Digital marketing is notoriously one of the fastest moving industries in the world, and PPC might be its fastest evolving discipline. With Google updates, advances in automation and more nuanced understandings of consumer behaviour and the customer journey, it can often feel like it’s hard to stay ahead of the game.
As we get into the swing of 2022, we take a look at some of the trends and changes that are set to shape the PPC landscape. Whether you’re looking to step up your campaigns or just stay informed, we’ve got you covered.
Diversifying your Channels
Many marketers will be feeling confident with their Facebook and Google campaigns, but the advertising landscape is continuing to grow and expand. With advertising options on other social media channels such as LinkedIn, or even other networks such as Bing and Amazon, 2022 is the year to consider your advertising suite. Knowledge of your target audience is crucial here. Your PPC campaigns will be most effective on the channels where your audience actually spend their time. If they’re most active on LinkedIn, then investing in LinkedIn advertising should be a priority for your marketing strategy.
As marketers begin to re-evaluate which channel will actually be the most profitable and successful for them, we’ll likely see the PPC landscape change quite a lot. With more businesses turning some of their spend away from the monoliths of Google and Facebook, we may see other platforms expanding their offering in response to greater investment.
Responding to Voice Search
Experts have been touting voice search as the Next Big Thing for the last few years, and while it’s not exploded in the way that many were expecting, the way that consumers use voice search will begin to shape the way that brands put together their keyword targeting. As consumers have built their relationships with smart devices (including their smartphones!), they have become more comfortable talking to their Alexa, or even just using Siri to search hands-free. This means that there are some new customer behaviours arising relating to how consumers use search engines and how they’re looking for information.
The biggest change to be aware of is that voice search queries tend to be much more conversational than their written counterparts. This means that, for those looking to ramp up their voice search-specific PPC activity, you’ll want to put some investment towards longtail keyword terms. You’ll also need to consider the stage of the funnel that these searches tend to appear in: more often than not, you’ll find that voice searches are upper-funnel activity.
The Demise of Third-Party Data
It’s been a long time coming, but Google’s push to phase out the third party cookie is coming to an end. In response to calls for increased privacy for users, Google has decided to phase out the third-party cookie on its browsers and in advertising. Third-party cookies are tracking codes set up so that an advertiser can learn more about a user’s online behaviour as they navigate the web. While first-party cookies are still fine, as the data that is collected is specifically related to your website, following your visitors around the web raises privacy concerns for users.
Fortunately, many marketers saw this change coming, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t see an impact. If you haven’t already shifted to using primarily first-party data, this is something that you should be prioritising. You’ll also need to look into how you can gather more first-party information from your visitors in order to keep up with past targeting strategies or creative optimisations.
Investing in Video
Video marketing has quickly proved to be one of the most effective ways of engaging your audience in recent years. With snappy formats, eye-catching visuals, and easy shareability, video ads will assert increasing dominance over the landscape in the year ahead. In particular, social media advertisers stand to gain a lot here, as video has already shown increased prominence on channels such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
If driving engagement and brand awareness is the goal, video advertising should be high on your priority list. They’re a brilliant way to stand out from the crowd, and research also suggests that they are seen to be more memorable and trustworthy. With both YouTube and social media offering exciting opportunities to explore video content, it’s more than likely that we will see more businesses embracing this format in the year ahead.
What Will PPC Look Like In 2022?
From what we’ve seen, the world of PPC will take a different shape in 2022. It’ll be a more diverse landscape that sees increased investment in non-traditional channels. It’ll be more conversational; with advertisers taking advantage of the power of voice search with more long-tail keywords and tailored ad copy. It’ll be more privacy-focused; designed to be useful to the consumer, but not “creepy”. It’ll see video rising to the top and commanding more of our budgets and time. Lastly, perhaps most importantly, it’ll still be an incredibly profitable marketing channel for brands; providing huge opportunities for marketers who invest, and invest well.
To help you navigate the changing waters of PPC, specialist PPC agencies can offer an overwhelming amount of support. From in-depth knowledge and best practices to guidance on the latest trends, they can help to unlock the real potential behind this incredibly lucrative channel.
