“Change is the end result of all true learning.” -Leo Buscaglia

At Jubilant, we’re always eager to learn by conducting constant research and partaking in any training, seminars and webinars we can get our hands on (or mouse if it’s digital)! When Google invited us to join them in San Jose for their annual in their Marketing Live keynote this past July, we were excited to learn in depth about their recent changes to their advertising platform, AdWords.

Google Marketing Live 2018

Google is notorious for constantly changing their algorithms as well as making changes to their advertising platform, making it crucial to stay in the know so we can continue to get our clients the best possible results. We have implemented some of these recent changes and wanted to share what you need to know, some new features and how they affect your brand.

 

• Say Goodbye to AdWords: For so long it’s been referred to as AdWords, but Google unveiled a new name for their advertising platform: Google Ads. It’s no surprise that they’ve change the name to be more broad and less focused on search ads. Since Google allows you to run display, search, video, map, in-app, and more ads in their advertising platform, the name was a much needed change to broaden the advertising services they offer.

• Ad Personalization: Before Google made some big changes, it used to be that those you targeted saw your ads, point blank. If you wanted to target those within a 30 mile radius around Kansas City then those within 30 miles would see your ad. With Google’s new Ad Personalization feature, Google users are able to choose the ads they’re interested in seeing.
  
  While it may seem like a bad thing (think potentially reaching a smaller audience), it’s actually pretty awesome. Because Google is now allowing users to personalize the ads they see, you’re reaching an audience that is more likely to engage with your ads!

• YouTube Lead Ads: You already learned about the new ways we can target the audience we actually want to reach with YouTube ads through Ad Personalization, but we’ll be able to get their contact information as well! This is very exciting because users can simply fill out a contact form on a video ad versus going to your landing page, saving them a step, making it more likely that they’ll give their information.

• YouTube TrueView Features & Maximize Lift: Everyone knows how popular YouTube is and how effective video ads are, especially on YouTube, so we’ll spare you the latests stats. What we will share, however, is that Google gave us more insight on their TrueView features- TrueView for Reach and TrueView for Action- as well as their new bidding strategy, Maximize Lift.
  
  TrueView for Reach helps you reach more people by bidding for CPM. TrueView for Action lets you target users who searched for your specific services or products, allowing you to really hone in on your target audience. There’s also a new bidding strategy- Maximize Lift- that adjusts your bids to reach people who are likely to search your products and brand after seeing your ad. All of these features allow us to reach the audience most likely to make a conversion instead of just bidding for impressions!

• Google Smart Shopping: Do you frequently shop online? If you do, you’re just like the nearly 80% of Americans who make purchases with one click. You’ve probably already guessed, but Google has also made changes to their shopping platform. Google’s new Smart Shopping feature allows advertisers to select new customers and store visits as a goal, again, helping you really hone in on your target audience and get more traffic in store.

• Huge Responsive Search Ads: Remember how excited we all were when Google revealed Expanded Text Ads a couple of years ago? Now there are Responsive Search Ads which allow for even more text and ad options! Responsive Search Ads are similar to Dynamic Search Ads in that Google will optimize your ads to get you the best result, but they allow you to create multiple headlines and descriptions – up to 15 headlines and four descriptions to be exact. With Google optimizing your ads and testing the best combination of headlines and descriptions, you’re able to compete more in auctions which will ultimately drive better results.
  

 

We’re a little geeked about all of these new changes to the Google advertising experience and can’t wait to execute everything above. Some of the new features above are still in beta, but once they’re released to all advertisers you better believe we’ll be implementing as much as we can to our client’s campaigns to direct our ads to an even more specifically targeted audience, getting our clients even better results.

If you have any questions about Google Ads newest features, feel free to contact us. Our Google certified team members love discussing all things display, search, video, and shopping ads!