Improving Your Paid Ad Campaign Performance Part 1

Improving Your Paid Ad Campaign Performance

There are at least 23 things you can do to improve the performance of your paid ad campaign. We have broken them down into six categories: Ad Format, Audience, Design, Copy and Placement and in upcoming posts we will break down the tactics within each category that we use to improve performance for our clients.

As a paid media company, we understand the power of advertisement and its ability to reach people on different platforms. Paid ads give you an opportunity to get your product or service in front of a target audience quickly. While there is no guaranteed formula for success when it comes to paid advertising, there are several techniques that can be used to improve the performance of your paid ad campaign. In this blog post, we will discuss the various techniques and tactics that can be used to improve your PPC advertising performance.

We’ll start with Ad Format and look at five methods that you can use to optimize your ads for better results.

Let’s get started!

Ad Format

Choosing the right ad format for your paid ad campaign is an important decision that can make or break a successful ad strategy. It’s essential to understand the unique advantages and disadvantages of each type of ad format, such as search ads, display ads, performance max ads, video stories, and carousels.

For instance, Search Ads may provide more impressions than other ad formats but it requires more keyword research and optimization expertise; Display Ads are great for reaching a larger audience and can be used to build brand awareness through creative visuals; Performance Max Ads offer more advanced targeting options and will help you hone in on the most valuable users; Video Stories are fantastic for engaging viewers with a multi-dimensional experience involving sight, sound and motion; lastly Carousels increase engagement by giving people multiple opportunities to click. When creating a digital ad campaign it’s important to consider which ad format best suits your business goals before making any decisions.

Search Ads

What is a search ad?

A search ad is an online advertisement that appears in the form of a text-based link next to organic search engine results. These ads allow businesses to target keywords related to their product or service and appear as sponsored content, giving them higher visibility in the search results. Search ads are used by companies to increase website traffic, brand awareness, and ultimately, sales.

Why are search ads important in advertising?

Search ads can be a powerful tool when used strategically, allowing businesses to reach target audiences more quickly. With search ads, advertisers select the most relevant keywords that people use when they search online and include them in the ad copy – this helps search engine algorithms identify and surface your search ad in front of people who are searching for a product or service.

To optimize search ad performance, you should use data-driven insights to make smart decisions about which keywords will be most effective, in addition to continually testing and experimenting with different types of search ads to see what resonates best with different kinds of target users. Ultimately, having an informed approach when selecting keywords for search ads will maximize the number of clicks and visits from potential customers.

What is an example of a search ad?

Headline: Get Professional Online Marketing Services

Description: Need help with your online marketing strategy? We can help. Get professional online marketing services today!

URL/Display URL: www.example.com/online-marketing-services

These types of search ads are great for businesses looking to drive website visits from potential customers or clients who are actively searching for related products or services.

Display Ads

What is a display ad?

A display ad is an ad that appears on websites, apps, and social media channels, usually in the form of banners or videos. It is targeted to a specific audience based on factors such as demographics and past behavior. Display ads are used to build brand awareness and can be used for remarketing campaigns to increase customer engagement and sales.

Why are display ads important in advertising?

Display ads are often used to increase brand awareness, promote products or services, and build an online presence. To get the most out of display ads it is important to make sure they are targeted towards the right audience and platform, as well as implemented strategically.

The key to optimizing display ads is to ensure that they have high quality visuals, are relevant to the target audience, and use a clear and concise call-to-action. Taking steps such as split testing different display ads against each other can also be effective in determining which display ad attracts more attention and provides better results for your business.

What is an example of a display ad?

Headline: Get Healthy & Glowing Skin Now

Description: Our vegan-friendly skincare products are designed to keep your skin looking and feeling its best. Shop now!

Image/Video: A picture or video showcasing the product range

URL/Display URL: www.example.com/skincare-products

These types of display ads are great for businesses looking to drive awareness and sales from potential customers who may be interested in their offering.

Performance Max Ads

What is Performance Max?

Performance Max is a new goal-based campaign type that allows performance advertisers to access all of their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign. It’s designed to complement your keyword-based Search campaigns to help you find more converting customers across all of Google’s channels like YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.

How does Performance Max help increase campaign performance?

Performance Max Ads are designed for maximum impact with limited investment. These ads use advanced optimization techniques such as dynamic creative optimization (DCO) and sequential targeting in order to deliver maximum results from a minimal budget.

Performance Max helps increase campaign performance by providing users with an extendable platform that enables optimization of digital marketing campaigns. It allows users to customize and manage campaigns in one unified interface, and it provides helpful analytics for measuring the results of those campaigns. It also provides personalized recommendations that enable businesses to reach their desired goals quickly and efficiently.

What is an example of a performance max ad?

Headline: Get Behind the Wheel of Your Dream Car

Description: Find your perfect car with our vast range of new and used vehicles. Shop now!

Image/Video: A picture or video showcasing different types of cars from their selection

URL/Display URL: www.example.com/cars

These types of ads are great for businesses looking to increase sales from potential customers who may be interested in their offering. They allow you to target more people, faster, and with greater precision – helping you maximize the results from your campaigns quickly and efficiently.

Video Stories

What are video stories?

Video stories are short videos that tell an engaging story about a brand or product. These types of ads have become increasingly popular on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube due to their ability to captivate an audience with compelling visuals and sound effects.

How do video stories help increase campaign performance?

Video stories are a powerful tool for creating impactful campaigns. Stories have the power to inspire, connect, and motivate people in a unique way that plain facts or figures cannot. Structured video stories are particularly effective for communicating the message and objectives of campaigns; the combination of audio-visual elements, combined with an emotionally engaging narrative, create an emotionally resonant connection with viewers that can be difficult to achieve using other forms of content. This can translate into improved campaign performance as more people become engaged and start sharing the video story across their networks.

To optimize video stories, you should focus on creating a high-quality video with a clear narrative that speaks to the target audience. Additionally, you should use data-driven insights and testing methods to identify which videos are performing best in order to create better campaigns in the future.

What is an example of a video story ad?

Headline: Exploring the World with XYZ Travel

Description: Follow us as we explore some of the world’s most breathtaking places.

Video: A montage of clips featuring stunning natural landscapes, vibrant cityscapes and other memorable locations – all accompanied by uplifting music

URL/Display URL: www.XYZTravel.com

This type of video helps to create an emotional connection with potential customers, allowing them to imagine themselves in these exotic locations. It also offers potential customers a glimpse into what traveling with XYZ Travel would be like, which could lead to more conversions and sales.

Carousels

What are carousel ads?

Similar to flipping through the pages of a carousel book and being able to preview all the content from one page, carousel video stories allow viewers to click through multiple video panels in one video message. They’re often used on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook as an effective way to showcase products or services.

How do you optimize carousel ads?

To optimize carousel ads for maximum results, it’s important to choose visuals that reflect your brand identity and convey a clear message to the viewer.

A few key areas that should be considered when putting together carousels are creative design, strong targeting, and relevant messaging. When done correctly, carousels are not only extremely attractive and eye-catching but can also dramatically increase user engagement and overall ROI.

An important part of carousel stories is to make sure that each item included in the carousel is striking. The carousels should tell a story that is purposeful and cohesive – and be sure to create a call-to-action for your customers to deepen engagement. Additionally, keep carousel stories short and sweet so customers feel compelled to click through for more information. Finally, keeping carousels fun by swapping out ads regularly can ensure you’re capturing viewers’ attention with every new story they see.

What is an example of a carousel ad?

An example of a carousel ad could be an advertisement for a car dealership. The carousel would feature different cars from their selection, with visuals that showcase the features and benefits of each model. This can be combined with engaging copy to create an effective way for customers to learn about different makes and models without having to visit the physical store. Additionally, including a call-to-action such as “Shop Now” at each step of the carousel encourages viewers to take action after viewing.

These are just some examples of how businesses can use video stories and carousels to increase your paid ad campaign performance. By using these tools in combination with other strategies such as smart targeting, companies can amplify their reach and get more people interested in their products and services.

We hope that this article on five tactics that you can use to optimize your paid ad campaign for better results useful and insightful. Stay tuned for future posts in this series.

If you’re looking for help with your Google Ads campaign, contact Braveheart Digital Marketing. We’re a PPC agency in Manchester, NH that can help you create a successful campaign and achieve your business goals. Get in touch today to learn more!

8 Common PPC Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be an effective way to drive traffic to your website and generate leads. But if you’re not careful, it can also be a quick way to waste a lot of money. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at eight common PPC mistakes and how you can avoid them.

Not Narrowing Your Target Audience

One of the biggest mistakes PPC businesses make is failing to narrow their target audience. They assume that anyone who sees their ad will be interested in what they’re selling. As a result, they end up wasting a lot of money on ads that are never going to convert.

Not Doing Your Keyword Research

Before you launch your PPC campaign, you need to do your keyword research. You need to understand what words and phrases potential customers are using to search for your products or services. Once you know this, you can create ad campaigns that target those keywords. Without keyword research, you’re just guessing, and chances are you’ll guess wrong.

Targeting Too Many Keywords

Once you’ve done your keyword research, it’s tempting to try to target as many keywords as possible in your ad campaigns. This is a mistake. Instead of spreading yourself thin, focus on a few key phrases and create laser-focused campaigns around them. You’ll get better results—and save money—in the long run.

Bidding On The Wrong Keywords

Another common PPC mistake is bidding on the wrong keywords. Keywords are the foundation of any PPC campaign, so it’s important to choose them carefully. A lot of businesses make the mistake of bidding on broad, generic keywords that get a lot of searches. But just because a keyword gets a lot of searches doesn’t mean it’s going to be successful for your business.

Broad keywords are often too general, which means they attract a lot of people who aren’t actually interested in what you’re selling. As a result, you end up paying for a lot of clicks that never turn into conversions.

Instead of bidding on broad keywords, focus on long-tail keywords that are more specific to what you’re selling. Long-tail keywords may get fewer searches, but the people who do search for them are usually further along in the buying cycle and more likely to convert.

Not Using Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are words or phrases that you don’t want your ad to show up for. For example, if you sell women’s clothing, you might want to add “men” as a negative keyword so that your ad doesn’t show up when people search for “men’s clothing.”

Not using negative keywords is a huge mistake because it results in wasted clicks—clicks that could be going to a more relevant ad. It also hurts your quality score, which is a metric used by Google to determine how relevant and useful your ad is. A low quality score will result in higher costs per click and less exposure for your ad.

To avoid this mistake, take some time to brainstorm a list of negative keywords for your business. You can also use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to find negative keywords that are relevant to your business.

Not Testing Your Ads

Another common PPC mistake is not testing your ads before you launch your campaign. You might think you know what works best, but unless you test multiple versions of your ad, you won’t know for sure. A/B testing is a simple way to test different versions of your ads and see which one performs best. Once you know what works, you can roll out your campaign with confidence knowing that your ads will perform well.

Not Optimizing Your Landing Page

Your landing page is the page on your website that people are taken to after they click on your ad. An effective landing page is relevant to the ad that was clicked on and contains a clear call-to-action (CTA).

Too often, businesses make the mistake of sending PPC traffic to their homepage instead of creating a customized landing page. This is a missed opportunity because a well-optimized landing page can dramatically improve conversion rates.

Providing relevant content and an effective CTA will increase the chances that visitors will take the desired action—whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or calling your business.

Not Monitoring Your Campaigns Regularly

Once you’ve launched your PPC campaign, it’s easy to set it on autopilot and forget about it. But if you want your campaign to be successful, you need to monitor it regularly and make adjustments as needed. Things change quickly in the world of online advertising, so what worked last month might not work this month. The only way to keep your campaigns effective is to monitor them closely and adjust as necessary. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting a lot of money on ads that aren’t performing well.

Avoid these common PPC mistakes and set yourself up for success. Do your keyword research, focus on a few key phrases, and test your ads before launching your campaign. By following these steps, you’ll be able to maximize your results—and generate more leads—with your PPC campaigns.

Measuring The Success Of Your Facebook Ad Campaign

There’s no question that a Facebook ads campaign can be an effective way to reach your target market. But how do you know if your campaign is successful? And what steps can you take to improve results? In this blog post, we’ll look at some tips for measuring the success of your Facebook ad campaign. We’ll also discuss some factors to consider when making decisions about whether or not to continue running a particular campaign. So if you’re thinking about launching a Facebook ad campaign, or want to improve the results of an existing campaign, keep reading!

1. Define Your Goals

Before you create your Facebook Ad, it is important to know what you want to achieve with your campaign. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Generate leads? Once you know your goals, you can create ads that are aligned with those objectives.

2. Identify Your Target Audience

Who do you want to reach with your Facebook Ad? When you know your target audience, you can create ads that are more likely to resonate with them. You can also use Facebook’s targeting options to ensure that your ad is only seen by people who are likely to be interested in it.

3. Set Up Your Facebook Ads Account

If you don’t already have a Facebook Ads account, you’ll need to set one up. This is a simple process that only takes a few minutes and you can do that by following this link.

Once you have an account, you can start creating your ad campaign.

4. Create Your Ad Campaign

Now it’s time to create your ad campaign. Facebook offers a variety of ad types, so you can choose the one that best fits your goals. If you’re not sure which ad type to use, you can always experiment with different options to see what works best for your business.

5. Monitor Your Results

After your ad campaign has been running for a while, it’s important to monitor your results and make adjustments as needed. This will help you optimize your campaign for maximum success.

6. Celebrate Your Successes!

Once you’ve achieved your goals, take a moment to celebrate your success! Facebook Ads can be a great way to grow your business, so pat yourself on the back and enjoy the fruits of your hard work.

Measurement is key to any successful Facebook ad campaign. Without accurate measurements, it’s difficult to determine whether or not your campaign is meeting its objectives.

In order to measure the success of your Facebook ad campaign, you need to define what success means for you.

There are a number of factors to consider when making decisions about whether or not to continue running a particular Facebook ad campaign. Some of these factors include: budget, time commitment, leads generated, and ROI.

Facebook offers a number of tools that can help you measure the success of your ads campaign. These tools include: conversion tracking, website insights, and Audience Insights.

It’s important to test different aspects of your Facebook ad campaigns in order to find what works best for you. Try different images, headlines, copy, and target audiences. And always be prepared to adjust your campaigns based on results.

Are you looking for help with your Facebook Ads campaign? Braveheart Digital Marketing is a social media agency based in Manchester, NH that can help you achieve your advertising goals. Contact us today to learn more about our services!

Google Ads Campaign Tips For Small Businesses

Google Ads can be a great way to reach new customers and grow your business. But before you create your first campaign, there are a few things you should know.

In this article, we’ll share some Google Ads campaign tips for small businesses. First, let’s briefly discuss what Google Ads is and how it works. Then, we’ll give you some tips on creating a successful Google Ads campaign. Ready to get started? Let’s dive in!

What Is Google Ads And How Does It Work?

Google Ads is a form of online advertising that allows businesses to place ads on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). When someone searches for a keyword that you’re targeting, your ad may appear in the top spot on the SERP. Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform, which means you’ll pay Google every time someone clicks on your ad.

Now that you have a basic understanding of Google Ads, let’s move on to our Google Ads campaign tips.

1. Define Your Goals

Before you create your Google Ads campaign, it’s important to define your goals. What do you want to achieve with your campaign? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Once you know your goals, you can create a campaign that’s designed to achieve them.

Do you have analytics set-up so that you can track the progress towards your goals? For most campaigns, that is simply a matter of dropping Google’s tracking pixel on your thank you page.

Once you know your goals and have set up tracking, you can create a campaign that’s designed to achieve them.

2. Choose The Right Keywords

Choosing the right keywords is crucial for any Google Ads campaign. You’ll want to choose keywords that are relevant to your business and that potential customers are likely to search for. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to research keywords and get ideas for new keywords to target.

Google allows four types of keywords. What they call Broad Match, Phrase Match, Exact Match and Negative Match.

Broad Match: Example is Running Shoes. Your ad will appear for any search related to your keyword. Which in this example could mean your ad shows for searches like Tennis shoes for men or running socks.

Phase Match: “Running Shoes”. Your ad will appear for searches that include the meaning of your phrase. For example, Men’s running shoes and best shoes for running.

Exact Match: [Running Shoes]. Your ad will appear for searches that have the same meaning as your keyword. For example, Running Shoes or Sneakers.

3. Create Compelling Ad Copy

Once you’ve chosen your keywords, it’s time to create your ad copy. Your ad should be clear, concise, and persuasive. Include a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages people to click on your ad.

Headline: People are most likely to notice your headline text, so consider including words that people may have entered in their Google search. Your text ad consists of three headlines where you can enter up to 30 characters each to promote your product or service. The headlines are separated by a vertical pipe (‘|’) and may show differently based on the device that someone is using when they view your ad.

Description: Use the description fields to highlight details about your product or service. It’s a good idea to include a ‘call to action’ – the action that you want your customer to take. If you’re an online shoe shop, your description might include ‘Shop now’ or ‘Buy shoes now’. If you offer a service, you might want to add something like ‘Get an instant quote online’ or ‘See pricing’

Display URL: The display URL, usually in green, shows your website address. This display URL is made up of the domain from your final URL and the text in the optional ‘Path’ fields. These fields are designed to help people who see your ad get a better sense of where they’ll be taken when they click it. Your path text doesn’t have to match the exact language of your display URL.

4. Bid Strategically

Bidding on keywords is one of the most important aspects of any Google Ads campaign. You’ll want to bid enough to get your ad in a good position on the SERP, but not so much that you’re overspending. Google’s automatic bidding option can be a helpful tool for small businesses that are new to Google Ads.

Three ways to help make your bidding strategy more effective are:

Ad Relevance: Include the keyword in your headline and description as Google also bolds the query that was searched, which attracts eyeballs and clicks.

Quality Score: Every keyword in your Google Ads account is assigned a Quality Score. A Quality Score of 8–10 is considered very good. If you are creating new campaigns and groups, know that you need to reach a certain threshold of impressions and clicks to have a Quality Score. Make sure that the keywords that you are targeting, and the ad copy you are using, are relevant to your audience.

Click-through-rate: A high click-through rate will bring up your Quality Score, which is why writing good ads is so important as it allows you to spend less money than your competitors.

5. Track Your Results

Once your Google Ads campaign is up and running, it’s important to track your results. Google Analytics is a free tool that can be used to track the performance of your Google Ads campaign. By tracking your results, you can see what’s working and what isn’t, and make necessary changes to improve your results.

By following these Google Ads campaign tips, you can set up a successful campaign and achieve your business goals. Google Ads can be a great way to reach new customers and grow your business. So what are you waiting for? Get started today!

SEO vs PPC: Which Is The Best Driver Of Website Traffic?

If you’re a business owner, you know that online visibility is key to success. But what’s the best way to achieve it? SEO and PPC are both effective methods of marketing your business online. But which one is right for you? Let’s take a closer look at SEO vs PPC, their respective pros and cons, and how to determine which one is right for your business.

SEO and PPC: An Overview

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of your website in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is done through optimizing your website content, structure, and on-page elements like title tags and metatags. SEO is a long-term strategy that can take months or even years to see results.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising is a form of online advertising in which you pay a fee every time someone clicks on your ad. Ads can be displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs), social media platforms, and websites that are part of the Google Display Network. PPC is a more immediate way to gain visibility for your website, but it requires ongoing investment.

SEO: The Pros

SEO is a great way to increase the visibility and ranking of your website. SEO is a long-term strategy that can take months or even years to see results, but it is worth the investment. SEO will help you to build trust with your audience, as well as increase traffic and leads for your business.

SEO: The Cons

SEO can be a long and difficult process, and it can take months or even years to see results. SEO is also constantly changing, which means you need to keep up with the latest trends and algorithm updates to ensure that your website is visible in search engine results pages. SEO can be a difficult and time-consuming process, but it is worth the investment for your business.

PPC: The Pros

Pay Per Click (PPC) is a great way to gain visibility for your website quickly. PPC ads can be displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs), social media platforms, and websites that are part of the Google Display Network. PPC is a more immediate way to gain visibility for your website, but it requires ongoing investment.

PPC: The Cons

PPC can be an expensive way to market your business, especially if you are in a highly competitive industry. PPC also requires ongoing investment and management, as well as constant monitoring and optimization to ensure that your ads are performing well. Additionally, PPC can be complex and time-consuming to set up and manage.

Which One is Right for Your Business? SEO or PPC

Now that we’ve looked at the pros and cons of SEO and PPC, you may be wondering which one is right for your business. The answer, as with most things in business, is that it depends.

If you’re just starting out and are on a tight budget, SEO may be the better option for you. SEO takes time to see results, but it is a more affordable option than PPC. However, if you need immediate results and are willing to invest in paid advertising, PPC may be the better option for you.

If you’re not sure which one is right for you, speak to a marketing professional who can help you assess your needs and make a decision. SEO and PPC are both great ways to market your business online. The best way to determine which one is right for you is to assess your needs and goals, and then speak to a marketing professional who can help you make the best decision for your business.

If you need help increasing your website’s visibility and ranking, or if you’re looking for a more immediate way to gain visibility for your business, contact Braveheart Digital Marketing. We offer both SEO and PPC services, and our team of marketing professionals can help you determine which one is right for your business. Contact us today to learn more

How To Select A Programmatic Advertising Agency

One of the follow-up questions we got from our recent post on programmatic advertising was how do I pick a programmatic advertising agency? There are a lot of lot of companies out there in the programmatic space. How can I make sure that I am picking the right one?

To answer that question I turned back to programmatic expert Tom Burke from Centro. This is what he had to say.

When picking the right programmatic advertising agency for your business, here are two things to consider.

The first consideration are tactical, day-to-day media-based questions. These are a bunch of boxes you should check around inventory sources and supply-side, what exchanges are they integrated in, how many PNP deals they have, what type of data they have, etc.

11 Questions To Ask A Programmatic Advertising Agency

What do you classify yourself as? A trading desk? A DSP? Something else?
What DSP do you use? is it different based on inventory type (desktop, mobile, video)? Is it your own or a 3rd party?
If you are a DSP, do you have a self-serve interface and if not, do you have any plans to put one in place?
Do you have your own direct PMP deals or do you trade on the open exchanges?
What split of retargeting vs prospecting are you proposing and can this be monitored ongoing?
What are your fees and how are they calculated?
What buy models do you support? CPM, CPC, CPA?
What post view and post-click conversion window will you apply to my activity?
Is there anything automated in your bid optimization process or is it managed by people?
What third party data providers do you typically use?
What level of transparency do you provide on reporting? Can I get a domain list including impressions served?

While you need to check these boxes, realistically the majority of the day-to-day work has become so commoditized at this point, that it would be a red flag if someone could not answer clearly any of these questions.

The second consideration is how does programmatic advertising fit into your business? This is the question that I’d recommend, almost every agency – especially in the mid-tier – focus on answering.

The two questions I ask agency partners about choosing a programmatic advertising agency are:

The IAB released a study in May 2018 indicating that 18% of programmatic advertisers have completely brought programmatic media buying in house, while an additional 47% have at least partially done so.

If you are thinking about bringing your programmatic services in-house, here are four things to consider:

What’s does “in house” mean to you?

A closer look at the IAB data indicates that few advertisers are aligned on what “fully in house” means.

For instance, some brands viewed taking their entire programmatic process in house as working directly with a DSP instead of using a creative agency to help execute buying. To others, it meant having their agency of record provide them with a programmatic strategy while their in-house team performed the media buys.

You Will Need an In-House Team

The number of people you’ll need to develop and execute your programmatic media depends on how much of the process you’re bringing in house. Some brands have brought in programmatic department heads, but continue to have an agency of record with whom their experts work to develop the programmatic strategy to execute buys. Others have essentially modelled the structure of a trading desk to manage strategy and execution. Any one of these structures can work, but all require that you staff up a team of programmatic experts.

In-House Programmatic Advertising Is About Data Management

Programmatic media buying requires tons of data—collecting, aggregating, layering, and swiftly drawing actionable insights from it. Depending on your strategy for taking programmatic in house, you may need to take some or full responsibility for managing your data, which would require an experienced (and expensive) data science team.

A Long-Term Programmatic Strategy Is a Must

As with everything in digital media, programmatic advertising buying will not remain stagnant. Technology, key players, channels, and formats will continue to change and evolve. Many companies have built their entire business model on this evolution. Therefore, your strategy needs to account for, and proactively address, the constant changes in the industry.

That means hiring exceptional talent that fully understands the landscape, and can act autonomously to address innovation. It also means providing employees with ongoing opportunities to continue their industry education.

What is Programmatic Advertising?

This is a question that we get when we are reviewing paid media plans with clients. What is programmatic advertising? It’s a great question and I turned to paid media expert Tom Burke to answer that question. This is what he had to say.

Programmatic advertising is the use of automated technology for media buying (the process of buying advertising space), as opposed to traditional (often manual) methods of digital advertising. Programmatic media buying utilizes data insights and algorithms to serve ads to the right user at the right time, and at the right price.

In other words, as Tom points out, programmatic advertising is simply another way to buy advertising or media.

How is buying programmatic advertising different from traditional ad buying?

With traditional or direct ad buying you purchase advertising space on a website or in a traditional publication directly from the publisher.

You negotiate the price, pick the placing and the date the ad will run, and for how long the ad will be shown to the publisher’s readers. It involves people talking with people, and the process can take time, as ad copy is sent back and forth for approval. Results are calculated manually and provided to the buyer when they become available. Ads are optimized manually based on the data.

The most common example of traditional ad buying is buying ad space on a site like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or Boston.com. Everyone who visits these websites will see your ad, regardless of whether they could be interested in your product/service or not.

Purchasing programmatic advertising, on the other hand, is very similar to Facebook or Google where the ads are bought and sold through an automated process through a dashboard. Real-time optimization occurs and KPI data are available as it comes in. There is no need to interact with any salespeople at the publishers.

Unlike in the first example, your ad is only shown to the website visitor who matches the behavioral or demographic characteristics of your ideal customer, increasing the likelihood that they will click on your ad.

Programmatic advertising misconceptions

One of the common misconceptions about programmatic advertising is that the quality of the ad inventory is not top tier quality.

That is completely incorrect because today you can buy almost any type of ad programmatically. In the last twelve months, companies we have worked with, have bought TV advertising on Hulu programmatically. They have bought streaming audio on both Pandora and Spotify programmatically. And they have bought ads on major websites like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.com all programmatically.

When you can target your ad buy so that your ad is only shown to someone who matches your ideal customer profile, why would you not be using programmatic advertising?

Want More Live Conversions From Your Google Ads?

Years ago I was talking with a client about a new campaign we were launching. I asked him how he would measure success. He pointed to the telephone and said “that will ring more often!”

Fast forward to today, business owners still want their marketing efforts to make the phone ring. Nearly half of all marketers say that driving phone calls from paid search ads is their top priority. Today Google Ads allows us to build “connect to call” features right into your ads. These ads are perfect to make it easier for potential customers to reach you. Would you like to get started? Let’s Start Strong together! Start Strong is our new Economic Recovery program to maximize and optimize your marketing efforts.

What is Google Connect To Call?

Google’s Connect To Call feature (also called Google Ads Call Tracking) allows you to track the number of prospective customers called your business after seeing or clicking one of your paid ads. Paid ads include Google search ads, Google call only ads and Google My Business listings.

Why implement Google Ads Call Tracking in your ads?

Did you know that 43% of all search-related conversions happen over the phone? And that 65% of businesses find their most valuable customers are calling them because they are ready to do business?

People actively searching for your products and services are doing their research. When they are ready to buy, they are ready to talk. You can make it easier to start the conversation using Google Ads Call Tracking features.

What are the benefits of Google Ads Call Tracking?

In addition to providing you with a reliable, accurate and quantifiable way to track the effectiveness of offline conversions and phone conversations, Call Tracking also gives you actionable insights and comprehensive reporting on the true return of PPC investment – leads.

Google Ads Call Tracking allows us to:

Set up the minimum length of call before it becomes a conversion. This allows us to filter out non-buyers meaning we can focus on reaching the people most interested in your product or service
See which keywords, ads, ad groups, and campaigns are best at driving the most valuable phone calls to your business.
Understand your return on investment (ROI) and make better informed decisions about your ad spend.
Use automated bid strategies (such as target CPA) that automatically optimize your campaigns according to your business goals.

Types of phone call conversions you can track

There are three types of phone call conversions you can track via Google Ads:

1. Calls from ads: Track calls made directly from call-only ads or call and location extensions used in your ads. You set a minimum call length, and every call that lasts at least that long is counted as a conversion.
2. Calls to a phone number on your website: Track calls made when someone clicks on your ad, then calls the forwarding number we display on your website. You set a minimum call length, and every call that lasts at least that long is counted as a conversion.
3. Clicks on a number on your mobile website: Track calls made when someone clicks on your ad, then clicks on a phone number, button, or link on the mobile version of your website. In this case, we can only track these clicks, not the phone calls themselves.

What’s possible for your business if the phones ring more often now? Would you like to get started? Let’s Start Strong together! Start Strong is our new Economic Recovery program to maximize and optimize your marketing efforts. Let’s have a conversation!

Not sure if you are ready to advertise yet? Then check out our post on 4 Reasons Why You Should Be Advertising Right Now.

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