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.
3 Reasons to Use Google Ads Dynamic Exclusion Lists (+How to Do It)
By Susie Marino | Jul 14, 2021
Susie Marino demystifies Google Ads dynamic exclusion lists and helps you understand if a dynamic exclusion list is a good fit for your account. She explores what makes Google Ads dynamic exclusion lists dynamic, why they are important, when and how to use them, and who can benefit from them. Three great reasons you would want to consider using them include:
- Protecting your reputation
- Maximizing budget
- Saving time
Google Ads optimized targeting gradually rolling out
By Carolyn Lyden | Jul 15, 2021
The new “Signal” label under the Demographics tab is for optimized targeting, a new feature gradually rolling out to Google Ads managers. “Optimized targeting is available for display, discovery, and certain types of video campaigns. The settings for optimized targeting follow your existing brand safety settings and exclusions. Google suggests trying optimized targeting data with Maximize conversions if you’re trying to increase traffic to your site. Or, if your KPI is conversions, you can use Target CPA or Maximize conversions,” writes Carolyn Lyden. However, she also warns, “This could potentially be an expensive option if your budget is lower as your initial conversion quality could fluctuate as the data is collected and optimized targeting figures things out.”
4 Practical Ways to Use AI in Marketing (& Why You Need To)
By Asi Dayan | Jul 15, 2021
Technology and automation will be more critical than ever before to scale up marketing results, move fast, and beat your competitors. Asi Dayan argues it’s time to start using artificial intelligence in your marketing, and it’s easier than ever to get started. He covers the definition and benefits of AI in marketing, as well as four practical ways to use it to hit your goals, including:
- Make your life easier with Google Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)
- Use Google Analytics Intelligence as your site analyst
- Use the Anyword AI for better copywriting
- Get to know your audience better with Helixa
10 Most Common SEM Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
By Jonathan Kagan | Jul 15, 2021
It’s easy to make mistakes when it comes to search engine marketing (SEM), but they can be easily corrected if you know what to look for and catch them in time. Jonathan Kagan shares these ten most common mistakes to avoid and how to fix them:
- Using only one match type… and it’s Broad Match.
- Not doing SEO in conjunction with SEM.
- Failing to control your spend.
- Not using negative keywords (the most important match type).
- Poking the bear in competitor bidding.
- Geo-targeting all the wrong places.
- Improper placement targeting & optimization in YouTube/GDN.
- Haphazardly applied engine recommendations.
- Running a strategy and not giving it enough time.
- Structuring the account wrong from the start.
3 Tips to Deal With Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement
By Joe Martinez | Jul 20, 2021
Facebook advertisers who use events for conversion optimization now have to use the new Aggregated Event Measurement, which is currently limited to only eight events per domain. Going from unlimited to only eight events requires some workarounds. Joe Martinez shares how he can keep event performance on par with the previous event set up through the following steps:
- Start with a good ‘ole spring cleaning
- Use custom conversions to combine similar events
- Continue using events to build audiences
Google’s New 3-Strike Policy – What Counts As a Strike?
By Amy Bishop | Jul 21, 2021
Google announced a 3-strike policy, which would effectively suspend ad accounts that have received repeated violations. For now, these penalties are only applicable to three categories: Enabling Dishonest Behavior, Unapproved Substances, and Dangerous Products or Services. These are policies that monitor deceptive behavior, hacking services, spyware, drugs, weapons, etc. Wrongful violations that are successfully appealed will result in the removal of the strike. So that means, if your business receives a violation for ad content and you are able to appeal it (without making any edits to the ad), you will not receive a strike as the disapproval was not truly a violation.
The first incident will result in a warning. After that, advertisers will receive strikes. Each expires within 90 days. Once they’ve received their first strike, the account will be placed on a temporary hold for 3 days. Regardless of when the warning occurred, if another violation happens within 90 days of the first strike, then they would receive a second strike which would result in a 7-day temporary hold. Finally, if the violation occurred again within 90 days of the second strike (regardless of when the warning or first strike happened), then the account would be suspended for repeated violation of policy. Keep in mind, if any of those strikes were successfully appealed as being incorrectly flagged for violation, the strike would be removed and it would not count.
PPC for SaaS Marketing: 6 Proven Ways to Use Paid Search
By Tim Jensen | Jul 21, 2021
It can be difficult to differentiate B2B from B2C intent in SaaS marketing, as the product typically falls into niche categories with limited relevant keywords. However, using PPC can help you reach potential customers and re-engage those in the consideration phase. Tim Jensen shares these six PPC tactics SaaS companies can use to target the right people and keep their products top-of-mind:
- Competitor Keyword Bidding
- LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms
- Cross-Channel Retargeting
- Prospect List Targeting
- Account List Targeting
- Video View Retargeting
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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