It’s hard to have a conversation about modern marketing without discussing artificial intelligence first.
For those in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, the rise of AI is an exciting and enigmatic prospect which can genuinely take your PPC system to greater levels of success than you’ve experienced before.
Research from Google on the impact of AI on PPC advertising certainly shows promise, as AI-driven ads get more engagement, making users 155% more likely to be attracted to a brand.
As AI continues to advance, human errors will be reduced, and your PPC system will be optimized to perfection if you know how to harness this power.
4 benefits of AI for your PPC system
- Increase returns with smart bidding
- Optimize your spending through smart display campaigns
- Align your ads with in-market audiences
- Keyword play in PPC system
AI and your PPC system today
Technology isn’t going to stand still for long, which means AI is only getting started. While the possibilities are already immense, PPC managers do need to remain wary about handing over total control of their campaigns.
Innovative technologies and processes like big data and machine learning are still in their infancy, and humans are still a big part of the process. Without people, you can’t truly tap into the potential of data. Furthermore, this is a customer-centric era where personalization and brand integrity count for a lot. If your business is being run by AI, you risk losing that transparency in your PPC system and with your customers.
Automation is an incredible asset in modern marketing and advertising. Now, humans and computers can share tasks, enabling us to make more efficient use of our time and capabilities. As the world moves forward into an increasingly digital future, the machines are likely to usurp more tasks from humans.
We can already see how the average PPC system is evolving, as Google Ads is embracing automation and AI in a big way. For example, advertisers can now use Dynamic Key Insertion (DKI) and Smart Campaigns to optimize their PPC efforts.
4 benefits of AI for your PPC system
With the inevitable digital transformation ahead, PPC managers have little choice but to prepare for the future of advertising – a future where your PPC system is heavily-influenced by AI technology.
It may seem daunting, but rest assured it is a smart move. Here are four great benefits of AI for pay-per-click advertising.
In Google Ads, smart bidding is a machine learning system that devises bidding strategies based on its in-depth analysis of huge datasets. Google considers a range of signals to develop a clear understanding of your target audience and how to convert them.
With AI at the forefront, you can use smart bidding strategies like:
- Max Conversions
- Target CPA (Cost per acquisition)
- Target ROAS (Return on ad spend)
- Enhanced CPC (Cost per click)
While smart bidding strategies are optimized for success, it will take some time for this type of PPC system to garner the data, and learn about your audience. Soon enough results will come.
Do you fancy kicking your feet up and letting Google’s AI control your campaign? If you’re more comfortable with letting the robots do the work, then Smart Display Campaigns may be for you.
There are quite a few companies who have already had success with this, such as the travel company, Trivago. The hotel search platform reaped a 36% growth in conversions by using this tactic.
All you have to do is set your budget and your target CPA, then hand your PPC system to Google’s AI and let it work its magic!
No doubt you’ve encountered personalized product recommendations by now. How good does it feel when you visit an online retail store and the exact product or brand you want pops up? This is AI at work.
For marketers, being able to use this feature is a great way of engaging prospects, as you can leverage machine learning-based systems to learn more about the needs and interests of your in-market audiences. Soon enough, your PPC system will be closely aligned with consumer interests and purchasing behaviors, allowing you to make the right offer to the right person, at the right time.
Modern marketers have a great selection of sophisticated tools for keyword research. Unfortunately, the search queries they choose to target can still be influenced by personal preference. You may pick one keyword over another simply because you think you know more about your business or your audience than the software does.
With AI integrated into your PPC system, you can eliminate any cognitive bias to get an edge on your competitors. By trusting AI to take care of your keywords, you can have PPC campaigns that will continually update and improve in line with competitor activities and consumer trends.
A superior PPC system has humans and AI working together
The future of AI and PPC together holds vast potential, yet there’s no guarantee that every business will make a success of this powerful double-act.
PPC professionals must get educated on the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence. As AI will invariably automate more tasks in the future, you should develop your skill set in a way that will complement this technology.
By doing this, your business will get the most out of humans and AI together, effectively guaranteeing that your PPC system will be destined for great things in the age of AI.
Google is leveraging machine learning (ML) to provide automation in Google Ads. With the help of this automation, a PPC manager can now optimize a PPC campaign in no time. Thus, a PPC manager has more time available to measure and improve results.
Related: Check out PPCexpo’s library of reports to help you measure and improve the results of your PPC campaigns! |
Want to learn about other ways AI can help your business strategy? Read about how martech is helping AI marketing in 2019!