The last five years were huge in the world of PPC marketing. Marketers used paid ads tools, enhancements, targeting options and new campaign features.
Most of these changes are in response to changing consumer behavior. The current business environment is ever-changing. Marketers have to be aware of these changes to remain relevant.
Experts argue that the growth of the internet offers more opportunities to advertisers. Exploiting these opportunities will help advertisers to stay ahead of the crowd.
Here are the five upcoming PPC Trends to watch for in 2019.
1. A shift of Focus from Keywords to Audiences
Search experts believe that keywords will die in 2019. Therefore, advertisers will shift their focus to context and people in paid searches. Keywords will still be important, but audience targeting will be crucial for securing high performance.
Targeting involves dividing a large market into smaller portions. This allows marketers to focus on the particular group of consumers in the audience.
It outlines a fragment of clients based on their unique traits.
The markets segment the audience based on characteristics such as demographics, geographical areas, business industry, and psychographics.
Audience targeting strategy will differentiate the best search marketers from the ordinary ones. The key to success will be creating a comprehensive approach to different audience types.
Audience targeting enables companies to reach consumers interested in their products or services with relevant messaging. It also improves conversation rates and saves the organization’s resources.
It is essential for targeting prospective customers and preventing wasting ads on people who won’t convert.
2. Automation and Human Intelligence
Automation and human intelligence are the latest technologies used by marketers to develop ‘smart ads.’ These are advertisements that pinpoint the preference of the designated customer segments.
Artificial intelligence provides computers the ability to learn and improve from experience. They learn without human help and adjust. Machines learn by accessing the data and analyzing human behavior when using computers.
For example, people type different topics when searching for things on search engines or YouTube. Machines use this data to guess and predict the segment and preference of that specific internet user.
Based on this data, the computer will display advertisements. This is the concept of smart advertising. Machines will do the heavy lifting by analyzing big data of internet users and recommend advertisements.
3. Amazon
Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world, and its growth is expected to continue with an upward trajectory. Amazon has evolved from an eCommerce site to a huge advertising platform.
Shoppers find it easier to find their desired products on Amazon since sponsored products display ads on Amazon. These ads can be displayed on app placements, in a desktop, mobile browser or tablet.
Amazon continues to test new ad designs and ad placements to improve the shopping experience.
The use of artificial intelligence improves Amazon ad placements. The ads are relevant to what the customers search for. The ads are personalized, leading to increased impressions, clicks, and sales.
There are also other advertising alternatives that advertisers should look out for in 2019:
- Bing Ads that display product stock availability in nearby stores.
Facebook advertisements personalized for different users. - Pinterest allows users to buy from a product pin.
- Local catalogue Google ads feature that displays pricing in a simple mobile layout and in-store availability.
4. Use of Videos is one of the latest PPC Trends
Video marketing dominated in 2018 and will continue to be more prominent in 2019. Video is a powerful marketing tool to publicize products and services on the internet.
Display ads tend to get more clicks than text ads. People will only buy when they see what they are getting.
Video ads offer aesthetic appeal and business reach. The following stats prove how videos are compelling:
- More than 8 million videos are watched daily on Facebook.
- 96% of clients find it easy to use videos when making their decisions on with products to purchase.
- 60% of consumers find companies that provide video content trustworthy.
- Sponsored videos on Instagram get three times more comments than sponsored photos.
Video advertising has the potential to reach a wider audience. Short videos with relevant and valuable information grab the attention of the audience. Social media platforms increase the reach of videos because users share them with their friends.
Videos are powerful marketing tools, but the challenge is identifying the right audience. Displaying videos to the right audience will increase their reach and performance of the paid ads.
5. Science of Marketing Funnel
Marketers interact with their audiences using various channels in the different stages of the buying cycle. Each channel is significant and produces different results. It is essential for marketers to prioritize the channels based on their impact.
For example, a customer can view and engage with a video published on YouTube. The same customer can also see the ad on Google, clicked, visited the site, and made a purchase. It can be difficult for a marketer to measure the effectiveness of each channel in such a scenario.
A good attribution model is crucial in measuring the effectiveness of the campaigns. The results are useful in prioritizing the different marketing channels. More resources should be spent on the high performing channels to improve the results of the marketing campaign.
Bottom Line
The business environment is rapidly changing, and marketers have to keep up with these PPC trends.
The growth of the internet offers more opportunities for marketers. They can exploit machine learning to develop smart advertisements.
It is also evident that eCommerce sites are slowly replacing search engines. Customers are increasingly searching for their desired products in eCommerce sites than Google.
It is significant for marketers to have and utilize this information. It separates the best search marketers from the average. The best search marketers will develop more customized ads that will provide great impressions, clicks, and site visits driving up the sales.
Please explore our blog to find out more insightful information about upcoming PPC trends for 2019.