wins, but they often plateau. Changes to pages, offerings, and budgets can reset the AI to a learning phase. Manually managed programs can get beyond the low-hanging fruit.
The other area where AI will excel is data analysis and response. However, the response/output is only as good as the data input, and the average company has issues with this.
A full circle of ads, outcomes, and feedback works well for AI. The most basic of these is E-commerce sites that feed all the sales back into Google Ads (directly or through G4.) AI is likely your best bet if you have an e-commerce website, and your primary conversion is an online sale.
Where Google AI falls short is when the value of an action is determined after the conversion point. All Google knows is that a conversion point was triggered. Herein lies the problem.
Left to Google, the initial round of leads is more likely to be filled with junk than value. However, Google doesn’t know this, so junk leads are used equally in conversions. The AI is optimizing the program to deliver junk.
Can this be fixed? Yes. Absolutely. But not by the resources of the average company.
Fixing Junk Leads in Google Ads
Google provides valuable mechanisms to improve lead generation for offline activity following an online conversion.
Every lead submitted to Google Ads should include the corresponding lead ID, which should be carried with the lead through the sales/closing process.
When leads are closed, a file can be generated (or API used) to load the results back to Google. With this file, Google can assign value to each lead, allowing the AI to optimize lead generation.
For junk leads, which are usually identifiable very quickly, a file with the lead ID can be uploaded to Google to have these leads deleted from the system.
Like so much of the ad tech hype, leading-edge tools require resources and knowledge that are not available in the average company.
Beyond the issue of resources is that of reliance on technology and complacency. Remarketing as we know it will end this year. And that’s not a bad thing. It reminds us that we are prone to accepting the easy out, allowing technology to do what we should be doing—or at least paying a great deal more attention to.
As we continue to push the envelope of AI in advertising, we must always pay close attention to the outputs and ask ourselves if this really is the best that can be done.
Starting a business is no easy feat and includes a lot of steps. Two of which are making a website and getting said website in front of customers to promote your product or services.
If you have ever thought about setting up a website before, we are sure most of you have heard of a little platform called Wix, an easy to use, code free website developer. However did you know that Wix also allows you to set up Google ads directly from their platform?
We know that when starting a business there is also a LOT of research that needs to be done. Scouring the internet, bouncing from page to page, trying to decide which path is best, and not everyone has time for that.
Today we are going to keep it all in one place! Everything you need to know about using Google Ads through Wix and if it’s better than setting up a Google Ads account directly through Google.
How To Set Up Google Ads on Wix
Before we go through the pros and cons of using Wix to set up Google Ads, let’s walk through the steps to set it up. Wix keeps things pretty simple so there are only 5 main steps we are going to touch on.
1) Set up location targeting
Advertisers are able to enter up to ten locations based on country, state, city, zip code, and region, or advertisers can enter a street address that they want to advertise near.
2) Set Up Ad Schedule
Choose if you want to run your ads all the time or at specific times. If you opt for specific times you can then choose which days and which hours your ads run.
3) Select Keyword Themes
You can then select up to 10 keyword themes that you think are relevant to how people might be searching for products and services like yours. You can enter in your own keywords or pull from Wix’s suggestions. You only get 10, so choose your themes carefully to encompass everything that you want your campaign to target.
4) Assets
Advertisers enter in 3 headlines and 2 descriptions about their company and landing page. This is what will appear when your ad shows to users.
5) Set Budget
For Wix, you must first purchase a monthly subscription starting as low as $150 a month. This will then pool as the ad credit acting as the money that your campaigns can then pull from when you set your daily spend on the campaign level. It’s important to keep in mind that your campaigns also have a minimum daily spend so if you have a second campaign you will need to purchase more ad credit via a one time purchase or an increase in the monthly subscription.
Pros of Running Google Ads Through Wix:
And just like that, in five easy steps, you have yourself a Google Ads campaign set up through Wix, which leads us to our first pro for using the Wix platform to run Google Ads.
Pro 1) It’s Easy
Wix uses a simplified version of Google Ads that allows you to run search ads, as opposed to the Google Ads platform which has a number of different ad types, complex targeting, and more nuanced ad set up.
Though some people like the bells and whistles of Google Ads, not every company has the band-with to set up and manage complex campaigns.
Wix’s easy to use pared down platform is efficient. Plus it comes with step by step tutorials to walk you through how to set up Google Ads in Wix.
Pro 2) Integration
Using the same platform cuts down a lot of time. Right off the jump, you don’t need to create a Google Ads account, become a verified advertiser, or enter credit card information into a new platform.
In fact, You don’t need to learn another platform at all, because it’s all right in Wix, so you are already familiar with their tools.
Pro 3) Singular Platform (part one)
The pro of a singular platform in terms of integration is great but there is a lot to be said for its simplicity of a singular platform in the long term.
Let’s be honest, as a business owner there is a lot to manage and that includes the 101 tabs open on your computer that you need to check on.
Well advertising through the Wix platform instead of the Google Ads platform cuts down on one extra tab that you have to remember to check.
Instead of bouncing around between Wix and Google Ads you are able to view your advertising data alongside your organic data on one platform.
Time is money and there is a lot of time being saved by having one less platform to pay attention to.
Cons of running Google Ads Through Wix
There are a lot of pros to using the Wix platform to run Google Ads but some of those very things that are pros can quickly become cons for advertisers.
Con 1) Limited Data
Having one platform is great when you don’t have time to learn or set up a Google Ads account, however it also means that Wix is not built to report the same way the Google Ads platform reports.
Wix has very limited data compared to Google Ads.
In Google Ads, advertisers have the ability to do detailed audience reports, gather data on individual keywords, and track many metrics such as impression share that Wix does not report.
This lack of reporting prevents advertisers from gathering insights on their target market and limits ad optimization.
Con 2) Limited Ad Control
Again another pro that can quickly become a con. Wix has a simplified ad set up, which makes ads easy to build, but easy doesn’t necessarily mean better. Here are a few ways Wix is limiting:
The biggest drawbacks of ads on Wix is that you can only run search ads, so any display or video advertising is out of the question from the jump.
Wix also doesn’t allow for more than 3 headlines and 2 descriptions. In Google, Advertisers are able to enter up to 10 headlines and 4 descriptions that then get optimized based on performance.
On Wix, advertisers can’t add extensions to their ads, meaning they are missing out on images, pricing, and call outs that can help an ad stand out, be competitive and attract users.
Finally, Wix has advertisers pick out keyword themes and not specific keywords, meaning that the search terms your ads are showing up for are more broad and might not be relevant. Thus, there is also less data on the success of a keyword/keyword theme.
Con 3) Campaign = Ad
Right now every ad that is created in Wix is its own campaign. In Google Ads there are campaigns, ad groups and then ads.
There can be more than one ad group in a campaign and more than one ad in an ad group, allowing advertisers to organize ad content and gather data on different markets in a concise manner.
Con 4) Google Ads and Wix Don’t Connect
Though you are able to advertise with Google Ads through Wix they are separate platforms.
This means, if you start advertising through Wix and then decide you want to switch to using the Google Ads platform for all the tools and data that Google provides, you aren’t able to retroactively pull your data from Wix into Google Ads.
As far as Google Ads is concerned you have not been running ads through them. Thus you won’t have all your data in one place.
Is Using Wix to run Google Ads Worth It
Truthfully this is going to depend on your business.
As an agency, we wouldn’t use Wix to advertise for our clients because it does not provide near enough data for us to work with and make intelligent observations on campaigns.
However, advertising is our world and we have the time, means and knowledge, to quickly and effectively set up Google Ads campaigns.
A small business owner looking for a way to easily advertise their business might benefit from having a simple platform that is in the same place as where their website is being hosted.
In conclusion, if you have the time, Google Ads is more worthwhile, however if you don’t have the time or desire to learn Google Ads, then setting up ads through Wix is a good resource to get you started in advertising.
Want to take advantage of advertising on Google Ads directly, but need help? Contact us for affordable ads management services. After a short conversation where we align with your needs, we can provide you with a free PPC Ads Management quote. Contact is today!
Over the past month, the two biggest (but not surprising) announcements have to do with Google and the automation of the PerformanceMax, or PMax campaigns. Google has faced several critiques about its AI-driven programs.
Because there is no transparency, ads are run in objectionable places.
Google will launch placement visibility and exclusion capabilities to PMax, according to Campaign.com.
Gemini (Google Generative AI) will become part of PMax
One challenge advertisers may face with PMax is creating ad assets to fit within all the possible placements of a PMax campaign. With Generative AI, Gemini can create appropriately formatted ad assets for the campaigns. Google PMax and Gemini
Google continues to push for AI control while advertisers are looking for more visibility and manual input, if not actual control(that ship has sailed.)
There is no doubt that Google is pushing advertisers and their agencies to implement Google Performance Max or PMax (combined with Gemini.) PMax is Google’s latest iteration to automate the advertising program for companies. Whether your program is search, display, or shopping, Google wants to move you to PMax, promising that it will outperform anything you do.
If you are new to digital advertising, you’ll see that implementing a PMax campaign is not too difficult. But that is part of the issue. As the path of least resistance, it makes it easy not to consider what you don’t see and don’t know. For advertisers that have worked through the programs of manually managing ads and automated campaigns, as well as implementations between the two, fully trusting PMax is a challenge.
Trust issue with Google Ads
When you speak with a Google rep, they are confident that the automated system is the best. They quite sincerely believe and recommend advertisers use it. The confidence with which they tout PMax is borderline cult-like. If you dive into the details of the ads and run a PMax for an extended period, your trust in their confidence will wane.
Some basic observations with Search Terms
In a fully automated program, Google will present your ads to users in various channels that the AI considers important and likely precursors to a conversion. With all the data that the AI is fed, it makes sense that it should be able to determine what leads to a conversion. So, why do we lack confidence?
Run a managed search campaign
Even if you use an exact match or phrase match, Google will present your ads to people based on what it deems to be a close variant. While doing this, Google continually asks you to move all your terms to a broad match. In theory, this allows the system to match against what it deems intent, even if the search term used doesn’t appear to match with your target keywords.
Take a look at the search terms that were entered and triggered your ads. Some very basic things stand out. As an example, look at geographic terms.
Run ads for your local market using geo-targeting. With that, you can also use geo modifiers, such as “xyz companies in Chicago.” You will notice some things:
People who enter “xyz companies in Canada.” will show up.
If you add “Canada” as a broad negative match, suddenly, “XYZ companies in Toronto” or some other geography like France, New York, San Diego etc will show on the search query report.
Long-tail bidding has not been possible for a long time, but Google is still showing that people are using long-tail searches.
Google Ads Deliver to Inappropriate Searches
These few (of many issues) used to be fully manageable through match-type implementation. Now that Google ignores match types, all we can do is add negatives. This has always been part of the process, but it is now the only tool we have.
To the issue of trust in Google’s AI: A company can only work with other companies in a market, they set up the Geo-targeting correctly and also set up target keywords correctly, but Google is showing ads to people who explicitly are looking for providers in other markets.
When giving the AIs even a little latitude, Google spends advertising dollars on searches that cannot lead to a qualified prospect. It seems to be a simple concept that when we target a geo and use geo-targeted terms, the AI should be able to weed out bad queries. It just doesn’t.
A cynical perspective is that Google is simply amping up the number of bidders for each user search, thereby driving up the average CPC. Similar to the implication of removing long-tail bidding. Lump every 4+ word query into an auction with three or fewer words, and you increase the number of bidders for each auction.
Whatever the drivers behind showing queries that are not appropriate, the effect is the same: higher CPC and lower qualified clicks.
The Fragility of PMax
Moving from keywords to complete AI-managed campaigns through PMax, there are a few things that show up.
Consistency matters to AI
The PMax platform depends on a period of learning. Set a budget, and the system starts slowly, learning how people respond and eventually spending the entire daily budget. This can take 1-2 weeks. If you have a change, your PMax campaign can reset itself.
Budget Matters
The representatives at Google will direct PMax users with large budgets to a special team with more experience on the platform. One thing we did notice is that the performance at the higher spending level did not match the performance at the lower spending level. It deteriorated.
This can happen with manually managed programs as well. However, there is a notion being presented that PMax is some kind of magic that can make your program work on any budget.
Learning Matters
As marketers, understanding our customers and how they respond to our marketing is important. We can cross-seed our channels by learning from another channel. PMax campaigns (and, to a lesser extent, the responsive ad campaigns) remove our ability to learn. It either performs or it doesn’t. We can’t tell why because we can see nuance.
Premature Confidence in Artificial Intelligence
Over the past couple of years, AI has been hyped as the holy grail of advertising optimization. In reality, it has a long way to go. From basic mistakes that it doesn’t know are happening, or the need for a relatively steady state in order to maintain optimization, or not truly outperforming manually managed paid search programs at scale, PMax has a role in search but not the only part to play.
Opaque AI Tools
As mentioned earlier, learning matters in marketing. It is not enough that the AI “learns,” but the people managing the programs also learn. This is important to other marketing campaigns. Understanding how changes in your overall marketing, products, and competitors might affect campaign performance is also important. With the black-box AI, not only can you not see what is working, but you can’t see what isn’t… and the AI doesn’t know either.
Take the recent problems with Google Generative AI Gemini and it’s image generation. It produced historically inaccurate images when users asked for it to create images of the pope (and other historical cases), and the images were clearly not an accurate historical representation(CNN.) Given that only white men have been popes (for better or worse), it is a simple historical fact; there is no ambiguity. But Gemini didn’t know that, or wasn’t allowed to apply it.
If real people hadn’t reviewed the images, the AI would continue to produce inaccurate results and never make adjustments.
So, we know Google Ads’ AI delivers ads for a Chicago company (that only wants to do business with other Chicago companies) to people interested in Canadian companies. What else is it doing that we can’t see? How much waste is there when implementing a fully AI-driven campaign with no inputs or visibility other than your URL?
The Role of Remarketing in PPC: Strategies for Targeting and Converting
In the fast-paced world of online advertising, capturing and retaining the attention of potential customers is crucial for success. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is an effective way to reach targeted audiences, but what happens when those initial clicks don’t immediately lead to conversions? This is where remarketing comes into play. In this article, we’ll explore the pivotal role of remarketing in PPC campaigns and provide strategies for effectively targeting and converting prospects.
Understanding Remarketing:
Remarketing, also known as retargeting, is a digital marketing strategy that involves targeting users who have previously interacted with your website or mobile app but haven’t completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form. By tracking user behavior and displaying targeted ads to these individuals as they browse other websites or social media platforms, remarketing aims to re-engage them and encourage them to take the desired action.
The Importance of Remarketing in PPC:
Remarketing plays a crucial role in PPC campaigns for several reasons:
Re-Engagement: Remarketing allows advertisers to re-engage with users who have already shown interest in their products or services. By keeping your brand top-of-mind, remarketing helps nurture leads and encourages them to return to your website to complete a conversion.
Increased Conversions: Studies have shown that remarketing can significantly increase conversion rates by targeting users who are already familiar with your brand and are more likely to convert. By delivering personalized ads based on users’ previous interactions, remarketing helps create a more tailored and compelling user experience.
Enhanced ROI: Remarketing campaigns often yield higher returns on investment (ROI) compared to traditional display advertising. Since remarketing targets users who are further along the sales funnel, the likelihood of conversion is higher, resulting in a more efficient use of advertising budget.
Strategies for Remarketing Success:
When launching a remarketing strategy, it is important to not think of it as a one size fits all campaign. Not all people who have been to your site are the same. In fact they aren’t even all at the same place on the conversion path. The plus side of a remarketing campaign is that advertisers already have information on the users, so use it! Cater your ads to the segment.
Remarketing segmentations can get pretty niche depending on your previous campaigns and website, but today we are going to focus on two of the most common remarketing segmentations: landing pages and abandoned carts.
Landing Page Remarketing
Users who bounced off your landing page without taking action may still be in the early stages of the buying journey and may need more nurturing before they’re ready to convert. In this case, remarketing ads can focus on providing valuable content or showcasing other products or services that may be of interest to them.
Abandoned Cart Remarketing
For users who abandoned their carts, they have already expressed a strong intent to purchase, making them prime targets for remarketing efforts.
By creating remarketing campaigns specifically targeted at cart abandoners, you can remind them of the items they left behind and provide additional incentives to encourage them to complete their purchase. This could include offering a discount or promotion, highlighting free shipping or returns, or emphasizing limited-time offers to create a sense of urgency.
Wrapping Up
By creating distinct remarketing segments, advertisers are able to tailor messaging, assets, and landing pages to their target audience to increase click through rate and ROI. By delivering relevant and personalized content that resonates with each segment, advertisers can optimize campaign performance and achieve better results from their remarketing efforts.
Google Ads Update: Search Themes in Performance Max Campaigns
Google has made the announcement that advertisers are now able to input Search Themes into Performance Max Campaigns to help drive relevant traffic to their ads. What will this look like, how to best use search terms, and how will it differ from the existing Performance Max Campaigns set up? Let’s start by understanding what Performance Max Campaigns are.
What are Performance Max Campaigns
Performance Max Campaigns were introduced back in October 2020, as a way for advertisers to utilize all of Google’s available channels in one campaign. Google will deliver ads across channels like youtube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, based on the advertising goal indicated by the advertiser.
In Performance Max Campaigns advertisers are able to input a handful of data, such as budget, conversion metrics, assets, and audience signals. Based on these inputs Google uses its AI capabilities to determine how to serve ads to consumers. Thus, what assets are paired together, what channels ads are appearing on, bidding, and budget optimization are in the hands of Google AI.
Google’s Push Towards AI
The past few years there has been a push in AI advancements and a lot of discussion regarding best practices. AI can now not only write generic copy but it can write full scenes based on TV shows that sound like they came straight from the writers room. AI can now even take your photo and turn your frown into a smile. These advances and utilizations of AI are all around us and Google is no different.
Performance Max Campaigns are AI based. Not only are they able to optimize based on advertisers inputs but they can even create image, video and copy assets if advertisers choose to. That being said, even though Google is really pushing its AI abilities, automatic asset creation is still optional for advertisers.
AI has not come without controversy. Can writers use AI to help create copy? Can AI use published material online to come up with new content? Is AI going to cut out peoples jobs or make them easier?
How does this all relate to Google Ads’ AI? Well, there are advertisers who love it and others who have raised questions. Some advertisers are shop owners who don’t have the time or energy to invest in research, marketing strategy, ad creation and optimization, so being able to plug in limited data and let google handle the rest is a great option.
Other advertisers prefer a more hands on approach and want to be able to have control over their ads. Does google actually know best?
Over the past few years the majority of updates in Google ads have been AI focused and in many ways limiting the control advertisers have over their ads. However, the latest update indicates google is listening to this critic and is hopefully moving forward with updates that allow advertisers to use more of their expertise in ad management.
The New Implementation of Search Themes
Google is now allowing advertisers to utilize their expertise by adding Search Themes to their Performance Max Campaigns.
Advertisers will be allowed to add up to 25 themes for Google to use in a Performance Max Campaign. These themes will adhere to negative keyword lists and brand exclusions set by the advertiser. It’s important to keep in mind that these are themes not keywords and you can only use 25 of them so keep them broad. For instance “dog supplies” and “puppy supplies” will probably bring in the same results.
We are happy to report that advertisers will also have access to some Search Theme data. Advertisers will be able to view the search categories their ads showed for as well as conversion performance under the search terms insights.
When To Use Search Themes
So, how should advertisers best use Search Themes in their Performance Max Campaigns? Well start by thinking about where there might be holes in Google’s AI in terms of your business.
Google uses your landing pages and pre-existing data to help determine ad placement and target audience, so let’s start there.
If your website doesn’t have a lot of content on certain products or services that you provide and want to advertise, that is the perfect place to start when it comes to thinking of good search themes. For instance, if you run a spa that provides massages and facials but you don’t have a lot of content on yoursite about facial services, this could be where your search themes help fill in the gaps.
Google Performance Max Campaigns also don’t have data on new markets that your company is branching into. If you are a baseball equipment supplier who is starting to sell softball gear, adding softball themes to your campaigns would probably be a good move so that Google knows that this is also an important part of your business even if it’s new.
If you have a big sale coming up or a product you want to push for the holidays, adding these as themes can help guide Google for the time the promotion is going.
You simply know your audience. You know what they are searching for and how they are searching for it. Add those search themes in to help guide Google, so you can have more data and insight on what terms are successful for your brand.
Looking Forward
Google has evolved exponentially in the past ten years. Even in the past five years. The look, the capabilities, the controls, are all vastly different and much of that is because of Google’s push for not only advancement but also its push of AI. While some advertisers have loved this movement others have noted red flags. Hopefully this latest update will help some of those in the latter camp. This is the first step in a while where we see Google give advertisers more control over their ads as well as more conversion data. Google is also noted as saying “improved search terms insights and guidance around search themes“ can be expected in early 2024. This indicated Google is listening to its users and is making moves to help restore insights and input resources for Advertisers.
Google Ads has ruled the roost for years when it comes to paid advertising, and for good reason. They have a wide breadth of ad types, such as search ads, display ads, and shopping ads. Their expansive targeting and audience options also allows advertisers to successfully reach their desired consumer. Let’s not forget that Google Ads also has relatively reliable measuring tools and solid user experience. That being said, like all platforms, Google isn’t without its flaws.
Some advertisers prefer more control over where their ads are showing, who their ads are showing to, how the copy is displayed and even how assets are paired. As Google is growing and branching into more AI driven features, sometimes this control is getting more limited to the advertiser.
But don’t be afraid, because there is a wide range of platforms that advertisers have at their disposal. Some might even be more suited for your business than Google. I always say that every company is different and thus each company’s advertising needs are going to be different. It’s important to assess what is best for your business in order to have the most successful campaign growth.
Today we are going to dive into five other platforms that can boost your reach!
Facebook/ instagram
Geofencing
Bing
Yelp
Linkedin
1. Facebook and Instagram Ads
Alright, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that this is on the list. If you are in the advertising game at all or even just on social media you know that Facebook and Instagram ads are extremely popular among advertisers and for good reason. Google and Facebook have a lot of similar features. For instance, Facebook allows for remarketing, targeting based on audiences and similar geographical targeting to Google, but what makes it stand out.
For one, pretty obviously, the ads aren’t showing up on the side of a blog article or in a random app, they are showing up alongside organic content in social media feeds. What does this mean for advertisers? Well it’s an entirely different kind of engagement. Users are able to not only click on your site but they can like, comment and share creating opportunities for meaningful interactions with potential customers. Advertisers are granted useful insight into how consumers are feeling about the product or promotion in real time.
We would argue that no platform is better than Meta for the visual appeal of ads. Instagram, in particular, is a highly visual platform, making it ideal for showcasing products and services through eye-catching images and videos. Facebook also supports visual content, ensuring your ads stand out. Luckily with Facebook and instagram you have almost complete control over what your ads look like and how they will appear to consumers.
Facebook and Instagram are an ideal platform for businesses who value community engagement and greater artistic control over their ads.
2. Geofencing
Geofencing ads appear similar to how Google’s Display ads appear, as banner ads and as in app ads. So why would someone look for a geofencing platform over Google Ads?
Choosing a geofencing advertising platform over Google Ads can be a strategic decision for businesses looking to target their audience with precision and relevance. Geofencing has hyper-local targeting by allowing you to draw virtual boundaries around specific physical locations, such as stores, events, or competitors’ locations. This level of granularity ensures your ads are seen by the right people in the right place at the right time.
These Geofencing platforms are also able to easily track foot traffic to your store. For instance if you are a restaurant targeting the office building next door to come in for happy hour, geofencing platforms can see who came from the office to your restaurant’s location. Instead of targeting a whole town or zip code, you can target a singular relevant location and track the success of the foot traffic along with the online metrics. This kind of precision may be key for your business.
3. Bing
The concept of bing ads is not that far off from Google Ads. The two are similar, so why might bing ads be better suited for you. Well it’s pretty common knowledge that google is more widely used then bing. In fact, according to impression digital “Google retains an 83.84% share of the global market” with bing only at 8.88%, but that 8.88% is still 1.1 billion users every month. Those bing users aren’t any less valuable than the google users, and surprise surprise, just like there are more people on google, there are more advertisers on google driving the competition up!
Due to its smaller market share, Bing often has lower competition for keywords and ad placements. This can result in lower advertising costs and a better return on investment (ROI) for some businesses.
Bing also attracts a different user demographic compared to Google. It tends to have a slightly older and more affluent user base, making it a valuable platform for reaching specific customer segments. Now if you are trying to target Gen Z this probably isn’t the platform for you, but if you are selling orthopedic shoes geared towards +55 community bing is worth considering!
4. Yelp
If you are a B2C company, Yelp can be a strong contender for you. There are thousands of businesses on yelp, but remember claiming your business on yelp and having a business page is different from running ads on yelp. When advertising on yelp ads can show in a few places. One of which is pretty standard, at the top of someone’s search results. On Google sometimes the intention of a search is unclear. A consumer could be searching for a product or just simply asking a question. However when people are searching on yelp they are more likely than not looking for a relevant business, thus more active engagement.
Another ad placement is on competitors’ pages! Yes that’s right, you can have your ad appear on a competitor’s profile while a consumer is researching your industry. Having your ad featured on a competitor’s Yelp profile can offer a strategic advantage in the competitive landscape. It provides an opportunity for targeted exposure to an audience actively exploring products or services within your industry. By positioning your ad alongside a competitor’s listing, you engage with potential customers who are already in the decision-making process.
5. LinkedIn
Advertising on a LinkedIn profile can offer distinct advantages over Google Ads, particularly when targeting a professional and business-oriented audience. LinkedIn provides a platform where users showcase their career profiles and interests, making it an ideal space for B2B and professional services marketing. Unlike Google Ads, which primarily relies on keyword targeting, LinkedIn allows precise targeting based on job title, company size, industry, and more. This specificity ensures your ads reach decision-makers and professionals with a genuine interest in your products or services.
Moreover, LinkedIn’s context is professional, making it suitable for industries where trust, credibility, and networking are paramount. In contrast, Google Ads may cast a wider net and include unrelated or less qualified traffic. For businesses looking to connect with a niche B2B audience or establish themselves as industry leaders, LinkedIn advertising often offers a more focused and effective approach.
Wrapping up
In conclusion, Google Ads undoubtedly holds a prominent position in the digital advertising landscape, offering an expansive reach and diverse opportunities for businesses. However, it’s crucial to recognize that no single advertising platform is a one-size-fits-all solution.
Different businesses have unique goals, target audiences, and marketing needs. Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, geofencing, and Bing each bring their own strengths to the table, whether it’s precise audience targeting, local focus, professional networking, or competitive edge. Therefore, it is imperative for businesses to assess their specific requirements and objectives carefully. By evaluating the nature of their products or services, their audience’s preferences, and their budget constraints, businesses can strategically choose the advertising platforms that align most closely with their goals, ultimately maximizing their marketing efforts and ROI.
In today’s dynamic digital landscape, flexibility and adaptability in choosing the right platform can make all the difference in achieving advertising success.
As Google Ads grows and expands its capabilities one of their big focuses has been to create automatic systems so that advertisers don’t have to spend as much time making decisions and monitoring. We have seen automatic bidding and smart campaigns, now comes automatic asset creation.
What are Automatically Created Assets?
These new automatically created assets are headlines and descriptions developed by Google’s AI for advertisers’ responsive search ads.
According to Google, “These new assets are generated based on your ad’s unique context, which includes your landing page, existing ads, and keywords in your ad group.”
This is an opt-in feature that many advertisers have a lot of thoughts on. Though not all of the thoughts are positive, let’s start with the pro’s of Google’s automatically created Assets.
Pros of Google’s Automatically Created Assets
Google believes that it will cut back the manual labor for advertisers, increase performance of responsive search ads by running more copy, and create a cohesive user experience across campaigns and landing pages.
Ads perform best when they have keywords in their headlines and descriptions. When setting up ad groups and ads, ideally the keywords will correspond with each other within an ad group allowing advertisers to add those keywords into the headlines. However, sometimes keywords can be contradictory, preventing advertisers from adding that keyword to a headline.
Let’s take a look at a simple example. Sally sets up an ad group to sell t-shirts. She adds keywords, “pink t-shirt” and “blue-tshirt”, but she is hesitant to add these keywords as headlines because she doesnt want someone searching for a blue t-shirt to be fed an ad with the headline “Pink T-shirts for Sale”.
When using automatically created assets, if an ad is triggered by the keyword “blue t-shirt” then a headline using that keyword like “Best Blue T-Shirt Deal” can appear. Google will use your provided headlines, descriptions, and keywords to create the best assets for the searchers so you don’t have to.
Furthermore, as campaigns evolve and keywords and landing pages change, Google’s automatically created assets will adjust to match the new content. This will cut back the time advertisers spend adjusting their creative as campaigns take on new life.
As the campaigns optimize, google will automatically show the best performing assets and remove underperforming assets so you don’t have to.
All that being said, not everyone views google’s automatically created assets as sunshine and rainbow. Some advertisers are even strongly against it.
Cons of Google’s Automatically Created Assets
Right off the bat, when using Google’s automatically created assets, advertisers have less control over what creative is being shown and when.
One of the arguments for using automatically created assets is that it cuts back on the time advertisers have to spend on optimizing their campaign. Ironically, unless you are someone who wholeheartedly trusts Google, (we are not), the time that is saved upfront in creating assets is then lost when you have to monitor the creative that Google is showing. Advertisers are able to remove individual assets that are created but this process can take time.
In that same vein, how frequently are you going to be removing assets? How accurate are the assets that google is creating?
Some advertisers have gone so far as to say the assets created are nonsensical and the tool has a long way to go before it becomes reliable.
Thus it is important for any account manager to add “go through automatically created assets” to their weekly checklist.
If you are thinking about running automatically created assets, some questions to ask yourself include:
Am I okay with having headlines and descriptions run that I don’t fully approve of, even if it’s for a short period of time?
Do I have the bandwidth to add “go through automatically created assets” to my weekly checklist?
Even if you are confident in Google’s AI capabilities it is always a good idea to run a couple of tests to make sure that this feature works for you and your campaigns. Best to use a test budget instead of your full campaign budget, incase the results aren’t everything that you are hoping for.
Summary
Google’s automatically created assets are headlines and descriptions generated based off of a campaigns landing pages, keywords and already created copy. These assets are meant to optimize themselves, provide relevant content for searchers, and reduce the amount of time advertisers spend on an account.
However, Google’s AI capabilities don’t quite reach many advertisers standards, thus requiring involved maintenance and upkeep of the assets. Many Advertisers have instead decided to not opt-in to automatically created assets all together.
If these new tools worked flawlessly we would be all on board, but it seems there are still hiccups that google needs to work through. That being said, it is up to each advertiser to test it out for themselves and decide if it is a good fit for their company!
Google ads can be a great tool to drive traffic and awareness for your brand. However it is important to ensure that your ads aren’t just appearing in front of people but appearing in front of potential customers. We have laid out 5 key ways advertisers can make sure they aren’t wasting budget on impressions and clicks that aren’t valuable.
Limit Broad Match Keywords
Managing keywords effectively in Google Ads is crucial for maximizing your advertising budget and driving relevant traffic to your campaigns. Keywords play a pivotal role in determining when and where your ads will appear on the search engine results page.
While broad match keywords might seem like a quick way to capture a wide range of search queries, they can also lead to wastage of your budget if not managed carefully. Google tends to really push broad match keywords. If you haven’t noticed already, changing your keywords to broad match will likely come up repeatedly as a Google Ads recommendation. It’s okay to reject this recommendation because, while this can expand your reach, it can also bring in clicks from users who aren’t truly interested in your offerings.
Right off the bat some may be drawn to the broad match keywords because they tend to have a lower Cost Per Click (CPC). Clicks are great and clicks with a low cost are great, but if you are paying for clicks that are bouncing then the click has no value.
We recommend using Broad match keywords sparingly. For instance Using broad match keywords at the start of a campaign can be a valuable strategy to gain insights into the diverse array of search terms that potential customers are using to discover your business. However if you think you have a good handle on what potential customers are searching for, then jumping straight to exact match and phrase match keywords is the way to go!
Use Negative Keywords and Negative Keyword Lists
When managing a google ads campaign one of the most crucial things you can do to make sure you aren’t wasting money is to regularly review search term reports to identify new negative keyword opportunities. By analyzing the actual search terms that trigger your ads, you can spot terms that are consistently leading to irrelevant clicks or impressions. These terms can then be added to your negative keyword list, further refining your campaign’s targeting and preventing future wastage of budget on unproductive clicks.
The first method of negative keyword management is to add negative keywords directly to the campaign or add group. The second method is to add negative keywords to a negative keyword list that can be applied to multiple campaigns.
For example if you are running ads for your local restaurant and don’t want to appear when people search for competitor restaurants, we recommend creating a competitor negative keyword list. This way when you add a negative keyword to the list it will automatically apply to all campaigns that the negative keyword list is assigned to.
Same goes for when you start a new campaign. Instead of doing more work and adding negative keywords individually to that campaign, you merely add the negative keyword list! Boom, no money wasted on unwanted search terms!
Leveraging Ad Schedules
When starting off with google ads keywords and search terms are going to come in to play right from the jump but now let’s dive into more specifics. Google ads allows users to control when their ads are displayed throughout the day and week. Leveraging ad scheduling strategically can significantly contribute to preventing a waste of budget on clicks that don’t deliver value. By tailoring your ad schedule to align with your target audience’s most active and relevant periods, you can ensure that your ads are shown to users when they are more likely to convert.
Understanding your audience’s behavior and preferences is key to effective ad scheduling. If your business offers products or services that are more in demand during specific hours or days, adjusting your ad schedule to match those patterns can be highly beneficial.
For instance, a restaurant might want to increase ad visibility during lunch and dinner hours, while an online retailer might focus more on evenings and weekends when users have more time to browse and make purchases. Another example would be only running ads during business hours if your company primarily provides B2B services.
If you don’t know when your customers are most active don’t fret! You can always run your campaigns with no ad schedule and then after a few weeks assess the data and build out an ad schedule based on click through and conversion rates.
In the ads scheduling You are also able to make bid adjustments. Let’s say you don’t want to be bidding your full bid during off hours but you also don’t want to go completely dark. This would be the perfect case to decrease your bid by 50% or whatever feels comfortable for you.
Use Big Modifiers
Speaking of bid modifying, there is so much more than time based bid modifying that can be done in a campaign.
Utilizing bid modifiers in Google Ads can significantly enhance targeting precision, leading to more effective campaigns. Bid modifiers empower advertisers to adjust their bids based on specific criteria, allowing them to tailor their ad delivery to audiences that are more likely to convert. This approach maximizes the impact of your budget by focusing on high-potential segments while minimizing exposure to less valuable traffic.
Geographic bid modifiers, for instance, enable you to increase or decrease bids for users in specific locations. If your business has higher value in certain geographic regions, you can allocate more budget to those areas, ensuring that your ads are prominently displayed to audiences with stronger conversion potential.
Similarly, device bid modifiers help cater to users’ preferred devices. If your data shows that conversions are more likely to occur on mobile devices compared to desktops, adjusting your bids accordingly can optimize your ad delivery for higher-converting platforms. By prioritizing the devices that align with your audience’s behaviors, you channel your budget more effectively and reduce the risk of wasting it on less productive channels.
Separate Your Search and Display Campaigns
Alright folks this one is so simple but so tricky many veteran advertisers fall trap to it. All you have to do for this tip is Opt out of the google display network when setting up a search campaign.
Google is great when it comes to guiding advertisers through setting up a campaign. They have that step by step process down pat. Google asks you questions and most of the time you as the advertiser have to input information, ie budget, keywords, copy.
However when setting up a search campaign you will eventually hit the “Network” section. Google will automatically have the display network checked meaning that in your search campaign “ads can also appear on relevant sites, videos and apps across google”. This would essentially make your search campaign, not just a search campaign.
On the surface, this might seem advantageous – an automatic expansion of your reach! However, our strong suggestion is to consistently split your search and display campaigns, providing you with greater authority over:
Budget Allocation: Dividing your campaigns allows for more precise budget management. You can allocate funds to each network according to their individual performance and importance.
Ad Placement Control: With separate campaigns, you can have a say in where your ads appear. You can target specific placements on the Display network and maintain precision in your search placements.
Bid Adjustments for Search and Display: Individual campaigns let you fine-tune your bidding strategies based on the differing user behaviors on the search and display networks. An actively engaged searcher has distinct conversion potential compared to someone casually browsing content.
It’s vital to distinguish between individuals actively seeking your offerings on Google searches and those who see your ad by chance on a blog post. By keeping these visitor categories apart, you ensure more effective targeting and a better return on your advertising investment, thus not wasting money.
Wrapping Up
Google ads has a plethora of features at advertisers disposal. So many features in fact, that it can be overwhelming for new advertisers when first starting out. But no worries! Leverage Google ad’s tools by following our key steps to best optimize your campaigns and budget. Remember that every campaign and company is different so what works for one might not work for the next! Take our tips as a jumping off point and see if they are the best fit for your business or decide if optimizing your campaigns looks different.
The line between geotargeting and geofencing can get blurred pretty quickly in the marketing world, and depending on who you talk to the two are used interchangeably.
For instance Google ads offers geotargeting but not geofencing. When looking closely at google’s site you’ll notice that never once does it mention geofencing. Instead it uses words like “Google Ads location targeting”, yet if you search “Google ads Geofencing” you will get article after article on all of Google ad’s geofencing capabilities. Yikes!
So why do these terms get used interchangeably and what is the difference between google ads location targeting and geofencing platforms.
BREAKING DOWN THE TERMS
Let’s start by outlining what geotargeting and geofencing are.
Geotargeting uses IP addresses, GPS coordinates, user interest, and proximity marketing to target consumers in an advertiser’s desired geographic location.
Geofencing Uses GPS or RFID signals to set a customizable virtual boundary that will trigger ads when a person enters the location.
Okay we know, we know. These still sound very similar, so we are going to break down Google ads geotargeting capabilities and other platforms’ geofencing capabilities to hopefully create a bigger more defined picture of the differences between geotargeting and geofencing.
In general, I like to think of Google ads location targeting, as being a wider net then geofencing. It’s important to keep in mind that a wider net has both its pros and cons, so let’s look closer.
GOOGLE ADS’ TARGETING METHODS
Google ads has two forms of targeting, location and radius. First, location based, allows you to target the following areas:
Countries
Cities
Regions
Postal codes
For one campaign, multiple locations can be selected at a time, i.e. a campaign can target California, Florida, and North Carolina at the same time. You could even target 1,000 zip codes if you wanted to.
That being said, no one wants to spend the better part of an afternoon entering 1,000 zip codes manually! Luckily the google ads platform allows you to upload a list in bulk for an easier experience or enter locations manually if you just have a few.
On the flip side, Google Ads also allows you to exclude locations in the same fashion that you would target. This would be helpful if you are promoting a product in the United States but aren’t able to ship to Alaska or Hawaii. Instead of entering in the 48 states that you can ship to, you would instead target the United States and exclude Alaska and Hawaii.
The second kind of targeting is radius targeting. This can be found under advanced search options in the locations setting. In Google ads radius targeting allows an advertiser to enter their business profile location or an address. From there a radius size of your choosing will appear around that location. The radius around that location can be anywhere between 1 and 500 miles.
A one mile radius is the closest you can get to your location. In Google ads if you want to target Grand Central Station the most precise targeting would be Grand Central Station plus a 1 mile radius. Some advertisers may want to hone in on the station itself and not the surrounding area. That would be a task for Geofencing, but more on that later.
GOOGLE LOCATION VS INTEREST TARGETING
Something else to keep an eye on when setting up location targeting for Google ads is their question on presence or interest. You will have the option to target not only people who are physically in your designated location but also people who show interest in your designated area.
For example, let’s say you want to run ads for your tour bus company in Chicago. You don’t want to only target those who live in the city because that might not be your sole target demographic. Instead you want to reach tourists who are interested in and planning a trip to Chicago but don’t live there. This is a scenario when using presence and interest is your best option.
HOW DOES GOOGLE DECIDE WHO TO SHOW ADS TO
Ideally when you set a target location, you will be sending ads to that location specifically, but with Google that isn’t always the case. Google uses GPS signals, IP Addresses and interests to target people and therefore will sometimes hit people outside of your set location.
For example, people use IP addresses that don’t match their actual location. We are seeing a rise in VPN usage, whether it be for watching Netflix shows in a different country or for protecting data online. Nevertheless, Google will still target IP addresses that are set for your location even if that person is not physically there.
GEOFENCING PLATFORMS
Before we dive into Geofencing, let’s clear something up. In the first section we talked about Google ads’ geotargeting because people will likely interact with google ads at some point in their Marketing career. When it comes to Geofencing there are many platforms with geofencing capabilities. Today we are going to go over some of the main components frequently seen on geofencing platforms. It’s important to note that not all platforms are created equal and some have more capabilities than others.
So, Let’s jump into geofencing and what makes it different from Google ads location targeting.
GEOFENCING TARGETING METHODS
Unlike google ads, Geofencing allows you to get super specific with where you are targeting. How specific, you may ask. Well not only can you target a single building but you can separate that building from its parking lot. You can even select the front part of the building if you know that the back of the building is all storage and your target group of people isn’t there.
This is done by setting up “fences”. You provide the geofencing platform with locations you want to target, and they will set up a virtual fence around the area. Then, using GPS signals when someone enters that location they will be eligible for your ads. Frequently these locations can be edited to fit exactly what you need. You can also target more than one place at a time.
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