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The Latest from Google: December 2017

Posted on December 12, 2017January 28, 2020 by Mindstream Media Group

New AdWords experience features and looking back at 2017

In an effort to help advertisers continue to reach mobile-first consumers, Google recently launched three features for the new AdWords experience.

Promotion extensions

According to Google, seven out of 10 internet users look for sales or discounts before visiting a store. With that in mind, Google introduced promotion extensions.

This new extension helps advertisers manage and serve up their promotions without having to create new ads. They can include a percentage off, a promotion code and offer period. Advertisers can also select one of 12 occasions to make seasonal offers stand out more. In the example above, “Black Friday” is one of the occasions available.

Photo credit: Google

Ad variations

Marketers know the importance of testing to understand performance and implement strategic optimizations. This is why Google announced ad variations in AdWords. This feature allows advertisers to easily test ad text across thousands of ads. The results are available when they are statistically significant. If an ad variation is performing well, advertisers can quickly replace the original ads.

Custom intent audiences

Custom intent audiences for the Google Display Network are another way for advertisers to target the right consumers. Google says advertisers can “reach people who want to buy the specific products you offer–based on date from your campaigns, website and YouTube channel.” Google can automatically create an audience that matches advertisers and provide planning data like reach and performance estimates.

As we learn more about these announcements and new features, we will continue to bring you updates. In the meantime, reach out if you have any questions.

Google in 2017 – in case you missed it

Below are highlights of Google announcements we covered throughout the year.

New message extensions on mobile

Mobile searchers can click to text a message to businesses within mobile search ads. To set it up, advertisers need to use a phone number that can accept texts, create a call-to-action message (limit of 35 characters) and create a pre-populated text message for users to easily connect after they click the extension.

Demo targeting for search campaigns

Advertisers can target using age and gender for search campaigns, can exclude specific demographics from seeing ads and customize bids for certain demographics. Advertisers need to think about intent and how to serve the right ads at the right times. Remember to strategically use this type of targeting to reach the desired audience and not exclude a significant segment.

Location extensions for display ads

If you are familiar with location extensions on search, the display version works the same way. Ads can include photos, store location and business hours like the example shown here. Location extensions can be created at the account, campaign or ad group level and only text ads, responsive ads and 300×250 image ads will show them. Advertisers can opt out of this extension for their display campaigns.

New video reporting features

In an effort to help advertisers understand how many consumers they are connecting with through video ads, Google introduced Unique Reach in AdWords. This new feature shows the number of unique users and average impressions-per-user across devices, screens and platforms. Unique Reach also launched for Display and DoubleClick earlier this year .

Changes to AdWords exact match

The exact match setting in AdWords went through a significant change. Exact match transitioned from a syntactic match type (matching the search word for word) to a semantic match type (matching the meaning or purpose of the search).

Google Optimize and Google Surveys 360

Google took A/B testing to another level with Optimize. Without coding, marketers can now create landing page versions for any combination of AdWords campaigns, ad groups and keywords. Google Optimize can automatically identify which pages are performing and get more value from campaigns.

The Surveys 360 tool allows for survey creation and specific audience sampling. Through the integration with AdWords, advertisers can target surveys to consumers in remarketing audiences.

Google My Business Posts

Google My Business has the ability to display posts on listings. For multi-location brands, this new addition provides local business yet another way to connect with consumers, share information about their products and services and stand out from the competition.

Ad extensions for call-only ads

Google launched location extensions, callout extensions and structured snippets for call-only ads on mobile. Advertisers are able to deliver more information that is readily accessible to searcher’s fingertips with the goal of convincing consumers to choose their business.

Increase in daily spending limits for AdWords accounts

In October, Google announced a major shift in the way AdWords budgets are managed. AdWords campaigns are able to spend double their daily budget limit each day. The reason behind the change, according to Google, is that “internet traffic is like an ocean. Some days, there will be small waves. Other days, there will be great big ones.” Google’s theory is that campaigns perform better when spending is focused on high-tide periods that get enough impressions and clicks to drive growth.

As a Google Premier Partner, Mindstream Media Group can help you navigate through all things Google so you can continue to drive qualified traffic through your campaigns. Contact us to learn more.

[Infographic]: 5 Ways to Target Digital Display Campaigns Based on Consumer Intent

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Mindstream Media Group

To reach the right audiences, brands need to look beyond demographics and target display campaigns based on consumer intent and behavior – including the searches they conduct, the content they read and the places they visit. This allows brands to deliver messages that align with consumers’ needs at each stage in the buying cycle to turn unaware consumers into loyal customers.

Download our infographic and read about:

Five display targeting strategies to reach the right audiences at the right stage in the buying journey
How consumer behavior and intent help you find the right audiences
How display advertising can drive consumers through the buying journey

[Infographic]: The Consumer Buying Journey for Multi-Location Brands

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Mindstream Media Group

When developing marketing strategies, it’s important for brands to understand their customers’ buying journeys. I.e., how does someone go from a consumer realizing a need to a customer making a purchase? It can be tough. Buying journeys have become increasingly malleable, it’s no longer about trying to figure out if the journey is linear or cyclical. It’s about understanding what consumers need at each stage of the buying journey and delivering them the right message at the right time.

This is especially true for multi-location brands, who not only have to define target audiences by demographics, behavior and intent like any other brand, they also need to refine that audience to consumers within a set radius from their locations.

With this infographic, you will learn:

How the flow of the buying journey has changed for multi-location brands
What multi-location brands should be doing to reach consumers at each stage of the journey

3 Tips to Help Multi-Location Brands Optimize Their Local Search Presence

Posted on November 10, 2017January 31, 2020 by Mindstream Media Group

After a couple of years of touting a rise in “near-me” queries, Google recently announced that these explicitly local searches have fallen out of favor. The search company was quick to point out that this didn’t mean local searches were decreasing, just that “over the last two years, comparable searches without ‘near me’ have grown by 150 percent.”

Google’s VP of Marketing for the Americas, Lisa Gevelber, summed it up like this: “We’re now seeing a shift toward dropping location qualifiers (like ZIP codes, neighborhoods and ‘near me’ phrasing) in local search queries, because people know that the results will automatically be relevant to their location — thanks to their phone.”

The implication: As digital platforms continue to customize experiences based on individual users, searchers now just assume – and pretty much expect – Google will know when they’re searching for something nearby and automatically return local search results.

To continue reading, check out the full post on LSA Insider.

[Video]: Geo-fencing Drives Local Consumers to Your Location

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Mindstream Media Group

Geo-fencing Targeted Audiences

In advertising, you don’t want to cast a wide net and waste money. Thanks to smartphones, you have the opportunity to target consumers using location and user intent. Geo-fencing provides precise targeting so that you can identify and reach consumers who are most likely to buy in your area.

Watch our video to learn how you can use geo-fencing to grow your brand.

[Guide]: 3 Ways to Boost your Online Advertising with Geo-fencing

Posted on June 23, 2017 by Mindstream Media Group

From the Digital Marketing Playbook series: A roadmap to help brands reach their target audiences anytime, anywhere.

Let’s face it, we’re addicted to our phones. By the end of 2016, 81 percent of people in the United States over the age of 13 owned a smartphone. And, users spend more than three hours every day on their phones on non-voice activities. Our phones are the first thing we think of when we wake up in the morning and they’re by our side until we go to sleep at night.

So what does all of this smartphone dependence mean for advertisers? The short answer: A lot. Smartphones are more than a vehicle to serve ads, they’re also a helpful tool for advertisers to identify and build target audiences.

Geo-fencing is a supercharged targeting tactic that leverages the power of our phones to help brands deliver relevant digital ads to local consumers anytime, anywhere on the one device that’s always by their side.

Download our latest Digital Marketing Playbook to learn about:

The important role smartphones play in our daily lives
The benefits of using Geo-fencing to reach consumers on their smartphones
Three Geo-fencing tactics to help your brand reach local consumers