PPC management companies are enjoying more success than ever thanks to the effectiveness of per-per-click advertising. Their top strategies for 2017 center around machine learning and conversion tracking, among other tactics that provide clients with increased brand awareness and conversions.
Let’s review what is helping these companies remain at the top of their game this year:
Improved Conversion Tracking
PPC experts waved goodbye to AdWords in the first half of this year and bid hello to Google Attribution. It was the most significant product released at the Google Marketing Next event and provides more multichannel conversion data. It also “feeds back” into AdWords in terms of bidding strategies. Google Attribution solves a variety of common search marketer problems, including how to inform bidding decisions easily using full-funnel attribution data, as well as how to see and subsequently credit both upper- and mid-funnel interactions.
Other popular conversion tracking trends for 2017 include Google’s Maximize Conversions, a helpful bidding strategy tool ideal for those who import offline conversions into AdWords consistently. The search engine juggernaut can also track and report store visits stemming from YouTube campaigns and help with online-to-offline conversion tracking. For the latter, retailers have the opportunity to upload their customer email lists or loyalty cards into AdWords to track their success.
Machine Learning
PPC management companies saw a huge machine learning development in March of this year when Google announced it would dismiss word order and add or dismiss function words in precise keyword matches. This dilution of exact match keywords will now include close variants, such as plural, abbreviation, and typo versions of keywords. The change also means function words such as “that” and “this” may be replaced, added, or ignored. For example, a search for “jobs in united states jimmy choo shoes women” would be changed to “jobs in the united states jimmy choo shoes for women.” Function words are added in this case.
Dynamic Search Ads & Other Ad Updates Changing the Game for PPC Management Companies
Google ad trends for this year included the Ads Added By AdWords pilot this past January that chose 2,000 accounts for participation, though any could opt out whenever they wanted. The system adds advertisements to the ad group testing rotation automatically. Dynamic Search Ads received a page feed boost in March that included support of expanded text ads. This allows advertisers to enjoy dynamically-created headlines that include extra characters in the descriptions.
Google also started testing a second description line option for expanded text ads in March, however it remains a limited test. Additionally, the search engine’s call ad announcements included call extensions being set at the account level with headlines for call-in ads becoming the default option. Reporting columns for phone calls and impressions are subsequently available at the ad and keyword level.
These and other changes provide PPC management companies with the opportunity to fine-tune digital marketing campaigns like never before, resulting in happier clients with more website hits and impressions, conversions, and revenue. Contact Softline Solutions today to learn how we can help you optimize your PPC strategy.
