It’s fair to say that 2020 was a very unusual year, which made Paid Media Advertising even more unpredictable than ever before. Many businesses had to change and adapt to the new reality which affected their internal marketing strategies and budgets.
Even though 2021 is still full of uncertainty, there are a couple of trends we expect to see this year that might help you with planning your PPC strategy.
1. Less Visibility on Data
You’re probably aware of the changes made in September 2020 by Google Ads, when they restricted visibility on search terms data in their reports. According to Google, the search terms report will now only include terms that a significant number of users searched for, even if a term received a click. Unfortunately, this is going to continue in 2021, however, there are a couple of things advertisers can do to limit the impact of reduced keyword visibility in Google Ads:
- Find missing search terms in Google Analytics under Acquisition > Google Ads > Search Queries
- Create a granular campaign structure and make sure your campaigns are split by match type
- Pay more attention to negative keyword lists and update them more frequently
- Review search terms in Microsoft Ads
- Put more trust in Automated Bidding
2. No More BMM (Broad Match Modified)
In February 2021 Google decided to phase out Modified Broad Match which is going to be a huge change for most paid search marketers. What will happen to BMM? Phrase match will now expand to cover those instances. The below example shows how this new matching mechanism will work.
While this change has started being rolled out in the middle of February, broad match modified keywords can continue to be added until July 2021.
What should paid search managers do?
Don’t make any rushed decisions, as the changes are being rolled out slowly. However, if you are using BMM match types, you can slowly begin to migrate BMM keywords over to Phrase over the next couple of months.
3. Automation
This trend continues on from 2020 as automation becomes a very important part of Paid Advertising in 2021. The reason for this is that automation can genuinely help to make running paid campaigns more effective and less time-consuming. So if you’re still using Manual Bidding, you should certainly consider testing automated bidding strategies as soon as you can. Same with automated rules and scripts – make sure you’re taking advantage of them to make your work a little simpler and more efficient.
4. Amazon Ads
Amazon’s paid ads market will be one of the biggest markets for paid ads in 2021 alongside Facebook and Google. The current situation in the world has certainly had an impact on Amazon’s success as more and more people now shop online. It is a great platform with many benefits, one of which is the customer’s high intent, as most people browsing on Amazon are prepared to buy almost immediately. If you have an eCommerce brand and you’re looking to boost your sales in 2021, you should certainly consider advertising on Amazon.
5. Perfect Ad Messages & Ad Formats
Having a great campaign structure, the right bidding strategy or the most relevant keywords will not necessarily bring you the desired results. A big part of the success of any PPC ads is the right messaging to the right people and at the right time. There are a couple of things you can do to ensure the perfect ad messaging:
- Make sure your ad copy is relevant to your target audience. You should have a different message to those who are familiar with your brand and those who aren’t
- Include the most valuable information that will help customers make a decision and choose your brand above others
- Include keywords in the Headlines and Descriptions
- Add useful information using ad extensions to make your ads more engaging
Another trend that’s worth mentioning is that Google is planning to phase out Expanded Text Ads in 2021 and move towards Responsive Search Ads. These types of ads have seen huge success in recent years delivering strong CTR’s and CPCs which explains Google’s decision. With this in mind, you should ensure you’re making use of RSAs in the best possible way by adding the most valuable information to multiple headlines and descriptions and keeping an eye on their performance.
6. Paying attention to Mobile
This trend played a huge part in 2020, yet so many websites are still not fully optimised for mobile and hence why, are missing out on many potential clients, as people are spending more time on their phones than ever before.
Having a mobile optimised site, not only is a ranking factor but a great way to boost site traffic & user engagement. So if you didn’t include working on your mobile site in your digital strategy for 2021, you definitely should!
Summary
Paid Advertising industry is constantly growing & developing and that’s why it is so important to keep up to date with all the latest news and trends. We hope you found the information from this blog useful and that you will be able to implement at least some of those recommendations in your accounts.
If you however feel like you need assistance with your paid media accounts, feel free to get in touch with our team and we will be able to help you.
