We're nearly at the end of 2020 and it has been a hectic year for pay for click advertisers. More and more businesses have turned to e-commerce in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, using PPC advertising to entice customers into their online stores.
There has also been a range of changes on our PPC platforms of choice. Google brought in free product listings for companies earlier this year while Microsoft Advertising upped its game substantially with a range of new features, including cookie-based A/B testing.
At this time of year, we like to take a look at the PPC trends for the upcoming year, and we have picked five of our favorites for 2021.
1. The rise of PPC automation
PPC ad platforms are pushing automation and encouraging advertisers to let them make advertising and bidding decisions on their behalf. Although some marketers aren't fans and are suspicious of losing control over their adverts, automation is proving to be successful.
For example, Google's responsive ads perform nearly 6% better than standard ones.
The bonus of this approach is that you will have more time to perfect your ad copy, keywords, and audience targeting while your ad platform of choice does all of the dirty work in the background.
2. The increasing popularity of video ads
Video ads are going from strength to strength on PPC platforms and we think they will be huge in 2021.
People love engaging content that is easily snackable, making video a perfect channel to promote your marketing message.
After all, people remember 95% of a video message compared to a standard text one.
3. The growth of ads on social media
2020 was a busy year for social media, with the rise of TikTok, the introduction of Instagram Reels and the launch of LinkedIn stories.
If you are looking to appeal to a captive audience, it may be worth diversifying your marketing budget and looking into social media advertising next year.
4. Okay Google… What is voice search?
Siri. Cortana, Bixby, Alexa… the use of voice search is skyrocketing, with 1 in 2 searches now voice-based.
This means that marketers need to start factoring voice search into their PPC strategy, focusing on conversational language, long-tail keywords and questions.
5. The return of remarketing
With the PPC market becoming more competitive than ever, it's essential to do all you can to encourage traffic to your website, and remarketing is a great way to do this.
By setting up remarketing lists and creating display ads, you can entice previous visitors back to your site and encourage them to convert.
Did you know that retargeting display ads are ten times more successful than standard display ads?
So there you have it… Our five predictions for what PPC trends will be hot next year!
What are your PPC predictions for 2021? Where will you be spending your marketing budget?