Category: Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Visual Search and How it can grow your e-Commerce Business?

The power of visual search is nothing less than a superpower and since it’s arrival it had revolutionalized the way people make Google searches. From searching for clothes online to translating foriegn or local languages to their own, users have made adequate use of the feature that quickly spreaded to all the operating systems around the world.

How does this revolutionize your business you ask?

Here’s how

Visual information is the most consumed form of information by humans, and it’s the easiest to understand as well. Users searching for a particular product or service are more likely to visit your website if it has relevant and valuable visual data. Infographics are known for providing the most value in the least time. 

It’s crucial to keep in mind that visual search is different from image search, while the terminology suggests a direct relationship between them, things are quite different in both these cases. Image search is the old-fashioned way of searching for a particular term and then heading to the image section to find your match, whereas with visual search, the user uses tools like Google lens or Pinterest lens to reach their desired results.  

Videos

Videos are by far the most consumed form of content on the internet and byte sized content in visual form can be the most educational one. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook have already captured a very big chunk of the video market, so much so that YouTube is the default video player for any MP4 file on almost all websites across the internet. Uploaders upload them on YouTube due to the vast exposure to relevant audiences and also for easier backlinking. 

Videos include thumbnails which is another way to use visual data, here targeted towards improvements in marketing. 

Drawbacks

While the AI is impressively smart and improving every moment, it’s important to know that it can still make errors. Objects might be identified wrong in some cases and in some, the main subject of the image might be ignored for a secondary highlight. What’s important to know is that these identifications are independent of individual searches, meaning that you can search with the same image again and expect different results.

How to do it the right way?

Well, there is no right way to do this but avoiding these mistakes and checking these basics is essential to get started with your visual content. It all boils down to optimizing your images the right way, here’s how you can do that.

• Standardization

Maintain aspect ratio for images so as to avoid cropping on different devices the user is using. Keeping the images in standard size helps your site load much faster. A faster loading site helps in ways you don’t expect, reports show that more than half of the users will leave the page if the page fails to load in the first few seconds. 

• Nomenclature and alt-tags 

Name your image files appropriately, meaning that the name of the file should relate to what the image tries to show, maybe like a brief description of the image. Alt-tags are phrases that are displayed when the image is unable to be displayed. Both of these should be related to the image content and should have keywords to make it easier for the algorithm to understand it.

• Product information

The details and information of the product should be mentioned along with the brand details and specifications, this helps the search engine to classify your ad better and display it to the most relevant user that can be a potential customer. 

• Structured data

Mentioning your prime Unique selling points in the product description makes it easier for the AI to segregate your data and also makes it easier for the user to decide upon availing your product. USPs are the turning point for a user at the bottom of the purchase funnel, instantly turning them into conversions. 

Conclusion

Visual search is an integral part of the modern day search engine ecosystem and simple strategies can be implemented to easily aid your ad-page rank the highest among all search engines. If you liked this article make sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more! Catch us on social media @ Blustream integrated.

Maximizing Your Google Ads Results

Some businesses invest large amounts of money into unsuccessful pay-per-click, or PPC campaigns and never see increased sales. 

Luckily, in the world of Google ads, not all campaigns are created equal, and spending more money does not guarantee better results. 

Ways that you can create traffic, brand awareness, and sales, for your business with Google ads, no matter what your budget is. There are many ways you can increase the value of your Google ads campaign without additional ad spending. 

1. Set goals using the SMART framework.

As with any marketing campaign, your Google ads efforts should target a specific goal. Clear-cut goals make your campaigns easier to measure and optimize because you can track precisely what is working, and what you need to adjust. However, many businesses, especially those not familiar with Google ads, focus on ineffective goals, or they target too many goals at once. As a result, they have trouble, getting the most out of their Google ads spending. This is where the smart structure comes in. The structure helps you get focused, relevant and practical goals for your Google ads campaigns. Improved goals mean improved optimization, and improved optimization means, better return on investment. 

2. Break down your budget and stick to it. 

It can be very tempting to throw money at PPC campaigns, especially when you are not seeing the return on investment you are hoping for. But investing more money in a Google ads campaign doesn’t guarantee that it will be more successful. To get the most out of every cent that you spend, break down your monthly budget into a daily budget, and then set that figure as your maximum daily spend. By optimising your campaign for a more specific daily budget, Google ads will run you a tighter, more optimized campaign. Keep in mind that, Google may occasionally go over your maximum spend to get you more results. If you are budget sensitive, consider setting a maximum, slightly below your exact limit. 

3. Limit your options.

Limiting your ads campaign can help you make the most out of a small budget. There are three main campaign elements you should consider limiting- keywords, location and scheduling. 

• Limiting keywords – It is challenging to rank for a wide variety of keywords on a limited budget. To find the best keywords for your campaign, use Google Keyword Planner. Look for keywords with medium to high traffic and low competition. The lower the competition, the less you will spend. This way you will get more clicks on a tighter budget. Don’t forget to limit your campaign by using negative keywords. Negative keywords tell Google when you don’t want your ads to display. Limiting your keywords reduces irrelevant clicks and wasted ad spending. 

• Limiting locations- Google ads enable you to target customers from across the globe and, while showing your ad to a broad audience can seem like a good idea, it’s less effective than targeting specifically chosen locations. To get more out of your budget, limit where your ad shows. Rely on customer data to figure out exactly where your ads will convert most effectively.

• Limiting ad scheduling- By default, Google ads will show your ad at any time of the day or night. But that’s not always a good thing. Ad scheduling limits when your ads are displayed. This feature reduces irrelevant clicks and conserves your budget. Consider running your ads during waking hours, business hours or over the weekend, whenever your audience is online. Use the customer data you have worked so hard to collect. If you see most of your digital marketing leads coming in on weekends, schedule your ads to deliver then. If you found that your customers are weekday morning shoppers, have your ads show on weekday mornings. Google ads offer a fantastic ROI, but only if you use them strategically. 

What needs to be understood is that a higher budget does not always mean more sales. It’s entirely possible to make the most out of a small budget with just a few optimizations. Apply best practices to your Google ads campaign and make your budget work harder for you. 

Tips to budget and forecast Google ads efficiently  

1. Use conversion tracking

The best way to efficiently spend your budget is to use conversion tracking and conversion values. The best way to get the most out of Google ads is to use conversion tracking and to continue to optimize your campaigns over time. 

2. Focus on monthly results.

Set a monthly budget ahead of time. The way Google ads works is when you set your budget. Google is looking at driving you the most conversions over a month. So they are going to try to get the most out of each day. But if you are changing your budget and going up way too much too often for going up and down, it is going to affect your overall results with Google ads. Keep your budget similar, and if you are going to increase it or decrease it, do it gradually. 

3. Use the forecast tool in the Google keyword planner. 

Make sure you have a keyword list, choose your match type, set your conversions stats for your overall website, and review your forecast. 

4. Daily over-delivery

Some days your budget will be overspent. Google ads do this to improve performance. 

5. Shared budgets.

You can use shared budgets if you are running multiple campaigns and if you want to make sure you are spending a minimum amount per day, even if it has to be split between different campaigns. 

6. Recommended budgets

The Google ads recommended budgets can help you improve performance.

Digital tools and channels have become the great equalizer for companies in all industries, making it increasingly difficult to achieve both brand visibility and  competitive advantage. Paid advertising is undeniably necessary if you want to make sure you have every chance to compete with SERPs and convert customers. 

PPC can generate positive results and revenue for any brand, regardless of their budget. It is a cost-effective and efficient bidding model that allows you to manage your budget completely and in detail. With well-executed ads and strategic targeting options, PPC advertising helps you  target the right user at the right time and maximize your spend in the process. But according to Unbounce, 98% of advertisers waste money on ads.

It is not enough to recognize the benefits of PPC – you must be able to create and execute your campaigns effectively. It can often be  difficult  to master, so we decided to share with you small changes that can make a big difference in your PPC campaign.

 1. Split test ad text 

Running PPC campaigns is incredibly easy to manage and measure, but the initial setup is extensive, from creating audiences and keywords to setting budgets, choosing the right targeting options and finally creating the ads themselves . In this context, the ability to deploy and test multiple ad variations can seem  a bit tedious. However, if you take the time to test your ads, you can gain invaluable information that will show you the best approach for your PPC campaign and help you  maximize  conversion rates. 

The overall goal of any effective PPC campaign is to drive your audience to your landing page or social media profile and encourage them to take further action, whether it’s liking your brand’s Facebook page or buying a product. It’s easy to achieve with simple optimization, but it’s clear that only 22% of businesses are satisfied with their conversion rates.

 If possible, you should create at least two variations of the ad. The following elements are divided in the test: 

•  Titles: is a short and concise title more effective than a longer detailed title? 
•  Descriptions: Should you focus on product features and benefits or use your personas more creatively to try to pique the user’s curiosity? 
•  Call to Action: Is “Lean More” Slightly More Persuasive Than “Buy Now”? 

 By analyzing the effectiveness of each ad (it is recommended to run it for at least a week to measure more accurate results), you will eventually arrive at a copy that works perfectly! 

 2. Use images 

The effectiveness of text ads varies from campaign to campaign and depends on several factors, including  targeting options and overall goals. Since the launch of Google AdWords expanded text ads last year, advertisers have been able to communicate with potential customers in more detail using additional characters. In fact, most of them increased their click-through rates by at least 28%. 

However, an improved PPC campaign should include both text and image ads so that you can benefit from different types of content  and campaign messages. 

Image and video ads offer the perfect opportunity to present your brand in a visually impressive way. For example, on the Google Display Network,  you can choose and upload an image and your brand logo. On social media, native ads like Sponsored Updates fit seamlessly into a user’s news feed—and the likelihood of getting clicks increases exponentially when you include an image or video. It’s also a much more effective way to get your campaign message to mind – once people hear the information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of the information after three days. However, when the corresponding image is associated with the same information, people retained 65% of the information after three days.

Images is an exemplary way to increase engagement and expand your brand’s reach. For example,  beer brand Heineken Light created a Facebook video advertising campaign that reached 5% of the target audience (which was 35 million people) and increased brand awareness by 11% in just three days.

Beer brand Heineken Light created a Facebook video advertising campaign that reached 5% of the target audience (which was 35 million people) and increased brand awareness by 11% in just three days. 

 3. Organize Your Account Structure 

 Just like creating multiple ad variations, setting up your AdWords or Facebook account  can seem unnecessarily time-consuming, especially if you’re not starting from scratch. But if you want to ensure the best possible conversation  for your campaigns, this simple setup is essential. 

You should have multiple campaigns in your account to effectively track ad performance. A campaign, on the other hand, contains several different ad groups. Campaigns can be determined based on several factors, such as your overall budget or the geographic locations where you want to show your ads. For example, you might be an online fashion retailer whose largest customer segments are  in the UK and Ireland, and you might want to create two separate campaigns for those UK and Ireland customers. 

There are several ad groups in the campaign. It’s important to keep these ad groups  small and fluid. You may want to organize your ad groups so that you have one per product page or category, for example. The smaller your ad group, the more specific your keywords  and the more relevant your ad will be by default. 

Similarly, organizing keywords into ad groups for greater relevance is equally important if you want to achieve higher click-through rates and more results. 

Use Negative Keywords 

Another often overlooked but very important aspect of any PPC campaign is negative keywords. You can spend a lot of time researching keywords and trying to find the perfect balance between part, phrase and specific search, but what about the search terms  you don’t want associated with your ads and wasting your budget? Adding negative keywords is an important step because they maintain  high relevance for your campaign. 

A good starting point is to think of  phrases and keywords that you don’t want your ads to trigger and add them to your negative keyword. You can then take a more specific approach, such as adding keywords that may be similar to your chosen keywords, but are actually related to another product or service. 

By regularly reviewing your search term reports in Google AdWords, you can see how your ads are performing when driving real searches. Find out what terms unrelated to your brand have been used and you can quickly add them to your negative keyword.

With a global worth of a whopping $88 billion, the advertisement industry has been an arena of enormous prosperity ever since the advent of modern media. Mass media in itself was such a success and the reach of this beautiful industry across the globe was phenomenal. It becomes very trivial to a businessman that this platform could indeed play a pivotal role in growing their business. The spectacular reach of the media that was mentioned above went beyond imagination upon the advent of the internet. This is the moment entrepreneurs decided to exploit the wonderful opportunity of closely communicating with the consumer community and hence expanding their customer base.

The facts and figures regarding the growth of the advertising industry never fail to amaze critics. However, 90% of this growth is attributed to the two main giants of this industry: Google and Facebook. This sector is clearly under a duopoly. Both of these companies very strategically made it a point to establish their paid advertising domain dominant in the industry by consistently innovating themselves according to the needs of the users.

The competition is about to get really thrilling as the most popular eCommerce brand Amazon is making its mark by introducing its own paid advertisement domain: Amazon Ads. This will surely put enormous pressure on the current leaders: Facebook and Google as their new competitor is no mere rookie but powerful, global brands with a consumer community that is at par with these giants.

Even though paid advertising was available as an option to the vendors on amazon since 2012, the new API of Amazon has attracted several firms due to its self-advertising feature. This will surely throttle the growth and establishment of Amazon Ads in the advertising sector. A feature that could almost guarantee an incredible boost in the functionality, scope, and reach of the platform. The real question is “Can Amazon Ads really overtake Facebook and Google in the advertisement space with these features?”. To answer that question let’s first dwell on the various features of Amazon Ads.

Key Features:

Even though they are new to this space they did make a thunderous entry by putting a lot of focus into making this project innovative and appealing to the consumer community. Something that drew the attraction of several critics is the expansion of Amazon Ads beyond the evaluation and purchase stage of the buyer journey. With a wider Pay-Per-Click(PPC) based advertising setup the brands are given the comfort of creating and displaying targeted ads. This will break down the steps into almost 2 or 3 for the customer to place an order from an ad. This self-service feature added a very beautiful charm to this platform as it was something unique and something they never saw before in the advertisement space. They have also gained the attention of a  lot of people with the variety of promotion opportunities they provide.

Even though they have made these unique enhancements in a general aspect they have followed the same tactics as the previously established giants.  

Functionality

One of the basic requirements to utilize the full potential of amazon ads is to be a qualified member of the Buy Box. It is a white box that you can find at the right-hand end of the product page and it aids the customer to add suggested items directly into the cart hence preventing the hassle of redirecting to different product pages. It is also essential to own a Professional Seller Account or a Pro Merchant Account for a brand to use the various features provided by Amazon ads.

Sponsored Ad Reporting

Amazon ads crafted such an elegant feature to make sponsored ads more efficient and appealing. This was accomplished by adding the option of having a comprehensive reporting and analytical functionality which would allow brands to understand and study the success of their campaigns and hence optimize and find the best possible method to present their products and content.

The report was enhanced by adding the following elements:

• Detailed information on the performance of keywords and search terms
• Performance data and Campaign targeting data will be provided based on the results obtained from your active ads.
• Click Through Rate(CTR) performance of the advertised products
• Placement analytics will assist you with studying where the ads were placed or positioned 

Product Category Targeting

Product category Targeting is a marvelous option provided by Amazon Ads that has made the platform very favorable for various brands in the commercial industry. It facilitates the brands or marketers with the option of selecting the specific categories relevant to the product they wish to advertise. However, these categories will be pre-determined by Amazon. This function will aid in making your product stand out and will draw more focus and attention to your advertisement. Hence making it much more relevant and attractive for the target audience.

Can Amazon Ads really take over?

Amazon Ads has surely entered tough competition. However, their fresh and innovative ideas have surely given them the early push to slowly catch up and maybe even get ahead. The only obstacle in its path is the customer’s perception. Being an e-shopping platform customers often visit Amazon with a product in mind and hence their focus will mostly be on that category of products. It is rare to see someone just browsing through Amazon to see what’s new or what’s up! So they will surely have to put a lot of effort into adding more and more features to boost themselves to new heights. They will have to find new ways to be more appealing to the customer and draw their attention to the variety of products they provide.

Being a pre-established brand in the eCommerce industry and being one of the most popular ones amongst them, Amazon’s new advertisement platform has already captured the attention of many big brands like L’Oreal. It was reported by the gift experience business Buyagift, that there was a wonderful increase of 79% in exposure and reach through Amazon ads optimization.

Even though the platform has only just been introduced, the immense potential and bright future of Amazon Ads are indeed captivating. Hungry for success, they are surely trying to raise the bar of the competition. With such healthy competition the already dominant competitors Facebook and Google shall also improve and innovate themselves. Hence without any doubt, we could guarantee that the growth of the advertisement industry will surely leave the world bedazzled in the coming years as well.