2018 was a big year for the global PPC market, with the most significant change arguably being Google’s rebranding of their AdWords platform. However, apart from this the global focus on many aspects of PPC or Pay Per Click advertising is shifting, and this shift if anything isn’t slow. In this article, we’ll examine the latest global trends in the PPC space.
Audiences Now Matter More Than Keywords
Once upon a time, your entire PPC strategy hinged on keyword research. If you targeted the right keywords, you’d attract more traffic, and that will boost conversions. All of that is slowly changing with advertisers shifting their focus from matching terms to people and the context of their search.
Audience targeting is the next big thing, but keywords aren’t dead. The use of keywords in PPC in context with the target audience will help to drive conversions up according to many experts. Businesses need to switch to an audience targeting strategy if they want to be successful. Create a profile for each type of audience and target them accordingly.
AI and Automation
Automation is already here, and AI is already being used by the likes of Google and Bing to name a few. Since Google said that they want ads that work for everyone, the search giant is using automation to help businesses be more successful. That means more smart features are expected to roll out in the next few years.
Automation tools are already a big deal and so adopting their usage right now is essential. You never want to wait until it is too late since automation is the future of PPC. Automated bidding strategies, for instance, increases the overall number of data points which are part of the bidding strategy.
Anyone who spends a lot of time on repetitive tasks like reporting or bid tracking can automate those tasks further. So, you are able to spend more time on things that count.
Cross-Channel Advertising
Cross Channel advertising is being embraced by a growing number of companies as it approaches multiple platforms. There is already an increased focus on multi-channel or cross channel advertising. Thankfully it has now become easier to build a strong and well-coordinated multi-channel campaign the only challenge is reporting. So, it is expected that there will be increased investment in reporting as there is now more pressure than ever before on marketers to connect the dots across channels.
Multi-Lingual PPC
Many businesses are now using multi-lingual PPC advertising to reach a wider audience. While in the past PPC in any language other than English was a great challenge now thanks to the rapid deployment of multi-language features by the likes of Google Ads reaching a wider audience is easier than ever before.
Now businesses need to invest in hiring professional translators to ensure that their PPC was geared towards the highest conversions. Plus, local translators ensure that the advertising is culturally appropriate which in itself helps businesses build their brand across borders.