After advertisers set their online marketing strategies at the beginning of the year, the next step is operational implementation. Each year is filled with various events: custom events, holidays, and universal actions such as Black Friday. Which events could be relevant in this year’s online marketing diary, we summarized already in January in a blog post visually.
In this blog post, we’ll talk about what you can do to promote upcoming Google AdWords marketing promotions.
Depending on how much time is available for implementation, we have structured the measures as follows:
Ad extensions can be created relatively quickly for the upcoming actions, be it extensions with additional information (English: Callouts) or offer extensions. If Shopping campaigns are already in use, Merchant Promotions are the answer. If there is a specific end date for an action, it can be communicated to text ads via the countdown function. More time consuming is usually feed-based ads, but experience has shown that only the initial setup takes more time. Do you already have the setup, consisting of a data feed in business data and ad templates in the account, so can create specific text ads for the action relatively quickly. The ads with the IF function are not rocket science. However, because the text ads are meant to communicate a specific message to specific audiences, it takes time to formulate the ads. More time should also be allocated to setting up separate campaigns for specific remarketing audiences or display campaigns. The above-mentioned structuring according to the time required is relatively subjective. How much time you actually spend on each action depends on many factors: the extent of the action, your experience and expertise, and whether all the information or creativity are already available to you.
Now for the details!
- Ad extensions
Ad extensions let you add additional information to existing campaigns or ad groups. Prior to the bid extension era, advertisers were able to communicate actions with additional information extensions. In 2017, Google introduced a separate format for promotion – promotion extensions or offer extensions. This allows the actions to be set up in just a few minutes. - Shopping Merchant Promotions
Also, shopping campaigns can be enriched by the offer extension or Merchant Promotions. These visually differentiate shopping ads from competing ads and point potential buyers to value-added such as discounts, shipping benefits. If you already have a Shopping campaign, all you have to do is complete the Merchant Promotions application form to unlock the feature in Merchant Center. After the activation of Merchant Promotions, you can create the offers. There are two ways to do this:
Via the Promotion Tool, which is integrated directly in the Merchant Center: This approach is recommended if you have a small number of offers. With the help of the promotion tool you have to submit the following information:
Offer ID: This is the unique name of the action and must be assigned to the corresponding items in the product data feed in the next step. For this, the attribute “promotion_id” must be created in the product data feed. Like:- Destination country and language
- Title
- Coupon code, if there is one, but not a must
- For which products is the offer is valid
- All products
- Certain products
- Validity period
- Offer Feed
- Create a bid feed:
This can be a spreadsheet that includes all offers. The path is advisable if you have a large number of offers. In order to create a Merchant Promotion, the first step is to create necessary attributes in the product data feed. These attributes contain relevant information on the respective action: In the second step, the offer ID (promotion_id) must be assigned to the corresponding items in the product data feed. For this, you have to create the attribute “promotion_id” in the product data feed. - Countdown Ads:
The countdown ads allow advertisers to put pressure on the action. The feature can only be used in text ads. The setup is done via the {braces}. In the open window, the settings, the date, the language, and the time zone can be defined. - Feed-based Ad Customizers:
Feed-based ads can be used to prepare tailor-made advertising messages in different variants. About the function, we have written a detailed blog post. In short, this is done in three steps: Once the attributes have been defined and the data has been uploaded to AdWords under the business data, the next step is to create an ad template. This is done by opening a {brace} and selecting “Ad customization”.The setup can be time-consuming, especially if you are using it for the first time. If you have considered a workflow and prepared a table with necessary attributes for the upcoming actions and created ad templates, the ads with action-specific information can be adapted and promoted relatively quickly. - Displays with the IF function:
With the IF function, specific advertising messages in-text ads can be targeted to specific audiences. There are currently two targeting options available: Device and Remarketing Audience. Possible applications:- Only appeal to buyers or drop-outs with a customized promotional message
- Talk to users who are looking for specific products via smartphones
The setup also takes place via the {braces}. The “IF function” appears in the opened window. There you can define the relevant orientation for you. Note the list scope of the target groups for the search: Only from 1000 users in the respective remarketing list can the delivery work.
- RLSA Generic Keyword Campaigns:
Are general keywords like “gifts”, “Christmas gifts” and the like coming? in question, it is recommended to put these keywords in a (separate) remarketing campaign for search. It’s important to select the “Orientation” setting (formerly “Targeting and bidding”) to target only the predefined audience. This will avoid wastage and target the users most likely to complete an action. - Display campaign (with or without remarketing lists):
For special events, banners can attract attention to relevant audiences using banner ads. As a result, you do not rely solely on the pull strategy – that is, users specifically enter search queries on Google. This will also create awareness for your brand or action and generate the demand that you can pick up via search. There are many targeting options available: placements, interests, keywords, remarketing, similar audiences, and demographics. What you need for the campaign, you read in this blog post.
For performance evaluation, it’s a good idea to consider not just click conversions, but view-through conversions as well. As a result, you not only take into account the clicks that led to a purchase, but also the impressions that triggered a later purchase.
