With constant innovations to RankBrain, it’s no surprise that Google Ads has automated so many of their features. While users are accustomed to their frequent updates, more and more of these new features are becoming automated.
What does this mean for users? New automations can make the process of creating Google Ads more efficient since they promise similar results with less work. While they can’t do everything that a PPC specialist can, working with them can prove to be an advantage when it comes to saving time and getting results.
With the latest round of updates, Google Ads has made some major changes in terms of its automated features. Here are five things that Google Ads can now do automatically:
1. Smart campaigns for small businesses
Smart Campaigns was the first solution to debut under the Google Ads brand, formerly known as Google AdWords. Designed for small businesses that don’t have a dedicated marketing staff, Smart Campaigns are almost entirely automated. Built on top of AdWords Express, it’s meant to provide better results.
Smart Campaigns automatically target audiences across all Google platforms and automate ad and landing page generation based on information from Google My Business. While most of the features of Smart Campaign are now automated, there are still a few things that need to be done manually.
Budget, target location, and language will need to be set. Once these are established during setup, they likely won’t change. This means that Smart Campaigns will need little to no management once it’s up and running. While Smart Campaigns will now be the default option, if businesses decide to work with an agency, they can still opt for the full Google Ads service.
By offering more automated choices, users will have the option to choose from different levels of automation and manual management, and find the combination that works best for them.
2. Universal app campaigns
Initially launched in May 2015, Universal App campaigns are often referred to as “AdWords Express for Developers.” With scale and pricing based on outcomes rather than clicks, Universal App campaigns help users get more downloads of their app and help to drive in-app conversions.
Google will automatically manage bidding, targeting, and even put together creative materials to achieve the highest number of downloads and rate of conversion for digital marketers, while working within their set budget. You may be wondering how they manage to generate creative without any human intervention — Google does this by using structured data from the app listing to automatically generate enticing creative elements.
While almost all Universal App campaign features are automated, there are some things that still require manual implementation. To start a campaign, marketers must select a daily budget, optimal cost-per-click, as well as location and language. Google will begin by asking marketers for a few keyword ideas as a starting point for automated ad-generation, such as ad text, and media components like images and videos.
Once users go through the initial setup process, there are few things to optimize when the campaign is launched other than keyword selection and creating ad variations. This is unique to other features that Google has automated since they typically offer automated features in addition to the existing manual options to achieve the same goal.
3. Goal-optimized shopping campaigns
Shopping ads are responsible for 60% of all clicks on Google for retailers. Managing Shopping ads for thousands of retailers can be challenging, so it makes sense that Google wants to make managing them a little easier.
Goal-optimized Shopping campaigns use data from at least 20 conversions over the last 45 days to predict the bids that will achieve the best cost-per-lead, and will automatically run remarketing ads on the Google Display Network. Once marketers set a budget and target CPL, Google will work within their budget to maximize sales and meet that target.
4. Automated bidding
There are seven automated bidding strategies from Google, three of which are based on Smart Bidding. All automated bidding strategies are designed to help advertisers reach their goals with minimal management.
Targets like out-ranking specific competitors are closely aligned with typical business goals. Google can acknowledge targets, which removes the need for marketers to do additional calculations themselves. Google will automatically predict the likelihood of conversions by looking at the device, location, language, and more. These predictions will feed the automated bids used for unique actions.
Although referred to as “automated bidding,” not all aspects are automated in this process. Google’s systems are refined, but they still suggest adjusting targets for factors that automation doesn’t consider. There are certain things that may impact your business that Google won’t account for, so some management is necessary.
5. Dynamic Search Ads
Dynamic Search Ads provide marketers that provide a way to keep search ads in sync with what they currently offer. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) offer an automated solution that uses Google’s algorithm to target ads for the most relevant search queries.
Once marketers choose whether they’d like to include all pages from their site or just the pages that are in a feed, Google will then automatically target ads and show ads with an automated headline.
Just because Google has automated some of its processes, doesn’t mean that PPC specialists have become obsolete. These automations are helpful for those without a dedicated marketing team, but can also help digital marketing agencies by providing a way to optimize their processes. Using these automated features in combination with manual management can help you make the most of your Google Ads.
To learn more about how a TechWyse-managed PPC campaign can lower your cost-per-lead, then call us today at 866.288.6046 or contact us here.
