Being the world’s second largest social media platform, second only to that of Meta (previously known as Facebook), with over 2 billion monthly active users YouTube is the leading choice for video marketing in 2022.
In previous years, businesses small and large alike have hesitated integrating videos into their ad campaigns because of both the idea that the campaigns are difficult to set up and the cost of the campaigns themselves. However, with the shift in how people use their devices, avoiding video in 2022 is a recipe for disaster. And the majority of marketers understand that.
You can no longer afford to ignore one of the leading marketing platforms in the world.
That’s why, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide, to show you exactly how to advertise on YouTube and get started with your first ad campaign.
All you need is a targeted strategy and the right team, and you can easily capture the perfect audience by creatively using YouTube video ads. They’re the perfect tool to get your message to your audience (and get a buy-in) if you know the best practices to develop your campaign.
The Best Creative Practices for advertising on YouTube in 2022
Simply, remember your A, B, C, & D’s.
A_Attract: Hook consumers’ attention and get them to tune in.
B_Brand: Help consumers see/hear your brand and stand out from the wave of advertisers on the platform.
C_Connect: Make consumers think or feel something for your brand
And lastly, D_Direct: Drive them to take action.
Attract
When trying to attract the right audience there are 4 key elements that matter from the start of your ad: Framing, Pace, Humanization, and Surprise.
● Framing: Use tight framing on the subject whether it’s a product or a person. “Focusing on people can increase a viewer’s expressiveness (i.e., an emotional reaction, gauged by facial expression) as they see an ad. This increase in expressiveness is tied to cross funnel campaign improvement.” (YouTube Creative Practices 2022, Kantar)
● Pace: Aim for 2+ shots in the first 4 seconds, scene changes support engagement if the rate of change is balanced with information load. Simple ads with low information can have faster pacing than more complex ads with high information.
● Humanization: People like people. Utilize them when creating your ad campaign and include human subjects early on within the video.
● Surprise: Use stunning, delightful, unexpected or otherwise memorable imagery. You want your graphics, text, and your transitions to engage the viewer and keep their attention.
Brand
Naturally integrated products, logos and audio cues are particularly important elements to land your brand with the viewers, you can do this by: Introducing, Mentioning, Reinforcing, & Differentiating.
● Introduction: Introducing your product or brand in the first 3-5 seconds is positively correlated within all brand metrics.
● Mention: Audio with mentions of your brand by people who are on screen are associated with better results than audio mentions of people off-screen. This reiterates one of our first points, humans like humans.
● Reinforce: Logo placement matters, and the most effective placement depends on your marketing objective.
● Differentiate: Show visuals and colors unique to your brand. “Brand assets, such as emblems, logos, spokespeople, characters, taglines, colors and jingles are powerful drivers of brand associations and competitor differentiation.” (YouTube Creative Practices 2022, NielsenNeuro)
Connect
Storytelling style, message, people and audio are key to keep people watching and make them think or feel. This is integral to connecting with the viewer and the best ways to do that are: Integrate, Engage, and Associate.
● Integrate: Use function and emotion as levers that work together or independently to engage views. Functional storytelling works!
● Associate: Make people core to the story. People help hook viewers in ads opening moments and facilitate connection. (Example: celebrities or people ‘like me’.)
● Engage: Lean into emotional levers like action, humor, or intrigue when it works for your brand.
Direct
Audio and visuals are key elements to reinforce your message and encourage your viewers to act, and you can use these effectively when you: Prompt, Inspire, and Compel.
● Prompt: Show offers and call to action through text cards, simple animations or voice overs.
● Inspire: Use offers that inspire a sense of urgency for example, a limited timeframe or limited units available.
● Compel: Use specific call to action. Clear concise CTAs drive the most impact.
Lastly: Bring it all together!
Having the knowledge of the best practices is just the first step. You need the right team behind you that is committed to the growth of your business individually. A team that works with you to create ads that inspire action and compel consumers to care about your brand. To find this, look no further than 565 Media. We help clients achieve leaner growth, we are hands-on, agile & performance driven with a singular goal to grow revenues cost-effectively.
TikTok, whether you love it or hate it, you’ve heard of it by now. It’s the world’s most downloaded social media app for short-form videos and has successfully attracted an audience even past that of Gen Z and millennials, all while offering engaging, consumable content. Over 500 million people actively use the app globally and as of now, the app is available in 141 of 155 countries, which means a broad reach for brands and influencers alike.
It’s increasingly becoming a platform to help skyrocket a brand’s social media presence, and in turn, their profit. And it can all be done with only one viral video. So, you know you should advertise on TikTok, but how do you succeed? Should you mass-post? What format should you use? How long should my ad be? Is there a right song or a wrong hashtag? In this article, we will cover the best practices to be successful, not only by the benchmarks set by the platform but by the community itself.
So, what should I do?
In 2021, TikTok introduced some of the best creative practices and what each of their top-performing ads has in common. The most of which is using it’s own video creation tool. This can be used within the app itself and has a plethora of creative filters, trending sounds, and engaging options for call to actions, all right there at the tap of a finger. The use of the video creation tool can ease the creative process as well as help your business look native to the platform itself. This is a key component when creating ads for TikTok. But what are the other practices? We’re going to break down what exactly those are, what they mean, and how you can utilize these practices to exponentially grow your business. Here are some best practices marketers and content creators on TikTok need to follow:
Vertical Videos are a must. TikTok is an app that prioritizes vertical 16×9 videos, what does this mean for you? That you should do the same. When creating an ad for the platform, think natively. This means your video should be produced vertically while encompassing the full screen. “Video orientation matters as well. The vast majority of TikTok videos are shot in vertical format which means TikTok users aren’t expecting to have to rotate their screen to watch the next video on their For You Page. Videos shot in vertical format see a 40.1% lift in impressions compared to videos using a square or horizontal aspect ratio.” (TikTok Creative Best Practices)
Make the video lengths impactful, not long. Ultimately, the length of your TikToks should make sense for the message you’re trying to get across, but overall shorter videos perform better. It only takes a moment for a user to swipe away to consume the next video. Because of this, it’s important to have an engaging start to your video, while producing an effective call to action, rather quickly before your viewer can move on to the next viral video.
Don’t forget the music! If you’re unaware, TikTok actually originally was called Musically, an app kids used to make dance videos (sound familiar?) to different trending songs. While the name has changed, and there’s far more content on the platform now, some things never change – and that’s the importance of music in your videos. Including sound – a music track, voiceover, or just you talking to the camera – in your TikToks is more than a best practice; it’s a must-have for this sound-on environment. Adding audio of any kind causes a significant lift in impressions compared to videos without audio, and more than 93% of top-performing videos use audio.
High res videos?Yes please. Quality matters – don’t let grainy videos prevent your message from getting through. There are a plethora of videos that have gone viral on TikTok solely because of the quality the video was shot in. What does that tell you as far as ads go? Your message is more likely to be retained if the quality of the video is the best that it can be. “The overwhelming majority of top-performing TikToks, 83.2% to be specific, have a video resolution of 720p or higher. These videos see an average 5.4% lift in impressions.” (Best Practices)
What’s trending? Use it to your advantage. TikTok trends, whether it’s a trending sound, a dance, or a video concept, have historically been the reason businesses have gone viral using the platform. But how do you know what exactly is trending? Use the platform! Become your audience (if possible) and engage with the community that you’re trying to reach. Take Duolingo, for example. Their social media presence on TikTok alone has created an environment for their ads to be consumed in a way that never have before, all because they’ve taken to the trend of commenting on everything.
I know what to do, but how do I do it?
Well, that’s where experts come in. It’s important to have a marketing firm that will stand behind you, explain the trends, and create concepts that are unique to your brand and your message. To find this, look no further than 565 Media. We help clients achieve leaner growth, we are hands-on, agile & performance driven with a singular goal to grow revenues cost-effectively.
If your audience is primarily Gen Z and Millennials, TikTok is a great place to advertise. As the latest mobile-first platform that’s allowing businesses to reach a massive audience, its users are highly engaged. How engaged? According to Backlinko, the average TikTok user in the U.S. is on the social platform for more than 30 minutes a day. And with an average session time of more than 10 minutes, this is a prime opportunity for businesses to engage with a captive audience – and generate significant results.
Why is TikTok such a valuable platform for marketers?
Over 800 million people use TikTok every month, making it the world’s fastest growing social media platform. And about 70% of TikTok users are between the ages of 16 and 24. If that’s your target demographic, running advertising and influencer marketing campaigns on this social network are a no-brainer.
With an ads platform that’s still relatively young, much of the content is user-created and the costs are still lower compared to Facebook or Google ad buys. Businesses can take advantage of a lower barrier to entry – on both basic ad cost and video-production cost. On the flip side, you’ll need to get creative to get the most out of your ad spend.
Before diving in and setting up your first TikTok campaign, there are a few additional considerations to make. Any ad campaign is an investment, so make sure you’re going to get an ROI before you get started.
Here’s what you need to know before you start an advertising campaign on TikTok.
Is your product or service the right fit for TikTok Ads?
Not all brands are going to be the best fit here. Businesses that are highly visual – fashion, food, lifestyle and beauty brands, for example – usually perform better than B2B brands, which usually have sales content that is far more complicated or text-heavy.
But that doesn’t mean that B2B companies can’t win here. To succeed with TikTok, regardless of industry, you need to create a highly creative campaign that will appeal to users’ emotions and sense of humor. Tap into what they’re already interested in – like pets, food or tech.
Even industries that are typically viewed as ‘less-than-flashy’, like banking or insurance or enterprise software, have an opportunity to reframe their products and services in a way that’s fun and unexpected.
TikTok rewards creative content
TikTok is growing so fast because it’s doing something different from other social media platforms. It encourages people to express themselves in a more authentic, in-the-moment way. People who watch these videos are more inclined to share them with others, making TikTok the perfect tool for marketing your products and services.
The challenge is that TikTok is incredibly noisy, with hundreds of millions of videos being uploaded every day. To stand out, you need to find a way to make your ads creative and entertaining, so that they can grab people’s attention. Here are some ways you can do this:
● Defy expectations. What do consumers think they know about your industry? How can you present your business in a way that flips that on its head?
● Go niche. Don’t try to appeal to everyone – narrow down your audience and look for a specific niche of users you want to reach. For example, you might want to target only teenagers who live in a specific country or city. The ability to micro-target users can help you to find an audience that is much more receptive to your message and brand.
● Go off-topic. Don’t limit your creativity to topics within your particular industry. Have fun with memes, holidays, your teams’ interests. Show the faces behind the brand and connect with a new audience in a meaningful way – even if it’s silly.
Influencer/Brand Takeover collaborations
Influencers can help get the word out about your brand on TikTok and increase its visibility in the process. Be strategic with how you approach these influencers, though. Many of them have strict guidelines that they require their sponsors to follow. Be sure to read over these guidelines before contacting them with your proposal so that you can avoid any hiccups.
There can be huge benefits to pursuing these types of campaign collaborations. You’ll be introduced to their audience – but you’ll also earn ‘trust through association’. By aligning your brand with an influencer, they’re telling their audiences that your product or service is worth their time and money.
Influencer campaigns can fast track your brand awareness, but it’s smart to experiment with TikTok before diving into one. First, gain a clear idea of who your audience is, what content they’re already engaging with and who they trust.
Track Success with your TiKTok Ads Campaign
Know your campaign goals before getting started. Whether you want to increase brand awareness or drive new sales, tracking ad performance is an important piece of the puzzle. By regularly checking in with your metrics, you’ll know when something isn’t working and adjust accordingly.
Does video production quality matter?
This is one area of video campaigns that scare off a lot of would-be marketers. Historically, video production has been an expensive endeavor requiring the hiring of a full crew and hours invested in production and editing. Without deep pockets, it can be difficult – even impossible – for small businesses and start-ups to adopt video in their marketing efforts.
The good news is that money is no longer a barrier to entry. In fact, the more Hollywood-quality your ad is, the less likely it will be viewed as authentic. TikTok is about sharing your experiences in a fun and light-hearted way – and the vast majority of content is filmed on a smartphone.
That said, you don’t have to make a video yourself — there are social marketing agencies that specialize in creating TikTok ads.
Know your TikTok ad types
There are several different types of TikTok ads, each with their own pros and cons. For today, we’ll focus on three of the most popular for businesses – TikTok’s In-Feed Ads, Top View Ads and Spark Ads.
● In-Feed Ads Shown inside the user’s ‘For You’ page, In-Feed ads blend into the user’s existing feed. They’ll be seeing your ad while scrolling between videos from the accounts they already follow. In-feed ads are excellent for engagement, since users can interact, comment and share your ads with their followers.
● Top View Ads A Top View ad is a branded 60-second vertical video spot — similar to Snapchat’s Discovery format — that users see when they open the app. This type of ad will appear at the top of your audience’s For You feed to grab their attention right away, but it will only play sound if they tap on it.
● Spark Ads Spark Ads offer marketers the ability to use organic posts or a TikTok creator’s organic posts to drive greater brand awareness and engagement. This is an ideal choice if you already have a library of existing content. (Because this ad format relies on content that’s already created, it’s easier and faster to kick off a campaign.) Like other ad types, Spark Ads drive excellent engagement, allowing users to comment, share and like posts. With one tap, users can visit a brand’s profile, and marketers can include a CTA on their post to drive conversions.
Overall, the best way to make TikTok ads work for your business is to plan carefully and to create a clear strategy around your campaign. We believe that running a TikTok ad campaign can be useful for businesses in achieving their goals – if it’s applied correctly. From minding the ad format options, to providing high quality images and videos (and actually interacting with users), a little forethought, creativity, and intentionality can go a long way. And hopefully, if you decide TikTok is right for you, it can go even further.
Whether you’re a Google Ads newbie just getting started or a seasoned professional looking for advice on how to boost the performance of your existing campaigns, we have some tips and tricks from the experts at 565 Media on how to take advantage of Google’s Smart Bidding algorithms and optimally scale your PPC campaigns to profitability.
What is Smart Bidding?
Smart Bidding is a series of automated bidding strategies available for advertisers on the Google Ads platform. According to Google, the strategies utilize machine-learning algorithms to help optimize performance for a selected goal. Advertisers can select bidding strategies that maximize conversions, optimize cost per acquisition, target a specific return-on-ad-spend, and more.
Advantages of Smart Bidding
Utilizes true auction-time bidding – Google’s machine learning identifies users that are most likely to complete a target conversion and adjusts the bidding for every single auction to optimize your budget for that conversion.
Wide range of contextual signals – Metrics such as time of day, device, operating system, location, language, demographics are cross-analyzed for richer user targeting.
Advanced optimization capabilities – Google’s machine learning can result in more precise bids and optimize your campaigns beyond what’s possible with manual options.
Saves time – With the right settings and strategy up front, advertisers can save hours (even days!) of manual bidding adjustments and PPC management.
Disadvantages of Smart Bidding
Less Manual Control – Bidding adjustments based on device, time of day, demographics, etc. don’t have any effect when using smart bidding strategies. Even if you know your target audience well, you’ll have to let the algorithm learn that on its own.
Long “Learning” Period – Smart bidding algorithms typically require about a week to complete the learning period, but this will vary depending on the available conversion data.
Potential for Increased Costs – Google Ads runs on auctions for bidding. If more competitors begin relying on smart bidding to target the same user base, the automated bidding strategies will inflate the prices as they try to outbid each other.
Maximize Conversions Bidding Strategy
The Maximize Conversions bidding strategy allows advertisers to maximize the total number of conversions with their set daily budget. This strategy can be used for search ads, display ads, Discovery campaigns, and YouTube for Action ads.
This bidding strategy is best used when you have conversions that do not have a specific value or if you do not have a specific CPA or ROAS goal for your campaign. We recommend using this strategy if your campaign has a low conversion volume or if you have a limited budget and under 90% impression share. This strategy also allows you to identify a baseline for a Target CPA (tCPA) strategy in the future.
Maximize Conversion Value Bidding Strategy
The Maximize Conversion Value bidding strategy allows advertisers to maximize the overall value of conversions with their set daily budget. This strategy can be used for search ads, display ads, Discovery campaigns, and YouTube for Action ads.
The bidding strategy is best used when you have specified and varying conversion values for all of your campaign goals, but do not have a specific CPA or ROAS target. This strategy is useful for ecommerce sites that may have very high or very low conversion values to consider, because the machine-learning algorithm will optimize for higher value conversions. This strategy also allows you to identify a baseline for a Target CPA (tCPA) strategy in the future.
Target CPA Bidding Strategy
Target CPA Bidding, or tCPA, refers to “cost per acquisition” and allows advertisers to set an average target cost for each conversion that the campaign receives. This strategy can be used for either search ads or display ads.
This bidding strategy only works if you have established a conversion value for each type of goal conversion that you are using in the campaign. We recommend using this strategy if you need to limit your ad spend for a specific CPA. This typically works best for businesses that rely on lead generation or for eCommerce businesses.
The strategy also only works if your conversion values are large enough to cover reach that target CPA. (That means setting a $0.01 Target CPA is unlikely to provide fruitful results.)
How do I calculate my Target CPA bid?
Finding the right initial target for your Target CPA settings is a tricky feat. A lower Target CPA will result in more conversions but more waste. A higher Target CPA will result in fewer conversions and better cost efficiency.
To calculate an initial Target CPA bid, you’ll need to factor in multiple considerations. How much average revenue is gained from a single conversion? How much does it cost to produce your product or service? What are the additional non-marketing costs involved? What is the gross profit and your desired net profit?
The basic equation should look something like this:
Average revenue – Costs of Production = Gross Profit
Gross Profit – Desired Net Profit = Target CPA
If your campaign has been running under a different bidding strategy for a while, Google will provide you with a recommended Target CPA to start with.
As the smart bidding algorithm learns and optimizes over time, and the campaign is capable of matching your Target CPA, consider increasing your Target CPA by 15% every month until the campaign performance maxes out. If you run your campaign for a month and find that it isn’t able to match your Target CPA, consider reducing your Target CPA by 15% per month until the campaign performance is able to match it.
Another note: There are no conversion minimum thresholds that you will need to meet for this bidding strategy.
Target ROAS Bidding Strategy
Target ROAS Bidding refers to “return on ad spend” and allows advertisers to set a target percentage of conversion value over the amount spent on the ads. This strategy can only be used on search ads.
Similarly to the Target CPA strategy, this bidding strategy only works if you have established a conversion value for each type of goal conversion that you are using in the campaign. We recommend using this strategy if you are tracking multiple goal conversions at differing values, such as eCommerce businesses or businesses that offer different price plans for their services.
How do I calculate my Target ROAS?
To start using this bidding strategy, Google requires an initial Target ROAS. To calculate this value, divide your average conversion value by the average cost of your ad. For example, if you receive $1000 for $10 spent on search ads, your ROAS is 100.
If your campaign has been running under a different bidding strategy for a while, Google may provide you with a recommended Target ROAS or Target CPA to start with.
After the smart bidding algorithm learns and optimizes over time, you may be in a situation where you are able to consistently reach a positive Target CPA or Target ROAS. From that point, if it makes sense for your business goals and you would like to scale those successes, consider incremental changes to your target. We recommend increasing your Target ROAS by 15% after each month that the campaign matches the target. Conversely, if that campaign is unable to meet your Target ROAS, consider reducing the limit by 15% each month until you find an equilibrium.
You may have already guessed, but this strategy only works if your conversion values are large enough to cover your target ROAS. (That means setting a 10,000% Target ROAS is unlikely to be successful.)
Another note: In order to use the Target ROAS bidding strategy, Google requires at least 15 conversions per month.
Other Considerations
The most important thing to consider when deciding on changing your target bids is your overall marketing goal. If you are looking for efficiency in your budget, Target ROAS will allow you to spend your ad budget effectively. However, this method does not necessarily work for businesses aimed at growth. If you are looking to grow your business, less “efficient” budgeting strategies like Maximize Conversions will allow you to reach a larger pool of potential customers.
Other Types of Bidding Strategies
Maximize Clicks
Maximize Clicks Bidding allows you to get as many clicks as possible with your daily budget. This functionality will set keyword bidding automatically to optimize the number of clicks that a campaign gets. This is useful if your campaign does not yet have defined conversions.
One of the drawbacks to this type of bidding strategy is that the Google algorithm does not necessarily know which keywords have the strongest conversion intent. So you may reduce your average CPC overall, but the quality of the leads will depend on your keyword curation abilities.
Target Impression Share
Target Impression Share Bidding allows you to set bids to show your ad at the top of the page. Using this functionality, you can set a percentage of how often you want your ads to appear at the top of the page. Google also allows advertisers to specify if they would like to target the very first spot or any ad positions at the top of the page. From there, the bidding strategy takes over and will charge you the minimum spend required to place your ads where you like.
This is not a smart bidding strategy, so many of the advantages and disadvantages listed above will not apply to Target Impression Share.
When using the Target Impression Share bidding strategy, you will be able to specify where on the search results page your ads will appear –anywhere on the first page, anywhere at the top of the page, or only in the top placement.
From there, you can specify how often you want your ads to appear in that position. The ability of your campaign to match this number will depend on the keywords that you are targeting and your daily spending limit.
You can also specify the maximum amount that you are willing to bid on any individual auction. This will help limit situations where you get into a bidding war with a competitor over a single keyword.
Best Practices for Smart Bidding
Apply smart creative solutions
Over 75% of the impact of advertising on the Google Ads platform is determined by the quality of the creative. Even if your bidding strategy and settings are perfectly optimized, if your creative isn’t up to par, you’re unlikely to see the best results.
Luckily, we can include the machine-learning algorithm in the ad creative process as well.
Google Search Ads now offer Responsive search ads (RSAs), which will test out combinations of multiple headlines and description text to identify the best performing search ad creative over time.
Google Display Ads offer Responsive display ads (RDAs), which similarly automate the process of testing different images, headlines, description text and ad dimensions, and give advertisers a live report on which combinations perform the best.
For both responsive search ads and responsive display ads, we recommend running one in each ad group for at least a month. Then, manually create search and display ads from the best performing combinations. From there, you can safely make edits to the responsive ads to test out new combinations in the future.
Implement a non-last-click attribution model
As most advertisers know, the customer journey down the sales funnel isn’t always a straight line. Some goal conversions have a wide conversion window. Some have more than 10 interactions before a successful conversion.
For the Smart Bidding algorithm to get a better understanding of the customer journey and optimize your campaign settings, it is best to use an attribution model that gives more credit to the different steps along the way to a successful conversion.
Last-click attribution modeling, for example, gives all of the credit for a successful conversion to the last-clicked ad and corresponding keyword. This setting will
We recommend using the Time Decay or Data-driven attribution models when using Smart Bidding. These settings will assign credit based on the actual contribution of each keyword and ad across the customer journey to a successful conversion, and will learn and adjust that credit over time based on the performance data that your campaign collects.
Add audience lists at the account level
Smart Bidding works best when it has more data. When you set audience lists at the account level, it allows each campaign to access the performance data set for the entire account rather than just that campaign.
With this setting, the Smart Bidding algorithm will be able to utilize richer user signals, such as intent, context, and recency. This allows for better overall performance and saves time in the “learning “ process.
If you would like to target only new users and want to avoid showing your ads to customers that have already purchased something on your website, we recommend adding the “All Converters” audience list to your campaign and add a -100% bidding adjustment.
Getting Started with Smart Bidding
As we outlined above, many smart bidding strategies rely on past performance data to help the machine learning algorithm learn and optimize a campaign’s settings. But for advertisers that are starting with a brand new account, we have a few recommendations on how to get started.
Add conversion tracking – Before any kind of smart bidding strategies can be implemented, you’ll need to make sure that your conversion tracking is in place and working correctly.
Soft launch with manual bidding – Make sure that your settings are in order before relying entirely on Smart Bidding to do the work for you. Launch your campaign with Enhanced CPC on a constrained budget for a month and check on your performance metrics to make sure that your keyword targeting, ad creative, ad extensions, and conversions are working correctly. The extra time that you give the campaign under these settings will also help build historical performance data for the machine learning algorithm to use when you switch over to Smart Bidding.
Switch to the right Smart Bidding setting – Once your campaign is running smoothly and it’s time to scale up, select the Smart Bidding strategy that works best for your goals. If you do not have specific values attached to your goal conversions, use the Maximize Conversions strategy. If you have a specific CPA goal, use the Target CPA strategy. If you have conversion values added but don’t have a specific ROAS goal, use the Maximize Conversion Value strategy. If you do, use the Target ROAS strategy.
Optimize every 30 days – As your campaign matures and the Smart Bidding algorithms learn how to optimize your performance, consider adjusting your CPA or ROAS targets gradually by 15% increases at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the Learning Period last?
It typically takes one to two weeks for the algorithm to collect enough performance data to calibrate a newly implemented bidding strategy. This depends on the amount of conversion data that the campaign is able to collect.
If your campaign generates many conversions very quickly, it will likely exit the learning phase quickly as well. As a rule of thumb, you should aim to generate a minimum of 30 conversions per month. If your campaign generates conversions slowly, it will likely extend the length of the learning phase.
If your campaign does not generate any conversions at all, you have a much bigger problem than configuring your Smart Bidding strategy, and should consider troubleshooting your target keywords, ad creative, and conversion settings under a manual bidding strategy like eCPC before moving onto Smart Bidding.
How do I calculate the appropriate time lag for conversions?
Depending on the business that you are running, some goal conversions may have a wide window between the first impression and a successful conversion.
To identify the average time lag for your search campaigns, visit the Search Attribution report. Set a 30-day window, and the report will show you the number of days that it takes, either from first impression or first click, to result in a conversion. Below each number of days, the report will indicate the percentage of users that have completed a conversion.
To identity the average time lag for your display campaigns, set a 90-day window and segment your campaign-level conversion data by “days to conversions”. This chart will provide the average conversion lag for display ads.
Troubleshooting Common Problems with Smart Bidding Strategies
Target CPA or ROAS goal is unrealistic – If you are too aggressive with your initial target bids, the algorithm will learn that it cannot meet your target CPA or target ROAS and may stop running ads.
Not enough time to complete the learning period – The machine learning algorithm needs long term data points to form better predictions for performance. If you look at a few days worth of data and start making changes based on a small sample size, the algorithm will not be able to optimize for conversions or conversion value.
Not accounting for long conversion delays over time – Many conversions have a window of 30 days or more from first touch to last touch. The first few days of implementing Smart Bidding may seem like it is performing poorly if you do not allow for a time buffer to account for conversion delays.
Not enough ad budget to find new conversions – If the campaign is constrained by a small budget, the algorithm won’t be able to bid appropriately to find as many conversions as possible.
Feeling Inspired?
Do you want to know more about our Google Ads management services at 565 Media? Have questions about search ads marketing or digital strategy in general? Don’t hesitate to contact us or call (323) 902-7439. Our experts will come up with optimized ad campaigns tailored for your business.
If you’re looking to effectively and efficiently boost ROI with your marketing budget, 565 Media is your top choice. Simply connect with our on-demand team of full stack developers and start with a list of what problems you need solved. Our team specializes in developing customized, scaled marketing campaigns geared towards generating profitable leads and growing your business.
Here’s a breakdown of the big changes Google is making to their ranking algorithms and what steps will keep you at an advantage.
Back in May 2020, Google announced that they would be rolling out a major update to their search engine ranking algorithm. Also known as the Page Experience Update, the overhaul aims to boost rankings for websites that provide better user experience. In this article, we’ll aim to define exactly what metrics that the new algorithm will be measuring, as well as some insights and recommendations for how to improve your website’s search engine optimization before the update takes effect.
What is the Google Page Experience Update?
Starting in May 2021, Google’s search ranking algorithm will be revised to favor websites with better page experience signals such as loading speed, mobile compatibility, interactivity, and other measurements for user experience. These changes, according to Google, help improve the overall search engine experience and the helpfulness of the results for its users. As an indirect result, websites with better user experience are likely to see a positive change in search rankings starting in May 2021.
In addition to a change in overall rankings, Google announced that the search engine results page (SERPs) would be testing new rich snippets and/or image previews that would help provide context for what users can expect to see on a page before they click on a link. This has the potential to further shake up the SERPs, and an opportunity for websites to jump ahead of competitors that aren’t paying attention. (More on this further in the article!)
How Page Experience is Measured
User experience is a fairly qualitative and subjective practice. So to measure something like page experience quantitatively, Google recently released a list of the page experience signals that will be included in their search ranking algorithm. The new page experience signals combine with our existing search signals available in Google Search Console’s Core Web Vitals reports, which include mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines. It is with these measurements that the new ranking algorithms will be adjusted to favor.
Search signals for page experience include Core Web Vitals that can be found in the Lighthouse of PageSpeed Insights reports. Google is also adding other search signals that can be found in Google Search Console.
Measuring Core Web Vitals
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – The LCP is a measurement of how fast your page loads. Google currently recommends that a page load its main visuals within 2.5 seconds of when a new user begins loading the page.
First Input Delay (FID) – The FID is a measurement of the time between when a user first interacts with a page (i.e. when they click a link, tap on a button, etc.) and the time when the browser is capable of responding to that action. Google currently recommends that pages have an FID of less than 100 milliseconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – The CLS is a measurement of visual stability of the elements on the page. Any time a new element (e.g. footer ad, video, large image) is loaded and shifts the position of the other elements on the page (e.g. button, image, text), it can cause very poor user experience. Google currently recommends pages maintain a CLS of less than 0.1.
Core Web Vitals Report in Google Search Console
Measuring Other Page Experience Signals
Mobile Usability – Now that mobile devices have eclipsed desktop devices in popularity for browsing the Internet, it is important to make sure that your page is optimized for mobile formats. This report in Google Search Console will alert you if any pages on your site have content that extends beyond the boundaries of your page, or if interactive elements are too small or too close together.
Safe Browsing – This report identifies websites that Google has deemed “unsafe” across the web and will notify users and webmasters of potential harm. For this page experience signal, your webmaster will likely receive an alert if there are any issues.
HTTPS – This is a safer version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Google will begin adjusting their algorithms to favor websites that use HTTPS over HTTP.
No Intrusive Interstitials – This measurement is fairly self-descriptive. Try to avoid adding popups or autoplay videos. Pages with annoying interstitial elements are not likely to gain organic traffic in the future.
Additional Important User Experience Signals
Bounce rate
Average time on page
SERPs CTR
Scroll length
Although these performance metrics are not included in the Google Page Experience Update, they are still important metrics to follow when considering the user experience of your page. If a page has a high bounce rate, low average time on page, or low click-through-rate compared to the pages that it competes with in the search rankings, those signal to search engines that your page either has poor user experience or poor relevance to the keywords that the page is ranking for. And those signals tell search engines indirectly that the page is less deserving of a high SERPs ranking.
How to Optimize for Page Experience
Competitive Comparison
Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse reports will provide specific insights for the Core Web Vitals. Any vitals that fall below a certain threshold that Google considers problematic will be flagged with an alert after the report is run.
As a general rule of thumb, good content is still the most important thing to consider when optimizing a page for user experience. Gaming the system with keyword packing or schema manipulation may have short term benefits for rankings, but they tend to fail in the long run, especially if search engines penalize your site for violations. Make sure that the content on your page follows E-A-T standards, short for Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness.
Competitive Comparison
If you see in Google Analytics that a page, for example, has an above average bounce rate, compare it to the competing pages in the SERPs.
What elements on your competitor websites are working better from a UX or UI perspective?
Do they load faster or have more readily accessible information?
Do they answer questions that appear in the “People Also Ask” section of the SERPs more clearly?
Core Web Vitals Icon in Search Results
According to Google, the search results page is also currently testing “visual indicators” that are set to appear in the search results pages next to the site URLs. Some eagle-eyed SEOs have already taken screenshots of the icons in beta testing.
The Web Vital Icon as it currently appears indicates that a site has passed the Google Core Vitals test. It is generally used to indicate that the page experience will be good.
The AMP Icon indicates that a page is using the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) format, a mobile-specific page format that loads almost instantly on a mobile device. This icon simply means that the page is optimized for mobile devices to load as quickly as possible.
Feeling Inspired?
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