Welcome to Cultivative’s weekly roundup for all things PPC from around the web—everything you need to know right now about PPC!
At Cultivative, we’re all about making your life easier. We’ve gathered the top PPC news and innovations from around the web and getting it into your hands. Check out what we found this past week.
Google Shares 16 Stats About Holiday Shoppers
By Matt Southern | Nov 4, 2020
This year’s holiday season will be remarkably different from years past, but shoppers are still looking for ways to connect to retailers. Google has released a 27-page guide offering statistics to help advertisers understand recent shifts in consumer behavior. Matt Southern breaks Google’s guide down into 16 critical statistics that impact holiday shoppers’ search behavior. Key takeaways include consumers’ reluctance to shop in person in stores and an influx of shopping for clothing and searches for “best affordable” items.
More Facebook Ads bugs unnerve advertisers ahead of Black Friday, Cyber Monday
By Ginny Marvin | Nov 6, 2020
Facebook Ads’ recent bugs on the platform ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday have advertisers unnerved and frustrated, leading many to consider other advertising platforms for their holiday promotions this year. The recent bugs have given advertisers a good reason to test different platforms right now, such as Pinterest and Snapchat, for direct response ad solutions.
Using auction insights for better PPC competitor analysis
By Tim Jensen | Nov 6, 2020
“Competitive analysis should be a regular task for anyone involved in managing PPC campaigns. Keeping up with what messaging your competitors are using, what keywords they’re bidding on, and where they’re overlapping with you are important for keeping your own campaigns on point,” argues Tim Jensen. Jensen discusses how the Auction Insights sections in both Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising can show you where your competitors are bidding against you and shows you how to make the findings practical to your account management process.
4 Pillars of Paid Media Growth
By Andrew Harder | Nov 9, 2020
Andrew Harder shares his perspective on agency growth related to managing more marketing budget for your clients in regards to higher revenues. In order to see growth for your client’s marketing budgets, he believes the four pillars of paid media are:
- Product Knowledge
- Stakeholder Trust
- Strategy & Platform Adaptability
- Communication
Experts Share Google Ad Predictions for 2021
By Tara Johnson | Nov 9, 2020
COVID brought an unprecedented year of advertising to paid media across the board, making predictions for 2021 difficult. However, industry experts have put their heads together and given their best forecasts for the year ahead. Tara Johnson has compiled predictions from 10 experts for Google Ads, including:
1. Google will expand mid-funnel offerings.
2. Amazon will continue to impact Google advertisers.
3. Make way for SMS Marketing.
4. Google Discovery Ads open up new opportunities.
5. Google ads on the rebound, growth expected in 2021.
6. Google trends towards broader definitions of close variants.
7. Updated ads with fresh content will come out on top.
8. Working with an official Google partner will become a top priority for brands.
9. The rise of Machine Learning & Smart Campaigns
10. Hone in on YouTube, Email, and Display
10 Important PPC Trends to Watch in 2021
By Danny Goodwin | Nov 10, 2020
What will be the big trends in PPC marketing and paid social in 2021? Danny Goodwin has gathered insight and predictions from 32 top PPC experts and complied them into these 10 trends you need to know:
1. Goodbye, Data
2. Understand Your Audience & the Buyer Journey
3. Even More Automation
4. Diversification Will Become More Important
5. Harness the Power of First-Party Data
6. New Instagram Opportunities
7. Big Picture Strategy Will Become More Valuable
8. Perfect the Ad Message
9. Always Be Testing
10. A Great Mobile Experience
17 Proven Ways to Boost Holiday Sales & Revenue in 2020
By Harpreet Munjal | Nov 10, 2020
The 2020 holiday shopping season presents a unique online shopping opportunity this year as more people are expected to be making online purchases than ever before. With the pandemic affecting retail sales, the holiday season is make it or break it for many small businesses, so much is riding on this season’s outcomes. Harpreet Manjal shares 17 proven tips to plan out and execute successful holiday promotions to boost revenue, including:
- General holiday sale best practices to give you an edge over your competitors and maximize your results.
- Tried-and-true tactics to attract holiday shoppers to any business.
- Channel-specific strategies for holiday campaigns (paid and unpaid) with pro tips for each.
What Makes a Good Landing Page: Calls to Action
By Navah Hopkins | Nov 10, 2020
In this week’s Ask Me Anything About PPC, Navah Hopkins answers what factors go into a “good” landing page concerning PPC performance for conversions. She sets some ground rules, stating that what works for e-commerce won’t necessarily work for lead-gen and vise-versa. There should be as little thought as possible for the consumer. The landing page should only include information, creative, and actions we have the potential to profit from. That being said, Hopkins focuses her discussion on landing pages to include:
- Calls to Action
- Trust Symbols
- Desktop to Mobile Considerations
- The Story Your Page Tells
- The Conversion Path
We hope you learned something new you can apply to your PPC business strategy. Let us know in the comments below what you want to start implementing. As always, we are happy to be a resource for your paid advertising needs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
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