5. Negatives And Negative Lists
Keywords are still the strongest signal. But due to the complexity of natural language and the different (often unique) ways people search, even with the most sophisticated machine learning, machines can still struggle to fully understand the intent.
Therefore, it’s as important as ever to narrow down the chances that keywords might match unwanted search queries. You must continually review and mine the search query data available.
Even with the current limitations, search query reports can really help you understand what Google thinks a website or a page is about.
At a time when Google is encouraging advertisers to move to using more broad match and keyword themes, this can help reduce costs for unwanted, less relevant searches and exclude terms that don’t align with your campaign goals.
This ongoing process also helps improve your quality score and overall campaign efficiency.
6. Features Available (And Applicable To The Account/Campaign) In The Platform
Continuing from the point above, one of the reasons to use additional features like the ad extensions is the benefit these can have on the quality score.
It goes without saying that QS alone should be a compelling enough reason.
Additionally, considering that ad listings on search engines can be quite expensive, wouldn’t it make sense to try to always maximize the on-page real estate?
If we are paying a large amount of money to be there, we want to ensure it’s worth it. Besides, the more space we can take, the less will be available for competitors and other advertisers!
Additional features also include less-used options, such as the capability to upload offline conversions (more on that in a moment) or run experiments and A/B testing.
With the push for automation by platform owners, manual adjustments are becoming more limited.
Leveraging machine learning and AI for actionable insights and optimization options is now more critical than ever.
7. Conversion Tracking
Accurate conversion tracking is the bedrock of effective PPC campaigns – and this is one of my favorites – and it’s essential that we are tracking the right goals.
In digital marketing, everything should be measurable, and marketers should be accountable for the performance of their advertising campaigns. Conversion tracking should always be at the cornerstone of planning and executing media buying.
However, we often see examples of PPC accounts and campaigns that are either missing conversion tracking altogether or are tracking the wrong endpoints.
Provided we have our conversions firing and recording correctly, some expert tips are to:
Use the segmentation option from within Google Ads to easily and quickly see a breakdown of the conversion types by campaign (see example below). In fact, the segmentation view is an extremely useful, yet massively underrated, tool!
Screenshot from Google Ads, July 2024
Set the right conversion goal(s) for each campaign when using Target cost per action (CPA) or Target return on ad spend (ROAS) bid strategies.
Set up and make use of custom columns to add the different conversion points and/or performance metrics such as CPA, return on investment (ROI) or ROAS.
Besides, the importance of conversion data has increased exponentially as it informs machine-driven optimization, so importing offline conversions and using enhanced conversions are now essential practices.
8. The Role Of Automation And AI
The role of the marketer has evolved significantly with the advent of AI and automation.
It’s now crucial to maximize the effectiveness of these technologies.
Automated systems can mine and provide actionable insights from vast amounts of data, which manual methods cannot match; only understanding and leveraging these capabilities will help marketers stay ahead.
9. First-Party Data and Privacy Regulations
We probably cannot stress enough about this; with increasing privacy regulations, third-party data is becoming less reliable, so nurturing first-party data has never been more important.
Building and maintaining comprehensive customer lists in full transparency allows for targeting with greater accuracy and personalization while ensuring compliance with privacy laws and campaign effectiveness.
Conclusion
In the dynamic world of PPC advertising, continuous improvement is key.
By regularly updating and refining your strategies across (some of) these nine areas, you can achieve sustained success and drive better results for your campaigns.
Back in 2021, my recommendation was to embrace the Pareto Principle and focus on where you can make a difference right away:
“Look for those campaigns and terms that are responsible for the majority of the ad spend.
It is likely that 20% of those are accountable for 80% of your outgoing costs.
If those campaigns or keywords are hitting your targets, improving their performance might really help you to take things to the next level and become the company CFO’s best friend.”
Now I still think your job is to focus on the 20%, but the grunt work, the 80% is likely to be best left to the machines.
The advent of AI tools and the push for automation have transformed the role of marketers, making it essential to leverage these technologies effectively, while privacy regulations underscore the importance of first-party data.
Like never before, it is important to stay informed about the latest tools and trends and not hesitate to adapt the approach to meet the evolving needs of your audience.
Key Takeaways for 2024:
Prioritize data-driven decisions by leveraging the latest performance insights.
Regularly update and refine your strategies to stay ahead of the competition.
Utilize the full range of available features and tools to maximize campaign effectiveness.
Adapt to the evolving role of automation and AI in PPC advertising.
Focus on first-party data to navigate the challenges posed by privacy regulations.
More resources:
Featured Image: BestForBest/Shutterstock