If you're not using the Google Ads mobile app yet, we'd recommend giving it a try. It's a great way to check and make amends to your ad campaigns while you are on the go, and to keep your clients happy!
The app is regularly updated with new functionality, and at the start of March, Google introduced two brand-new features. These two features will help make you aware of changes to your Google Ads account and give you the tools you need to put them right.
Join us as we look at the new features and how they can help you.
1. Custom Notifications
Notifications and push alerts are great for keeping us up to date with the latest developments. We don't even have to be in the app in question to be informed!
In the latest version of the Google Ads app, you can now set up custom notifications about changes to campaigns.
To set up notifications just log into your app, go into settings and select Custom notifications. There you can choose what you want to be notified about.
You can select a wide range of metrics including:
Average cost per click/cost per thousand impressions/cost per view
Once you have set this up, you will receive a notification about relevant performance and status changes.
For example, let's say you have a new search ads campaign and you want Google Ads to let you know if conversions decrease by 20% week-on-week. If this happens, you will receive an alert and can log into your account to make changes.
2. Performance Insights
As well as being able to set up your own notifications, Google Ads will send you a message if there is a significant increase or decrease in your statistics.
If there is a noticeable change, you will receive an alert. If you click on this alert you will be able to see:
You will also be able to take action to resolve the issue. Google will make suggestions as to how to make improvements, and you will have the option to apply these improvements in-app if you choose to.
You can choose whether to turn these alerts on or off in your app settings.
If you want to fully optimize your ad campaigns when you are away from your computer, download the free Google Ads app for IOS and Android today.
More and more people are using ad blockers than ever before. According to Statista, over one in four people admit to using them.
Ad blockers stop people from having to view adverts on their desktop and mobile phone. Although this makes for a cleaner browsing experience, it means that businesses can potentially lose out on advertising revenue and product sales.
Join us as we look at why people use ad blockers, and how your business can adapt to this.
Why do people use ad blockers?
To make your advertising more effective, it’s essential to understand why your customers may choose to block adverts on their browsers. Here are four of the key reasons why people install ad blockers.
1. To speed up their browsing
Some adverts, like animated banners and popups, can slow down people’s browsing experience. People may choose to use ad blockers to disable these ads and make the websites they are on run more quickly.
This is particularly an issue on mobile phones, where people may be browsing websites using a weak internet connection.
2. To preserve their bandwidth and battery
Image-rich ads not only slow down people’s browsing experience, but these ads can drain their battery and data allowance too.
When Global Web Data carried out a survey, the organization found that 23% of respondents said that this was their primary motivation for using ad blocking software.
3. To protect them from malware
Although most advertisers have good intentions, some fraudulent companies use ads to install malware and viruses on people’s computers.
Even sites like the New York Times and YouTube aren’t immune from dangerous ad campaigns.
People may choose to use ad blockers to keep not only themselves safe, but to protect children and older relatives.
4. To hide invasive adverts
Many people find online advertising irritating and annoying.
If the ads aren’t targeted to people’s needs, they find them irrelevant. On the other side of the coin, if the ads are targeted to people’s needs, they find them too creepy!
According to Kantar Millward Brown, 71% of people think that online adverts are more intrusive than they were three years ago.
What does this mean for your company?
The bad news is that ad blockers are here to stay.
However, there are steps you can take to make sure your advertising remains effective.
Consider alternative forms of advertising to reach out to customers in the future. This could include:
You must also remember that although 27% of people use ad blockers… This means that 73% of people don’t use them.
Don’t worry too much about focusing on the minority. Instead, continue to focus on providing high-quality, relevant advertising for the majority.
The better your ads are, the less likely people are going to want to stop seeing them.
Video ads are a great way to maintain brand awareness and attract new customers, especially if you haven't invested in advertising on YouTube before. However, a lot of businesses avoid video ads because they believe these ads are costly to create and are a drain on the budget (especially during the pandemic when a lot of companies are struggling). However, creating video ads doesn't have to be expensive or difficult - all you need to do is use the right tools. YouTube Video Builder is one of them.
How to create budget-friendly video ads
It's true that professionally-filmed traditional TV ads cost a lot and take months to produce. While that's what people are used to seeing on TV, these ads aren't always the best choice for YouTube and social media. Put simply, the TV ad format doesn't work well there.
Fortunately, you don't have to hire a video production company to create a successful video ad that generates great customer response online - you can DIY-make video ads with the help of YouTube Video Ad Builder.
What is YouTube Video Builder?
YouTube Video Builder is a free tool from YouTube, which makes it easy to create stunning video ads and short clips using any laptop, without any prior video-making skills. Put simply, the video builder animates static objects like images and text, gives you a choice of royalty-free music, and offers a variety of layouts. Currently, it offers two video lengths - 6 seconds and 15 seconds. The tool is in beta but it works very well.
You can start using YouTube Video Builder if you have an advertising account - all you need to do is fill out this form and submit it to Google. Once you request access to the tool, all you need to do is wait to get approved. Usually, that takes about five days.
Using YouTube Video Ad Builder
Making ads with this tool is exceptionally easy. Here's what you need to do.
Put together your ad strategy and messaging - that's the most important part of a successful ad. Be sure the video ad has a clear goal and is in line with your general PPC strategy.
Find the assets - the next step is to put together everything you need to create the ad. These assets include logos, text, product photos, and any other relevant images. This should be easy because you should have lots of assets from previous ad campaigns. Just make sure that all the images are high-resolution, in full color, and are in the same format.
Create the ad - and now the fun part. Use YouTube Video Builder to choose a layout, fonts, colors, and music for your ad. All that is built-in so all you need to do is find the content and designs you like.
Upload the ad to YouTube - once your ad is ready, upload it to your YouTube channel and start using it. That's all there is to it!
As you can see, creating video ads on a budget is easy thanks to YouTube Video Builder. Try it today and expand your reach without spending a fortune!
Are you burning through your Google Ads budget sooner than you thought you would? Are your ads not appearing on the first page of Google? Are you not getting the right number of conversions on your website?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you may need to give your Google Ads account a tune-up. Here are five common mistakes we see when it comes to Google Ads, and how to fix them.
1. You've not done your keyword research
As tempting as it may be to use the first keywords that come into your head, this can mean that you spend money on keywords that don't convert.
Take the time to research your keywords, looking at how much they will cost to implement, where your website currently ranks for them and how frequently they are searched for. Google Ads has a keyword planner that will help you choose the best words to use.
2. You're spending money on ineffective keywords
Broad match and phrase match keywords can be a great way of finding brand new prospective customers, but can also mean that you waste money on irrelevant keywords.
Using negative keywords means that your ad will not appear if someone searches using a word or phrase you have specified. You can create a list of negative keywords before you set up your account, as well as block keywords as and when people use them.
3. You're targeting the wrong people
Showing your ads to the wrong target audience can result in people clicking on your ads unnecessarily.
Know your target audience before you start. Where do they live? How old are they? What are their interests? You can then use Google Ads audience targeting functionality to make sure your adverts only show to these people.
4. You're not pointing to the right webpage
You can have the most enticing ad copy in the world, but if people don't take action when they visit your website, then it is all for nothing.
Make sure that your ad takes people to the most relevant page for their needs. Try and avoid directing people to your homepage as this may not be specific enough.
When you've decided on the right page to direct visitors to, make sure the content is clear and precise, and that the call to action is easy to find.
5. You're not checking your account often enough
You may think that once you've set up your Google campaign, you can leave it to run. However, not keeping tabs on your campaign can mean that you waste money for no reason.
Log into your account at least once a week to check the following:
If you are looking at ways to promote your B2B business or service, using LinkedIn is a great option.
This social media platform has a lot more mileage than you may think, with a Linked In ad potentially reaching up to 13% of the world's population. Plus, it's easy to use too!
If you're new to the world of LinkedIn advertising, here is our guide for getting set up on the platform.
Log in to Campaign Manager
Campaign Manager is the LinkedIn advertising platform where you can easily access all the tools you need to set up campaigns. It is free to sign up to.
Decide which action you want your prospective customers to take
There are three different objectives that your LinkedIn campaign can have:
· Awareness – this generates the most impressions as possible for your advert
· Consideration – this encourages prospective customers to visit your website or company page
· Conversion – this focuses on lead generation and capturing prospective customer data
Create your target audience
Once you have decided on what you want your audience to do, you can start to build your target audience.
Like Facebook, you can drill down into your prospective target audience, targeting factors including:
· Job title
· Seniority
· Company name
· Industry type
· Interests
· School and university
· Qualifications
You can also import your own data like email addresses and retargeting info.
LinkedIn will show you the size of your potential target audience, so you can see how many people your campaign will reach.
Decide on an advertising format
There is a wide range of advertisements you can use on LinkedIn. These include:
· Sponsored content – images and videos that appear in people's newsfeeds. One good way to get started is to promote your best-performing company page updates
· Message ads – direct messages that are sent to your prospects
· Text ads – adverts that appear at the top and to the right of people's newsfeeds
· Dynamic ads – personalized adverts that directly appeal to your prospective customers
Keep your content short and sweet – copy with fewer words has an 18% higher engagement rate!
When you choose an ad, you can create your ad copy and upload imagery you want to use.
With some ads, you can also display your ad on LinkedIn's Audience Network, a collection of third-party platforms and sites.
Determine your budget
Like all PPC platforms, you can set a daily budget on LinkedIn. You can determine a cost per send (for messages), a cost per click or a cost per impression.
Once you have spent your budget, LinkedIn will no longer show your adverts.
Once you've entered your billing information… you're ready to go!
Don't forget to monitor your campaign
It's essential to monitor your brand new campaign on a regular basis to make sure it is working for you. You can then optimize your campaign to make sure it is working in line with your objectives and goals.
We hope this short guide will inspire you to give LinkedIn advertising a go today!