TPE #126: how to win in the Modern-Day Search era

Read time: 4 minutes

GM, Miles here with The PPC Edge.

Search campaigns have changed a lot over the years.

Old best practices like Single Keyword Ad Groups and hyper-granular campaigns no longer work as well as they used to.

That’s because Google’s technology has evolved:

• Data consolidation is key.
• Broad Match + Smart Bidding is the new normal.
• And creative testing is all over the place with RSAs.

Unfortunately, many people struggle to scale Search campaigns because they don’t know how to properly leverage Google’s automated solutions.

So today, we’ll dive into our Modern-Day Search framework, so you know how to properly set up & scale Search campaigns in this new era of automation and ‘smart’ targeting solutions.

Let’s dive in!

The Modern-Day Search framework.

In the ‘Modern-Day Search' era, Google has become incredibly good at understanding the meaning and intent behind a user’s keyword (based on thousands of user signals that are invisible to our marketers’ eyes).

This makes it easier to reach more high-intent customers, with fewer keywords.

Our Modern-Day Search framework revolves around simplification and automation.

Apply the following 4 pillars to properly set up and scale your Search campaigns:

Modern-Day Search Pillar 1: Consolidate.

Consolidation is the act of merging campaigns and aggregating data to make Smart Bidding more effective at reaching your goals — and it’s the foundation of Modern-Day Search campaigns.

By simplifying your account structure, you’ll have better input (more data), which leads to better output (results).

Remember: Google’s Smart Bidding algorithm needs a lot of data to work well, so it’s our job to aggregate as much data as possible (while remaining relevant).

This is what consolidation or simplification looks like in a real account:

In one of Bob’s best case studies, he used completely restructured a struggling lead gen account by consolidating 19 Non-Branded Search campaigns into 4, resulting in +253% conversions and -60% CPA.

And it’s been a massive weapon for members of The PPC Hub since we started teaching this in our Search Mastery course.

Consolidation is the way to go for Search, but there are always exceptions. You can find a deep dive in this article.

The downside of consolidation is putting everything on 1 pile and losing control and relevance of your ads…

In our Search Mastery course (available in The PPC Hub), we explain how to create hyper-consolidated campaigns, without losing relevance (with smart tactics like final URLs and Dynamic Keyword Insertion on the keyword-level).

Modern-Day Search Pillar 2: Broad Match.

The second pillar is Broad Match. And yes, I said Broad Match.

If that makes you cringe, you need to get a reality check. It’s not as evil or bad as people make it out to be.

Is it perfect? Of course not.

But when done right, it’s a powerful weapon to scale your results to the next level.

You see, keyword targeting has changed:

• Google understands intent and not just words (semantic vs. syntax matching).
• Match types aren’t what they used to be (exact match is definitely not exact).
• Fighting the algorithm is a never-ending struggle (e.g. close variants).

Broad Match + Smart Bidding = the new normal — and the biggest reason is because it’s the only match type that uses all of the available user signals to understand the intent of both the user’s search AND your keyword:

But… We’re not saying you should always run full-broad.

There are always nuances and reasons you should not run (full) broad:

• Low volume/budget accounts.
• Niche products/services.
• You’re not leveraging Smart Bidding.
• When query intent is critical.

Your bid strategy and goals determine the match types you choose, and for most conversion-focused accounts, Broad Match is the way to go (when controlled properly).

To close off this pillar, here are some A/B test results for my fellow data-geeks. But don’t rely on our data — experiment yourself (we’ll show you how in our Search Mastery course, available in The PPC Hub).

Modern-Day Search Pillar 3: Smart Bidding.

And that brings me to the 3rd pillar of the Modern-Day Search framework: Smart Bidding.

NEVER EVER use Broad Match without Smart Bidding (unless you love burning money for no reason).

• Broad match without Smart Bidding = money pit.
• Smart Bidding without challenging targets = waste.
• Smart Bidding + Challenging targets + Broad Match = controlled scaling.

Modern-Day Search Pillar 4: Creatives.

The last pillar of our Modern-Day Search framework is all about creating compelling creatives (AKA writing highly-relevant Responsive Search Ads).

Most Google Ads Specialists whip out a few headlines and descriptions without giving them too much thought, but we suggest you do things differently.

Here’s the Creative Excellence Framework we use to write highly-relevant, high-converting RSAs with the right message at the right time (based on where someone is in the customer journey).

Before you write your ads, deeply research your client’s offer, target market, USPs, and competitive advantages.

Then, use that research to create compelling creatives that resonate with your target audience… And map the ads to where your customer is in their journey.

A copywriting model I love for this: “enter the conversation that’s already going on in your customer’s mind”.

In other words: show them what they’re looking for, and present your offer as the solution to their problems.

And that’s how you win in the Modern-Day Search era!

Consolidation + Broad Match + Smart Bidding + RSAs = winning.

Automation is not the enemy. When used correctly, it can be huge lever for success. But when used incorrectly, they will do more harm than good.

In our Search Mastery course (exclusively available in The PPC Hub), we ensure you launch, optimize, and scale your ‘Modern-Day Search’ campaigns the right way:

• How to consolidate like the pros (and when to create segmentations).
• How to save time & improve results with Hyper Consolidation (without losing relevance).
• How to run (full) Broad Match experiments (and when to choose Phrase & Exact).
• How to create highly-converting RSAs with our CustomGPT based on the Creative Excellence Framework.
• Walkthroughs to make implementation as easy as possible.
• … And so much more!

If you’re serious about taking your skills, results, and career/business to the next level, consider joining The PPC Hub. You’ll love it.

And that’s all for today — thanks for reading.

We’ll be back next week.

Cheers,

Miles (& Bob)