Getting Granular – PPC Blog

Digital Marketing, PPC, eCommerce and Lead Gen

Breaking: Walmart Accidentally Closes 100’s of Stores

Don’t worry, your supply of $0.24 Ramen and  is still available. It just appears that someone or a system accidentally listed a lot of Walmart locations as permanently closed. In an attempt to find some cheap folding chairs for Granular in Milwaukee, Walmart was naturally on the short list of stores. Upon searching, we discovered[…]

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remarketing audiences in google analytics

Remarketing Audiences to Create in Google Analytics

Remarketing isn’t anything new anymore. It’s become one of the most common forms of Display advertising within the AdWords platform. Creating audiences in AdWords is fairly simple and is good for creating basic audiences. Google Analytics, on the other hand, allows you to create several, layered audiences that can be used to make your remarketing[…]

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and its gone south park

No More Sidebar Ads on Google

There was some big news dropped on the search engine world Friday, February 19, 2016. Google announced that they were changing up the layout of their search engine results page (SERP). This layout definitely affects PPC marketers since there are now fewer ads on the page. This layout also affected SEO marketers because organic results[…]

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Using Proof Points in PPC

As a digital marketer I’m always trying to implement new ways to connect with my target audience. I consistently see positive results from my campaign performances when I’m building visitors’ confidence every step of the PPC path. An easy way to build that confidence is through proof points. I look at proof points as evidence that backs[…]

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Targeting Your Competitors with PPC

I recently had a conversation with a client about expanding their reach and going after their competitors with paid search. Initially they weren’t sure about this because they were afraid the competition would start targeting their name in retaliation. The funny part was their competitors were already targeting them and we could prove it. Google gives advertisers[…]

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Types of Automated Ad Extensions

In October 2013, AdWords came out and clearly talked about how ad extensions have a direct effect on ad rank. This was an immediate call-to-action for PPC marketers to start adding as many extensions as possible. What makes this process a little more difficult is that Google doesn’t give us the ability to manually set up[…]

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RLSA Campaign Targeting and Bidding Options in AdWords

RLSA campaigns, or remarketing lists for search ads, is a unique way to get your ads back in front of previous visitors. For example let’s say someone visited your website and left because they weren’t ready to convert at that moment. If you have the remarketing code set up on you site, you will have the visitor[…]

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Results From Our Instagram Ads Test

Results of Our Instagram Ads Test Start with a small budget when testing a new channel / ad format – that’s almost always our rule. This of course varies based on your company size. Testing a new channel at one of the universities I ran paid for was often in the $10s of thousands of[…]

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Are You Getting Full Value with Your PPC Budget?

5 Signs You’re Working with a Bad PPC Company Whether you’re a large corporation or a small business, every marketing dollar is precious. It is always important to be on top of how your marketing budget is being spent to make sure you’re getting the most value. So how do you know if you’re not[…]

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landing page pop up

Why Your Landing Pages May Not Be Working

Whether you’re involved with PPC, SEO, email marketing or social media, the landing page can make or break the odds of a campaign succeeding. You can drive a lot of traffic, but if your landing page doesn’t convert then what’s the point? A 25% CTR and 400% traffic increase doesn’t look great if the return[…]

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Stop Ignoring Google Maps

If you own a restaurant, store, or any business requiring foot traffic for survival, then most likely people are finding you on Google Maps. Google Maps offers much more than giving directions. If you value digital marketing for your local business, then Google Maps must be a part of your strategy. Here’s why. Local Results Are Showing[…]

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Using Twitter Analytics for PPC Benefits

On May 27, 2015 Twitter Advertising updated their analytics to Audience Insights. The goal was “to help advertisers understand key audiences on Twitter.” Well not only does Twitter Analytics help your paid social efforts, but it also can give you some ideas (with data) on how to improve your PPC campaigns as well. Let’s look at[…]

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Don’t Get Bundled in Digital Marketing

“Yeah, we can do that too”. Famous last words of the once-focused agency. Too many agencies and marketing contractors go the way of the cable companies, bundling their clients into massive contracts offering multiple services for one large fee. Marketing your company should be no different that your personal life. Do you LOVE your bundled[…]

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Quantitative Staffing for eCommerce Seasonality

As the seasons change, so do the needs of eCommerce businesses. Many of our clients have seasonal peaks and valleys in their website traffic and overall online revenue. The Granular team has managed paid search during “holiday hell week” at Best Buy and Target, so we know a little something about eCommerce seasonality. To match[…]

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Increasing User Engagement with A/B Testing

Improving user experience is one of the many factors taken into account when working on conversion rate optimization (CRO). CRO is a necessity when driving PPC traffic to any website. Why? Because so much is on the line when you pay for traffic. By using CRO, you are often able to improve efficiency and stretch[…]

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Why Google AdWords Certifications Matter

Google has offered some type of AdWords certification since around 2010. It has been through a few name changes and rule changes, but it continues to be a fundamental element of adding trust for clients and showing that PPC experts are indeed what they claim to be. Trusting a PPC pro with your marketing budget[…]

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Use Google Trusted Store as an AdWords Review

Are you an eCommerce business owner or have a PPC client that is a Google Trusted Store? You can now add the benefit of being a trusted store to your Review Extensions in AdWords! More ad real estate is ALWAYS a good thing; Google knows it, good PPC managers know it, now you know it.[…]

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