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 Secretly Rolling out NEW Image Extensions to Search Ads
By Mark Irvine | Dec 11, 2019

Google has been silently sneaking in new image extensions to Search Ads for some advertisers. The relevant images appear next to your text ads with the ability to improve Quality Scores. The images are dynamic ad extensions, meaning Google will pull the images from your landing page. Mark Irvine discusses how to set these extensions up in your Google Ads account.
New Year’s Trends on Quora
By Puja Ramani | Dec 12, 2019

Advertisers looking to expand their marketing channels may want to consider advertising on Quora. The platform offers a highly targeted audience with a high intention for conversion. Puja Ramani has New Year’s resolutions themed data for the top industries trending on Quora right now. She provides data for:
- Health, Wellness, and Fitness
- Jobs and Career Advice
- Personal Finance
2020 PPC Un-Resolutions: What Not to Do in the New Year
By Emma Smith | Dec 12, 2019

While many PPC professionals are looking to the New Year for better ideas to implement in 2020, Emma Smith offers a different take on resolutions. She recommends an ‘un-resolution’– meaning, pick a few areas that you know are mistakes and resolve to avoid them in the new year. Her top recommendations for things to avoid are:
1. Don’t Launch on Friday
2. Don’t Set and Forget
3. Don’t Assume Automated Bidding Won’t Overspend
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Test Automated Bidding
5. Don’t Be Scared to Stray Out of the “Google, Facebook, Bing”
4 Lessons We Learned in 2019 (and How Marketers Can Apply Them in 2020)
By Colin Loughran | Dec 12, 2019

Colin Loughran takes a little bit of time to reflect on the challenges, opportunities, and accomplishments of 2019. In particular, he looks at what they learned at Unbounce this past year and offers their lessons learned as advice and recommendations to apply in 2020. He examines these four lessons:
Lesson 1: Slow page speed is killing your conversions.
Lesson 2: A/B testing isn’t your only optimization option.
Lesson 3: We all need to raise our marketing IQ.
Lesson 4: SaaS rebrands are a huge challenge.
CCPA and the Pivot to First-Party Data
By Shane Danaher | Dec 12th, 2019

“When the California Consumer Privacy Act (or CCPA) comes into effect on January 1, 2020, companies’ use of consumer data will change dramatically,” writes Shane Danaher. Every digital business will be affected, and certainly, in the areas of marketing. To stay compliant with the law, it’s never been more important for marketers to pivot from third-party data to first-party data. He reviews some strategies for making that shift happen.
10 Paid Search & PPC Best Practices for 2020
By Lisa Raehsler | Dec 13, 2019

The New Year offers you the opportunity to implement new strategies and features into your paid search program. Lisa Raehsler recommends paying attention to these areas:
1. Budget Review for 2020
2. Review New Features in Google Ads & Microsoft Ads
3. Test New Platforms
4. Mobile Customization
5. Test Additional Features
6. Audiences Integrated with Search
7. Learn to Use Scripts
8. Voice Search Preparation
9. Reevaluate How You Report
10. Seek Collaboration
How to Make Content Marketing Part of Your Company’s DNA
By Carolyn Lyden | Dec 13, 2019

It can be a challenge for content marketing to be used across every team in a company. Is your sales team utilizing your content marketing pieces in their sales process? If you’re looking to integrate your content marketing strategy across the entire company, Carolyn Lyden recommends:
1. Get Every Department’s Perspective for Content Marketing
2. Invite More Than Marketing to Produce Content
3. Expand Your Definition of Content
Facebook Holiday Checklist: 6 Tips For Success
By Aaron Childs | Dec 15, 2019

The holiday season brings many advertisers to Facebook, and the competition is turned up high this time of year. How do you stand out? Aaron Childs recommends:
- Use campaign budget optimization to increase efficiency
- Use automated rules
- Opt into at least 4+ placements on every ad set
- Allow for Additional Ad Approval Time
- Lead Gen: Focus on remarketing during the holidays
- Ecom: Utilize dynamic ads/catalogs/shopping feeds
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.