By Harriet Barter and Tanisha Ferguson
As the magic of Artificial Intelligence begins to permeate every part of our lives, PPC campaigns are no exception.
AI is seen as an emerging technology, but in fact companies such as Google have been using it for years under the guise of ‘machine learning’. The beauty of this is that those years of experimentation are coming to fruition. Smart marketers are already finding ways to put this cutting-edge technology to work on ad copy generation, audience targeting, and creative optimisation.
But which AI tools are most useful for creative inspiration? How does AI change the role of Paid Media agencies? And what are the pitfalls to look out for when using AI for your campaigns?
In this article, two of Launch’s most experienced paid media team members, Harriet and Tanisha, share seven tips for using AI to enhance PPC campaigns.
You can also watch Harriet and Tanisha discussing how AI can enhance PPC in the video below.
Table of Contents
1. Use AI to move beyond manual bidding and push boundaries
AI has reduced the need for things like manual keyword level bids. Back in the day, Paid Media teams would daily be increasing or decreasing bids by a few pence at a time and then waiting to see what the competition was doing. This was clearly a very rigid and manual process with less data generated.
Increased machine learning capability has brought with it better access to data and learning so it’s worth harnessing this to push boundaries. If you don’t, your competitors will.
AI helps us understand users beyond first click
In the past, campaigns were able to optimise towards only the click. With the advent of AI and the birth of strategies such as maximise conversions and target ROAS, advertisers are now able to bid towards the final conversion or conversion value, making their ad campaigns hugely more powerful and efficient. Conversion-based bid strategies allow us to optimise towards the revenue-driving action we want users to take on site (purchase, enquiry, download, etc.) so is taking into account the quality of the click, rather than just the overall volume of clicks.
2. Take advantage of AI optimisations across different channels
Within Google Ads there are many new AI driven optimisations available to advertisers, particularly within Performance Max (PMax). The volume of ad copy variations we are able to provide Google Ads, in one ad, allows Google to rotate all possible combinations and quickly learn which copy and copy combinations resonate best with which users, therefore driving more efficient results.
The same is true for the image aspect of PMax. Advertisers can add up to 20 marketing images to one campaign, and Google’s machine learning will test, learn and serve the top performing assets within each auction and placement.
Similarly to Google Ads, machine learning within the Meta Ads platform means we can rotate and test various different copy variations optimising towards increased user interaction and conversion. This allows us to understand, in line with the learnings we are taking from Google Ads, which types of messaging and content are resonating best with our audiences.
3. Experiment with different AI tools to improve your ads
For content creation, tools such as Copy AI enable you to tailor content to the relevant tone of voice, or brainstorm ideas with a virtual assistant. It can be set to create for specific platforms – for example if you need inspiration for Meta ad copy it will give the character counts, headlines and primary text which can be a handy time saver.
Other tools such as Chat GPT can be good for inspiration if you’re trying to get started with a headline, for example. The copy itself may need more close and careful editing, but prompts are sometimes all a creator needs!
Many existing platforms have also integrated AI features – from Photoshop to Canva, you will find there are ways to use automation to speed up the process of ad creation.
4. Focus on creative over audiences on Meta
Meta ads and the AI revolution
Meta is moving away from hyper-granular audience targeting and towards a much broader approach, where its algorithms use the creative to find the right audiences – the flip side to days gone by where advertisers clearly defined the audience for each creative. This is why creative investment and quality is now more important than ever. The creative will be finding the users who will convert on your website, so make sure your budget is allocated with this in mind.
5. Test, test test
AI has opened up a valuable new forum for testing ad copy and creative. It’s now possible to quickly test USPs, questions or testimonials across different ads and see what works best as the likes of Meta or Google are optimising for us. This means we can adapt and grow more quickly than we would have previously.
6. Don’t take the human touch for granted
Like any other marketing skill, there’s a lot to learn with AI – it’s not a case of simply telling it to do your job for you! AI is only as good as the people that are managing it. There is more and more evidence showing how important emotional connection is to customer conversion, and this can only be achieved with the human touch.
Fact checking
Any marketer who has spent a second or two on social media will have seen examples of AI generated content which is visually unappealing, or (dare we say it) nonsensical (one Launch client using AI in Meta ads had a product floating on a random background). Paid Media teams should act as brand custodians, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of content in a world where creative can make or break a campaign.
7. Use the extra time to add value for clients
AI is not yet sophisticated enough to ‘join the dots’ in terms of how data relates to marketing theory or behavioural science. To get the most out of their campaigns, Paid Media experts will need to act as the ‘all seeing eye’, making sure campaigns are analysed holistically to maximise learning. The bonus being, with the time gained thanks to AI gathering us data and insight, there will be more time for us marketeers to focus on strategy and client communication. From a reporting perspective, whilst much of our data reporting is automated, the human touch is vital to extracting the most valuable insights from the data.
Conclusion
It’s exciting to be at a point where we can see the positive benefits of AI on PPC campaigns, with an increased ability to test, learn and generate creative. AI tools are becoming more responsive to the needs of marketers, allowing us to tailor ads and safeguard client brand and tone of voice. However, we need to be cautious that, when working autonomously, AI carries risks, delivering off brand visuals or robotic copy. It is up to Paid Media teams to fine tune and add the human touch to data or content to maximise the positive impact on our PPC campaigns.
The team at Launch has been innovating with AI across all aspects of our performance marketing, from Paid Media to Data Analytics and CRO. Reach out if you think your campaign could benefit from our AI expertise.
