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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.

How To Make Paid Search Work For B2B Marketing

By Tim Jensen | Mar 28, 2022 | Search Engine Journal

B2B marketers face many challenges when generating results from paid search, such as high CPCs, low search volume, and unqualified leads. “If you’ve been skeptical about paid search for B2B, or if you’ve struggled to make campaigns work for your company, perhaps it’s time for another try at making optimizations for success,” writes Tim Jensen. Jensen gives tips for the following:

• Prequalify Users With Ad Copy
• Layer On Audiences
• Find Keywords That Relate To Actual Problems
• Don’t Forget The Landing Page
• Optimize For The Right Conversion Actions

Google Universal Analytics Is Going Away: What You Need to Know

By Kristen McCormick | Mar 28, 2022 | WordStream

Google announced that “On July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will no longer process data. You’ll be able to see your Universal Analytics reports for a period of time after July 1, 2023. However, new data will only flow into your GA 4 properties.” To help you understand what this means and if it affects you, Kristen McCormick covers:

• What’s changing, why, and when
• How to tell if your account will be affected
• What you need to do

How to Craft the Perfect PPC Marketing Plan

By Jordan Bishop | Mar 28, 2022 | Hero Conf

A carefully crafted PPC marketing plan is crucial for success. If you don’t have a marketing plan, you’ll likely spend time and money on campaigns that don’t meet their potential or that allow you to reach goals that aren’t relevant to your business. Jordan Bishop explores the steps of creating a successful PPC marketing plan, including:

1. Current Situation Analysis
2. SWOT analysis for PPC marketing
3. Set SMART goals for your PPC campaign
4. Define your PPC strategy
5. Set a budget for your PPC campaign
6. Define a timeline for execution, evaluation, and adjustment

How to write compelling ad copy in a Smart Bidding landscape

By Corey Patterson | Mar 28, 2022 | Search Engine Land

“Google’s Smart Bidding system is a set of automated ad bidding strategies that use machine learning to help optimize bidding for conversions… However, this advanced advertising technology doesn’t negate marketers’ responsibility for crafting rich, engaging ad copy. In fact, Smart Bidding requires even more input from qualified professionals,” writes Corey Patterson. Ashley Fletcher, VP of marketing at Adthena, shares these five tips that can help marketers create ad copy that converts in a Smart Bidding system (from a recent webinar):

1. Explore all bidding options when adopting a Smart Bidding strategy
2. Benchmark ad copy performance alongside competitors
3. Choose the proper messaging for each segment
4. Evaluate ad copy for local markets
5. Write ad copy with Share of Search in mind

4 Fine Print Settings to Beware of in Google Ads Video Campaigns

By Joe Martinez | Mar 29, 2022 | WordStream

YouTube Ads are one of the most cost-effective ways to build brand awareness or stay in front of a target audience. However, there are certain things new YouTube advertisers should be aware of before launching a campaign. Joe Martinez covers four easy mistakes if you don’t pay attention to the fine print with your campaign settings, including:

1. Your video ads will default to showing outside of YouTube
2. Video ad extensions don’t show up on TV devices
3. Google can ignore your managed placements
4. Not every Display network website plays video ads

Three Tips to Combine Paid and Organic Search Marketing Strategy

By Jeremy Hull | Mar 29, 2022 | Hero Conf

Marketers can optimize SERP assets through either paid or organic search. However, holistic search management can be challenging. Jeremy Hull offers these three simple ways your organic and paid search teams can collaborate for impactful but not time-consuming results:

1. Analyze page load speed through the lens of Google Ads
2. Review recently optimized pages that aren’t currently utilized in paid search
3. Analyze the landing pages for paid search broad match keywords alongside the search terms report

6 Overlooked LinkedIn Ad Techniques

By Anna Sonnenberg | Mar 30, 2022 | SocialMedia Examiner

“No matter what stage of the funnel you’re targeting, LinkedIn’s advertising options make it possible to connect with the right audience and achieve your goals. From building better audiences to creating more effective ads, these tips can help you get more out of your LinkedIn ads in 2022,” writes Anna Sonnenberg. To help you create LinkedIn campaigns that drive better return on ad spend, Sonnenberg recommends:

1. Boost Your Best LinkedIn Content
2. Leverage LinkedIn Event Advertising
3. Use LinkedIn Native Forms for Seamless Lead Gen
4. Personalize Your LinkedIn Ads for Individual Users
5. Override Default Bidding Strategies
6. Run a Brand Lift Test

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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