News and Insights
PPC trends to look out for in 2021
December 3, 2020
To help you prepare for your 2021 marketing campaigns, we at FINN Partners have picked the brains of our PPC campaign management team, and have put together a list with all the latest PPC trends that you need to know about.
Automation of PPC
Automation is simply giving the majority of control to the search engine algorithms. This allows them to determine where you can best achieve the objectives set within the campaigns.
Most people will assume automation means just automatic bidding strategies (maximise conversions, target CPA, etc.). But, it can be as simple as using rules or scripts in the account, to save you time on your auditing/optimisations/reporting. Although manual bidding is still preferred by some, using automation can save significant time on the manual tasks within your accounts, gain data via different signals, and can avoid under or overbidding. The introduction of automation into PPC usually leads to more effective campaigns and better results.
However, there are limitations to automation; human input is required in an account prior to automation to ensure there is historical data for the algorithms to work with. There is also an obvious danger with allowing algorithms to determine everything in your account.
Some examples of the introduction of automation can be found below:
Responsive Search Ads (RSA)
By providing Google with multiple headline & description variations, the algorithm will rotate and show the best performing ad copies, showing what variations deliver the strongest CTR, clicks, and overall engagement.
You may be slightly worried that putting your ads in Google’s automation tool may cause confusion for the customer if they are not clear or have a clash in headline wording. However, having messy adverts can be avoided by pinning specific parts of the ad. Pinning headlines that include your key call to action, unique selling points or brand messaging are good places to begin.
Bidding strategies
As mentioned above, there is a range of different bid strategies that can be utilised depending on your campaign objective. Just to note, before you utilise any of these automated bid strategies, make sure your campaigns have enough data to make informed decisions.
You can find a full list of bidding strategies here.
Match type changes
Last year, Google announced that they’ll begin rolling out close variants for phrase match and broad match modified keywords. This is right in line with last year’s update that caused some unrest in the search marketing world – when Google made an exact match “not so exact”.
Here’s a couple of examples of how the new updates will work:
- The phrase match keyword “coffee cups” could now match with “coffee mugs for sale”
- The broad match modified keyword for +baseball +glove could now match with “cheap baseball mitts”
With the above changes, it is imperative that you have an extensive negative keyword list and that you analyse all of your search terms regularly.
Search term reporting changes
Google has begun alerting advertisers that it will soon stop showing search queries that triggered their ads when there is no “significant” data.
We are updating the search terms report to only include terms that were searched by a significant number of users. As a result, you may see fewer terms in your report going forward.
Google
The purpose is to keep advertisers from being able to use minimal query data to identify users or have access to any personally identifiable information (PII) users may include in their search queries.
This may have an impact on optimisations and being able to make your campaigns as effective as possible. Fingers crossed, it doesn’t have a “significant” impact on the data shown within Google Adwords.
The rise of TikTok
A new social media platform has been invading the digital world for the last few months, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. TikTok is a cultural reset of a massive magnitude.
The rise of TikTok
TikTok has around 800 million active users worldwide and is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. It originally started with the name Musical.ly but then was soon changed to TikTok after an acquisition by a Chinese tech giant ByteDance.
TikTok is a visual, video-based app. Users can record and share 15-second videos with intuitive built-in editing features like filters, effects, and music. Although lip-syncing and comedy are core to the app, it has expanded to other niches, such as fashion, sport, health, food, pets, business, and even short films.
Covid-19 has only increased TikTok’s popularity in 2020. In Q1 of 2020 TikTok achieved 315 million installs worldwide, in comparison Q4 of 2019 the app gained approximately 219 million installs.
Users are typically highly engaged, spending on average 52 minutes a day using the app. They can follow their favourite creators and discover new content by scrolling the ‘For You’ discovery feed. The algorithm learns your preferences and serves user-generated content (UGC) and ads that are likely to resonate with you (very similar to the Instagram feed).
Advertising opportunities on TikTok
With such a huge following, TikTok presents a substantial opportunity to advertisers. What started in Shanghai as Musical.ly, has grown into a cultural phenomenon, as TikTok surpassed Snapchat in popularity.
At a time when people are increasingly more difficult to reach with effective brand messages, TikTok provides a way to tap into vast, engaged audiences at key touchpoints throughout the day via the emotive, engaging format of full-screen video ads.
In 2019, the app launched a beta version of its Paid Social ads. Huge brands have been quick to trial TikTok Ads, with names like Bumble, Fenty Beauty, and EE using TikTok ads in unique campaigns. TikTok Ads offers advanced audience targeting and ad creation features. When used effectively, it can help businesses reach an engaged target audience.
Here at FINN Partners, we have utilised the TikTok advertising platform for a number of our clients since the beta release. If you would like to learn more about TikTok, please contact us here.
Why Facebook video ads are key
In the past couple of years, Facebook added several video features that now entertain over 500 million people watching videos every day. In light of this, marketing agencies have shifted their budgets towards mobile video, illustrating a significant move away from TV advertisements. Over the last 5 years, there has been significant growth in businesses using video as a marketing tool with a reported 85% now using the medium.
As Facebook has the largest network in terms of users it has become the most popular social media marketing tool. Video ads run through news feeds and stories or appear in-stream ads in longer Facebook videos.
It is a compelling platform since its costs of advertisements can vary depending on different factors. However, all types of businesses can benefit from Facebook video ads. They are not expensive and can provide information about the business to a wide and varied audience!
Video ads are more engaging than image ads, as the movement of video grabs the viewers’ attention more than a static image. They are more engaging than static adverts, which can create a long-lasting impact on your brand and ensure a repeat of customers.
Facebook video ads and their benefits
Facebook video ads are a very effective marketing tool that remains the fastest-growing method of reaching a target market. Videos have a much larger organic reach and engagement than other forms of content. It’s shown that users watch more than 100 million hours of video on Facebook each day.
- Ads have the power to drive more conversions – general video advertisement has the highest CTR which reaches 1.84%.
- Video ads help measure comments, video shares, and likes which in course bring high social media engagement.
A HubSpot case study found that 54% of people wanted to see more video content from a business they support. These individuals are 85% more likely to purchase the product or service after viewing a video ad. Not only are Facebook video ads highly effective at spreading brand awareness, but they’re also spreading around the Facebook Platform.
During the 2020 lockdown, many more eyes have been brought to screens. This is why more business will focus their attention on Facebook video ads in the coming year.
If you’re interested in learning more about Facebook video ads check out some of our work.