Another Year and more tools roll out in the world of PPC. How are you supposed to keep up with all the latest PPC industry trends? Our guide to PPC Trends in 2021 has the answers!
in 2018 Google AdWords became Google Ads mainly because their platform outgrew the name 'Words' making way for interactive content, video and so many more options. Ad Copy is much more than text. Seriously, stop calling it AdWords 😀
Google also launched smart shopping and other enhancements. Targeting became yet more sophisticated, leaving us marketers a lot to learn but excited at the prospect of what it could do.
Bing Ads, hot on the heels of Google, launched many new features too. LinkedIn gave us profile targeting and similar audiences and a substantial shift in users to Amazon's display marketing platform.
Amazon is ironically both Google's biggest competitor and most prominent client, and they exist in symbiosis. However, who knows more about people's shopping habits than this retail giant?
Given the exponential curve of digital marketing, it leaves us wondering what 2021 Trends in digital marketing will be.
Being Expertly Google Trained, we googled around for a few answers, and we have collated them here in this blog post.
Video advertising is now, not the future. It's the best performing content in a mobile age. The average cost of a video view is about 2 pence. Using video can boost your brand and increase your placements on search engine listings.
YouTube also utilises search and display campaigns by showing those ads. i.e. you don't need to advertise on YouTube with video.
Video ads are available on all the major platforms.
Ok, its not so much a trend because it's been stalking us for a while now, but remarketing is often overlooked in ad campaigns.
Remarketing though has a much higher click-through rate and conversion rate. Why? Because the customer is so much further down the buying funnel. It takes 7-10 views of a brand stick in your brain, so remarketing makes total sense.
Larry Kim says "People who have previously engaged with content are much more likely to engage again,” Kim said. “The weird thing about remarketing is the more times people see [an] offer, the less likely they are to click, but those who do are twice as likely to buy.”
The Robots are taking over! While AI is downright weird when it comes to creating copy, something best left to the writers. For the mundane stuff though, machines can spot patterns where humans cannot.
AI can spot trends, search patterns, behaviour and more. This is how ads can automatically optimise content and serve to the people most likely to convert.
Automating the grunt work and leaving it to the bots frees up more time to concentrate on what matters. Creativity.
I'm personally reading more and more about this. And when you think about it, it's not rocket science. It's actually flipping obvious. Business, big and small, thrives on the loyalty of their customers, and their word of mouth.
Its time to really start concentrating on building your brand and generating awareness around it.
Firstly, this isn't a wild sweeping statement that keywords are on the way out. But Aaron Levy of Elite SEM has suggested that the keyword as we know it will die in 2021, with a much more significant shift to custom audiences.
The potential for precision audience targeting is mind-boggling. It's why fewer people notice ads. Good advertising means you will only get served the content you are interested in, so its less likely to annoy you. Instead, it should engage you.
Applying audiences to your search campaigns is a fairly recent Google feature, and can bolster up your click-throughs, and ultimately converting traffic.
For a while now, there have been in market and affinity audiences within Google Ads, based on customer intent to buy.
What we have now, is the ability to connect with your customers at the exact moment they need your product or service, based on the intent shown in their browsing habits.
To put this into context, if you were toying with the idea of moving house, you might look on Rightmove, Zoopla and search for homes in your area. In doing this, you may well be categorised as an affinity audience for estate agents or mortgage companies.
Moving down the funnel, you may decide you are serious about the move. Your browsing habits may then include the cost of living, schools in the area, transport, crime statistics, mortgage options and so on.
These kinds of searches would place you in the 'in-market' category. i.e. you are in the market for a house.
It's easy to see the value of doing this for advertisers. Yet there are still so many ad accounts not taking advantage of these features. For further reading look at this article on WordStream
Amazon is hot on the heels of Google. Both their biggest client and biggest competitor, We imagine its a love-hate relationship. But as I said earlier, no one knows more about consumer behaviour than Amazon.
Any serious PPCer needs to up their Amazon game and introduce this as a potential strategy for online advertising. Amazon's potential for customisation is off the chart.
Bing: No longer the nerd or the wallflower, Bing has become a serious competitor and is gaining more market share daily.
There are so many rich features on many of the other platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.
There's literally no place for the 90's web guy of 2021 PPC Ads. Don't be that guy or gal. A clever PPCer will use AI to their advantage, to determine the best strategy for their clients.
Machines spot trends even the most gifted savant would not be able to. Account strategists need to embrace the automation not fight it. In essence, we are consultants and the machines will take care of the labour.
The new changes to the search console are a reflection of how necessary attribution is becoming in the marketing process.
The number of times I've heard people say they don't bother with mobile bids because all the conversions are on a desktop. It's insane to me.
The desktop is like that extrovert in the meeting, that steals all the mobile's ideas because it was just sitting there, on silent, minding its own business, and then desktop comes along and takes all the credit.
If it converted on desktop, it's fairly likely you saw it first on mobile.
To fully understand consumer behaviour, you really have to understand the path to purchase.
Who knows what's coming, but Map ads are now a feature. And what about position zero, appearing before any ads or organic results. Is it possible that they will monetise this too?
Google Search is still the most widely used search engine, followed by YouTube. Search Ads are just as relevant as ever.
Responsive Text ads, allow you to enter a third headline and allows up to 15 headlines and four copy options, meaning it can match your ad closely to a user's query. It will rotate and optimise until it finds the best performing ad. Then there's the numerous call outs and ad extensions.
Basically its all poised to keep PPCers on our toes, but we embrace change and new technology.
As a Google Partner Agency, we have access to the latest beta products before the general public. Speak to us today for a free consultation.
It's an all too familiar tale. If you aren't a big brand with an in-house marketing team, then the chances are you may have attempted to struggle through the minefield of PPC marketing alone.
Many of our clients at Made By Factory didn't start by using a digital partner; they tried to go it alone. Unfortunately, this resulted in over 70% of wasted spend.
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Our digital agency is fully Google certified. Co-Founder Ben Tennant, Our head of PPC is a former Googler and an authority on high performing ad campaigns.
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We want to make sure you are taking advantage of the benefits of the various advertising networks and correctly using them.
Keeping a campaign optimal can be compared to gardening if you’re that way inclined. It’s about ‘planting’ new and seasonal content, and rooting out all the weeds, so they don’t strangle all the good stuff.
Having the reassurance that a trained eye is monitoring your account can let you get on with whatever do you best. Probably not PPC.
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We are a qualified and experienced team each of whom bring a different mix to the table. From creative to video and copy and account strategy, we have you covered.
We spot holes you potentially didn’t, which could save you thousands.
Made By Factory is a Manchester Digital Agency. We specialise in the development of laser focussed Google Ad campaigns and bespoke WordPress websites. To start your project today and start seeing results, get in touch.
