Boost Your ROI On PPC: 7 Top PPC Trends

Posted by Anya Sleezer << back to blog

Last Updated on May 23, 2024

Pay-per-click, or PPC, marketing remains a powerful tool for businesses. But just because PPC is here to stay doesn’t mean it will stay the same.

Change can be a great thing when you know what to expect – and you have an experienced marketing partner who can help. However, the landscape constantly shifts, demanding a focus on adaptation and staying informed.

The realm of PPC marketing has undergone significant transformations in recent years, marked by a new era that prioritizes precision targeting, measurable outcomes, and adaptation to the ever-changing customer journey.

Understanding the latest PPC trends and Google ads is crucial for businesses aiming to maximize their return on investment (ROI) and reach their target audience effectively.

If you’re ready to use PPC to reach more customers faster, let’s dive into the key trends shaping PPC.

Replace Cookies with Enhanced Conversions

Think of cookies as small bits of data that websites deposit onto your browser while you explore the internet. Advertisers rely heavily on this information to track user behavior and tailor their advertisements. Nevertheless, cookies have become increasingly unreliable due to mounting privacy concerns.

To keep up with this shift, Google has developed "Enhanced Conversions," a smart technology that utilizes advanced algorithms to analyze various factors and anticipate the chances of someone transforming into a customer, even without traditional cookie data. As a result, this guarantees that your ads will continue to target the appropriate individuals, even in a privacy-conscious setting.

Unlock the Potential of Enhanced Visual Search with Google Lens

Have you ever found yourself struggling to recall the name of a product that seems familiar? Say goodbye to this common problem by leveraging the incredible capabilities of Google Lens.

With Google Lens, users can explore images and easily find comparable products on Google. This groundbreaking feature has significantly increased the popularity of visual search advertisements. Now, it’s not enough to just rely on keywords; you need to optimize your SEM campaigns to achieve high rankings in image searches.

But how else can marketers make the most out of Google Lens? Visual search presents an exciting opportunity for businesses to captivate potential customers who might not be familiar with their products. For instance, if a potential customer spots a pair of stylish sunglasses in a friend’s photo, they can utilize Google Lens to search for similar designs or even locate the exact product online. In essence, visual search paves the way for businesses to engage with customers in fresh and innovative ways.

Unlock Valuable Insights Via Ad-Based Phone Conversations

Now businesses in the United States can record calls conducted through ads. This remarkable feature enables marketing professionals to actively participate in conversations with potential customers, gaining significant insights. Leveraging this valuable information allows you to refine your ad messaging and successfully tackle customer requirements, objections, and inquiries, leading to a more seamless conversion process.

Track What Happens After the Click

Traditionally, marketers measured the success of a PPC campaign through website clicks, direct purchases, and online conversions. Now, there is a more comprehensive approach. By utilizing advanced tools and integrations like Google Ads Offline Conversion Tracking, digital advertisers can now track offline conversions, such as phone calls and in-store visits. This enables you to assess the overall impact of your ads, even if the final purchase is not made directly on your website.

Embrace Google’s Performance Max

Google Performance Max campaigns, utilizing Google’s advanced machine learning to optimize ad placements and amplify conversion value across its vast inventory, have shown significant success in engaging potential customers through a variety of channels. However, whether it will replace traditional PPC search campaigns remains to be seen. While Performance Max offers extended reach and enhanced efficiency, which is especially beneficial for marketers aiming to drive conversions across different platforms, it does not provide the same level of precise control and intent-focused targeting as PPC search campaigns.

We suggest that digital marketing professionals incorporate Performance Max as a complementary strategy rather than a substitute. It can expand the campaign’s reach and leverage Google’s AI capabilities while maintaining the accuracy of PPC targeting. By employing a combined strategy that combines Performance Max’s broad approach with the targeted depth of PPC search campaigns, you can ensure maximised campaign effectiveness, capturing the attention of both wide-ranging audiences and users with high purchase intent.

Find Your Tribe with Lookalike Audiences

To enhance your customer base, you may have utilized the "Similar Audiences"feature in Google Ads to focus on individuals with similar traits. However, due to privacy restrictions, Google is phasing this out in favor of "Lookalike Audiences." With this method, businesses can create a comprehensive profile of their ideal customer based on their online behaviors and interests. By analyzing this information, "Lookalike Audiences" identifies potential customers who display similar online habits, generating a bigger network of potential buyers with a high likelihood of being interested in the business’s offerings.

Blur the Lines Between Socializing and Buying in Social Media PPC Landscape

Over time, PPC and social media have become inseparable. As more consumers buy products directly from social media platforms, the line between socializing and buying becomes blurred. This trend creates new avenues for savvy marketers to take advantage of customers’ increased willingness to purchase directly through social media. Redirecting clickers to social pages can eliminate the need for a separate website, resulting in a smoother purchasing experience for both the buyer and the business.

Unlock the Future of PPC and Elevate Your ROI

By examining these seven trends, we can gain insight into the future of PPC. But it’s not enough to know the trends. You have to make them work for you. That’s where we come in!

Ready to improve your ROI on your PPC marketing? Contact us and level up with Levo!

FAQs

What are Enhanced Conversions?
Enhanced Conversions is a Google Ads feature designed to improve the accuracy of conversion tracking by sending hashed first-party conversion data from your website (such as email addresses) back to Google in a privacy-safe way. This is useful in scenarios where traditional cookies might not work well due to browser restrictions or user privacy settings.

What are Lookalike Audiences and how do they differ from Similar Audiences?
Discover new potential customers that share online behaviors and interests similar to your ideal customer profile with Lookalike Audiences. Unlike its predecessor, Similar Audiences, which only targeted individuals based on broad characteristics, Lookalike Audiences allows for a more precise approach to finding your desired customer base.

How has social media e-commerce transformed the PPC landscape?
Incorporating e-commerce into social media has brought about a significant shift in the world of PPC. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook now allow users to shop directly from ads. This creates a seamless shopping experience, reduces friction in the purchasing process, and enhances the effectiveness of PPC campaigns aimed at driving sales.

Could Google Performance Max campaigns replace PPC search campaigns?
Performance Max is a valuable tool for marketers aiming to enhance reach and efficiency, especially for broader objectives like driving conversions across platforms. However, it doesn’t fully replace the detailed control and intent-focused targeting that PPC search campaigns offer. For marketing professionals, integrating Performance Max alongside PPC campaigns is advisable, as it combines Google’s AI capabilities for broad reach with the precise targeting of PPC. Utilizing both strategies synergistically can significantly improve the overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns, allowing professionals to capture a wide audience while also targeting high-intent users.

Anya Sleezer

Anya Sleezer is the owner of Levo, a full–service marketing agency, focused on helping companies from all industries who are concerned with their marketing results, traffic, branding, advertising, or websites.

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