You need to understand 6 PPC trends for success in 2022

For search marketers, 2022 looks promising, especially after the major technological improvements, new versions, and feature enhancements we have seen in the search marketing field and other paid advertising platforms this year.

Whether you are looking for optimization to update your existing strategy or looking for new ways to attract your audience, these trends are areas worth exploring when you seek to increase your PPC returns in the coming year.

1. Conversion actions

Measure current goals The core plan is the benchmark for your PPC strategy. As tracking in advertising platforms and analytics platforms becomes more and more complex, the number and types of behaviors that advertisers can track also become more and more complex.

Typically, advertisers track multiple conversion actions for each account.

For example, common PPC conversion goals include:

• trade.
• Online contact form.
• Request a demonstration or estimate.
• Phone: first time/repeat.
• Chat conversion.
• Local action: direction.
• Offline conversions: match with ad clicks.
• Custom goals.

Are you measuring everything that can be measured?

What is the value of your company associated with each conversion goal?

2. Manage your automation

Although the advertising platform continues to be launched automation Simplify the options for ad management, which is not as easy as flipping a switch. Human PPC managers need to direct and monitor automation to take full advantage of it.

For example, the campaign uses Smart bidding strategy Need to monitor and adjust from time to time to adjust the target CPA or target ROAS.

Smart creatives (such as responsive search ads and responsive display ads) should be reviewed for the performance of individual assets, which we will cover later in this article.

As part of your PPC strategy, determine which components of your account can be automated from bidding to creative to possibly scripting. Then evaluate and monitor the results.

You may want to compare previous “manual” activities at various data points.

3. Keyword matching strategy

Has changed a lot Keyword match Enter the technical features of Google Ads and Microsoft Ads this year, which require a slight change in strategy.

Broad match modifier Has been discontinued, other match types have already seen some Variety,same. There are many ad accounts whose campaigns are still using the “old” version of the keyword organization, and serious keyword strategies need to be restarted.

Some changes will simplify the account structure and make the theme more flexible. For example, grouping keywords by match type or using the same keywords with multiple match types may not be an appropriate strategy for most advertisers.

Sketching out how keywords are matched and any structural changes that may be required will be a necessary exercise to prepare for the next step.

4. Ad copy review (again)

That’s right-again!Follow you Keyword strategy To recap, now is a good time to revisit the ad copy of your account.

This may seem like a never-ending task, but it’s because you have to test and update your ad copy regularly to get the best PPC advertising effect.

This is especially important in 2022, because the ad format itself is undergoing so much change that the previous format (e.g. Expanded text ads will be obsolete.

Google Ads and Microsoft Ads are rapidly Responsive search ads (RSA) format.

This format includes up to 15 titles and 4 descriptions, which are mixed and matched into various combinations for testing.this Machine learning The components here will serve the best performing asset portfolio.

Two or more ad elements can be “fixed”, which means that you specify that specific assets should be provided.

This is a great way to ensure that your preferred call to action (or other important information) exists. Don’t overuse pins, because Google tends to rate these ads as not so good.

Google will give suggestions for improving the title or adding more keywords.

At the same time, Microsoft Ads will display a performance label indicating that the performance of the responsive advertising asset is “low”, “good” or “best.”

If your PPC program currently contains RSA, please check the rating of the advertising component and replace the “poor” or “average” asset with a new idea-it may be similar to the “excellent” component.

Consider adding more quantities or similar assets.

5. Responsive display ads

Some advertisers, out of habit or desire to control brand information, use display advertising as a core part of their PPC platform strategy.

Responsive display ads It can provide better coverage while simplifying the creation process, and still get the brand information that advertisers want.

In addition to simplifying the creative process, responsive display ads have opened up more inventory opportunities on the display network. This is because they dynamically combine titles, descriptions, and images to “fit” your audience in the online space.

In contrast, static image display ads can only be run in the exact dimensions of the ad space created for them.

Another advantage of responsive display ads is that they allow you to use Google Ads performance feedback to optimize your advertising assets.

Responsive display ads can be run with any image display ads, which gives you the opportunity to test and compare reach and results.

6. Customer Matching

Look for Right audience Long before PPC advertising platforms improved their positioning on the display network, “at the right time” had become a mantra for many years. Your 2022 PPC strategy should include in-depth understanding of these audiences.

along with Current crackdown on cookies, First-party data is very important for advertisers. Enter this heavily underestimated positioning strategy: Customer match.

Using your own internal data (data shared by customers with you), you can reach them again or target similar objects through your ads.

Upload the list of customers to the advertising platform, and it will try to match these customers with known users.

the concept of Customer match Available on almost all platforms, so you can repeat new strategies on how to slice and dice and locate messages.

One thing to keep in mind is that match rates on advertising platforms will vary, so keep your actual expectations.

Recent improvements in Google Ads make this possible Features are more accessible.

also, 9 ways to use customer information to improve PPC activities Will be a good supplement to this positioning strategy.

Final thoughts

The PPC strategy here is inspired by the latest advertising technology launched last year, so be sure to go back to basics by reviewing 10 best practices for paid search and PPC planning.

bonus

The special circumstances of the past two years have caused advertisers to be a little confused about how to interpret past data and what to get from it to formulate their PPC strategy.

This great resource breaks it down: SEM 2022 plan: Because 2020 will not help 20​​21.

More resources

Featured image: Shutterstock/Sammby