As 2022 progresses and the difficulties posed by the pandemic continue to recede, businesses are looking to switch their focus more to thriving rather than just surviving.
There have been plenty of changes in the landscape over the last few years and as a result, you’ll find the average PPC consultant London starting to assess their strategies and change their tactics, while marketers are reconsidering their plans and approaches to raising both awareness of their brand and revenue too.
Hiring a PPC agency in London is, if anything, more relevant than ever, but how do the experts see PPC evolve over the coming years?
In this article, we'll explore the top trends in PPC development according to some of the most renowned industry experts in the PPC sector. Let’s see what 2022 holds for PPC advertising.
Google’s Partner Status is now linked to automated optimisation, which is inevitably making the PPC process more automated. Agencies must employ techniques that increase expenditure, which is beneficial to clients because the process becomes more efficient and ads can be optimised more frequently than they were when subject to manual approaches.
The disadvantage, of course, is that some automated methods such as Smart Shopping campaigns are less effective longer term than Maximise Clicks or target CPA (cost per action).
It looks likely that longer term, the future of search will be in visual and voice methods, with the emphasis shifting towards image extensions and voice search. With pronunciation enhancements entering search to capitalise on informal dialects, it’s anticipated this trend will continue.
In terms of how to gain the biggest advantage in the field, whether you’re managing your own campaigns or you are thinking of hiring a PPC agency in London to work on your behalf, industry experts suggest you focus on the following:
– Producing efficient responsive search ads.
– Segmenting and targeting your audience.
– Overlaying first-party data.
– Diversifying your keyword pool and campaign pool.
– Using testing as much as possible to monitor and adjust your strategies.
In 2022, experts predict there will be increased focus on first-party data as advertisers are pushed to migrate toward a ’cookieless’ environment. This is equally relevant to driving the retargeting of existing consumers and to build acquisition through lookalikes, among other techniques. It’s good news if you or your client already holds a great deal of first-party data and the processes in place to syndicate such information to platforms like Facebook and Google. On the other hand, though, this is going to make the terrain more difficult for start-ups and niche brands - their ability to locate and attract potential consumers on platforms like Facebook will be severely hampered by the change.
However, first-party data has its own problems. Apple has now introduced iOS 15, one of the features of which is to allow customers to conceal their email addresses when they sign up to receive alerts and so on. As a result, even your first-party data will no longer correspond with Facebook or Google accounts.
Of course, this is only an issue with a small number of Apple customers at the moment. But it seems likely that other platforms will follow suit. As a result, many businesses may be forced to rethink their digital acquisition techniques over the next year and beyond.
Cookies and other tracking technologies have long been used by marketers to provide relevant advertising across the entire consumer journey. However, while big players like Google and Apple are taking steps to restrict access to consumers’ data, Facebook is being pressured to modify the way it targets users, which has thus far relied on the data it’s gathered about them.
With the web heading towards cookie-free surfing, businesses are going to have to overcome their reliance on third-data and instead use first-party data they’ve collected directly from their consumers. As a result, PPC will increasingly focus on consumers in the later stages of their buying journey.
Without access to third-party data, advertisers will be forced to rely on anonymised data, machine learning, and predictive analytics to engage effectively with consumers at earlier stages of the customer journey. In addition, we'll see an increase in contextual targeting that is based on anonymised user behaviour during the current session.
Google’s smart bidding algorithm has continued to improve and prove itself worthy of trust within the PPC community, so some experts say it’s time to really concentrate efforts in this area. A good PPC agency in London will put effort in to fully explore and understand what different smart bidding techniques may or may not achieve and with what cost and benefits to clients.
Alongside the effects of the shift to first-party focus with the deadline for third-party cookies closing in as 2023 approaches, PPC experts should be thinking of how businesses can acquire more first-party data so they can better understand their consumers' behaviour. Expect a lot of emphasis on planning and making use of every data touchpoint available, as well as exploring alternatives to cookies. For example, some big businesses are using their own consumer data to help suppliers and agencies become more informed about consumer behaviour and how to target them.
In 2022, it’s the most flexible and versatile of PPC consultants in London who will prosper. Taking on board third-party platforms and reports that provide real-time data on performance, competition, pricing, and other factors will all add to success this year. Because the pandemic has brought so many changes to the landscape, it will be the most agile of consultants, those that can react quickest to changes in government regulation, what’s happening in their markets and industries, and have alternative plans to deal with a wide variety of outcomes who will be most successful this year.
