As we settle into a new year we tend to look ahead with a fresh mindset and goals. There is no exception to this when looking at digital Marketing and PPC in particular. In an ever evolving industry it is vital to stay ahead and informed in order to produce top performing campaigns and stay one step ahead of your competitors.
With that being said, what are some of the latest trends we’ll most likely see this year?
- Embracing changes on Google Ads
It’s the end of an era with expanded search ads (ETAs) as we will no longer be able to create or edit these from 30th June, 2022. This includes any platforms that supports expanded text ads such as Google Ads mobile and Google Ads Editor. Despite this change, it is worth noting that you will still be able to run all previously existing expanded search ads and you will still be able to remove, pause and enable these should you wish. You will also still be able to collate data for reporting purposes from these. Google states that automation is the key in keeping pace with developing trends and concentrating solely on responsive search ads (RSAs) will enable you to show the right message for the right query in relevant auctions driving incremental conversions with fewer ads. This decision came after Google changed their default ad type to RSA in February 2021. Responsive search ads will therefore be the only ad type you can create and edit moving forward.
There have also been recent movements towards automated advertising with changes in keywords. The incorporation of broad match modifier (BMM) into phrase match last year which resulted in the discontinuation of BMM as it’s own match type. This basically expanded the reach of phrase match keywords whilst maintaining controlled search query targeting. Google is putting more emphasis on automation so it wouldn’t be surprising if more changes were to be introduced in the near future.
- Video Advertising
It is no surprise that in recent years video has become increasingly popular amongst advertisers. With the need for fast and effective content that will catch the attention and engage viewers in today’s modern world where attention spans are shorter than ever before. Video ads are able to reach a wider target audience and more than ever before, users are responding to interactive content making for a more enjoyable, interactive and memorable journey. It is no secret that brand awareness can be a struggle for most brands when launching new campaigns, however video ads can set a brand apart from their competitors and they also stand a good chance of being shared to a wider audience on other platforms such as social media. Google has actually put a lot of effort into this area and have made it a simpler process for advertisers to create highly targeted video ads with their YouTube content. These ads consist of clips of around 3-4 seconds long which are taken from longer video content. This is one to definitely think about implementing into your account if you haven’t already.
- Automation
As previously mentioned, automation is being thrust into the limelight more and will no doubt play a major role in future advertising. Although machine learning is nothing new when it comes to using this in PPC strategies in both Google and Microsoft ads, we can expect to see this take an even greater stance due to its accessibility and efficiency, which are allowing us to see better and faster results in our campaigns. Marketers are able to quickly adapt their strategies accordingly based on the successes seen through machine learning and automation as data can be quickly gathered and analyzed, budgets are therefore much more efficiently distributed to those better performing keywords, ads and campaigns and allow you to produce better targeted ad content. Ensuring you are using automation even for the smallest tasks across your ad platforms will ensure you are getting the most out of your PPC automation. Over time you can gradually build up your usage of this across your digital marketing campaigns to work with your strategies and goals and therefore improving performance.
The way we are advertising for services and products online is constantly evolving. Ensuring we keep up to speed with current PPC trends is essential in ensuring you not only keep up to speed with your competitors but you are also at the top of your game.
Want to know more about how you can boost your PPC performance in 2022? Sign up for a free PPC audit from one of our award winning experts and we’ll be able to tell you exactly how to boost your PPC performance this year.
