Google Adwords is Google’s advertising service, whereby businesses can display their adverts on Google itself and its advertising network. This advertising system allows businesses to pay for adverts that have been clicked, otherwise known as “pay per click advertising.” A digital marketing agency that has been in business for some time has utilized Adwords in its digital marketing campaign in one way or another, due to the wide exposure this platform offers.

Google is always changing and improving its Adwords systems. Changes and updates by Google in its Adwords systems means that there are new ways for digital marketing agencies to improve on their campaign or to perform them in a different way. It is important for any digital ad agency to be conversant with these updates, because they can be very useful in giving you the platform you need to grow your business.

What are the new Google Adwords updates and how can they help you grow your business? Here is a comprehensive answer:

New Structured Snippets/Ad Extensions

The new Ad extensions allow businesses to post more information about their products or services alongside an ad. These new extensions are enabled by dynamic structured snippets, which allow digital marketing agencies to select the information they would like their target audiences to see. By using these snippets, you can now highlight your brand or your specialization, alongside your advert.

This additional structured information will show directly below your ad, hence giving viewers a sense of what they expect to find on your website before they click on your link. In this fast-paced world, these new snippets allow you to broadcast key information at the moment when it matters most (right before a viewer decides which ad to click on).

An example of an ad with these extensions would be a store that sells window shatters. The headline of the advert may read “Elegant window shutters,” while the second line of the ad can list the various styles available and the third line can list the services your business offers such as “custom made”, or “installation.”

Ad extensions are used by Google to determine your ad rank, so by properly making use of these new extensions you can gain “top rank.” Also, Google created structured snippets which allow businesses to announce their special deals during the holiday shopping period, when sales are usually high.

Call-Only Campaigns

These campaigns allow businesses to place their phone numbers on their ads, in the form of a “call button”(call out extensions). These Call-Only campaigns were developed as a result of the increasing number of web users who searched for businesses on their mobile device, and then call the business they were interested in instantly. Of course, not all companies will find this feature beneficial, but for those who work in the dentistry, auto repair shops and in sectors where appointments are important, call-only campaigns are invaluable.

Call-only campaigns highlight the key points of your advertisement while placing your phone number on the headline of the ad, which when clicked, will automatically be transferred to a call; hence making it easy for a potential client to call you. Because these ads appear on mobile phones that are capable of making calls, you can make an appropriate bid based on the number of calls you intend to receive, and how important each call is to your business.

True View for Shopping and True View Cards

The true view cards and the True view for shopping are both Adwords’ features, which enhance ad videos by making them more engaging and interactive for your viewers. With True view cards, a digital ad agency can now create videos with more information on the company’s brand or the company itself. This feature, also allows you to direct viewers to your website using your ad. What makes true view cards a valuable feature is that it allows videos to show on smart TVs and mobile devices. Advertisers, can, therefore, create a single video to run across all media platforms without having to constantly configure the ad.

On the other hand, TrueView for shopping, allows advertisers to add specific images and details to their video ad. Users are also able to purchase products from the video ad or your business website. You can also link your Google Merchant Center account to your ad videos, to add more product videos when necessary.

The updates made by Google on TrueView video also allow advertisers to know exactly how many views they have received, and how many lead to some form of interaction. For instance, did the viewer seek to know more by clicking on the card, or did they simply watch the video? This knowledge allows for better planning of ad campaigns and also when making bids.

New Ad Formats for the Gaming App Industry

Research indicates that about 41% of all apps that were downloaded in 2015 were games; this clearly shows that the gaming app industry is quickly growing. However, research also shows that one out of every four downloaded and installed app is never used. Therefore, game developers must focus on acquiring many users, and keeping them engaged in their game apps even as their interest fades. As a result of this need, Google added new features into their Adwords, to make it easier for those in the gaming industry to reach the right audience.

One of the upgrades is the ability to allow users to try a gaming app before downloading it. This new Adwords feature is known as Trial Run ads, which run (no pun intended) on Google’s Display Network. This means that users can now stream a game from an app advert before they download the app. So when users search for a gaming app on Google, they get to try the app using the “Try Now” link placed within the ad; this is the same as streaming apps from search-result pages.

Trial Run ads for the gaming app industry will appear on Smartphones and users can play for 10 minutes on a WIFI network. This feature allows advertisers to attract app users who are likely to be engaged (continue using) in an app after installation.

Also, Google intends on adding a feature in its Adwords that allows an advertiser to control who sees their ads. This feature will be on Android, and it aims to target active users of gaming apps. For Instance, your ad will only be shown to users who have played a game for about 30 minutes, instead of anyone who Google’s “games”; hence, you can target a very precise audience.

Gmail Ads

Digital ad agencies can now run their advertisements on Gmail directly from their AdWords, which is part of Google’s Display Network. These types of ads are quite colorful to entice users and feature information on services, products, and special deals. These ads can also feature an image placed next to a promotion or just a single image. These Gmail ads have the same targeting options as those found in other types of display network, which means you can target an audience based on topics, keywords or demographics.

Google’s New AdWords Editor

Google’s new Adwords editor allows advertisers to do bulk edits and optimizations. Editing campaigns before the introduction of the Google AdWords Editor 11 was a slow and tedious process, but now with this new feature you can simply download all your ad campaigns in bulk and edit them; even if the campaigns are on multiple accounts.

This new feature also allows a digital ad agency with hundreds of Adwords accounts to download them at once, instead of downloading one at a time. Once downloaded, advertisers can launch the accounts and edit them using the new editor, then post the changes.

Roll out Your Campaigns with confidence: Campaign Drafts and Experiments

As an advertiser whether individual or working for a digital marketing agency, you might have wondered whether you could “test-drive” the changes you have made to your campaign before rolling it out. Google has made this possible through its campaign drafts and experiments feature. Once this new feature has been released, advertisers will be able to test the impact the changes they have made to their campaigns will have on their target audience.

The draft campaign feature will enable you to stage the changes you have made on your advert, before implementing these changes on your existing campaign. On the other hand, the experiments feature lets you test these changes in a controlled environment. For instance, if you are selling clothes and want to make changes to your advert to list the different styles or types of clothes you sell or include a price tag, simply draft these changes, roll out this new campaign as an experiment to run against your old campaign and see how it performs. The advertisers get to decide how to split their budget to run both campaigns and also the traffic. This allows you to keep running the campaign that yields the most results.

Shopping Remarketing Lists

Shopping remarketing lists were a future in Google’s search and display campaigns, but they have been revamped and can now run on shopping type of campaigns. Remarketing lists allow advertisers to target high-value audiences. For instance, if a potential buyer views your website but logs off before making a purchase, you can still show them your ad anytime they perform a related search on Google; hence, increasing your possibilities of making a sale through your Adwords ad.

Google also released two new tools along the shopping remarketing lists, the Assortment Report, and the Insights Tool. The insights tool is valuable in helping you identify the products that are most searched for by web users; this tool also allows you to gain more information on the search behavior of Internet users, and you can, therefore, tailor your adverts to suit these needs. The Assortment report lets you know about the products that are out of stock or the products you do not sell, yet internet users are looking for these commodities.

Looking Ahead

Experts in digital marketing predict that Google will be updating and releasing new Adwords features in 2016 and the coming years. These changes are expected in the cost-per-click strategies, social media ads, mobile ads and improvements in ad targeting.

Each of these Adwords features, detailed above serve their particular purpose, and not all are meant for the same industry. However, as a digital marketing agent, you can utilize these features to improve your ad campaign to perform better. So, whether you are hoping to sell more gaming apps or get more appointments made, then these new Adwords features can help you spring forward, and grow your business.