Retargeting Improvement:  Increase Retargeting Profitability and Scale with This Simple Tactic 8/09/2019 Retargeting is a prominent tool for most eCommerce brands because it increases website conversion rates.  It is especially valuable for brands whose products require consideration (not an impulse purchase on the spot) from potential buyers. We perform many ecommerce retargeting audits and this post shares one of the biggest areas of inefficiency we come across in those audits, which is in how placements (the websites/apps where retargeting ads are displayed) are managed.  Inefficient placement management doesn’t just lower ROI, it creates a ceiling on sales potential that simply…

Google Marketing Live 2019 - New Products and Multi-Channel Campaigns 5/21/2019 Google just announced some significant changes to its advertising ecosystem at the annual Google Marketing Live event in May.  The theme that the search and advertising giant is focusing on for 2019 is the adoption of highly automated multi-channel advertising campaigns.  Across search, shopping, apps, display, and YouTube, Google is extending the reach of individual Google Ads campaigns to serve across more of their platforms utilizing machine learning algorithms to drive strategic decision making on ad placements and budget allocation between channels/properties.  Additionally, the introduction of a few new…

The Pros and Cons of Google Manufacturer Center Google launched the Google Manufacturer Center in 2015 to enable manufacturers to provide Google with product data.  Google claims there are three incentives for manufacturers to consider doing this. Improve upon product data that is submitted by retailers using Google Merchant Center Obtain analytics about your products online selling performance Potentially increase click volume to manufacturer listings Google Manufacturer Center is not the same as Google Merchant Center.  Google Merchant Center is where your retailers (and you if you sell direct and advertise) upload product data with the purpose of enabling advertising using…

Google Smart Shopping Campaigns – Good or Bad for You? On May 4, 2018 Google announced a new Shopping campaign type called “Goal Optimized Campaigns” rebranded from “Universal Shopping Campaigns”. Recently, for the third time in three months, these campaign types were rebranded again to “Smart Shopping Campaigns”. We discuss what they are, what they claim to do, and why you should think twice before implementing them. What Are Universal / Google Goal Optimized / Smart Shopping Campaigns? Google’s Smart Shopping campaigns are fully automated campaigns have been in development for months now as Google’s “Universal Shopping” campaign beta, but now will be making…

Why We Don’t Love Automated Bidding Summary Automated Bidding is popular, especially for larger ecommerce firms with extensive products to advertise.  It promises the benefits of reduced labor requirements, and more rapid bid adjustments in response to changes in ad performance.  But at Conversion Path we aren’t bullish on Automated Bid Management (ABM). ABM only automates one facet of the many that drive success The byproduct of ABM is that it reduces the amount of evaluation as to the reasons for performance changes that is needed to identify and drive further action to improve sales Detail To properly optimize an…