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.
Goal Talk Podcast Episode 7: The Basics of the Google Ads Auction
By Mikayla Wyman | Mar 24, 2020

Mikayla Wyman has a chat with WordStream’s PPC account manager Kristina Simonson on the Goal Talk podcast. They discuss how the Google ad auction works specifically on search so you can position your campaigns for success. Topics discussed include:
- Which factors determine your ad showing over a competitor
- How Google determines how much you’re going to spend on a placement
- How bidding methods work
- Which key metrics you need to track
- How Google adjusts to changes within an account
How to Improve Your Search Messaging Flexibility with Ad Customizers
By Casey Burke | Mar 24, 2020

Ad customizers are an agile solution to more complicated messaging problems in Google and Bing Ads, enabling flexibility. Copy will dynamically adjust to display the messaging in each row of the feed, according to the schedule set with the start/end date columns. Some advantages ad customizers offer over standard Expanded Text Ads (ETAs) include historical data, ease of updating, and quick performance views.
6 Strategies for Facebook and Instagram Advertising During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Pia Tserkonis | Mar 24, 2020

The pandemic is affecting small business owners everywhere. What advertisers need to focus on is finding opportunities that will help them build personalized and lasting relationships with their audiences from a safe distance. Pia Tserkonis recommends these strategies for doing that with Facebook and Instagram ads:
- Stay consistent and extend your high-performing ads
- Build brand awareness with your online audience
- Find new leads and build your email marketing list with lead ads
- Focus on remarketing campaigns
- Test new ad creative and audiences
- Try Facebook and Instagram Live
The Complete Amazon Plan: 7 Steps to Success
By Alec Burns | Mar 25, 2020

Your advertising strategy on Amazon needs a complete approach that covers research, launch, optimization, and expansion. Alec Burns outlines a 7 step process for getting a brand off the ground. His guide covers:
- Market Research
- Product Research
- Product Optimization
- Brand Store
- Discovery
- Refinement
- Expansion
Top marketers’ secret recipe for increasing customer engagement
By Christi Olson | Mar 26, 2020
Microsoft Advertising did some research into the intersection of understanding the customer journey and integration of customer data via AI intersect. What they found is that 20% of marketers that do both very well at engaging their customers are considered to be High Customer Experience Quotient (CXQ) Performers. Marketers in this category use AI and their deep understanding of their customers to see these advantages over other marketers:
- High CXQ Performers dramatically increase customer engagement with cognitive services.
- High CXQ Performers achieve 33% higher revenues.
Methods for PPC Success in Times of Uncertainty
By Ryan Opal | Mar 26, 2020

Like most business sectors, the PPC industry is seeing rapid change during these uncertain times. “Advertisers are seeing budgetary shifts, paused platforms, and a whole array of other changes to navigate the new quarantine landscape,” writes Ryan Opal. He offers a few suggestions to bring back lost performance and prepare for when business returns to normal, including:
- Reassess Current Marketing Goals
- Write Case Studies
- Create Short & Long-Term Strategies
Google pledges $340 million in Google Ads credits for SMBs
By Ginny Marvin | Mar 28, 2020

Google hopes to alleviate some of the costs for small and medium-sized businesses to stay in touch with their customers during this time of social separation. They have announced they will be giving $340 million in Google Ads credits to small and medium-sized businesses in the coming months.
Search specialist shares five ways to adapt your search strategy in uncertain times
By Paul Norris | Mar 27, 2020

Current events have changed the way people shop and interact with each other. Marketers need to adapt to how consumer search behavior is changing. Paul Norris recommends marketers:
1. Identify and capitalize on emerging trends
2. Listen to your visitors – use your site search reports and Hotjar polls
3. Shift budget into investment channels
4. Bypass dev queues and do what you can from your CMS
5. Maximize performance where demand is strong
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.