It was approximately 17-years ago that Google first unleashed Google AdWords on the world. To say it has been a success is an understatement: AdWords has proven to be the game-changer they claimed it would be by giving all businesses – from the tiniest to the biggest – the opportunity to reach their customers easier and more intuitively than ever. Now, 17-years is a long time so naturally there have been updates along the way. 2018 is no exception, as Google AdWords has arguably seen its biggest update yet. What does this mean for you? In the short-term, you won’t be able to use the old AdWords past 2019 (Google assures users that accounts will not switch in the months of November and December due to the holiday rush). In the long-term? You will be able to control your brand’s advertising better than ever before.
It’s an exciting time for AdWords users. It’s also time to get acquainted with what Google’s marquee ad service has to offer. Below are a few of the many features our digital marketing team in Windsor is most excited about!
Lightning fast
If you’ve used Google AdWords then you know how slow it can be; not unbearably slow, but it can be annoying. You will be pleased as punch to know that Google has seriously sped up the interface of AdWords – and we mean seriously. No longer will you have to wait on Google AdWords when you want to jump in-and-out of ad groups, campaigns, and keywords lists as it’s all instantaneous. Whether you have one or five-hundred ad campaigns operating at any given time, we’ve got one word to describe it: instantaneous.
Custom dashboards
If you loved Google AdWords’ standard dashboard, you’re going to go bananas for the custom dashboard. The standard dashboard still exists – it fills you in on performance, various insights, and even trends associated with your brand. What it doesn’t show you (and what custom dashboards can) showcases what’s driving performance and provides information on the leading indicators. You can customize reports, track them in real-time, and mix-and-match combinations of data to give you metrics that matter for your brand.
Are you confused? Not to worry, we can help!
Powerful demographic targeting
It wasn’t long ago that Google released a demographic targeting tool designed specifically for search ads. While it allows users to tweak their message based on a user’s age and gender, this newest update takes the beauty of this tool and dials it up to 11; now, you can target users based on household income and even parental status (features previously available to only display advertisers). While it may not sound like a game-changer, spend an evening messing with the feature and you will likely find that it gives you freedom to tailor your message to multiple groups simultaneously. Believe us, you’re going to love it!
Reporting’s makeover
If you are a visual person, you’re going to be head-over-heels over reporting’s newest makeover. Especially if you comb over every cent of your Price-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns, this update allows you to see every breakdown of your campaign, visually. That means you can view every click, the cost of the campaign, and the conversions across mobile, desktop, and tablet in one place. The easy-to-digest visuals will make it simple to adjust your bids on-the-fly, ensuring you that you are getting the most bang for your buck. Moreover, you can even view heat maps that showcase how effective your campaigns are throughout the week – you can even analyze how it performs hour-by-hour!
Showcase ads
This may seem like a small-yet-welcome addition to Google AdWords, but we found it pretty impressive and smart. AdWords now provides a feature called Showcase Shopping Ads which allows users to promote a variety of products rather than a single item. Rather than paying for one ad for one product/service, you now have the freedom to pick-and-choose which items you want to showcase simultaneously. This will allow you to experiment on what types of products/services you want to showcase together. For example, if you notice that customers are only purchasing a pair of shoes with a certain outfit, consider showcasing them together as a set to improve your sales. Want to push a certain product for customers that buy a certain item? Again, clump them together and see if your sales improve. It’s a new and great way to do A/B tests for your sales.
So many other features
We don’t say this lightly: this may be the best update of Google AdWords in history! Marketing is changing once again, and Google is doing its part to give users the tools to stay competitive. Once again, if you are confused by this in any way, reach out to us – we’d love to help!