Get an overview of the major changes in PPC strategy for 2022 due to new innovations, new platform features, and evolving privacy issues.
Search marketers have a lot to look forward to in 2022, especially after great technical advancements, new releases, and feature enhancements seen this year in search advertising and other paid platforms.
These trends are great areas to explore as you seek to boost your PPC returns in the year ahead, whether you’re looking for recent optimizations to refresh your existing strategy or are on the hunt for entirely new ways to reach your audience.
#1. The Conversion Process
It is important to measure your current goals and core initiatives before developing a PPC strategy. The number and type of actions that advertisers can track increase as ad platforms and analytics platforms become more sophisticated.
On average, advertisers track several conversion actions per account.
Among the most common PPC conversion goals are:
- Transactions
- Forms of contact
- Demos and estimates
- Initial/repeated phone calls
- Conversions via chat
- Local actions: directions
- Conversions via ads
- Specific goals
#2. Manage Your Automation
Ad platforms continue to offer automation options to simplify ad management, but it’s not as simple as flipping a switch. To get the most out of automation, human PPC managers must guide and monitor it.
For instance; It is necessary to monitor and tweak campaigns using smart bidding strategies from time to time to adjust the Target CPA or Target ROAS.
The performance of smart creatives such as responsive search ads and responsive display ads should be evaluated on individual assets, which we will cover later in this post.
Consider automating various parts of your PPC account, such as bidding, creative, and perhaps scripts, as part of your PPC strategy. Assess and monitor the results as needed.
Consider comparing previous “manual” campaigns on various data points.
#3. Strategies for keyword matching
In Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, there have been big changes in the way keyword matches work this year, which require a slight change in strategy.
As well as discontinuing the broad match modifier, there have been some changes made to other match types. Some advertisers still use the “old” version of keyword organization in their campaigns, which will require a complete keyword strategy update.
In addition to simplifying the account structure, themes will have more flexibility. Grouping keywords by match type or using the same keyword with different match types is probably not an appropriate strategy for most advertisers.
In order to prepare for what comes next, it will be necessary to figure out how the keywords match and any structural changes that may be required.
#4. Review of Ad Copy (again)
Time for another review! It’s a good idea to review your ad copy after reviewing your keyword strategy.
The process may seem endless, but this is because you must continuously test and update the ad copy for the best possible PPC ad results.
Ad formats themselves are undergoing such changes that old formats, such as expanded text ads, will become obsolete by 2022.
The responsive search ads (RSAs) format is rapidly taking over Google Ads and Microsoft Ads.
Tests are conducted by mixing and matching up to 15 headlines and four descriptions. Machine learning plays a key role here.
Ad elements can be “pinned,” meaning that you can request that a specific asset be served in conjunction with another.
Make sure your preferred call-to-action (or other crucial messaging) is present. Be careful not to overuse pins, as Google tends to devalue those ads.
Google can provide recommendations for improving headlines or adding more keywords.
In contrast, Microsoft Ads displays a performance label that indicates whether the responsive ad assets are performing poorly, well, or best.
Consider replacing “poor” or “average” PPC assets with new creative – perhaps similar to the “excellent” assets in your program.
Increase the quantity or add similar assets.
#5. Responsive Display Ads
PPC advertisers have used display ads as a core component of their strategy either because they’re accustomed to doing so or they want to control the messaging for their brands.
The creation process for responsive display ads is simplified, so advertisers can get the branding messages they want.
The display network offers more inventory opportunities with responsive display ads, in addition to simplifying the creative process. These tools dynamically merge headlines, descriptions, and images to “fit” into any space on the web where your audience is present.
Comparatively, static image display ads can only be placed within the exact dimensions of the ad space where they were created.
Using Google Ads performance feedback to optimize ad assets is another advantage of responsive display ads.
With responsive display ads, you can test and compare the reach and results of both image display ads and responsive display ads.
# 6. Customer Match
Getting in front of the right audience at the right time has been a mantra for many years, long before PPC ad platforms improved display network targeting. The PPC strategy for 2022 should include a thorough look back at these audiences.
First-party data is vital for advertisers with the current crackdown on cookies. Customer match is an underrated targeting strategy.
With the help of your own customer data (that you have collected), you can retarget customers or target similar prospects.
The ad platform will match your customer list with known users once you upload a customer list.
Customer match is available on almost all platforms, so your new strategies on how to slice and dice it and target messages can be applied.
Be realistic about the match rate on ad platforms, since it will vary.
This feature has recently become more accessible in Google Ads.
