In case you missed it, Google just rolled out the AI Image Editor to support additional campaign types.
Originally launched for Performance Max campaigns, it now supports these additional types:
Search
Display
App
Demand Gen.
If you’re not familiar with the AI Image Editor tool, have no fear!
This tutorial, originally posted by Google Ads, breaks down how you can start taking advantage of the tool to save you time and money.
What Can the AI Image Editor Do?
With the help of Google AI, the image editor tool can help create new high quality image assets, as well as edit existing assets in your PPC campaigns.
When it comes to editing image assets, there’s a wide variety of features to choose from. These include:
Removing image background
Replacing image background
Add and erase objects and images
Extend images outside their existing aspect ratio.
How to Find the Google Ads AI Image Editor Tool
There are two different ways to access the AI image editor tool in Google Ads.
On the left-hand side of the menu, click the “+” Create button, then choose “Asset”.
Additionally, you can click “Assets” in the left-hand menu to be taken to the Asset Library.
From there, you choose “Generate an image with AI” to get started.
To generate a new image, you’ll need to give a description of what you want it to look like.
In the example below, I typed “A blue couch against a neutral colored wall, with canvas photos hanging on the wall. The floor is light grey wood.”
In the example, it generated two images to choose from, with the option to generate more.
Once you’ve selected the image you want to use, then you can get to editing more.
How to Edit Image Assets with Google AI
Now that you’ve selected your image to use, you can edit the following aspects:
Remove background
Erase object
Add new object
Replace object
Expand image
Adjust color
Click on any of the options on the right-hand side to start editing.
In this example, say I want to remove one of the canvas photos in the background and replace it with a clock.
First, click on “Replace object”, then click and drag over the canvas photo. Then, click “Next”.
Then, to replace an object, create a description of the type of object you want to replace the selected object with. Then, click “Generate”.
Continuing in this example, I wrote, “A square clock that matches the blue color couch.”
In this example, Google AI gave me three options to choose from, with the option to generate more.
You can follow these examples with the other functionalities all within the AI image editor tool.
Summary
The Google Ads AI image editor can help save advertisers time and resources with asset creation.
It gives you creative flexibility with built-in controls to ensure the images meet your level of standards and produce accurate content to complement your ads.
Now that the tool has expanded to more campaign types, it opens up new possibilities for more brands while keeping their brand identity aligned.
Will you be trying the AI image editor tool out anytime soon?
However, setting up your first campaign can feel overwhelming if you’re new to the game. Even if you’re a PPC pro, it can be hard to keep up with all the changes in the interfaces, making it easy to miss key settings that can make or break performance.
In this guide, you’ll find the essential steps to set up a successful paid search campaign, ensuring you’re equipped with the knowledge to make informed decisions that lead to positive results.
Step 1: Define Your Conversions & Goals
Establishing clear goals and understanding what constitutes a conversion is the foundation of a successful paid search campaign.
This clarity ensures that every aspect of your campaign is aligned with your business objectives.
Identify Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
In order to identify those KPIs, it’s crucial to understand the overarching business objectives. Begin by mapping out your broader business goals.
From there, you can define specific KPIs for each objective. Some examples include:
Sales: Number of transactions, revenue generated.
Leads: Number of form submissions, phone calls, appointments created.
Traffic: Click-through rate (CTR), number of sessions.
Brand Awareness: Impressions, reach.
Set Up Conversion Tracking
Knowing your goals is one thing, but being able to accurately measure them is a completely different ballgame.
Both Google and Microsoft Ads have dedicated conversion tags that can be added to your website for proper tracking.
Additionally, Google Analytics is a popular tool to track conversions.
Choose what conversion tags you need to add to your website and ensure they’re added to the proper pages.
In this example, we’ll use Google Ads.
To set up conversion tracking using a Google Ads tag, click the “+” button on the left-hand side of Google Ads, then choose Conversion action.
Screenshot from Google Ads, September 2024
You’ll choose from the following conversions to add:
Website.
App.
Phone calls.
Import (from Google Analytics, third party, etc.).
After choosing, Google Ads can scan your website to recommend conversions to add, or you have the option to create a conversion manually:
Screenshot from Google Ads, September 2024
During this step, it’s essential to assign value(s) to conversions being created, as well as the proper attribution model that best represents your customer journey.
Most PPC campaigns are now using the data-driven model attribution, as opposed to a more traditional “last click” attribution model. Data-driven attribution is especially helpful for more top-of-funnel campaigns like YouTube or Demand Gen campaign types.
After the conversion has been created, Google provides the necessary code and instructions to add to the website.
Screenshot from Google Ads, September 2024
Enable Auto-Tagging
Setting up auto-tagging from the get-go eliminates the need to append UTM parameters to each individual ad, saving you time during setup.
It also allows for seamless data import into Google Analytics, enabling detailed performance analysis within that platform.
To enable auto-tagging at the account level, navigate to Admin > Account settings.
Find the box for auto-tagging and check the box to tag ad URLs, then click Save.
Screenshot from Google Ads, September 2024
Step 2: Link Any Relevant Accounts
Linking various accounts and tools enhances your campaign’s effectiveness by providing deeper insights and seamless data flow.
Now, this step may come sooner if you plan to import conversions from Google Analytics into Google Ads, as the accounts will have to be linked prior to importing conversions.
To link accounts, navigate to Tools > Data manager.
Screenshot from Google Ads, September 2024
You can link accounts such as:
Google Analytics.
YouTube channel(s).
Third-party analytics.
Search Console.
CRM tools (Salesforce, Zapier, etc.).
Ecommerce platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.).
Tag Manager.
And more.
Step 3: Conduct Keyword Research & Structure Your Campaign
Now that you’ve got the foundations of goals and conversions covered, it’s time to complete some keyword research.
A robust keyword strategy ensures your ads reach the right audience, driving qualified traffic to your site.
Start With A Seed List
Not sure where to start? Don’t sweat it!
Start by listing out fundamental terms related to your products or services. Consider what your customers would type into a search engine to find you.
Doing keyword research into search engines in real-time can help discover additional popular ways that potential customers are already searching, which can uncover more possibilities.
Additionally, use common language and phrases that customers use to ensure relevance.
Use Keyword Research Tools
The Google Ads platform has a free tool built right into it, so be sure to utilize it when planning your keyword strategy.
All these insights help not only determine what keywords to bid on but also help form the ideal budget needed to go after those coveted keywords.
When researching keywords, try to identify long-tail keywords (typically, these are phrases with more than three words). Long-tail keywords may have lower search volume but have higher intent and purchase considerations.
Lastly, there are many paid third-party tools that can offer additional keyword insights like:
These tools are particularly helpful in identifying what competitors are bidding on, as well as finding gaps or opportunities that they are missing or underserving.
Group Keywords Into Thematic Ad Groups
Once you have your core keywords identified, it’s time to group them together into tightly-knit ad groups.
The reason for organizing them tightly is to increase the ad relevance as much as possible. Each ad group should focus on a single theme or product category.
As a good rule of thumb, I typically use anywhere from five to 20 keywords per ad group.
Another item to keep in mind is which match types to use for keyword bidding. See the example below from Google on the three keyword match types available:
Broad.
Phrase.
Exact.
Image credit: support.google.com, September 2024
Create A Hierarchical Campaign Structure
Once your ad groups have been segmented, it’s time to build the campaign structure(s).
You’ll want to divide your account into campaigns based on broader categories, such as:
Product lines.
Geographic regions.
Marketing goals.
Search volume.
For example, you can create one campaign for “Running Shoes.” Within that campaign, you create three ad groups:
Men’s running shoes.
Women’s running shoes.
Trail running shoes.
Now, there may be times when you have a keyword with an abnormally higher search volume than other keywords within a particular category.
Depending on your budget, it may be worth segmenting those high-volume search term(s) into its own campaign solely for better budget optimization.
If a high-volume keyword is grouped into ad groups with low-volume keywords, it’s likely that most of the ads served will be for the high-volume keyword.
This then inhibits the other low-volume keywords from showing, and can wreak havoc on campaign performance.
Utilize Negative Keywords
Just as the keywords you bid on are crucial to success, so are the negative keywords you put into place.
Negative keywords can and should be added and maintained as ongoing optimization of any paid search campaign strategy.
The main benefit of negative keywords is the ability to exclude irrelevant traffic. They prevent your ads from showing on irrelevant searches, saving budget and improving CTR over time.
Negative keywords can be added at the ad group, campaign, or account level.
Step 4: Configure Campaign Settings
Now that you’ve got the campaign structure ready to go, it’s time to start building and configuring the campaign settings.
Campaign settings are crucial to get right in order to optimize performance towards your goals.
There’s something to be said with the phrase, “The success is in the settings.” And that certainly applies here!
Choose The Right Bidding Strategy
You’ll have the option to choose a manual cost-per-click (CPC) or an automated bid strategy. Below is a quick rundown of the different types of bid strategies.
Manual CPC: Allows you to set bids for individual keywords, giving you maximum control. Suitable for those who prefer more hands-on management.
Target Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Optimizes bids to maximize revenue based on a target ROAS you set at the campaign level.
Target Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): Optimizes bids to achieve conversions at the target CPA you set at the campaign level.
Maximize Conversions: Sets bids to help get the most conversions for your budget.
Set Your Daily Budget Accordingly
Review your monthly paid search budget and calculate how much you can spend per day throughout the month.
Keep in mind that some months should be different to account for seasonality, market fluctuations, etc.
Additionally, be sure to allocate campaign budgets based on goals and priorities to maximize your return on investment.
You’ll also want to keep in mind the bid strategy selected.
For example, say you set a campaign bid strategy with a Target CPA of $30. You then go on to set your campaign daily budget of $50.
That $50 daily budget would likely not be enough to support the Target CPA of $30, because that would mean you’d get a maximum of two conversions per day, if that.
For bid strategies that require a higher CPA or higher ROAS, be sure to supplement those bid strategies with higher daily budgets to learn and optimize from the beginning.
Double-Check Location Settings
When choosing locations to target, be sure to look at the advanced settings to understand how you’re reaching those users.
For example, if you choose to target the United States, it’s not enough to enter “United States” and save it.
There are two options for location targeting that many fail to find:
Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who’ve shown interest in your included locations.
Presence: People in or regularly in your included locations.
Screenshot from Google Ads, September 2024
Google Ads defaults to the “presence or interest” setting, which I’ve seen time and time again where ads end up showing outside of the United States, in this example.
Again, the success is in the settings.
There are more settings to keep in mind when setting up your first paid search campaign, including:
Ad scheduling.
Audience targeting.
Device targeting.
And more.
Step 5: Write Compelling Ad Copy
Your ad copy is the gateway to attracting qualified customers.
Crafting the perfect mix of persuasion and relevancy into your ad copy can significantly impact your campaign’s success.
Create Attention-Grabbing Headlines
The headline is the most prominent part of the ad copy design on the search engine results page. Since each headline has a maximum character limit of 35 characters, it is important to make them count.
With Responsive Search Ads, you can create up to 15 different headlines, and Google will test different variations of them depending on the user, their search query, and multiple other factors to get that mix right.
Below are some tips for captivating a user’s attention:
Use Primary Keywords: Include your main keywords in the headline to improve relevance and Quality Score.
Highlight Unique Selling Points (USPs): Showcase what sets your product or service apart, such as free shipping, 24/7 support, or a unique feature.
Incorporate Numbers and Statistics: Use numbers to catch attention, like “50% Off” or “Join 10,000+ Satisfied Customers.”
Include a Strong Call-to-Action (CTA): Encourage immediate action with phrases like “Buy Now,” “Get a Free Quote,” or “Sign Up Today.”
Write Persuasive Descriptions
Description lines should complement the headline statements to create one cohesive ad.
Typically, two description lines are shown within any given ad. Each description line has a 90-character limit.
When creating a Responsive Search Ad, you can create four different descriptions, and then the algorithm will show variations of copy tailored to each individual user.
Expand on Headlines: Provide additional details that complement your headline and reinforce your message.
Address Pain Points: Highlight how your product or service solves specific problems your audience faces.
Use Emotional Triggers: Appeal to emotions by emphasizing benefits like peace of mind, convenience, or excitement.
Incorporate Keywords Naturally: Ensure the description flows naturally while including relevant keywords to maintain relevance.
Make Use Of Ad Assets (Formerly Extensions)
Because of the limited character count in ads, be sure to take advantage of the myriad of ad assets available as complements to headlines and descriptions.
Ad assets help provide the user with additional information about the brand, such as phone numbers to call, highlighting additional benefits, special offers, and more.
Some of the main ad assets used include:
Sitelinks.
Callouts.
Structured Snippets.
Calls.
And more.
You can find a full list of available ad assets in Google Ads here.
Step 6: Ensure An Effective Landing Page Design
You’ve spent all this time crafting your paid search campaign strategy, down to the keyword and ad copy level.
Don’t stop there!
There’s one final step to think about before launching your first paid search campaign: The landing page.
Your landing page is where users land after clicking your ad. An optimized landing page is critical for converting traffic into valuable conversions and revenue.
Ensure Relevancy And Consistency
The content and message of your landing page should directly correspond to your ad copy. If your ad promotes a specific product or offer, the landing page should focus on that same product or offer.
Use similar language, fonts, and imagery on your landing page as in your ads to create a cohesive user experience.
Optimize For User Experience (UX)
If a user lands on a page and the promise of the ad is not delivered on that page, they will likely leave.
Having misalignment between ad copy and the landing page is one of the quickest ways to waste those precious advertising dollars.
When looking to create a user-friendly landing page, consider the following:
Mobile-Friendly Design: Ensure your landing page is responsive and looks great on all devices, particularly mobile, as a significant portion of traffic comes from mobile users.
Fast Loading Speed:Optimize images, leverage browser caching, and minimize code to ensure your landing page loads quickly. Slow pages can lead to high bounce rates.
Clear and Compelling Headline: Just like your ad, your landing page should have a strong headline that immediately communicates the value proposition.
Concise and Persuasive Content: Provide clear, concise information that guides users toward the desired action without overwhelming them with unnecessary details.
Prominent Call-to-Action (CTA): Place your CTA above the fold and make it stand out with contrasting colors and actionable language. Ensure it’s easy to find and click.
Step 7: Launch Your Campaign
Once you’ve thoroughly completed these six steps, it’s time to launch your campaign!
But remember: Paid search campaigns are not a “set and forget” strategy. They must be continuously monitored and optimized to maximize performance and identify any shifts in strategy.
Create a regular optimization schedule to stay on top of any changes. This could look like:
Weekly Reviews: Conduct weekly performance reviews to identify trends, spot issues, and make incremental improvements.
Monthly Strategy Sessions: Hold monthly strategy sessions to assess overall campaign performance, adjust goals, and implement larger optimizations.
Quarterly Assessments: Perform comprehensive quarterly assessments to evaluate long-term trends, budget allocations, and strategic shifts.
When it comes to optimizing your paid search campaign, make sure you’re optimizing based on data. This can include looking at:
Pause Underperforming Keywords: Identify and pause keywords that are not driving conversions or are too costly.
Increase Bids on High-Performing Keywords: Allocate more budget to keywords that are generating conversions at a favorable cost.
Refine Ad Copy: Continuously test and refine ad copy based on performance data to enhance relevance and engagement.
Enhance Landing Pages: Use insights from user behavior on landing pages to make data-driven improvements that boost conversion rates.
Final Thoughts
Setting up your first paid search campaign involves multiple detailed steps, each contributing to the overall effectiveness and success of your advertising efforts.
By carefully defining your goals, linking relevant accounts, conducting thorough keyword research, configuring precise campaign settings, crafting compelling ad copy, and optimizing your landing pages, you lay a strong foundation for your campaign.
Remember, the key to a successful paid search campaign is not just the initial setup but also ongoing monitoring, testing, and optimization.
Embrace a mindset of continuous improvement, leverage data-driven insights, and stay adaptable to maximize your campaign’s potential.
TikTok is no longer just a platform for viral dances and meme-worthy content.
With its latest feature, Search Ads, TikTok is positioning itself as a serious player in the world of paid search marketing.
Announced on September 24th, TikTok launched its highly anticipated Search Ads in the United States, giving marketers a new way to reach consumers when they are actively looking for content, products, or services on the platform.
This move opens up a world of possibilities for brands as we head into the most lucrative time of the year: the holiday shopping season.
What Makes TikTok Search Ads Different?
TikTok Search Ads aren’t just a copy of what we see on Google or Microsoft Ads. TikTok ads blend seamlessly into the organic content flow. The ads feel less intrusive, more engaging, and natural to users who are already in discovery mode.
TikTok’s advanced algorithm is another major advantage. The platform is known for keeping users engaged through relevant content suggestions.
Search Ads also benefit from this targeting power. Marketers can reach their desired audience based on demographics, behaviors, and interests.
Currently, Traffic and Web Conversion objectives are supported in the TikTok Ads Manager, allowing the opportunity to optimize for scale and performance.
A unique aspect of TikTok’s Search Ads is the ability to use video ads. TikTok, as a video-first platform, allows brands to create dynamic, visually appealing content to engage users.
The Power of Search on TikTok Today
Search is crucial in a consumer’s journey, signaling intent. Until now, TikTok was mainly a discovery platform.
With Search Ads, TikTok merges discovery and intent, allowing brands to engage users actively searching for specific things.
TikTok users conduct over 3 billion searches annually. People look for more than entertainment; they seek product reviews, tutorials, beauty tips, and more.
TikTok has become a favorite for Gen Z and Millennials looking for authentic, community-driven content. Search Ads give advertisers a chance to target these users when they’re ready to explore or buy.
Even though ads have been available in the search results before, brands now have direct control over what keywords their ads show up for.
For example, a skincare brand could target users searching for “best moisturizers for dry skin.” This puts brands in front of consumers when their intent to act is at its highest.
The Impact on Holiday Marketing Campaigns
The timing of TikTok Search Ads couldn’t be better for marketers preparing for the holidays. This time of year is highly competitive, with Black Friday and the Christmas season driving huge e-commerce sales.
Consumer search intent spikes during the holiday season. People are actively searching for gifts, deals, and product reviews.
TikTok Search Ads help brands capture demand at the right moment. Marketers can target users looking for “best gifts for dads” or “holiday outfit ideas,” ensuring their brand is visible when intent is highest.
With TikTok’s video-first format, brands can showcase products more creatively than static images or text.
Video ads allow marketers to show their products in action, whether through unboxing videos or tutorials. This resonates with TikTok’s audience, who love authentic, engaging content—especially during the holidays.
How to Get Started with TikTok Search Ads
If you’re looking to add TikTok Search Ads to your holiday strategy, here’s how to begin:
Identify Your Keywords: Understand what your audience searches for on TikTok. Use TikTok’s Creative Center to find trending keywords relevant to your industry.
Create Engaging Video Content: Make your ads visually appealing. They should fit into the organic content flow of TikTok.
Monitor Performance: Track impressions, clicks, and conversions in TikTok Ads Manager. Adjust your campaigns based on performance data.
Leverage TikTok’s Algorithm: Take advantage of TikTok’s powerful recommendation engine. Target the right users by setting up campaigns based on interests and behaviors.
To create your first TikTok Search Ads campaign, navigate to the TikTok Ads Manager.
When creating a new campaign, choose from either of the following campaign objectives to create a Search campaign:
Traffic
Website conversions
From there, the TikTok Ads Manager provides a new campaign flow with search-specific features. This includes a keyword research tool as well as the ability to add negative keywords.
TikTok Search Ads support both video and image carousel assets, which opens up the market to businesses who may not have video content readily available.
Final Thoughts
TikTok Search Ads provide a fresh way for brands to reach an engaged audience. As the holiday season nears, this feature allows marketers to target consumers when they’re ready to buy.
TikTok combines discovery with intent-driven advertising, making its search offering unique from other platforms like Google and Microsoft Ads.
This new feature could give your brand the edge it needs during the busiest shopping time of the year. Will you be making TikTok Search Ads part of your holiday PPC strategy this year?
For some years now (ever since Google Merchant Center was introduced in 2010), ecommerce advertisers have been working with product feeds.
It’s historically been a complex and often fragile process, but thanks to the introduction of Google Merchant Center Next, we have some new tools at our fingertips.
Here’s a look at how things are changing with Next.
The History Of Google Merchant Center
Back in the very beginning, we remember having to download CSV files from the website with all product information, and embarking on a long process of cleaning up and formatting the data so that it could be manually uploaded into Google Merchant Center (GMC).
In the early days, before policies became more strict, you could even use Merchant Center to advertise anything from repair services to round-the-world gap year vacations!
But in time, GMC became far more sophisticated (and also more restricted). Along with increased restrictions came the ease of use. Uploading data became much easier and more stable.
Eventually, plugins and connectors began doing most of the job for you, then platforms like Shopify got native integrations, and now with the advent of Google Merchant Center Next, you almost don’t need feeds at all!
Common Complaints About GMC
For most of the past 14 years of Merchant Center history, you’ve likely heard a few bits of common wisdom repeated ad nauseam:
Optimize your shopping feeds inside of GMC! Keep your Google categories accurately assigned inside of GMC! Add your metadata inside of GMC! Fill out all the boxes in GMC!
The world is slowly changing, and now, with GMC Next, you don’t have to make these changes within the GMC interface.
The changes need to happen on the website. While feeds won’t totally go away overnight (and neither will the need to optimize products), Google Merchant Center Next is ushering in a new feed-less era.
Announced at Google Marketing Live 2023, Merchant Center Next actually hasn’t taken hold as rapidly as expected. Even over a year after its announcement, most but not all of our client accounts have shifted over.
The core differentiator with Merchant Center Next is the simplification of website verification and the automatic population of product feeds from your website. This means that Google will scrape product information, pricing, imagery, and more directly from your site.
Additionally, it has integrated a new feature called Product Studio that allows you to use AI to update or change your product images and offers more comprehensive performance insights.
Screenshot from Google Merchant Center Next, August 2024
Many marketers had a negative gut reaction to the announcement of Next, but our entire team at Discosloth was actually pretty excited about this development.
Feed management (and especially the involvement of any third-party integrations, connectors, and tools) has always been a bit clunky, so the removal of any friction is a welcome feature.
While you can still use Shopify to upload your product data, many people have found it to be more difficult with some products not being uploaded properly. As it turns out, feeds have technically gone away, but in a way, they have actually just been renamed to Data Sources.
Screenshot from Google Merchant Center Next, August 2024
It appears that product feeds, as we know them, might be going away.
This doesn’t mean that product data management will become obsolete; rather, it indicates a shift in how this data is handled within the Merchant Center Next ecosystem.
The Mindset Change
I ultimately think that removing feeds is a fantastic approach because it shifts the mindset of marketers. Rather than focusing on incremental metadata optimization on hidden feeds, it will instead encourage advertisers to update & improve the actual listings on the actual site.
Rather than just making sure endless attributes are filled out in the backend, it means that the actual website and associated metadata will need to be correctly optimized. This eliminates double work and conflicting data.
When the website itself is the primary focus, it has positive effects on performance for all channels, like organic or social – not just paid.
While many paid marketers have been focused only on optimizing products and images within the Merchant Center, without paying any attention to the website listings, now may be the time to change that approach.
Thanks to this, the website owners may start seeing a better overall conversion rate for the entire website, across all channels.
This is a great step in the right direction. Contrary to what many naysayers think about the onset of AI and generative automation, I’m a fan of taking away the grunt work from marketing and handing it all to the robots.
A more automated approach to feed management will undoubtedly grant us a lot more bandwidth to make actual strategy and content decisions on the products themselves.
While we’ve been seeing more comprehensive data on product performance appearing in Google Merchant Center over the last few years, now may be the time to dig a little bit deeper.
While GA4 has widely become useless for advanced data analysis, the new GMC Next allows us to see website traffic for both paid and organic traffic from product listings, review competition and visibility, and get better data on the best-selling products and new trends.
Perhaps the feature I like the most: comparing the prices of your stock-keeping units (SKUs) vs. competitors. This is the kind of data that has been classically underused.
Instead of a misguided focus on inserting our favorite keywords into descriptions, we can finally focus on the quality and competitiveness of your products.
Screenshot from Google Merchant Center Next, August 2024
Taking Merchant Center Beyond Optimization
Performance Max and Demand Gen campaign types have given us some new tools and strategies to use in ecommerce advertising, but it’s become harder to see granular data on where your ads are appearing, detailed performance metrics, and perhaps most notably, which keyword terms & specific audiences these campaigns are appearing for.
Many advertisers are afraid that Google Merchant Center Next may be on a similar path of removing even more granular data and making it even harder for advertisers to be specific in our ad targeting.
But so far, most of the early complaints people had when Next was introduced have already been fixed. We got access back to supplemental feeds, we can now make bulk changes (even though it’s not as easy as it used to be) and we can once again appeal any incorrectly disapproved products.
Of course SKUs and product feeds need to be optimized, but this shouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary.
Optimizing this should be an assumed baseline for any ecommerce storefront.
Merchant Center Next, as we’ve found, is most effectively used for tactics far beyond what the old Merchant Center offered. Some of the most important tactics we now use include things like getting insights on specific SKUs to make sure you always hold in inventory, and diving deep into competitive visibility and pricing in order to massively increase sales.
Earlier this year, Google introduced new AI features into its Google Ads platform to help streamline work for many advertisers.
One of those new features comes in the form of AI video enhancements.
This is no surprise since video makes up over 65% of all internet traffic.
Read on to learn more about the AI video enhancements tutorial and how they can help streamline your PPC campaign optimization.
How do AI Video Enhancements Work?
In Google Ads, the AI video enhancement tool uses smart automation features to enhance your videos in a variety of ways.
It’s important to note that video enhancements are turned on by default but can easily be turned off at any time.
The feature can be found within your Google Ads campaign settings.
If you’re creating a new Google Ads campaign, this setting will only be available if you choose “Sales” as the goal and “Video” as the campaign type.
From there, go down to “Additional settings” to find the AI video enhancements settings:
Types of Enhancements Available
Google’s new AI video enhancements provide marketers with two areas to optimize current video assets.
#1: Additional video sizes and ratios
The first enhancement type can take existing horizontal videos and create additional versions for vertical and square ratios for optimal viewing.
The new ratio sizes that Google can create include:
1:1
4:5
9:16
This feature can help the new video sizes feel more native to users viewing on mobile devices and create a better user experience.
#2: Get shorter versions of video ads
Say you’ve got a stellar video asset, but it may be too long to keep a user’s attention.
This new video enhancement uses Google AI to select key moments in the existing video to create shorter versions while keeping the original video message and appearance.
Per Google, these shorter video versions will automatically start running if they pass a quality review.
What are the benefits of using AI Video Enhancements?
As we come into Q4, time is of the essence for every marketer.
Resources are trying to do more with less, all while producing optimal PPC campaign results.
If you or your team are strapped for time or have a heavy workload, testing the Google AI video enhancements could be a key helper for your creative assets.
Some key benefits of testing out video enhancements include:
Reducing workload and budget
Takes the heavy lifting out of manually optimizing creatives
Can help boost campaign effectiveness
May help improve conversions
In Summary
With the ability to automatically generate different video sizes and ratios and create shorter versions of longer video ads, these tools are designed to save time and reduce the manual effort of video editing.
As marketers head into Q4 and face increasing demands, utilizing Google’s AI video enhancements can help lighten workloads, improve campaign effectiveness, and potentially increase conversions while keeping within budget constraints.
Whether you’re an in-house marketer or working at an agency, effective bid management is crucial for scaling success.
However, understanding how to optimize and adjust bids effectively in Google Shopping ads can be challenging, especially with all the different settings and levers that can be pulled!
Google Shopping has come a long way since its original inception in 2022 – and up until 2012, Google Shopping was free!
It seems that every year, more is needed to win the bidding war against rising costs in the Google Ads platform and keep brands’ profitability in check.
In this article, we’ll explore the strategies, tools, and best practices that can help you win the bidding war and maximize ROI on your Google Shopping campaigns.
1. Understanding The Google Shopping Auction Model And Its Impact On Bidding
Before we jump into bid management strategies, it’s essential to understand how Google Shopping works behind the scenes. Unlike Search campaigns, Google Shopping doesn’t rely on keywords to trigger ads.
Instead, product listing ads (PLAs) appear based on a combination of your product feed data and the user’s search intent. Google uses a unique auction system, and your bids interact with factors like relevance, user behavior, and other competitors in the space.
The Role Of Quality Score In Google Shopping
Quality Score plays a role in Google Shopping bid management, but a bit differently from Search campaigns.
Factors such as the product feed quality, landing page relevance, and historical campaign performance can influence how often your ads appear and at what cost. Here’s how to ensure you’re optimizing for Quality Score in Shopping:
Product Feed Optimization: Ensure that your product titles, descriptions, and attributes are clear and relevant.
Accurate Categorization: Place your products in the most appropriate categories for better relevance.
Optimized Landing Page: Make sure the page that users land on after clicking the ad is optimized for a better user experience, and don’t forget about mobile!
How Bid Amount Affects Visibility
Higher bids don’t always guarantee visibility, and low bids don’t always exclude you from auctions.
It’s a balance of ensuring your product feed is optimized while bidding strategically based on the product’s potential to convert.
Bidding strategies should reflect the actual performance of your products and overall business goals related to those campaigns.
2. Craft A Strategic Bidding Approach
One of the first decisions you need to make when managing Google Shopping bids is whether to rely on manual or automated bidding.
Both approaches have advantages depending on your business objectives, campaign budget, and the scale of your operations.
Manual Bidding: This gives you more control, allowing you to adjust bids based on performance. For example, if you notice that certain products are underperforming, you can reduce their bids to allocate budget to higher-performing products.
Automated Bidding: Automated strategies like Maximize Conversion Value or Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) use machine learning to adjust your bids dynamically based on real-time auction signals. These can be ideal for large product catalogs or when performance data is inconsistent across different products.
Google has added more automated bidding strategies over the years, making it easier to effectively bid based on your business goals.
However, the added complexity of choosing Standard Shopping campaigns versus the newer Performance Max campaign type allows for different bid strategies.
If choosing Standard Shopping campaigns, you have the option of these two automated bid strategies:
Maximize Clicks: Helps you get as many clicks as possible within your target daily budget.
Target ROAS: Helps you maximize conversion value while reaching an average return on ad spend that you choose.
Screenshot from author, August 2024
If you choose to set up a Performance Max campaign with your product feed linked, you have the option of more bid strategies:
Maximize Conversions: Helps generate the most amount of conversions within your daily budget, regardless of conversion value.
Maximize Conversion Value: Helps generate the highest conversion value within your daily budget.
Additionally, Performance Max campaigns have the optional “Target ROAS” input to yield a little bit more control over your campaign bid strategy.
Lastly, you now have the option to choose how to bid for acquiring new customers – a very welcome addition to further maximize those ad dollars!
In Google Ads, you can choose to either bid higher for new customers than existing customers. Or, you can bid for new customers only.
Screenshot from author, August 2024
For Google Shopping campaigns specifically, you may want to choose to bid higher for new customers instead of excluding them altogether, especially if your brand is used to having repeat customers.
This essentially means you’re willing to pay more to get a new customer, knowing they will likely purchase again in the future, leading to incremental revenue.
For higher-ticket items that users may only purchase once every few years, it may be worthwhile to choose ‘bid for new customers only’.
At the end of the day, make sure to choose the customer acquisition strategy that aligns with your business goals.
Segmentation And Granularity In Bidding
A key component to effective bid management is to segment your campaigns and ad groups properly. This allows for more granular control over bids and enables better performance optimization.
Product-Level Bidding: Rather than bidding at the campaign or ad group level, product-level bidding allows you to adjust bids based on each product’s unique performance metrics. Products that generate more conversions or revenue should receive higher bids, while underperforming products can have bids scaled back.
Segment by Profit Margin or Price Point: Grouping products based on their profit margins or price points can help you adjust bids based on the product’s value to your business. High-margin products may justify higher bids since they offer better ROI.
Seasonality and Time Sensitivity: Adjust bids based on trends in user behavior throughout the year. For instance, products may perform better during certain seasons or promotional events, requiring temporary bid increases.
3. Use Your Own Data & KPIs To Inform Your Bid Management
Knowing which metrics to monitor is critical for making informed bidding decisions. Below are the core KPIs to watch closely:
Cost Per Conversion (or CPA) and Return On Ad Spend (ROAS): These two metrics provide insights into your campaign’s efficiency. You want to identify which products or campaigns have the highest ROAS and optimize bidding for those.
Impression Share and Click-Through Rate (CTR): These metrics can give you a sense of how your bids are affecting visibility. If you’re seeing low impression shares on profitable products, it may be time to increase your bids.
Conversion Rate: Analyze conversion rates to identify which products are most likely to turn clicks into sales, then adjust your bids accordingly.
Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC): If your business has repeat purchases, focusing on lifetime value can give you an advantage when bidding on products that may have lower immediate returns but higher long-term value.
Knowing these KPIs for your business can help shape your bid management strategy and make strategic changes based on your Google Shopping performance in comparison to your business’s set KPIs.
For example, if you have an average conversion rate of 4% as a whole, but your Google Shopping campaigns are only providing a 2% conversion rate, that may tell you something needs to be optimized.
You may need to take a look at the keywords your products are showing up for and do some negative keyword management. Additionally, maybe your ads aren’t reaching the right users and you need to further refine audience targeting within your campaigns.
Another example of using your own data is knowing your profit margin for products. If you have a subset of products that have a high-profit margin, you can add a custom label into your product feed that denotes those products.
From there, you can segment your campaigns to have a higher priority on those particular products or choose to bid higher on them because they’re worth more to you and your business.
Leveraging Bid Simulators And Other Tools
Google also provides several tools that can help inform your bid decisions:
Bid Simulators: These help you understand how different bid levels would impact your impression share, clicks, and conversions. You can use this data to adjust your bids in a way that maximizes your return without overspending.
Custom Labels: By using custom labels in your product feed, you can segment your products by performance, seasonality, or promotion. This way, you can quickly adjust bids based on these factors.
Scripts and Third-Party Tools: Tools like Optmyzr or custom Google Ads scripts can automate bid adjustments based on performance data, allowing you to focus on strategy rather than manual labor.
4. Optimize Your Bid Management For Long-Term Success
Bid management is not a “set it and forget it” exercise. Continual testing, analyzing, and adjusting are necessary to maintain and improve campaign performance over time.
Bid management should also not be used for daily volatile changes at the campaign level.
If you’re micromanaging performance each day and changing bid strategies too often, you may end up with sub-optimal performance because you’re not giving Google enough time to learn and optimize based on performance.
It’s about finding a healthy balance between “set and forget” and “over-optimizing”. Going back to point #3, knowing the values of your core business metrics and goals makes it easier to react to performance swings and know when to take action.
Some ways to optimize for long-term success include:
A/B Testing on Bids: Running A/B tests on bid adjustments allows you to assess the impact of bid changes without risking your entire budget. Test different bidding strategies on subsets of your campaigns or products to see what delivers the best performance.
Seasonal Adjustments: Stay ahead of trends by adjusting your bids before key periods like Black Friday or holiday shopping spikes. Predictive adjustments can help you capture market share before your competitors ramp up.
Monitor Competitor Behavior: Keep an eye on your competition. If you notice that competitors are aggressively bidding on certain products, you may need to adjust your strategy to compete, either by raising bids or adjusting product listings.
Prepare For Future Changes In Google Ads
Google Shopping is constantly evolving, and as machine learning models become more sophisticated, the way bids are managed will continue to change.
Staying informed about new features, tools, and best practices will help you maintain a competitive edge. Subscribe to updates, attend industry events, and engage with the community to keep your knowledge fresh.
Summary
Google Shopping bid management requires a balance between data-driven strategies, an understanding of the auction system, and a willingness to experiment and adapt.
By leveraging the tips and strategies discussed in this article, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the complexities of Google Shopping and drive profitable growth for your brand or clients.
Keep refining your approach, test new strategies, and stay on top of Google Shopping developments to stay competitive and ahead of the bid war.
Since its launch in 2021, Google’s Performance Max (PMax) campaigns have revolutionized how we approach cross-channel advertising.
But while this AI-powered campaign has been a game-changer for many, particularly in ecommerce, its application for lead generation comes with unique challenges and opportunities.
I thought this would be a good time to share advanced strategies for leveraging PMax in lead generation campaigns. We’ll also identify common pitfalls and reveal how to maximize your results.
The Lead Gen Challenge: Quality Over Quantity
Unlike ecommerce, where a purchase marks a clear end to the customer journey, lead generation is just the beginning.
This fundamental difference creates a significant hurdle for PMax campaigns, presenting unique challenges that require advanced strategies.
Menachem Ani, founder of JXT Group, explains the core issue:
“Unlike e-commerce, where a purchase signifies the ‘end’ of the transaction, lead creation is the beginning of the sales process—and just because someone fills out a form doesn’t make them a quality lead.”
The challenge lies in teaching Google’s algorithm to distinguish between high-quality and low-quality leads.
Without this crucial information, PMax campaigns can fall into what some marketers call the “feedback loop of doom” – optimizing for quantity over quality and potentially flooding your pipeline with unqualified leads.
Image from author, September 2024
Another critical factor in determining whether PMax suits your lead generation efforts is Google’s understanding of your business and website.
PMax heavily relies on your website content when targeting users. If Google misinterprets your service offerings, your campaigns are likely to underperform.
To assess Google’s comprehension of your business, try this simple test: Input your website URL into the Search Terms section of Google’s Keyword Planner.
Review the generated keywords and evaluate their relevance to your services. This exercise can provide valuable insights into how well Google understands your business, which is crucial for PMax’s success in lead generation campaigns.
Cracking The Code: Strategies For Success
1. Harness The Power Of Offline Conversion Tracking (OCT)
The key to success with PMax for lead generation lies in feeding Google’s algorithm with quality data. This means implementing robust OCT.
“To make Performance Max for lead generation work, it is vital to instruct Google on the outcome. If you don’t, it will seek to bring in as many submissions as possible – regardless of the quality.”
Import offline conversion data, either manually or automatically.
Define what a qualified lead is for your business and make the form difficult to complete.*
Set qualified leads as your primary conversion point.
* You can do this by adding several qualifying questions, setting up confirmation pages for qualified leads versus unqualified leads, and only counting the qualified leads.
2. Leverage Cross-Campaign Optimization
Use data from successful campaigns across other channels to inform your PMax strategy. This is especially useful when dealing with limited data in new PMax campaigns.
Practical tips:
Incorporate broader themes and topics related to your products or services as asset signals rather than specific keywords. For example, if you sell home renovation products, use signals like “home improvement,” “interior design,” or “home renovations” instead of specific product keywords.
Note: It’s important to understand that PMax uses these signals differently than traditional keyword targeting. The goal is to help Google understand your potential customers’ broader context and interests, not to target specific search terms.
Collaborate with your sales and marketing teams to incorporate insights from persona studies and campaign success stories
3. Rethink Your Campaign Structure
It’s vital to understand PMax’s strengths and limitations. Performance Max excels at capturing existing demand but struggles with generating new demand.
To leverage this characteristic effectively, consider implementing an advanced tactic:
Run a PMax campaign alongside a separate Search campaign that targets high-quality, intent-driven search keywords. This approach allows you to:
Use traditional Search campaigns to capture high-intent traffic based on specific keywords.
Let PMax excel at what it does best: Remarketing to this high-quality traffic and working on converting them.
Action steps:
Identify your highest-performing, intent-driven keywords from historical data.
Create a focused Search campaign using these keywords.
Set up a complementary PMax campaign.
Ensure your audience settings allow PMax to remarket to users interacting with your Search ads.
Monitor both campaigns closely, adjusting budget allocation based on performance.
This strategy lets you maintain control over your highest-value search terms while leveraging PMax’s optimization and remarketing capabilities. It creates precise targeting of traditional Search and the broad reach and AI-driven optimization of PMax.
Remember, viewing these campaigns as complementary rather than competitive is key. Doing so can create a more comprehensive and effective lead generation strategy that captures high-intent traffic and then nurtures it effectively toward conversion.
4. Harness The Power Of First-Party Data
Your first-party data is gold for PMax campaigns. It provides Google with clear signals about who is genuinely interested in your products or services.
Steps to implement:
Add high-value customer lists from your CRM.
Utilize existing remarketing lists.
If compliant with privacy regulations, import contacts who have engaged with your email campaigns.
5. Strategic Exclusions
While PMax limits our control compared to traditional search campaigns, we can still guide the algorithm by telling it where not to show our ads.
Tactics to consider:
Exclude poor-performing keywords and placements at the account level.
Use Google’s Insights reports to identify and exclude irrelevant search terms and placements.
Pitfalls To Avoid
1. Neglecting Lead Scoring
Not all leads are created equal. Implement a lead scoring system in your CRM and feed this data back to Google. This allows the algorithm to optimize for lead quality, not just quantity.
2. Ignoring The Full Funnel
Remember that lead generation is just the start. Track and optimize for downstream metrics like qualified leads, meetings set, and eventual sales.
3. Over-Reliance On Automation
While PMax is highly automated, it still requires human oversight and strategic input. Review performance regularly, adjust audience signals, and refine your creative assets.
4. Neglecting Creative Assets
PMax relies heavily on your creative input. Ensure you provide a diverse range of high-quality assets, including compelling ad copy, eye-catching images, and engaging videos.
5. Leverage Negative Keywords And URL Controls
While Performance Max limits traditional keyword targeting, Google now allows advertisers to use negative keyword lists in these campaigns.
This feature is crucial for lead generation efforts, serving two essential purposes:
Brand Protection: Create a list of your branded keywords and exclude them in PMax. As Brooke Osmundson explains, “At the very minimum, create a list of targeted brand keywords and exclude them in PMax. This allows your tried-and-true search campaign to run and optimize per usual, without PMax cannibalizing any existing efforts”.
Competitor Exclusion: You can also exclude competitor brand terms if you believe Google might show your ads for these searches inappropriately.
Additionally, pay close attention to URL settings. Consider disabling URL Expansion in your PMax settings, as this will help you retain control over what landing pages are used. For lead generation, sending users to the right landing page is crucial for lead quality.
If you choose to keep URL Expansion enabled, be sure to exclude irrelevant pages like blogs, recruitment pages, or ‘About’ sections to maintain control over the user journey.
These controls allow you to shape your PMax campaign more precisely, ensuring it complements your existing strategies and maintains the quality of your lead generation efforts.
6. Overlooking Placement And Asset Control
Reviewing the display placements and excluding irrelevant websites from showing your ads is essential. Typically, gaming sites and kids’ apps are the first things you want to exclude.
Also, be wary of Google’s automatically created assets. At my PPC agency, Hop Skip Media, we’ve seen instances where Google automatically creates YouTube videos of inferior quality. Make sure you turn those off and review assets regularly.
7. Misunderstanding Google’s Comprehension Of Your Business
Before fully committing to PMax for lead generation, assess whether Google accurately understands your business and website content.
You can do this by inputting your website URL into the Search Terms section of the Keyword Planner and evaluating the relevance of the generated keywords.
If there’s a significant mismatch, PMax may need help to target the right audience for your lead generation efforts.
8. Neglecting To Define And Track Quality Leads
Make your lead generation forms more discriminating by including qualifying questions.
Set up separate confirmation pages for qualified and unqualified leads, and only count qualified leads when firing your conversion pixel. This approach helps ensure that PMax optimizes for quality leads rather than just quantity.
By avoiding these pitfalls and implementing the strategies we’ve discussed, you can significantly improve the effectiveness of your Performance Max campaigns for lead generation.
Remember, the key is continually providing Google’s algorithm with high-quality data and maintaining strategic oversight of your campaigns.
The Future Of PMax For Lead Gen
Like anything in Google Ads, Performance Max for lead generation is not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. It requires a strategic approach, continuous optimization, and a deep understanding of your lead qualification process.
By implementing offline conversion tracking, leveraging first-party data, structuring campaigns thoughtfully, and avoiding common pitfalls, you can harness the power of Google’s AI to generate more leads and better leads.
As Google continues to refine and improve Performance Max, we can expect even more sophisticated targeting and optimization capabilities.
The marketers who will succeed are those who stay ahead of the curve, continuously testing, learning, and adapting their strategies.
Remember, the goal isn’t just to fill your funnel – it’s to fill it with suitable leads. With these advanced strategies, you’re well-equipped to make Performance Max a powerful tool in your lead generation arsenal.
