We recently asked six paid search experts what they thought were the most important PPC trends. While there were a variety of answers, the clear winner in terms of impact on SEM for the coming year was automation. Like it or not, automation is unavoidable and search engine marketers need to learn how to thrive in this automated paid search world.
To read about the other popular trends, download the full eBook here.
With the search engines moving toward greater automation of ad copy variations and ad units taking up more physical space on the SERP, brand protection in PPC is becoming increasingly important and frankly more difficult. It is virtually impossible to manually monitor and protect your branded keywords across the globe 24 hours a day.
Here’s what some of the experts had to say about the role brand protection will play in their digital marketing strategy:
Dustin Hovey, Sr. Strategist & SEM Manager, SendGrid
“Businesses have always needed to protect their brand online; however, with the rise of competitor bidding across the PPC landscape that need has never been greater. Businesses that closely monitor how their trademark is being used in the search engine result pages and take action when needed may enjoy lower CPCs, a more focused message to their customers, and a truer representation in the marketplace.”
Brad Koch, Paid Media Manager, BVAccel
“With more SERP real estate being dedicated to ad units, brand protection is more important than ever. Although the juggernaut of Amazon ceased Shopping Ads bidding in 2018, they are still highly competitive within the text ad space, as are additional marketplaces such as Etsy and eBay. As organic content gets pushed further below the fold, it will be important to maintain visibility on all inventory available on branded terms.”
Nikki Kuhlman, Director of Paid Search, JumpFly
“Brand protection will continue to be important, especially as the market gets more competitive and Google and Bing add more to the ads (e.g. responsive search ads take up more SERP real estate), pushing organic traffic down further on the page. Amazon and other big box sites continue to push into brand names, coupon sites, and more direct competitors are all vying for attention. Don't relinquish that space.”
Joe Drury, Senior Manager of Search Marketing, Vacasa
“Brand protection is extremely important to our digital strategy. We constantly monitor all of our digital touchpoints for brand mentions, reviews, and competitor usage. For us, that starts with SEO: has a competitor been able to wiggle on to the first page for a brand query we should own? We also serve thousands of guests daily so social media monitoring is a key aspect of our business. Finally, on the PPC side, it boils down to having a clear and consistent strategy. There are some areas where we want to bid on brand terms and some areas where we do not. We have a clear structure in order to ensure we are executing against that effectively.”
This is just a sneak peek of what the experts shared in the eBook. Download the full eBook to learn more about the important trends and what you can do to protect your brand.
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