Google Ads

Disregarding suggestions to add relevant new keywords 

Removing negative keywords that could block relevant traffic 

Adding Customer Match lists that contain data more than 90 days old 

Adding more phrase and exact match keywords in order to improve reach 

When creating plans during seasonal periods, create month-by-month plans in the tool and regularly view the updated forecasts. 

Check in on forecasts on an annual basis, as data can be skewed when it’s close to an industry’s peak seasonal period. 

Use Performance Planner most during non-seasonal periods, as data may be less accurate in times of change. 

For maximum impact, create an annual forecast at the start of the fiscal year to determine budgets 

Send a quarterly budget review to their supervisor to request additional budget for testing in the upcoming quarter. 

Review industry reports to predict query demand for the coming year and what budget level will be required. 

Plan ahead by setting aside a percentage of budget to be used for testing and reacting to market changes. 

Set up a monthly or weekly sync with the finance team to share opportunities and results to encourage budget flexibility and collaboration. 

Brand awareness and reach 

Product and brand consideration

Website traffic 

Local store visits and promotions 

They can provide the merchant insights on whether proposed changes help reach the marketing objective they desire. 

They ensure statistically significant results by randomly choosing how much Search traffic will be diverted to an experiment. 

They let marketers measure changes’ impact and reverse those changes if needed.

They can test Google Ads campaigns against TV, print ads, or other traditional media. 

It’s high-quality and captures customer transactions that drive business results. 

It’s easily replicated by multiple teams within their organization. 

It’s a strong indicator of industry-wide performance for machine learning. 

It’s similar to competitor data and can be used to understand how others are performing. 

Setting up an annual forecast at the start of the fiscal year so budgets can be created accordingly 

Coming up with month-by-month plans in the tool and regularly viewing updated forecasts 

Using Performance Planner more during non-seasonal periods, as these are the periods when data is most accurate. 

Viewing forecasts on a year-to-year basis, since sales data during peak seasonal periods is typically higher 

Target ROAS

Maximize clicks

Maximize conversions

Target conversion value 

They limit a marketer’s opportunity to compete in additional auctions and match to additional queries.

They provide for a wider reach to potential customers by catering to different-sized devices. 

They save time by allowing for the creation of a single ad with more than one headline and description asset. 

They manually create customized combinations of headlines and assets to show to different users based on their review of existing data. 

By giving explanations for fluctuations in campaign performance 

By showing the drivers of a campaign’s week-on-week and month-on-month performance 

By allowing marketers to see competitors’ ad performance data 

By putting an automatic pause on campaigns that have low ad strength or a limited budget