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 Ads moves campaign goal metric
By Barry Schwartz | Dec 15, 2020

Google Ads is moving the campaign goal metric near your optimization score. It is easier to locate and makes it easier for you to understand how optimization scores prioritize recommendations. Campaign goals are calculated by your bidding strategy and can be focused on conversions, conversion value, clicks or impression share. A word of caution – while these scores and metrics are useful, they are not substitutes for your true metrics on ROI for campaign spend and conversions to real sales.
Growth Sciences: Tests We Can’t Wait to Run in 2021
By Jessica Guedes | Dec 16, 2020

3Q’s Growth Sciences team shares what strategic, rapid-cycle tests for challenging the accepted “best practices” to get the best results for their clients they are looking forward to trying in the new year. In the area of Paid Social tests, they are looking to explore if Facebook’s Collections ad format merits a broad-scale rollout to our client base. Additionally, they will be testing Product Tag Ads in the eCommerce space. Paid search tests will be surrounding automation, looking at testing tCPA bidding vs. tROAS, and expansion into testing RSA (responsive search ad)-only campaigns.
Tracking Policy Appeals in Google Ads
By Tim Jensen | Dec 16, 2020

Tim Jensen offers a comprehensive review of how to access and use the Policy Manager section in Google Ads. He explains this area as “a central location in your account where you can view any current policy issues for ads that are disapproved or approved with a limited status.” While this section won’t stop arbitrary disapprovals, it does provide a centralized location for you to sort through ads with issues while you are going through the process.
The 27 Facebook Statistics that Every Marketer Must Know To Win in 2021
By Ana Gotter | Dec 16, 2020

Facebook has frequent changes, so you need to be on top of current statistics to plan your marketing strategy. Ana Gotter has collected and reviewed the latest research and case studies to find information about Facebook users, their behavior, what marketers can expect, and trends on the platform overall to help you plan for 2021. She provides the top 27 trending statics to help you strategize in the following areas:
- Facebook Demographics & Usage
- Facebook Marketing Statistics
- Facebook Mobile Statistics
- Facebook Ads Statistics
- Facebook Video Marketing Statistics
5 Ways to Boost January 2021 Retail Sales
By Armando Roggio | Dec 16, 2020

After November and December retail sales, January can feel like a slump. Armando Roggio recommends trying these tips to avoid the January downtime to boost retail sales:
- Feature buy now, pay later.
- Promote self-giving.
- Try live streaming.
- Add clearance channels.
- Keep marketing.
How to Optimize Universal App Campaigns
By Brooke Osmundson | Dec 17, 2020

It’s now easier than ever to promote an app with Google Universal App campaigns. Under your control, settings and features are the operating system device, budgets and bids, cost-per-install caps, creative assets and copy, and conversions to track and optimize towards. Not under your control is bid adjustments, target audience or demographics, which network ads show on, and keywords or what websites your ads show on. Brooke Osmundson shares five ways to maximize efficiency, including:
1. Optimize for First Installs, Not Downloads
2. Understand Your Cost Per Install Goal
3. Segment iOS & Android Campaign Budgets by Performance
4. Target Users More Willing to Perform In-App Actions
5. Create Clear, Compelling Assets & Content
Content Marketing KPIs: Which Metrics Should You Track? (+Infographic)
By Shane Barker | Dec 17, 2020

Many marketers struggle to measure the performance of their content marketing campaigns. Shane Barker explains that “while content is a driver of business growth, content KPIs aren’t indirectly linked to your revenue. And also because content can be used to facilitate an array of marketing goals at each stage in your funnel. So depending on your campaign goal, there are different KPIs that will be most relevant for measuring success.” Barker reviews the KPIs that are relevant for the following goals:
- Increase brand awareness
- Increase conversions
- Generate more leads
- Boost engagement
Top marketers highlight 5 common themes about the impact of 2020 on business
By Jacqueline Dooley | Dec 18, 2020

ClickZ interviewed marketing executives at eBay, FILA, Salesforce, and IBM Watson/Weather to understand better how the coronavirus and 2020 impacted them and their customers. In particular, they wanted to see their marketing approach and how they were forced to rethink their strategies going into 2021 and beyond. The five major themes they found were:
- 2020 is the year that changed everything
- Personalization and data-driven marketing are more important than ever
- Adaptability is crucial
- An optimized mobile experience becomes the rule
- Being helpful and relevant are key to ensuring marketing success in 2021 and beyond
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.