YouTube is now testing short ads

Learn about this new ad format and how it can influence your business

Google announced new updates in the annual Google Marketing Live event 2022, including the addition and optimization of YouTube Shorts.

With TikTok’s rising popularity, short-form videos and advertisements have been all over the place. Given that the average user’s attention span is very brief, companies like YouTube are testing out new ways to catch the consumer’s eye by experimenting with shorts.

YouTube is beginning its testing with app-install ads and promotions after investing $100 million in a creator fund for Shorts, hoping it would bring more creators into the platform. Advertisers that have been subjets to this new ad format say that user feedback is positive. Google’s data says Shorts is generating 4X more views than in 2021

This feature is comparable to TikTok’s videos, which leads us to believe that Shorts is a competitor strategy. According to AppInventiv and Global Media Insight, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide and $4.6 billion in revenue while YouTube has 2.6 billion monthly active users and $28.84 billion in revenue.  

What do you make out of these numbers? Do you believe that YouTube Shorts will be a useful tool for advertisers? Let us know in the comments below.

The video-sharing platform also announced that a long-term monetization plan is in the works for creators to make money from Shorts. This would include:

  • The addition of branded content
  • Enhancing Super Chat, which includes the option to buy stickers or messages and place them in the chat, just like we see today in TikTok lives.
  • Shopping directly from Shorts, meaning that advertisers will be able to connect products to campaigns in order to create a shoppable video ad (this could be an interesting addition since users would be a few steps closer to reaching your product). 

It is true that consumers now prefer short-lengthed visual entertainment, and TikTok’s rise in popularity makes other video platforms reconsider their strategy. 

With that being said, YouTube Shorts is something we can get on board with since the video platform is still larger in numbers and TikTok has younger average users, so we recommend marketers to be aware of their target audience before they decide to invest in the platform. 

As always, Quantikal will keep you informed of any new Google features that arise. (Spoiler alert: Google Marketing Live 2022 was a conversation starter). Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Digital Marketing Trends to Improve Your Game

If you want to know how to enhance your marketing strategy, keep on reading

Digital marketing is crucial nowadays in the advertising industry. Technology evolved and marketers are constantly needing to update their strategies in order to keep up with the trends. 

But don’t worry, we will give you the lowdown in this article.

Here are some of the most important trends of this year:

  • Influencer Marketing
  • Video Marketing
  • Conversational Marketing
  • Automation Tools

Which system or channel did you try out recently? When was the last time you engaged with any of these new trends? Let us know in the comments below.

Influencer Marketing

Influencers are the perfect gateway to introduce your brand to a specific audience (quick example: if you sell tennis rackets, you might want a sports influencer with a big audience to promote your product). These Internet celebrities already own an engaging audience and a relevant platform, so getting an influencer that knows how to address the public and can advertise your product on social media could mean a positive outcome for your business.

According to Hubspot, 57% of marketers that use this digital marketing trend believe it was a  successful move

Video Marketing

Given the growth of social media, audiences are becoming more and more visual. For advertisers, this means that visual aid or videos are the best way to catch the consumer’s eye.  Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok might be a good way to create short videos that can quickly reach more people. However, this comes with a big challenge: how can you make a short and attractive video that differentiates you from your competitors? 

Conversational Marketing

This strategy uses a dialogue approach to improve customer experience and increase interaction between brands and audiences. Some conversational marketing strategies include chatbots or live chat, where the user can engage with a company representative or a robot that can answer questions immediately, without the need to wait for an answer.

Automation Tools

Artificial intelligence includes user data that can help advertisers analyze behavior, browsing patterns, and customer preferences. These tools can help marketers personalize their ads according to the audience they want to reach, creating a unique way to attract more customers by matching their interests. 

Quantikal is always going to be in favor of trying out new things, especially to test out its results and see if it’s worth implementing.

As always, Quantikal will keep you informed about any new trends that may arise in the near future. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

How We Quadrupled Revenue in Less Than 7 Months

Here’s how to successfully spend in the right places.

With the right digital strategy, we were able to 4X the monthly sales from May 2021 to November 2021 while sacrificing only a fraction of return on ad spend (ROAS).  
Yes, you read correctly. If you want to know how we increased Tire Agent’s monthly non-brand revenues from Google Ads from $0.7M to $3.3M in 7 months, that’s an additional $2.6M in monthly revenues, keep on reading! 👇

Tire Agent is an e-commerce business that specializes in selling car tires and rims. They have a large selection of tires, rims, and wheels, and ship them anywhere in the U.S. for free. They carry over 60 brands of tires, including some top-tier brands like Michelin, Goodyear, and Bridgestone. Tire Agent makes sure that they’re offering the best rebates, coupons, specials, and discount codes on the internet, arranging payment plans that set them apart from any other online tire store.

The facts: although there was some initial traction in 2020, from January to May 2021 the company’s sales plateaued. Here’s when we stepped into the picture.  

What did we do to help? Everything but magic.

Since we started working with Tire Agent in May 2021, we immediately restructured and relaunched campaigns. When we stepped in, the client had limited budgets in overlapping campaigns. Using our proprietary methodology and experience, we figured out a way to untap growth in Search.

Following a Structured Process

With new search methodologies for expanding keywords, reordered ad groups, new match type pairing combined with fitting negative keywords, and focused extensions, we were able to make a difference in the details. 

In each step of the process, Quantikal provided monthly forecasted scenarios of different spend levels and ROAS estimates, allowing the client to make easier executive decisions on spend each month.

The key to figuring it out was a regular day-to-day follow-up and a dedicated process. 

We paid special attention to the search campaign that represents 50% of the brand’s investment: tire financing. Although this campaign was already set up when we arrived, it needed to be remodeled. We expanded the way of saying “financing” by adding rims and wheels, competitors, tire sizes, make-model-trim campaigns (MMT), and trying to find new ways of pausing keywords that weren’t working to focus investment on those that were working. 

Also, we tried out new negative keywords to build a more specific search, feeding into the list to see which other searches weren’t taken into consideration. 

Home runs don’t exist but consistent base hits do. 

Google’s keyword recommendations gave us some ideas to work with: “tires near me”. Based on this suggestion, the Quantikal team decided to look into the specifics of Tire Agent’s buyers and saw that location insertion was working better than the keyword insertion, so we launched a near-me location campaign. We targeted the best states and the best cities and built a geo-focused campaign so that users would be directed to the client when they searched for tires in their area, adding new audiences and specifying the search. 

After digging in deeper with the client’s methodology, we decided to build a campaign focused on the tires’ terrain (rocks, rain, snow, mud, etc.) trying out keywords that weren’t considered before. These two examples were the perfect trigger for us to realize that more terms were missing, so people were searching for more topic-related keywords and we weren’t taking advantage of that traffic flow. 

Extending Beyond Search

Another campaign type we worked with is display. It looked like a great field for traffic expansion. Through an increased number of new assets and creatives, not only generic but also related to product offers and rebates. We systematically tested assets, doubling down on the best-performing ones. After polishing and working on these campaigns, we had an average ROAS of 4, which looked positive considering that the average for non-brand was around 6.5.

At Quantikal, we also worked with discovery campaigns. Our expansion mainly came from testing multiple audiences and expanding reach, we used the learnings obtained from observing audiences in search campaigns and adding them into separate ad groups within discovery campaigns. During this period, we got to scale traffic by 10X while getting an average of 5 ROAS which is slightly below the search non-brand average of 6.5.

Hard Work Pays Off

The key to our client’s success was executing a true and tested process combined with close collaboration with our client’s industry knowledge.

Every revision and modification done in the Google Ads campaigns, as little as they may be, placed us one step closer to victory. Success came from consistency, testing, process, and attention to detail, that’s what makes the difference. And what a difference it can make if it increased our clients’ sales from $0.7M to $3.3M in just under 7 months.

Without fail and as expected, we will continue our hard work towards achieving the client’s ideal and we’ll keep you in the loop of our ongoing efforts. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google Allows Stock Photos for Image Extensions

Google now offers a selection of stock photos that you can use directly into image extensions.

This new Google update makes it easier to use image extensions by offering a searchable library of stock photos that are free to use!

For the past few months, marketers found it a bit of a hassle having to source unique images for this extension, so Google relaxed its policy.

How to find it: When Google Ads asks you to choose a visual for the image extensions, you can choose the “Stock Images” option. After finding a fitting image, you can crop it before applying. 

(Sidenote: we did our research, and Google recommends using at least three visuals in image extensions)

Are you currently using a stock image provider? Let us know in the comments below!

The next updates

As far as we know, Google will also be showing image extensions in desktop ads. Previously, they were exclusive to the mobile version. This will be applied automatically if you are already using image extensions in your ads.

Also, dynamic image extensions are going to be available in all languages. Previously, these were only available in English. These types of image extensions use machine learning algorithms to select the most relevant visuals for your ad.

Our Take

We can give Google a good head nod, since we will always be in favor of new options that can save us time, and this may be one of them. Quantikal is all in when it comes to facilitating processes and new possibilities, as long as it doesn’t limit the advertiser’s control

Image extensions are very important for those industries where visual impact is the key to advertising, so we encourage marketers to try this out.

As always, we will continue to post updates on any changes made by Google, so you can hear them from us firsthand. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google’s recent updates makes searching even more automated

Here’s what you need to know and how it can impact your business.

Google’s AI experimentation is moving at a fast rate. Since Google announced the Multitask Unified Model (MUM) in early 2022, consumer teams have been meddling with its capabilities to help solve complex tasks. 

What are complex tasks? Planning a trip, fixing a broken gadget, searching for the best places to have dinner tonight. Unlike a simple task where you know exactly what to search for, Google’s internal data says it takes people eight searches on average to complete complex tasks. 

Quick question: How long does it take for you to find what you want?

The Lowdown on Google Lens

At Google’s last event, they shared how AI innovations are helping people tackle complex tasks faster and easier. For example, Google Lens is being optimized to identify any problem you can have with a broken appliance simply by pointing your camera at it. 

Google claims that it will identify the problem and connect you to helpful information across the web to fix it. Imagine you’re home and suddenly your washing machine stops working. With all the squeaking and beeping, you try to see what the issue is, with no real knowledge about them. 

Here’s when Google Lens would step in: by pointing your camera at the issue, it could connect you to an expert or simply show you what’s wrong. Also, using MUM, Google can show you the “related topics” and help you understand what’s in front of you with YouTube videos or related articles.

Would you use the Google Lens feature? Let us know in the comments below!

Our Take

Even though Google Lens seems to be optimized for the better, we can’t help but notice that this new feature may have a similar outcome to the Google Voice Project. Will the story repeat itself?

Lately, we see how Google adopts automation resources in every aspect of Search advertising campaigns, forcing businesses to be ready for constant change and be open to new ways of searching. However, this approach may look like marketers that have invested in the manual process of search campaigns aren’t taken into consideration.

Why? Because we’ve already seen something like this and advertisers weren’t exactly taken into consideration. With the Google Voice Project, devices such as Google Home and modern Google phones were able to identify the user’s search request by voice. This sounds very efficient and comfortable, but where can Google place Search ads if the user never encounters the on-screen platform? 

Companies beware: this move would create a significant gap between “forward-looking” advertisers and manual-processing advertisers in Google’s eyes. 

The question we make ourselves (and you) is: should Google dictate advertisers’ moves when it’s supposed to be a tool and not a rulebook? 

Our answer: marketers should be able to decide if automation is their wildcard or not. It isn’t exactly democratic, better, or easier if there are advertisers that would need to make a huge change in their work modality to fit into the latest fashion and be benefitted from Google’s algorithm or new feature. 

We don’t see Google changing its automation outlook any time soon, so be prepared for even more updates and innovations in search.

In any case, don’t worry. Quantikal will be on the lookout for you. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google Ads: new features to custom columns

This new Google update is giving marketers more reporting options. Here are the details.

The new features in custom columns show a major upgrade, including:

  • Spreadsheet functions
  • Calculating and comparing across date ranges 
  • Referencing other columns with formulas
  • Non-metric columns, such as campaign names, budgets, and more
  • New column formats, such as date, text, and true or false

Now, advertisers no longer need to switch between reporting to editing. which can be very time-saving

Have you ever used custom columns? What do you think of these new additions? Let us know in the comments below.

The addition of spreadsheet functions is a huge change brought by Google. These are used after the function name, with parentheses, and are similar to the options available in any traditional spreadsheet software.

Also, comparing data across date ranges gives advertisers the ability to quickly determine and identify campaigns that are reaching specific metrics for given periods of time and being able to compare them. 

Marketers can now create a custom column that could be referenced with a unique formula to extract data without having to duplicate the process.

Custom columns will tackle non-metric data and access critical elements faster, helping those advertisers that like to view more data at once. Google is giving more control, simplifying ad platforms, and creating powerful formula-driven updates. 

Our Take

These new custom column features should be quite helpful when you have to separate custom conversions in columns with each different conversion, conversion rate, and CPA metrics. More reporting options, -like a happy hour promotion-, yes please! 

As always, Quantikal will keep tabs on custom columns and see if they significantly improve user experience. We’ll let you know if more updates come your way. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Search Ads 360 launches a major update

Performance Max, Discovery, Display, and more. Here’s all you need to know.

Search Ads 360 has seen one of its biggest updates in 10 years

The platform will roll out major updates in the next months, while also allowing users to continue with the classic experience. 

The platform will now offer support for the newest features in Google Ads, such as:

  • Performance Max
  • Discovery campaigns
  • Display and Youtube Ads

Additionally, Google added enterprise innovation features that will allow teams to do an everyday follow-up, such as:

  • Campaign management
  • Creating automated rules
  • Using labels across various advertisers simultaneously

What will change? 

For media managers, the new Performance Center will include planning capabilities with spend, CPA, and conversion forecasts.

Also, a new inventory management system will be included in de SA360 updates, giving advertisers more control over how to use the ad space. This tool is useful for industries with frequent price changes, such as airlines, hotels, retail, entertainment, etc.

Have you used Search Ads 360 before? Did you find it more useful compared to the traditional Google Ads? Let us know in the comments below!

As part of this latest release, budget management will be improved with the new Performance Center. Google will grant access to planning tools, allowing advertisers to experiment with potential budget scenarios.

Finally, when you launch the SA360, you can see the identical overview dashboard found in Google Ads, making it a close resemblance to the platform.

What does Quantikal think?

This is Google’s attempt to optimize performance with enterprise innovation. The new updates will help advertisers get more work done in only one place, with an extended channel view for data-driven decisions. Quantikal will always say yes to new features that increase control for advertisers, even if the tool’s complexity increases. 

As expected, we will keep you informed if any more updates are coming your way. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google launches automated vehicle ads

Learn about this “new tool” for the automotive marketing industry.

Google gives advertisers a new ad format that shows vehicles to purchase nearby. Now, when a user searches “cars for sale”, they see options to either purchase or get the vehicle delivered. 

The ad format shows specific information about the product, including:

  • Location
  • Make
  • Model
  • Price

When the user clicks the ad, it redirects to the vehicle item page on the dealer’s website with the contact information. 

Where does it apply?

The first step is to create an inventory feed, which needs to be connected to Google Merchant Center and Google Business Profile. However, vehicle ads can’t run on standard Shopping campaigns. Smart Shopping is a requirement.

Vehicle ads are not allowed for private sellers, individual sellers, or auto brokers. These are only allowed for non-commercial passenger vehicles, such as cars, SUVs, etc.

The vehicle ads format does not show automatically in your account, so advertisers have to contact Google if interested. 

The main benefits of vehicle ads

Advertisers that have beta-tested this new feature seem to point out that there was a 25% increase in conversions via vehicle ads before it rolled out to the public. The expectation being user having more detailed information before clicking on an ad will create an expected higher conversion rate later on website. 

Online consumer behavior transformed in the past two years because of the pandemic, so it is smart to consider that users are making vehicle purchases online as well.

A Google study finds that 89% of new car buyers researched their vehicle online.

Our Take

With Google’s new vehicle ads, marketers can keep up with this new modality, stepping in front of online car buyers with the right information.

However, we’ve already seen this move from Google in the past. The tech company wanted to override car marketplaces and create its own platform, which would make advertisers pay Google directly for site traffic. 

The challenge for Google was that car marketplaces know how usears search for vehicles, and can help users narrow down by make, model, trim, etc., in order to simplify user experience. This is not easy to replicate and not easy to compete with, even as a huge tech company. Somehow, in the past, Google never launched its platform.

It should be interesting to see why this could turn out differently now than in the past. The truth is, Shopping ads weren’t so developed back then, so that could be an important fact to consider.

What do you think? Google can now compete with marketplaces as equals? Let us know in the comments below.

As always, Quantikal will be keeping tabs on this new ad format and we’ll get back to you with more updates. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google makes offline conversion tracking easier with Enhanced Conversions for Leads

If you want to see how this can apply to your business, keep on reading.

Google Ads launched Enhanced Conversions for Leads as an alternative to Google Click ID-based offline conversion tracking method. It may be easier to adopt for advertisers since this can be set up directly from your Google Ads account, so this data could mean more efficient conversion tracking.  

Have you ever used offline conversion tracking? If so, how tedious was the setup experience?

How does it work?

When users fill out a form on your site, you’ll receive data including email, name, address, and phone number. This data is captured in your conversion tracking tags and then sent to Google. When it converts, Google matches the information received to the ad that caused the lead, providing a more complete picture of the user journey. 

The issue with the existing Google Click

Offline conversion tracking can help Google get the idea of the value of leads, prioritizing the most valuable ones. Even so, this method has not been widely adopted due to the difficulty of implementation

However, the new Enhanced Conversions with Leads uses the information you’ve already captured such as email addresses, so there is no need to modify CRM systems or invest more time figuring out complex integrations between CRM and Google Ads. This is why Enhanced Conversion with Leads might be a convenient solution for many advertisers.

Did you encounter this issue? Let us know in the comments below! 

Where can you find it?

Enhanced Conversions for Leads can be found in Google Tag Manager if you have Google Ads conversion tracking set up. Also, it can be configured using the global site tag on your page if you already have conversion tracking implemented.

We will continue keeping tabs on this new method and see if it is a more convenient solution. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google Introduces Short Titles for Product Ads

Google Merchant Center launched a new feature called the short title for product ads. Here’s what’s in it for you:

Unlike the required “title” attribute, the short title is optional, and it will be shown in places where users do more browsing, such as Discovery, Gmail, and Shopping ads. Google claims that it’s a brief and concise identification of your product that will match the title in a shorter, easy-to-read way. But how brief is too brief? 

How does it work?

Google recommends keeping the character count between 5 to 65 characters. This character limit is important, given that short titles are used in a more scrolling context where the user’s interaction is shorter and quicker. 

Another requirement for using short titles is to describe the product on your landing page, which doesn’t necessarily need to match the title, but it should at least refer to the same product. Google also recommends that you list the important details first and add the brand name as a differentiating factor. If you do not follow these requirements, they will effectively disapprove of your product. 

Our Point of View

This new Google Ads feature allows advertisers better control in creating a more eye-catching title that will not be truncated because of its length.  

In the images below, we can see that “GE – Classic Drip” only shows its full title once your mouse is placed on top of the ad. Google encourages advertisers to shorten their titles so that they can be fully read, even if the user’s mouse is not interacting with the ad. Results show that Google shows only the first 15 or 20 characters of your title, even if they allow you to stretch to 65. Here’s the visual:

Title shown (no interaction)
Title shown when mouse is interacting

What happens once you capture the user? Do they completely understand what you’re selling in 5 to 65 characters? Browsing usually refers to a short-sighted visual, but it doesn’t really sell an accurate description of your product. Let’s see it in an example:

It is easier for users to read “Converse High Sneakers” and see which one fits their ideal best. But what if they need to know the size of the shoes? What if they are looking for a limited special edition? Do these short titles allow advertisers to provide enough information about what they are selling? We don’t have an accurate, precise way to know for sure. These short titles should be monitored and studied so that we can assess their performance better.

Advertisers can’t really differentiate themselves and their products clearly by reducing descriptions to a minimum. However, short titles do give every advertiser an equal opportunity to capture a user’s attention, so if your team can build a strategy around a short and efficient title, you can use this feature to your advantage.

Here’s a quick checklist that could help:

  • Keep characters between 5 to 65 (for optimal results, stick to 15 if possible)
  • Describe your product on the landing page
  • List important details first
  • Add the brand’s name as a differentiating factor

Do you think shorter titles are better to catch the consumer’s eye? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

In any case, be sure to follow Google’s guidelines to avoid unwanted product disapprovals. Stay tuned for more!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.