My Journey Through the Ever-Evolving Paid Search Landscape

Paid Search remains an important part of digital marketing strategies for businesses. As search engines such as Google continue to evolve, the Paid Search marketing landscape and the strategies we use constantly shift, prompting marketing managers such as myself, to adapt their techniques and tools to stay ahead of the curve.

Having worked in Paid Search at Summit for the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing first hand the changes and developments in the industry. It doesn’t feel like a long time, but so much has changed during this period. Summit’s proactive approach to embracing and integrating Google updates has not only kept us ahead of the game but also showcased the company’s forward-thinking mindset.

In this blog, we’ll look at the latest industry insights and Google announcements and explore the most useful tools and strategies that are driving success in Paid Search at Summit. So, let’s take a look at the practical tips and techniques that will help you stay ahead of the curve and improve your Paid Search strategy!

Industry Insights

Performance Max Campaigns

Google recently introduced Performance Max campaigns, a new type of goal-based campaign that allows advertisers to access all their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign. We adopted this very early at Summit, and I’ve been using Pmax since I can remember working with clients. Some of the best results I’ve seen on accounts have been through Pmax, with one of my clients seeing a 77% increase in ROI YOY since switching campaign types.

Enhanced Conversions

Google’s Enhanced Conversions feature improves conversion tracking by using first-party data to match conversion data to Google accounts. This is really important in our day-to-day work at Summit as it helps us improve the accuracy of conversion measurement and provides better insights into the customer journey.

Updates to Broad Match

Google has updated its broad match algorithm to be more predictive and less reliant on keyword matching. This change allows advertisers to reach more relevant searches that may not directly match their keywords but align with user intent. It’s a significant shift that encourages a more flexible and intuitive approach to keyword targeting. At Summit, we’re pushing to keep using broad match across our clients where possible, reassuring partners of our expertise.

The Shift to Privacy-First Advertising

With growing concerns around privacy, search engines are pushing for more strict data protection measures. Google are attempting to combat this by transitioning to a cookie-less world. But what does this mean for us? Firstly, it makes it harder for us to analyse our consumer. Secondly, it makes it harder for us to retarget to audiences and potential customers. At Summit, we’ve been leveraging first-party data and contextual advertising to target audiences effectively without relying on third-party cookies. Our Google Premier partnership status has unlocked even more tools to help us adapt to this shift.

How can you unlock potential & improve your workflow?

There are a number of tools I use in my day to day that I find really helpful and think may be useful for you too. Below are a few of the key ones.

Keyword Planner/Google Trends

Got a campaign that’s not performing as well? To help put yours and your client’s mind at ease, ensure that you’re regularly checking in on the demand for the activity you’re creating. You can check this in Google Trends, as well as using the tools available via Keyword Planner and then make adjustments to your campaign in order to capture as much demand as possible.

Google Ads

This one seems self-explanatory, but the Google ads interface has so many tools within it that many overlook, such as the custom reports section, performance planner & AI ad copy generation to name a few. Ensuring you’re using these tools as much as possible will improve efficiency in your day-to-day and allow more of your time to be spent on growth activities that unlock more revenue potential for your clients.

SEMrush

SEMrush is an all-in-one tool that provides comprehensive keyword research, competitor analysis, and performance tracking. Its PPC toolkit helps identify profitable keywords, optimise ad copy, and monitor competitors’ ad strategies.

Paid Search is continuously evolving, driven by technological advancements, regulatory changes, and shifting consumer behaviours. Staying informed about industry trends, utilising the right tools, and keeping abreast of major updates from platforms like Google is essential for running successful PPC activity. By embracing these changes and leveraging new technologies, digital marketers can not only navigate the complexities of paid search but also achieve better results and drive meaningful business growth.

If you’re looking for support with your Paid Search activity and want to improve performance, get in touch with our experts today at hello@summitmedia.com.

 

Written by Katie Hamilton-Cooke