Actionable strategies, optimization hacks, and expert advice to improve your PPC performance.
Monitor Auction Insights weekly to understand competitive dynamics and identify opportunities to take market share.
Bid on your own brand terms to protect against competitors, control messaging, and capture high-intent traffic at minimal cost.
Prioritize budget by campaign efficiency, not channel habit. Use incremental ROAS, not absolute ROAS, to find your best marginal spend.
Bid on competitor names carefully. Expect low Quality Scores and high CPCs, but potentially high-intent traffic.
Don't just upload one "All Customers" list. Segment lists by "High Value," "Churned," and "Recent Buyers" for tailored bidding.
Use Demand Gen (formerly Discovery) to reach users on Gmail, Discvoer, and YouTube Home with visual-first ads.
Deploy Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) with low bids to capture relevant search queries your keyword-based campaigns are missing.
Use every relevant extension type and create variations for each. Extensions increase ad real estate, improve CTR, and boost Quality Score.
Consolidate granular ad groups into larger, thematically grouped ones to feed Smart Bidding more data.
Build a tiered negative keyword system: account-level universal negatives, campaign negatives for theme control, and ad group negatives for precision.
Upload offline sales data back to Google Ads to optimize for final revenue, not just initial clicks.
Align your ad copy keywords with your landing page headlines to boost Quality Score.
Use audience signals, asset group structure, and brand exclusions to guide PMax while letting the AI optimize within your constraints.
Focus on headline diversity and proven formulas, not just Ad Strength. Use benefit headlines, keyword headlines, and CTA headlines in combination.
Pin headlines in Responsive Search Ads only when necessary for compliance or critical context, to avoid restricting Google's AI.
Inform Smart Bidding of upcoming short-term conversion rate spikes (e.g., Flash Sale) using Seasonality Adjustments.
SKAGs (1 keyword per ad group) are largely dead for broad match strategies but remain 'God Mode' for exacting control over Brand and High-Intent terms.
Wait for 30+ conversions per month before using Smart Bidding. Start with Maximize Conversions, then graduate to Target CPA or Target ROAS.
Stop optimizing for just "Conversions" and switch to "Maximise Conversion Value" to prioritize higher-value customers.
Use Video Action Campaigns (VAC) on YouTube to drive conversions, not just views, leveraging responsive video ad formats.
Upload your target account list and layer decision-maker job titles to run precision ABM campaigns at scale.
Uncheck "Enable Audience Network" for almost all LinkedIn campaigns to ensure quality.
Run "Text Ads" (desktop right rail) with low bids to keep your brand visible for pennies.
Target specific high-value accounts by uploading a CSV of Company Names and domains.
Use Conversation Ads to create a "Choose Your Own Adventure" chatbot experience in the inbox.
Gate high-value content with Lead Gen Forms in Document Ads to capture leads while providing immediate value in the feed.
Stop using 1.91:1 (Landscape) for everything. Use 1:1 (Square) or 4:5 (Vertical) for mobile feed dominance.
Don't just retarget "All Visitors". Retarget "Visitors who are CEOs" separately from "Visitors who are Juniors".
Pass tracking parameters (UTMs, Source) into your CRM using Hidden Fields in Gen Forms.
Add hidden fields and scoring questions to Lead Gen Forms to prioritize high-value leads automatically.
Accept LinkedIn's high CPMs and focus on lead quality, not volume. Measure cost per SQL, not cost per lead.
Use broader targeting with Lead Gen Form qualification questions instead of narrow targeting to reduce CPMs while maintaining lead quality.
Keep Message Ads under 500 characters with a single, specific ask. Personalize with first name and company name tokens.
Use "Thought Leader Ads" to sponsor posts from your executives' personal profiles.
Use video for awareness and education, not direct response. Target video viewers with a follow-up conversion campaign.
LinkedIn clicks are expensive ($10+). LinkedIn video views are cheap ($0.05). Use video to build an audience, then retarget them.
Use Advantage+ for ecommerce scale, but keep manual campaigns for precise audience testing.
Scale ASC (Advantage+ Shopping) but ensure you define "Existing Customers" in Account Settings to track incremental lift.
Stick to "7-day click, 1-day view" for most campaigns to give the algorithm enough data to optimize.
Use Cost Caps to scale volume while protecting your CPA, rather than relying solely on Lowest Cost (Auto Bid).
Test going broad (no interests, just location/age) and let Advantage+ Audience or your pixel data do the targeting. It often outperforms interest-stacked audiences.
In 2026, forcing narrow interests (e.g., 'People who like Golf' AND 'Income > $100k') often yields worse results than Broad Targeting with verified creative.
For e-commerce, DPA is non-negotiable. Automatically potential customers the exact products they viewed on your site.
Test 3 concepts × 3 variations each in a structured DCT (Dynamic Creative Testing) campaign to find winners faster with statistical significance.
Build Custom Audiences from your own data sources (email lists, purchasers, app users) to create targeting that doesn't rely on third-party cookies or iOS tracking.
Implement the Conversions API (CAPI) alongside your Pixel to recover lost iOS conversions.
Many interests are hidden from the Ads Manager UI but available via API. Use third-party tools or Inspector to find them.
Use Instant Experiences (formerly Canvas) to load a full-screen, native landing page instantly within the app.
Use Conditional Logic in Native Lead Forms to disqualify poor leads before they submit.
Start with 1% lookalikes based on high-value customers, not just all purchasers.
When using CAPI (Conversions API) + Browser Pixel, ensure you are sending an Event ID to deduplicate events.
Improve ad relevance and engagement to reduce CPMs and stretch your budget further.
Create 9:16 vertical videos under 15 seconds with a hook in the first second. Reels require native-feeling content, not repurposed TV ads.
Layer your retargeting with time-based messages: 1-3 days for urgency, 7-14 days for social proof, 14-30 days for discounts.
Increase budget by 20% maximum every 3-4 days to avoid resetting the learning phase and destabilizing performance.
Brief creators on the hook and format, but let them write the script in their voice. Authentic UGC outperforms scripted testimonials.
Microsoft aggressively auto-creates extensions. Regularly audit and opt-out of bad ones.
Leverage Bing's older, higher-income user base and LinkedIn targeting for B2B campaigns that outperform Google.
Claim your Bing Places listing and link it to ads for Location Extensions.
Use the `{COUNTDOWN}` syntax in ad text to dynamically show days/hours left for a sale.
Import your Google Merchant Center feed into Microsoft Merchant Center to run Dynamic Remarketing.
Don't just import and forget - adjust bids, pause underperformers, and leverage Microsoft-specific features for better results.
Microsoft's In-Market audiences for B2B are often more granular than Google's.
The superpower of Microsoft Ads: Apply LinkedIn Profile targeting (Company, Job Title, Industry) to Search campaigns.
Test MSAN separately from Search with native-style images and broader targeting. It works differently than Search campaigns.
Microsoft allows multi-image extensions that can display a carousel in the search result.
MS Ads unique format: Multimedia Ads use huge images on the right rail or mainline.
Keep Search Partners enabled on Microsoft Ads - unlike Google, they often perform well due to higher-quality partner network.
Use Campaign Priorities (High, Medium, Low) to funnel traffic to the right bids.
Ensure your UET (Universal Event Tracking) tag is set up for variable revenue tracking.
Use ACO to let TikTok mix and match your video assets, text, and CTAs to find the winner.
Use standard Image Carousels on TikTok. They are surprisingly effective for e-commerce catalog showcasing.
Combat creative fatigue with modular content: film multiple hooks, bodies, and CTAs that you can mix and match.
Open with a bold claim, question, or visual disruption in the first 0.5 seconds to maximize hook rate.
Use "Interactive Add-ons" like Voting Stickers, Display Cards, or Countdown Timers to stop the scroll.
Monitor "Pangle" placement performance closely. It provides cheap clicks but often lower conversion quality.
Don't just make ads; hire creators via TTCM (TikTok Creator Marketplace) and boost their posts as Spark Ads.
Get authorization codes from creators and run their organic content as Spark Ads to combine authenticity with paid scale.
Start with broad targeting if you have a well-optimized Pixel and high-converting creative. Add interests only if broad doesn't scale.
Connect your product catalog and use Video Shopping Ads to show personalized product videos to users based on their browsing behavior.
Analyze hourly performance. TikTok activity peaks late at night, but conversion Intent might peak in evenings.
Target users who interact with specific hashtags (#SmallBiz, #GymTok) for niche relevance.
The first 3 seconds determine 80% of your ad's success. Use the 'Visual Jolt' technique to stop the scroll.
Add Search Ads to your campaigns to capture high-intent users actively searching for products like yours on TikTok.
Unlock VBO for TikTok to target high-spenders rather than just installers/purchasers.
Run Audio Ads for users listening to music/podcasts on YouTube in the background.
Run Brand Lift 2.0 surveys to measure "Ad Recall" and "Search Lift" for free (requires minimum spend).
Use Bumper Ads (6s) to tease or reinforce a longer message in a sequence.
Create Custom Intent audiences based on Google Search keywords and target them on YouTube.
For Brand Lift, use "Target Frequency" bidding to ensure users see your ad enough times to remember it.
aggressively exclude children's content to save budget.
Attach your Merchant Center feed to Video campaigns to show browsable products below the video.
Turn your winning TikTok creatives into YouTube Shorts ads with minimal edits for incremental reach at lower CPMs.
Use Non-Skippable (15s) for Awareness, Skippable for Conversions.
Create modular video ads: film one body with multiple hook variations, then test hooks in a low-budget campaign before scaling winners.
Use Custom Intent Audiences with competitor keywords and pair Video Action Campaigns with educational content, not product demos.
Use placement targeting on competitor channels and Custom Intent audiences with competitor brand names to reach users actively researching alternatives.
Reserve the Masthead (top of Home Feed) for massive product launches or movie releases.
Build a video engagement ladder: cold users see educational content, 50% viewers see product demos, 75% viewers get direct response ads.
YouTube Shorts is booming. Adapt content to be vertical (9:16), fast-paced, and lo-fi.
