What’s in Store for PPC Marketers in the Coming Years?
Every year, Google Ads and Bing release new updates for paid search marketing. The domain is getting competitive with each update, and it is challenging for PPC advertising companies to get the most of their budget. But don’t worry.
New PPC trends and strategies can take your campaign to the next level with proper planning and execution. So, don’t miss out on these latest happenings in the world of PPC.
Automation with AI Making Giant Strides
The use of both artificial intelligence and machine learning in PPC automation will increase in the coming years. PPC marketers can automate labour-intensive tasks associated with paid ads on Google and Bing.
By the end of 2021, global automation is expected to garner revenues around $238 billion. A significant chunk of this spending will go to PPC automation tasks like ad testing and campaign optimization.
Artificial intelligence in PPC campaigns will help to create effective ads by predicting the CTR of campaigns, calculating the impact on quality scores, analyzing the best bids, and optimizing keywords in the areas that require focus.
For example, if your CPC falls below the targeted level, automation will help to create an optimized campaign based on audience behaviours. It can also generate useful reports if you link your Google Ads account and select the metrics that you want in your reports.
Video Ads in PPC
You will realize the significant impact of video ads on PPC campaigns if you look at some vital statistics from the past years. In 2019 alone, nearly 78% of online users watched videos every week, and they remembered up to 95% of the video content. About 92% of smartphone users share videos with their friends. And 58% of them like a brand with videos on its digital properties.
By 2022, experts predict that nearly 82% of overall internet traffic will come from videos only. So, there’s no denying the power of videos in every aspect of digital marketing, including paid search. You can expect the Google vertical video ads to become more prominent with more marketers linking their products in these ads. Virtual reality (VR) will become another potent tool for PPC marketers.
Rise of Smart Bidding System
In an automated and machine learning-based bidding system, you can expect the optimization of conversions and conversion value. Enhanced cost per click, targeted return on advertising spends, and targeted cost per acquisition will become the new metrics for smart bidding.
In simple terms, smart bidding is a subset of automated systems that optimize your ads according to preset goals. The AI system works on each auction, and smart bidding helps figure out how to accomplish your advertising goal using advanced controls.
Google released controls like maximized conversions, seasonality adjustments, and campaign-level conversions to this effect.
Third-Party Pixel Tracking
In 2020 and beyond, you can bid farewell to traditional pixel technology. As more than 70% of YouTube browsing takes place on mobile devices, PPC advertising companies have to use third-party pixels for measuring the results of their campaigns. However, there are security concerns about third-party pixel tracking.
Hence, Google is now investing in Ads Data Hub which provides comprehensive reports and analysis to measure PPC ads’ effectiveness across the screens.
Google AdMob for Smart PPC Segmentation
By 2023, mobile apps might generate revenues of up to $935 billion, which is much higher than the $581 billion expected in 2020. This revenue generation will happen through in-app advertising and paid downloads.
That’s where smart segmentation can help. It uses machine learning to segment the users according to the chances of their spending in the app. Hence, ads will appear only for the players who are not likely to make in-app purchases.
Google AdMob supports this trend with smart analytics and precise reporting. It gives you rich insights whenever the system finds abnormal changes in your metrics like impressions or CPM. Google launched several new features for AdMob, including user engagement cards, ad reports, APIs, and comparison reporting, to make the process more effective.
Focus on Voice Search
It’s high time that PPC marketers pay more attention to voice-based search. It is no longer an exception, with nearly 50% of all searches being voice-based by 2022. Since voice commerce sales are expected to reach $ 40 billion by 2022, you will miss significant opportunities by forgoing voice search results. It works on mobile devices and uses question-oriented search terms to streamline your PPC campaigns.
To optimize your campaign for voice search, you need to re-evaluate the most popular search terms and create long-tail keywords or question phrases to steer more attention to your ads. Remove negative keywords and try to understand the position of a searcher in buying funnel to make your bidding strategies.
Going Beyond the Obvious Platforms
With more people spending time on alternative platforms like Snapchat, Quora, Amazon, Bing, and LinkedIn, PPC marketers have to look beyond Google and Facebook. Though these two platforms hold a significant share of digital marketing, more professionals are browsing new alternatives.
For example, Quora has over 300 million active users, and Bing powers nearly 36.2% of desktop search queries. So, they are big opportunities waiting to be explored. PPC marketers have to look at budget management and ensure a fluid allocation based on each platform’s performance.
No More Ignoring CRO
CRO or Conversion Rate Optimization is no longer an option for PPC marketers. You have to develop channels like social and display through robust CRO strategies. When combined with customer optimization, it will ensure the better success of your campaigns. Hence, you have to look beyond clicks and create value-added campaigns to attract more customers.
Since 2020 is also the year of technical PPC with a focus on CRM data integration, PPC adverting companies have to manage, analyze, and optimize their campaigns at scalable levels.
Expect a surge in VR or virtual reality-based ads to create brand affinity and build better customer relations. You have to add more value to your strategies in the changing landscape. Understand the consumer demands and target beyond the local to make strategic decisions.
