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New Forecasting Tool for Video Action Campaigns in Google Ads Reach Planner

New Forecasting Tool for Video Action Campaigns in Google Ads Reach Planner

by | Dec 1, 2022 | Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Facebook Ads Strategist, Google, Google Ads, small business

Great news for those of us who use video action campaigns in Google Ads Reach Planner! A new forecasting tool is now available that will help us predict conversions, views, reach, and impressions metrics. This launch makes it easier than ever to plan our campaigns and get the most out of our ad spend. Let’s take a look at how this new tool works and how it can benefit our businesses.

How the Forecasting Tool Works

The forecasting tool is based on trends in the ad market and the historical performance of similar campaigns. This data is then used to predict how your campaign might perform, based on your desired audience, budget, and other settings such as geographic location and ad formats. The tool provides advertisers with a forecast for Conversions, Views, Reach, and Impressions.

This launch provides the option to select “Action – Online Conversions” as a goal when setting up your plans in Reach Planner. You can also add Video Action Campaigns to your existing plans. With this valuable information at our fingertips, we can make more informed decisions about our ad spend and get the most out of our video action campaigns.

Benefits of Using the Forecasting Tool

The benefits of using the forecasting tool are numerous. Perhaps most importantly, it saves time by taking the guesswork out of planning our campaigns. It also allows us to make adjustments to our budgets and settings based on real data, rather than estimates. This ensures that we are getting the most bang for our buck and making the most informed decisions possible about our advertising efforts.

So why wait? Start using the forecasting tool today and see how it can benefit your business!

If you would like to have a chat with me about running Google or Facebook ads for your business, book a meeting in my diary or email me at hello@Satsuma-Digital.com

 

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3 Google Ad Changes That Could Break Your Campaigns

3 Google Ad Changes That Could Break Your Campaigns

by | Feb 7, 2022 | Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Google, Google Ads, Online Marketing, small business, social media

Google likes to mix things up a bit. You just get used to one change when you are faced with a host of new changes. In this blog I have explained the last 3 major changes that Google have made, how it will affect your campaigns and what you can do to ensure that you campaigns continue to run smoothly.

Bye Bye Exact Match Keywords

Gone are the days, annoyingly, that you could add an exact match keyword into your campaign and trust that your ads will only appear when the user types exactly those words into Google. 

It used to be the case that if a user typed in “Google Ads Agency”, they would expect to see the ads of campaigns that had entered these exact words as keywords.  Now Google include user intent in the search results. If Google believes that the user is looking for a Google Ads Agency and that was their intent, then your ad will appear. These are called “close variants”. 

Google defines them as: 

Close variants allow keywords to match to searches that are similar, but not identical to the targeted keyword, and help you connect with people who are looking for your business—despite slight variations in the way they search—reducing the need to build out exhaustive keyword lists to reach these customers.

Satsuma Digital Recommendation: check your search term reports regularly so that you can identify any irrelevant searches and add them to your negative keyword list. 

Modified Broad Match 

In 2021, Google got rid of Modified Broad Match keywords. These used to be added with plus signs on either side meaning that your ad would show if all the words within the plus signs were entered and in any order. 

Google now recommend that advertisers put their trust in Broad Match keywords.

According to Google: 

“Broad Match keywords serve ads when someone searches for relevant variations of your keyword delivers reach in finding new queries, while saving time on management & allowing you to focus on business outcomes.”

Satsuma Digital Recommendation: If you are starting a new campaign, just use Exact Match and Phrase Match keywords. Broad Match keywords will cast the net to wide and will result in wasted budget. Keep an eye on the search terms on a regular basis and keep adding to your negative keyword report. 

Expanded Text Ads Will Be No More

In June this year, there will no option to create Expanded Text Ads. The only option available will be Responsive Search Ads in a standard search campaign.

There has been a mixed reactions to this major change. A lot of advertisers are concerned by the lack of control that they will have over their brand message. Although Google is not taking control of the copy, just the order of the copy. 

Satsuma Digital Recommendation: One option to overcome this is to pin them. Just make exactly 3 headlines and 2 descriptions in the RSA and pin all of them.  But don’t over pin as this could affect your ad strength – so use it sparingly. 

I hope this blog has clearly explained to you the major changes that have happened and are happening in 2022 with Google Ads.  I will keep the updates coming as soon as they are released by Google and explain how they will affect your campaigns and what you can do to ensure that you campaigns continue to run smoothly.

Signing off for now.

If you would like to have a chat with me about running Google or Facebook ads for your business, book a meeting in my diary or email me at hello@Satsuma-Digital.com

 

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ECommerce: Top Tips for a successful Christmas season

ECommerce: Top Tips for a successful Christmas season

by | Sep 8, 2021 | Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Facebook, Facebook Ads, Google, Google Ads, Online Marketing, Pay Per Click, PPC, small business, social media

The season is almost upon us, particularly if you run an eCommerce website. 

Not a lot of people know but I ran an eCommerce site for 11 years, until 2018, so I remember the stress of it all. I recall getting orders in August for Christmas! Realistically though, mid-October is when the sales start to ramp up. The biggest weekend is the Black Friday through to Cyber Monday, (26th-29th November 2021), and then it’s just head down, have no life to speak of until a few days before Christmas Day, when you cannot guarantee Christmas delivery anymore. Phew!

I remember those months well and am quite happy I do not have to deal with the stress anymore but on the same token, when you look back in January and look at how much you have sold, it makes it all worthwhile!

One important lesson I did learn from those 11 years was that if you were not prepared for the season, it could easily pass you by.

So, when it comes to setting up your ad campaigns, whether they be Google ads or Facebook & Instagram ads, here are my top 7 tips to help you make the most of the season and look back in January proud at what you have achieved. 

1. Become your customer

Place an order on your website, on mobile and on desktop. How easy was it? Did it work fast enough? Was everything clear? Were there too many hoops to jump through that would put a potential customer off. All sales should be able to be completed from adding to basket to completing the checkout process in a few clicks.

Is your refund & shipping policy displayed clearly on the website? Are there customer reviews showing on the site? Make it as easy as possible for the user to trust your business.

2. Allocate your budget now

How much are you placing where? What is your revenue goal? Set you KPIs. Be aware the costs of advertising rise in this period due to competition, consider this in your plans.

3. Create a promotional calendar

According to Google one third of festive weekend purchases were driven specifically by promotion. Synch up your social media posts and emails with your promotional calendar so that there is correlation across all the channels.

4. Make sure you know your customer

This is integral when you are running Facebook/Instagram campaigns. Knowing your customer leads to lower advertising costs!

5. Facebook

With Facebook test as much copy as your budget will allow and keep a close eye on it. Switch off ads that are not working, feed in new copy all the time.

6. Google

With Google, keep an eye on those negative keywords, you do not want to be paying for irrelevant clicks!

7. Check your accounts daily

Whichever channel you use, whether it be Google ads or Facebook/Instagram ads, keep checking the accounts daily. Cap costs to ensure that you are not overspending and be prepared to change direction if the stats are telling you to do so. Don’t be over emotional with your brand and push a category because you ‘think’ that’s what your customers want. Read the stats, understand them, and adapt your campaign accordingly.

Good Luck!!

I have been running Google, Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns for my clients since 2019. If you need any help with your campaigns, contact me and we can set up a meeting.

Natasha Fitzpatrick

Google Ads & Paid Social Strategist

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iOS 14 and its impact on Facebook advertisers

iOS 14 and its impact on Facebook advertisers

by | Feb 2, 2021 | Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Facebook, Facebook Ads, small business, social media

We have all heard about the Apple’s new iOS 14 updates which are being rolled out in January – but is it all doom and gloom for Facebook advertisers?

The short answer is we don’t know. Until the update is completely rolled out, we will not know exactly how it affect our campaigns. What we do know though is this is that iOS 14 will enable users to control how apps and websites track users – downside for users is, if they stop these apps and websites from tracking them, they will still get advertised to, but just with irrelevant products, which is more annoying!

To add to this, the ad attribution window is decreasing to 7 days and the number of events  you can get data from are limited to 8. 

What can you do?

If you are running ads for your business, here is what we suggest you do for the time being until it is fully rolled out

  • Enable the Conversions API and turn on Advanced Matching – Conversion API essentially allows your website to send data directly to Facebook without involving the user’s browser. 
  • Update your privacy policy to include the use of hashed data
  • Verify your domain with Facebook – this will allow you track up to 8 events

When this fully rolled out and we see how this effects campaigns, we will back with a more in-depth analysis.

By Natasha Fitzpatrick

Natasha is a Paid Social Strategist & Founder of Satsuma Social. She specialises helping growing business increase sales and generate leads.

Find out how Natasha can help your business 

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6 reasons why a small eCommerce business should run Facebook ads

6 reasons why a small eCommerce business should run Facebook ads

by | Oct 9, 2020 | eCommerce, Facebook, Facebook Ads, small business, social media

Running a small business is tough at the best of times. Throw in a pandemic and a recession and the pressures to succeed just mount. So, when it comes to allocating marketing budget, the margins are not there to fail and a scattergun approach is just not an option.

Facebook & Instagram ads, managed well, have always been a cost-effective way to get new business. I have highlighted some of the reasons below. As we get into the busiest selling season of the year, it would be worth setting aside a portion of your marketing budget run these ads.

Here are 6 reasons why you should be running Facebook ads:

1. Your audience is on Facebook
With over 2.7 billion monthly active users as of the 2nd quarter of 2020, (37million of these in the UK), Facebook is undoubtably the biggest and busiest network in the world.  Your customers are on there. While they swipe up, your business can appear in front of them but specifically targeted at your ideal client through audience targeting. (point 3)

2. Facebook ads are cheap
Facebook ads work out cheaper than many other social advertising as long as you are managing them right. Once Facebook gets to know who your ideal audience is, your ads can become even cheaper as Facebook finds it easier to find your ideal client using the knowledge they have gathered so far.

3. Targeting is laser focused
One of the unique selling points of Facebook ads is that you can laser focus your targeting so only the people who are your ideal client will see your ads. You can narrow the audience down by gender, age, geography and a host of many other interest-based options, ensuring that your ads are seem by the people who are most likely to buy your product.

4. You can create retargeting funnels to increase sales
You can create retargeting funnels so you can retarget previous engagers of your ads with further ads to push them over the line and buy from you. This is highly effective is increasing those sales!

5. You can convert a highly effective audience into a new highly effective audience
If you have managed to create a highly effective audience that buys off you, then you can create a ‘Lookalike’ audience on Facebook. Facebook will match the original audience with a whole new audience of people that are similar to your seed audience who you can then start advertising to.

6. Valuable analytics
Facebook offers in depth analytics and tracking so that you can analyse what has worked, what has not worked, so that you can then tweak or push certain creative, audiences etc. This limits budget wastage and ensures that you are spending your money wisely.

By Natasha Fitzpatrick

Natasha is Facebook Ads Strategist specialising in helping businesses increase sales and generate leads.

Find out how Natasha can help your business 

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