4 Google Marketing Takeaways From A Data Analytics Expert

When Colling Media received four invitations to Google Marketing Live 2019, we knew we needed to include our Data Analytics Manager Dan Chen. Dan is an expert in analytics, tracking, attribution, and data modeling. Chen has a keen skeptical eye for cutting through the hype, getting at the core of issues, and separating spin from the facts.

Here are Dan’s key takeaways from Google Marketing Live 2019:

1. User privacy and security is Google’s top priority.

Don’t worry, you can still target everyone across all of their devices, including connected TVs. You can also track users that visit your store offline after visiting your site or seeing an ad online.  

2. Google thinks it can make better ads than you.

Google’s new ad types will help advertisers automate and accelerate the creative optimization process. Advertisers can give Google their images, videos, headlines, descriptions, calls to action, and conversion goals, and Google’s AI will automatically create ads that work dynamically across thousands of different formats and placement options. 

The new ads will also be more interactive with more opportunities for offsite conversions. You can put a contact form in a YouTube video ad, you can have the new “Bumper Machine” auto-edit your 30 second TV ad down to a 6-second bumper ad for YouTube, or you can just let Google create brand new video and display ads from scratch.  The new ad types help Google’s AI discover the best variations for the best audience segments quicker and simpler than ever.

3. New bidding strategies will help Google help you. 

Google wants to help advertisers reach their goals and the bid strategies help advertisers define their objectives. 

You can now use the following bid strategies:

Maximize conversion value – Google’s AI sees your conversion goal values like points in a video game. This bid strategy tells the AI to learn how to get the highest scores possible within the game.  This bid strategy can help advertisers increase lead quality, increase average sales order amounts, or increase conversion frequency. Maximize store visits – Teach Google’s AI to serve ads to local in-market audiences who are likely to visit your store offline.

4. Google thinks its AI is better at finding new customers than you.

Google is simplifying its custom audience tools making it easier and quicker than ever to target high-value audience segments and to exclude low-value segments.  Google can further enhance your audience targeting in real-time if you give it permission to do so.  You can, for instance, allow Google’s AI to target users who are likely to convert but not included in your target audience segments, or you can allow the AI to make bid adjustments based on historical seasonal trends within your industry.

Google Marketing Live 2019 Summary

Google Marketing Live 2019 revealed Google is cutting out a lot of the time advertisers spend setting up ad groups, creating ads, and optimizing campaigns.  A shorter campaign setup gives advertisers the ability to focus more on the stuff that matters most, like creating better content or designing experiments that will produce useful insights. 

As the complexities fade away and AI continues to take over more of the tedious operations, the term “optimization” might mean ‘training AI’ rather than ‘manually tuning campaign settings. In another year, the term “optimization” might mean something entirely different to advertisers than it does today.

Need help sorting out your company’s marketing data? Colling Media can help. Set up a free advertising consultation now.