Everyone wants eyeballs on their brand messaging. And many brands know that investing in paid advertising as part of their marketing strategy will get them there. Paid advertising, like PPC (pay-per-click), has the potential to reach more of your target audience, compared to unpaid advertising and marketing.
Google Adwords
Last year we saw massive changes with Google, such as AdWords rebranding to Google Ads, where the platform’s focus shifted from the micro-moment to the experience. And at the same time, the platform gained a gigantic facelift. So how do the changes affect your brand’s paid advertising efforts?
Keywords, Phrases, and Audiences
When you gather ingredients for your ad cake, sprinkle in more phrases than keywords. Think of it this way; people typically use more than one word when searching online. Get in the mindset of your customer – current or ideal – and add in the phrases they would use. Besides demographic targeting, this means building out audience targeting. By implementing audiences, you can gather audience data to then create stronger remarketing with.
Automation and AI
Google states that Google Ads is the ad ecosystem that will work for everyone. It’s clear that Google believes automated intelligence makes it possible for more business owners to become successful paid advertisers. Google wants businesses to use their ad campaign recommendations and, when implemented, adds points to their overall campaign optimization score. But, don’t let AI scare you. Instead, put a human behind it, leverage it well, and beat out the competition.
Video
Keeping with the theme that Google Ads can work for anyone, Google has begun supporting smaller businesses with video advertising. Now, businesses can measure and pay by using conversion metrics instead of reach. Google also offers a YouTube Director video service, where a professional will come to the businesses and shoot the video.
Google Ads revamped its platform so businesses can feel more confident using it, but with some of those changes comes frustration, especially with all of the automation and AI that’s now built-in. Now let’s take a look at how to get people to engage with paid advertising.
Want an Authentic Click?
Here’s a refresher on SERP (search engine results page) functionality. When you search a query with a search engine, it responds with a list of pages containing a title, link, and description that are relevant to your search. The organic results show up in the middle of the page and the PPC in the top and bottom sections. You’ll notice the PPC results look similar to the organic search results except they have the ‘ad’ label. If they’re looking, people can usually tell the difference between organic results and ads.
There is a reason people click on paid advertising, even when they know they are ads. So, how do you get people to click on paid search advertisements? In a recent survey, of 506 people who say they clicked on paid advertising (on purpose), 75% said the ads made it easier to find the information they were searching for. This means people will click on ads if they answer the query. This may sound obvious, but it’s an essential point because it means your ads must be relevant to your target audience. Along with ads answering questions, 26% of that group said they clicked on the ad because they knew the brands. This speaks to brand development; it is essential to develop your brand and build it out, so you get the recognition your ads need.
Full Circle
Ads are all about strategy and communication, just like your brand. A strong brand communicates the problem your brand solves, connects emotionally with your audience, and motivates your customer to invest in you — just like your paid advertising should be doing. Here at Savy, we are here for you in every step of your brand journey.