With technology advancing so much and so fast, 2018 is set to be a year of big changes when it comes to PPC and SEO. The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or automation in search engines means that the internet will never be the same again. In order to stay ahead of the game with optimisation and ads, it’s important to look at the changes to come. Here are some of the most important and relevant trends that will affect your PPC campaign in 2018.
Smart Bids
Last year, automated bids became a key focus for Google and the smart bidding’ system was created to help optimise conversions through AI and machine learning. In addition to smart bidding in Adwords in 2017, other developments powered by Artificial Intelligence included smart display campaigns and new ad rotations. Going forward, it will be important for PPC specialists to understand how machine learning works, and how it will affect digital marketing in the future. Whilst some online marketers may find it difficult to relinquish control of their ads over to a robot at first, it is likely that in just a few years time, manual bidding will become a thing of the past.
Voice Search Campaigns
One of the most significant developments to note is the growth of voice search and forecasts tell us that it’s about to get big. According to ComScore, 50% of all searches will be voice searches by the year 2020. Using voice search on mobile will become a part of everyday life. And as the use of voice-activated digital assistants and smart devices become more popular in the average household, the trend of voice search will grow. As this landscape shifts from keyboard to voice command, PPC ads will need to be adapted to cater for this (such as planning for longer tail keywords and phrases in spoken format), plus updated training for PPC will be paramount for companies to survive when it comes to digital presence.
Targeted Audience Search
Facebook has always been an excellent example of audience targeting when it comes to ads. Over the years, the Facebook advertising platform has given many businesses the opportunity to find their ideal audience based on different demographic data (ranging from age and location to personal interests according to their Facebook profile). Google is only now exploring this further, previously reluctant to give away too much information about its users due to privacy restrictions. But they are now opening up a whole new way of advertising by allowing ad executives to use new targeted selection. LinkedIn is also improving its audience targeting tools, so social PPC (outside of Facebook) will be a major trend to watch.
PPC Personalisation
Something that goes hand-in-hand with audience search is personalisation. This will be an important part of the new PPC strategy in 2018. The use of AI will make online marketing more personalised, and the customer journey will be more important than ever. Having a personalised approach can help to boost sales and conversion, and brands/businesses will be focusing on providing the ultimate customer experience from start to finish. With the help of machine learning and the influx of data collected through the Internet of Things, businesses will have a chance to learn more about their customer than ever before. This means that we will be creating campaigns, web copy, landing pages and app push notifications that really appeal to the audience.