As buyer behavior continues to change during the pandemic, Google Ads has been committed to providing a better experience for its users.
Google Ads announced its top three priorities for 2022: automation, measurement, and privacy.
Now, these aren’t new priorities, for example, but more importantly a change in how they focus on each one. Let’s take another look.
New opportunities with automation
Jerry Dechler, vice president and general manager of Google Ads, mentioned how shifts in consumer behavior present challenges and opportunities.
His conversations with brands focused on the need for readiness, speed and agility in order to drive growth. He later said:
“More than 80% of Google advertisers are now using automatic bidding to save time and improve ad performance.”
Within its automation pillar, Google emphasizes the use of Performance Max and Discovery campaign types.
Both types of campaigns focus on reaching users at scale from a single campaign. Google promotes the benefits of these campaigns to include:
- More simplicity in management (fewer campaigns)
- Multichannel access
- Larger ad inventory
- Increasing conversions
For single channel campaign types like search, display, and YouTube, Google recommends leaning toward automation with Smart Bidding, responsive search ads, and broad match keywords.
The future of measurement
It’s no secret that measurement has been a difficult topic for most advertisers. With the iOS 14 update, the future removal of third-party cookies and more – new approaches to measurement will be critical to success.
Without meaningful results and data to support your marketing efforts, it will be difficult to prove the value of marketing.
Google is rolling out new privacy and measurement solutions including:
- Enhanced conversions
- approval mode
- Conversion modeling
- Data-based referral
The solutions implemented will be based on first-party data and privacy-secured APIs.
These efforts put the user first by respecting their privacy, but also listening to advertisers’ needs to track campaign efforts.
Provide expectations about digital privacy
These days it’s hard to go by without hearing about some kind of invasion of privacy. Google understands the growing need for user privacy and controls.
While you need to build and grow relationships with your customers, they need to know that their data is secure and maintains some level of anonymity.
Google has updated Privacy Guide To capture these needs from the perspective of the advertiser and the user. The three main points of this guide include:
- Building direct relationships with clients
- Ensuring that measurement remains accurate and actionable
- Keep your ads relevant
In building direct customer relationships, you can acquire first-party data for more direct 1:1 communications, such as email marketing or in-app messaging.
What does this mean for advertisers?
While we are all used to relying on paid media to drive the final sale and show direct ROI, the role of paid media may need to change. This of course depends on your overall strategy.
For example, the goal of some of your non-branding or outreach efforts should shift to capturing first-party data, rather than upstream sales.
If you are able to capture the first party data at the first touch, you will be able to trace the final sale back to the original point of contact. Just remember to change referral models to reflect changes in strategy.
Source: Google Ads and Commerce Blog
Featured image: Lightspring/Shutterstock
