The world of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is constantly evolving, and 2024 is set to be no different in that regard. In fact, the coming year will see certain landmark developments – such as the retirement of third-party cookies and the ever-greater prominence of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered automation – that could have profound implications for your own business or organisation’s approach to PPC.
So, what are just three things you might look to do with your brand’s PPC efforts over the year to come, to help ensure you adapt in line with – and even get ahead of – your industry competitors?
Put in place new measurement practices
Earlier this month, it was reported that Google had already begun gradually phasing out third-party cookies. That’s thanks to a new tool called Tracking Protection, which restricts third-party cookies by default, and began rolling out to 1% of the world’s Google Chrome users on 4th January 2024.
With it being anticipated that Google will completely retire third-party cookies as soon as the second half of 2024, if your brand currently depends to a great extent on targeted advertising with third-party cookies, now is the time to look again at your tactics.
You can expect it to take around two quarters (six months) to build and test new, privacy-centric measurement frameworks – so if you have been putting off this transition, don’t delay. The likes of first-party data tracking, enhanced conversions, and Google Analytics could all be incorporated into your restructured measurement frameworks, and play an invaluable role.
Tap into the potential of Performance Max
Google created Performance Max with the intention of it being an all-in-one campaign type that is able to serve most advertisers’ needs. It was released to limited accounts during its alpha and beta stages during 2020 and 2021, followed by its rollout to the broader Google Ads community in 2022, as that year’s peak shopping season loomed.
The appeal of Performance Max lies in the ability it gives brands to put together campaigns tailored to individual searches – something made possible due to the years Google has spent collecting data on the browsing and purchasing behaviour of users.
Instead of a brand being required to place ads in specific inventory types such as search results or product listings, Performance Max enables advertisers to upload all types of assets and access all of Google’s ad placements from a single campaign. This can encompass text, videos, feeds, and images.
With Google having continued to release further Performance Max features more recently – such as asset group-level reporting and brand exclusions – 2024 could be an excellent year to discover the power of this campaign type for yourself.
Establish – or revisit – your value-based bidding strategies
Presuming you have followed our above advice to use privacy-safe measurement practices in light of the imminent demise of third-party cookies, a great next step can be to take another look at the value-based bidding strategies your brand uses in its PPC campaigns.
The term “value-based bidding” refers to a frequently used bidding strategy in Google Ads, whereby advertisers can bid based on the estimated value of a conversion. It is a type of bidding that can enable advertisers to achieve the result they desire – such as a lead or a sale – at the best possible cost.
Certainly, here at Jumping Spider Media, we rate value-based bidding highly when it comes to driving sales and revenue for the brands that we work with. To learn more about how you can become one of our clients being helped to grow during 2024 and beyond, please don’t hesitate to contact us.