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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.

11 Reasons Your Google Ads Aren’t Showing (& How to Fix!)

By Conor Bond | Dec 6, 2021 | WordStream

A business owner or digital marketer can be scared and confused when they discover that their Google ads aren’t showing. Recognize that there are perfectly reasonable explanations for why your Google ads aren’t showing. Conor Bond covers 11 reasons why your ads aren’t showing and how to fix them, including:

1. Your payment didn’t go through
2. Your bids are either too high or too low
3. Keyword search volume is too low
4. Your ad has been paused, removed, or disapproved
5. There’s a scheduling or targeting mistake
6. Negative keywords are negating active keywords
7. Your negative bid adjustments are too large
8. Your ad group isn’t focused
9. Your ad copy isn’t optimized
10. Your landing page isn’t relevant
11. Your click-through rate is too low

Adobe Announces Free Creative Cloud Express

By Roger Montti | Dec 15, 2021 | Search Engine Journal

Adobe announced a free creative suite called Creative Cloud Express, which contains the core functionality of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro. The free editing suite is designed so that anyone can use it, even people with no experience. Free users get access to up to 1 million images and other assets, thousands of templates, and dozens of fonts. The suite is available on the web, in Microsoft stores, and on apps for iOS and Android.

Shortcuts to Save Time in Google Ads Editor

By Andrea Taylor | Dec 16, 2021 | Clix Marketing

The Google Ads Editor has come a long way in terms of features for offline use. It’s also a tool that you can’t live without if you’re managing sizable accounts. To help you save time, Andrea Taylor dives into how to utilize her favorite shortcuts in Google Ads Editor, including:

• “Show only items I selected” Option
• Custom Rules
• Search Terms Report
• Identify Duplicate Keywords

How Can D2C Brands Leverage PPC Ads to Drive Customer Acquisition?

By Akshay Deogiri | Dec 17, 2021 | Optmyzr

If you are a D2C brand, you can leverage paid advertising to increase brand awareness, engage potential customers across awareness stages, and drive customer acquisition. “Paid advertising has emerged as one of the most effective marketing strategies for D2C brands,” writes Akshay Deogiri. He provides a comprehensive guide that will help you leverage PPC ads to drive customer acquisition. Here are four steps he recommends you take to effectively use PPC ads for increasing customer acquisition, retention, and revenue:

1. Planning Ad Campaigns Based on Your Marketing Strategy
2. Tracking Ad Campaign Performance
3. Optimizing Ad Campaigns to Boost Conversions
4. Developing a Robust Lead Nurturing System and Sales Funnel

How To A/B Test Responsive Search Ads: Step-By-Step With Tips

By Frederick Vallaeys | Dec 17, 2021 | Search Engine Journal

Frederick Vallaeys argues it’s time to revisit our ad testing best practices in relation to Responsive Search Ads (RSAs). “Here’s the problem. RSAs qualify for far more impressions than ETAs. Based on our study, RSAs are so much better at getting a good Ad Rank that they can show for about 4 times as many queries,” explains Vallaeys. “Any A/B ad test including RSAs should include impression data to be able to measure incrementally.” Impressions now also depend greatly on the ad, and no longer just the keywords of an ad group.

How to Use Facebook Events Manager: A Complete Guide

By Anna Sonnenberg | Dec 21, 2021 | SocialMedia Examiner

“If you want to reach the widest possible audience, target off-Facebook conversions, and get the most accurate reports, you need Events Manager and Facebook’s new Aggregated Event Measurement protocol. In fact, mastering these tools is essential if you’re planning paid campaigns in 2022,” writes Anna Sonnenberg. She covers the why, what, and how of using Events Manager to prioritize and optimize your ad conversion tracking events off-platform. Sonnenberg reviews how to configure Conversions with Facebook Events Manager using a pixel in seven steps.

Six Best Practices in Programmatic Advertising to Increase Brand Reputation

By John Allen | Dec 22, 2021 | Hero Conf

“Consumers are already numb to digital ads, but programmatic advertising can deliver fresher content in more engaging ways, provided you do it well,” writes John Allen. He sets out six programmatic advertising best practices that build brand reputation and produce results, including:

1. Plan and set goals
2. Target better
3. Choose your DSP thoughtfully
4. Go with a data-driven strategy
5. Join up advertising data with analytics data 
6. Implement frequency caps 

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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