Today in Digital Marketing - How Bid Strategies REALLY Affect Your Google Ads

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Wednesday, September 25th. Today, a new study puts Google's bid strategies to the test and finds out they do exactly what they promise, sometimes to the detriment of other benefits. Also, is WhatsApp the web's last hope? Why Google is putting review warnings on brand profiles? And TikTok goes all Oprah. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing.

Starting point is 00:00:28 Nava Hopkins of the PPC management tool Optimizer just released new data about the impact of bidding strategies on Google Ads performance. Here to tell us more is our Google Ads correspondent, Jill Saskengales. Jill spent six years working at Google and now is a Google Ads coach who runs the Inside Google Ads training program and podcast. We should mention in the interest of disclosure that Optimizer is a sponsor of Jill's podcast, but this is not connected to that in any sort of paid way. Jill, what are the key takeaways from this study? This may sound intuitive, but it wasn't to me. Bid strategies do what you tell them to do. And by that, I mean when Optimizer compared the performance of campaigns that use target ROAS versus maximized conversions versus target impression share,

Starting point is 00:01:14 they found that campaigns that use target ROAS have the highest ROAS and campaigns that use target CPA have the lowest CPA. And so I think that's really interesting to see some definitive proof that lo and behold, smart bidding strategies will achieve what you tell them to achieve. Wait, isn't that what we should have come to expect? How is that surprising? To me, it was surprising that the data just showed this so cleanly and so clearly. Because remember, Todd, so many people out there, perhaps rightfully so, are very skeptical of smart bidding and whether it really is going to drive the best results or drive the best results for Google, which means just spending your full budget. And so I thought it was really interesting to see that even something like Target Impression Share, campaigns using Target Impression Share, which tries to get you visibility, you're going to get the highest click-through rate from that, which again, we would expect, but so interesting to see it so cleanly laid out. So I thought that was really interesting. And just this external affirmation that yes, Google's bid strategies will do what you tell them to do. I don't expect NAVA's study at Optimizer covered this in

Starting point is 00:02:20 particular, but from your experience, isn't having the campaign perform precisely to the objective you want sometimes a downside? Because does it not sort of throw out a lot of the other metrics, you know, like at the interest of getting you a lot of impressions, you know, you're like you can go you can get like an audience network kind of thing and buy a whole bunch of impressions, but they're terrible quality. In your experience, does that come into play? That can happen. And I think what this also surfaces is that every bid strategy is a tradeoff because through your bid strategy, you can only tell Google about one goal.

Starting point is 00:03:00 In real life, we have many goals. We want a lot of conversions and a lot of money as cheaply as possible, right? But you have to choose, you know, maximize conversions will try to get you as many conversions as possible within your budget, practically, which means it will spend your budget. You may see way fewer conversions, but they're much more likely to meet that efficiency objective. So it's not what we want to hear. We wish it was a magic system where we could wave our wand and get everything all at once. And you're right, Todd, you can't necessarily get everything all at once, but you do get to pick the most important thing to you and communicate that to Google. And on the whole, it will achieve that. And this data shows that, which I actually do find fascinating. Google. And on the whole, it will achieve that. And this data shows that, which I actually do find fascinating. While we're on the topic of conversions, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:50 whenever you get on the phone or an email exchange with one of these Google reps, the first thing out of their mouth is, well, you should just spend more. And there is some validity to that. You spend more, that gives the engine more data to chew on. But how much does that matter in terms of the spend level versus the conversion volume? What actually matters here for these types of campaigns? There's more nuance to it. And what Nava and Optimizer found in this study is that spending more is not correlated with better performance, but having more conversions is. And of course, those things are probably related on

Starting point is 00:04:26 some level, like the more you spend, the more conversions you can have. But it was interesting, no correlation between, you know, high spending having better results than low spending accounts was not the case. But accounts that had at least 50 conversions in 30 days did see much better results, especially with the smart bidding strategies, than accounts that had far fewer conversions. And once you hear that, I go like, yeah, that does make sense. You have to feed these smart bidding algorithms enough data about who converts and who doesn't for them to be able to learn and then make those decisions for you. So the sweet spot that Optimizer found is actually higher than what Google normally

Starting point is 00:05:02 recommends. Usually we say 30 and 30. You want at least 30 conversions in 30 days per campaign. And this study found that the sweet spot was higher. It was 50 conversions in 30 days to get the best results out of smart bidding strategies. 30 days. Has it always been 30 days?

Starting point is 00:05:17 I used to think these things were measured in seven day periods. I think in the meta ads world, they tend to go on shorter time periods. But in Google ads, we usually say kind of 30 conversions in 30 days. And by that, we don't mean 29 conversions one day and then none for the next. We mean you're averaging about one conversion a day for the system to have enough data to learn. And more conversion data means more learning, means a better understanding of who that algorithm should be bidding more for and who it should be bidding less for.

Starting point is 00:05:47 So it's recommending almost double that, you know, 50 conversions in 30 days. Did the optimizer study get into bid caps and targets at all in terms of their impact on performance? Yeah, these are two features that a lot of advertisers use to try to have more control or kind of balance control with using smart bidding. But actually, what this study found is that bid caps and targets seem to have either no impact on performance or even potentially a negative impact on performance. And just to explain that a little bit more, a bid cap means maybe you're using like a target CPA strategy, but you only want it to bid up to a certain amount. Well, again, that's kind of like trying to have your cake and eat it too, which is more important, the cheaper clicks or hitting that

Starting point is 00:06:29 efficiency goal. And then even with targets, you know, I typically recommend when you're able to do so, setting a target ROAS versus just relying on mass conversion value, setting a target CPA versus just relying on mass conversions. And again, depending on what your goal is, you can actually drive strong performance both ways. It doesn't necessarily drive better performance to use a target-based bid strategy. This might be an unfair question, but let me approach it and try to answer it without using the phrase, it depends, first of all. Deal. All right. If someone is listening to this, they are a marketer, they sell products with Google Ads. What is the actual best practice approach today? Do we set it up old school? Do we use performance max? What conversion tracking do we do? In a nutshell, give us the perfect campaign setup for conversions, for actual click here, buy something. Best campaign setup, lacking no other context, putting a stake in the ground. So product-based business, you're

Starting point is 00:07:33 going to want search or shopping campaigns. Probably start by testing both. In your shopping campaign, you're going to want to start with either a manual CPC or maximize clicks bid strategy with the goal to be able to get to target ROAS once you have enough volume. With your search campaign, you're going to want to start with either a manual CPC or maximize clicks until you get some conversions. Then you switch to maximize conversions. And then once you're able to scale further and get consistent results, you might consider adding a target. There, that's my answer for you. That's a great, that's a great non-it-depends answer.

Starting point is 00:08:08 I like it. With the caveat firmly in the ground. Excellent. Thanks, Jill. Thank you. Jill Saskengales is our Google Ads correspondent. She's here every second Wednesday. You can learn more about her Google Ads training program

Starting point is 00:08:20 at our affiliate link at todayindigital.com slash GA. And you can watch our full unedited interview. There is a link to it in today's email newsletter, which you can sign up to for free by tapping the link in the show notes or going to todayindigital.com slash newsletter. News sites have seen a sharp drop in traffic and ad revenue. Google and Facebook made news less prominent on their platforms. And now publishers are looking elsewhere for eyeballs. Some have found a glimmer of hope in WhatsApp, the world's most popular messaging app. WhatsApp channels lets brands send links and headlines directly to followers.

Starting point is 00:09:05 And many outlets are now using it to draw in readers and build relationships with audiences outside the U.S. WhatsApp channels exist in a separate tab from the main messaging section, and users don't have to provide private information to follow a channel. The Telemundo WhatsApp channel gained more than 30,000 followers in just two weeks and now has more than 820,000. The outlet creates original content for its channel, like short videos and polls. Numerous media outlets have signed up for WhatsApp channels, including CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. They already draw millions of followers. But some publishers are cautious, given Meta's complicated history with news organizations.

Starting point is 00:09:44 And, quoting The New York Times, quote, Meta has also hinted that it may introduce paid channels in the future, a way for people and organizations to make money by offering exclusive posts or content to their subscribers. It is a well-worn path taken by companies like Patreon, OnlyFans, and, more recently, X. Google is now placing a warning on some Google business profile listings in Google Maps when it suspects that profile has fake or fraudulent reviews. The notice reads, Suspected fake reviews were recently removed from this place.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Businesses with suspected fake reviews may face penalties, including not being able to receive new reviews or ratings for a set period, having existing reviews or ratings unpublished, and displaying a warning like this to consumers. Google hasn't said anything specific about whether this is a test. So far, it's only been spotted in the UK. But if history is any guide, expect this to be rolled out worldwide soon.

Starting point is 00:10:56 As most marketers are now deep into holiday shopping plans, a look at what the season's sales numbers might look like. Adobe has released its online shopping forecast for the 2024 holiday season. It expects U.S. online sales to be up 8.4% over last year. Mobile devices will drive a record $121 billion in sales. That is up almost 13% year over year. This represents 53% of online spend this season. Cyber Week, which includes American Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, will drive $40.6 billion in online sales. That's up 7% from last year. And Adobe anticipates major discounts this season, perhaps more than seen in previous years. Discounts are expected to peak during Cyber Week, the best deals likely happening before Cyber Monday. holiday deals are also expected to start rolling

Starting point is 00:11:45 out in mid-October now, with discounts lingering through December. Social media influencers are expected to drive sales. 37% of Gen Z respondents said they've purchased something based on an influencer's recommendation. But paid search will still remain the top driver of retail sales. Affiliates and partners, including social media influencers, will see the fastest growth. LinkedIn is helping marketers better track their in-app spend. The company releasing a new guide to its revenue attribution report, a tool that provides detailed insights into campaign performance. The 32-page guide explains how to set up this report and connect your CRM data to the system. It provides an overview of available data and how to use it to measure performance. Marketers can track performance at account and campaign levels over specific time ranges.

Starting point is 00:12:41 To use the report, though, marketers have to connect their CRMs, which may be a concern for some. LinkedIn says shared data is stored securely with data isolation and secure access. We have a link to the full report in today's email newsletter, which you can sign up to by tapping the link at the top of the show notes or going to todayindigital.com slash newsletter. At one time, the pinnacle of marketing success was getting on Oprah's favorite things list. Land a spot there, and companies would be overflowed with orders. It's a diamond face watch by Philip Stein.

Starting point is 00:13:19 It's 50 diamonds, people. It comes with changeable bands. They come in six different colors. And every hero in this audience is going home with a Philip Stein diamond. Well, TikTok wants to capture that magic too, but there's a big catch. The company's offering brands a spot in its Holiday Emporium Gift Guide. The guide will be featured in TikTok Shop and promoted by influencers and in-app marketing. But to qualify, brands must commit to a large ad spend.

Starting point is 00:13:48 There are two tiers, silver, which requires $12,500 in ad spend over three months, and gold, which requires $19,500. Brands that meet these thresholds might be featured in the gift guide and get extra exposure in the app, but there's no guarantee that a brand's products will be included. TikTok says it'll still choose which products to feature, and depending on how it's rolled out, this guide may end up feeling fake. Quoting social media today, quote, it feels a little disingenuous for TikTok to be promoting top gifts of the season based primarily on what their makers spend in the app. That means these aren't the best products as such,

Starting point is 00:14:24 just the ones that have spent the most money, which makes it feel a little less like a guide and more like an ads showcase. Unquote. A really cool thing happened to my nephew. He's in Australia. He's had for years this YouTube channel called Sushi Guy 51. And it's all sorts of stuff. It's gaming. He meets local politicians. It's kind of like a travel guide sometimes to the area. Sometimes it's a food review site.

Starting point is 00:14:55 And he has been trying to get it up past 1,000 subscribers for a while now. And he was kind of stuck around 900 for a while. And then he like stumbled across some big TikTok account that was doing, it looked like an ad and they interviewed him and put him in this ad. And now his channel is past 7,000. It's probably by 8,000 now. It's really cool to see. It's really neat to see. So if you want to give him a follow as well, it's SushiGuy51. I asked him what it means. Apparently doesn't mean anything. It's just something he came up with one day and it just sort of stuck. So there you go. SushiGuy51 on YouTube. Me and your auntie are very proud of you.

Starting point is 00:15:37 All right, that's it for today. See you tomorrow.

Today in Digital Marketing - How Bid Strategies REALLY Affect Your Google Ads

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