Paid Search & PPC

Expert Tips, Insights, and Analysis

PPC experts Anna Borchert, Emily Martin and Steve Kroll at conference

Welcome to your hub for Paid Search & PPC know-how. Uncover actionable tips and strategic insights, all scrutinized by industry experts. Navigate the intricacies of cost-per-click, ad auctions, and keyword targeting. Our goal is to turn the complex PPC landscape into a stroll through a well-lit park.

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Competitor Brand Terms

Pros and Cons – PLUS: 9 Examples Analyzing the Most Sophisticated Performance Marketers. The Temptation of Bidding on Another Company’s Brand Terms in Google Is it wise to bid on a competitor’s brand keywords in Google Ads? For anyone with experience utilizing strategy, it can feel a bit like taking a blow torch to your[…]

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amazon coupons and deals

Increase Conversions With Amazon Coupons, Deals and Promotions

If you sell products or run ads on Amazon you’ll quickly notice it’s hard to stand out in this busy marketplace. Luckily, there are a few ways to boost sales and conversion rates while decreasing inventory. The best and most popular options are Coupons, Deals, Promotions, and Prime Exclusive Discounts. Coupons Coupons are the most[…]

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"This small meta commerce manager update will help save time"

This Small Meta Commerce Manager Update Will Help Save Time

It feels like every Meta change over the past few months has made advertisers’ lives harder. Whether it’s requiring increased security or completely changing the Business Manager’s format, I know I’m not alone when I say it’s been a constant headache. But, as of last week (or that’s at least when I became aware of[…]

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"Important Update: Don't get locked out of your Facebook Account"

Important Update: Don’t Get Locked Out of Your Facebook Account

We all hate articles or spam emails with clickbait titles claiming “you need to take action on your account because you’re in danger of losing access.” This is not one of those posts. In the last few months, we’ve seen three different clients locked out of their Facebook accounts due to Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) issues.[…]

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"Common Facebook Ad Creative Mistakes & How to Fix Them (Part 1)

Common Facebook Ad Creative Mistakes & How To Fix Them (Part 1)

Do you know what hurts me more than my face ID not recognizing me in the morning…? Putting money behind poor Facebook ad creative and messaging. It crushes my digital marketing soul when I see campaigns perfectly set up with the right budget, bid, placements, and audiences only for poor ad copy creative and incorrect[…]

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"A simple guide to setting up a snapchat business manager"

A Simple Guide to Setting Up a Snapchat Business Manager

Snapchat Ads now offers a business manager akin to what you’re used to in other large ad platforms. This enables an advertising agency to seamlessly link multiple client ad accounts. Here we’ll break down the steps to set up your agency Business Manager, as well as how to link client ad accounts. Creating a New[…]

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"Why your business needs to pay attention to blended ROAS (MER)"

Why Your Business Needs to Pay Attention to Blended ROAS (MER)

With the rise of user privacy, conversion tracking ain’t what it used to be! As most advertisers know by now, you need users’ permission to track on Apple devices running IOS14.5+. This is causing a noticeable decrease in attributed conversions to most digital advertising efforts including all social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter,[…]

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"Granular Team Q & A: Work From Home 2 years later"

Granular Team Q&A: WFH 2 Years Later

It’s hard to believe we published this blog more than two years ago, many of us naive to the fact the pandemic would last even more than a few weeks at that point. The months passed, remote working became the standard, and we collectively learned so much about ourselves in the process. In a COVID/lockdown/quarantine[…]

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"@elonmusk: Here's how to improve Twitter Ads"

@elonmusk Here’s How To Improve Twitter Ads

If you’ve ever run Twitter Ads then I can almost guarantee that you’ve experienced some sort of frustration with the Ads Platform. Whether you struggled with the wonky ad creation process, were disappointed by limited targeting, or were confused about where to start with their data, I hear you and have been there. Full disclosure,[…]

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"3 simple Google Ads editor tasks that will save you hours"

3 Simple Google Ads Editor Tasks That Will Save You Hours

Early in my PPC career, I was tasked with changing out over 50 ads that contained inaccurate copy. I logged into the Google Ads account and painstakingly changed them one-by-one. I knew there had to be a better way. Next time, I tried downloading the ads, editing them in a spreadsheet, and then uploaded the[…]

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"Launch a new product feed on Google Shopping with Granular"

Launch a New Product Feed on Google Shopping

So You’ve Got a New Product Feed Feeds are crucial when it comes to online advertising. Google Shopping is one of the top revenue drivers for e-commerce accounts, and when your feed goes down or issues occur, it can be rather disastrous for your advertising and business. A data feed management platform can be a[…]

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"Navigating Google's double-edge Optiscore Sword: The best and worst of their recommendations"

Navigating Google’s Double-edge Optiscore Sword: The Best and Worst of Their Recommendations

I’ve been working in Google Ads since 2015, so I’ve seen many new Google innovations in the space. The shift away from manual bidding to Google’s (IMO – far superior in many situations) automated bidding was landscape changing. In 2019, Google introduced its optiscore that was essentially a ranking system to determine how “compliant” and[…]

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"Marketing in the Metaverse: 5 principles to keep in mind with the changing landscape"

Marketing in the Metaverse: 5 Principles to Keep in Mind with the Changing Landscape

When I first heard about “the metaverse” my mind immediately flashed to The Office episode where Dwight is playing the online role-playing game, Second Life. In the episode, Dwight says “my life was so great that I literally wanted a second one.” Insert Jim Halpert smirk here (but really who can afford it?) That The[…]

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"If Facebook Ad campaigns were a sandwich, here's how to make the perfect one"

If Facebook Ad Campaigns Were A Sandwich, Here’s How to Make The Perfect One

I think we can all appreciate a good sandwich. A well designed sandwich can make your whole day. Good bread, quality meat and cheese and just the right amount of sauces and special toppings. My favorite this time of year is a thick cut turkey on toasted whole grain bread with a slice of sharp[…]

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Employment Ads Channels

Employment Ads Benchmarks: Which Digital Ad Channels Perform Best?

Here at Granular, we’ve had the privilege of working with over 50 different companies in multiple countries to assist with their hiring needs over the last few years. We have been able to drive nearly 150,000 applicants to these positions in the past year alone. There has been a lot of testing through various ad[…]

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Tips for Google Ads housing campaigns

4 Tips For Optimizing Google Ads Campaigns For Housing

In October 2020, Google updated their Personalized advertising policies to include new targeting restrictions that directly impacted advertising for Housing. Advertisers can no longer target users based on age, gender, marital status, parental status or ZIP code.  This makes it difficult to reach the right audience with your ads, (especially for those 55+ communities). Fortunately,[…]

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TikTok Advertising: The Why & The How Of Getting Started

Disclaimer from the authors Jessica Busalacchi & Emily Martin – Since TikTok is growing at a rapid pace and their advertising platform is so new, a lot of features are continuously changing. We will do our best to keep this guide updated!  Over the past year, TikTok has taken the world by storm with its[…]

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linkedin event ads

How LinkedIn Ads Is Supporting The Virtual Events Trend

Chances are by now you’ve either organized or attended an online event you might not have prior to the pandemic. In LinkedIn’s Best Practice Guide for Events, they mention… 65% of B2B marketers are planning to reallocate some or most of their live event budgets to online events due to Covid-19. The types of online[…]

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improve digital attribution

3 Basic Ways to Improve Your Digital Attribution Quickly

Detailed and accurate attribution is key to driving digital marketing performance. If the data that your decisions are based on is inaccurate or not detailed enough, then you’re at risk of not making the most optimal decisions. Often, we find that clients are aware that what they’re tracking isn’t a complete picture of all their[…]

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responsive search ads

My Satisfying Approach For Making Quality Responsive Search Ads (RSAs)

I have some issues with the approach of creating Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) as soon as you start a new campaign in a Google Ads account. First, RSAs use the headlines and description lines you input. How do you know if those inputs are any good? Until you have data that proves it to be[…]

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Drive Online Revenue

6 Ways To Drive More Online Revenue Using Your Customer Data

As a business, one of the most valuable things you have is your customer data. There are several different ways you can utilize your customer data in digital marketing to both re-engage current customers and find new customers. First, let’s talk about the type of customer data you will need and how you can collect[…]

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Facebook Ad Account Disabled

Facebook Ad Account Disabled?

Having your Facebook ad account disabled can be extremely frustrating, especially when Facebook gives little-to-no detail on what policy was violated to trigger the disapproval! We at Granular have found, more often than not in recent days and weeks, the reason that our clients’ ad accounts get randomly shut down is because they have not[…]

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Content Grouping

A Feature Of Google Analytics Content Creators Shouldn’t Overlook

To me, it seems like an overlooked feature that’s been a part of Google Analytics Universal since it launched is Content Groupings. Content groupings are clusters of pages defined by common identifiers, like URL, metadata or website purpose.  By using them, a company can better understand the growth of its website over time through more[…]

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Increase Conversions with Smart Bidding

How Google Ads Smart Bidding Increased My Conversions By +171%

Do you have a go-to conversation starter? Something that always gets people talking? At Granular, our team has spent hours debating if a hotdog is a sandwich, if cereal is soup, and more recently – if a Pop-Tart is a ravioli. Another way to get a group of PPC experts to start a conversation is[…]

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Google Ads Grants: Important Requirements & Helpful Strategy Tips

I forget what the psychological effect is called, but something happens to people when they get free money.  They tend to be more careless with it.  “Oh, I just got a bonus in my paycheck?  Yippe ki yay!  I’ll go blow it on a doodad I’ve been wanting for a while,” we think.  “Oh, I[…]

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5 YouTube Ad Placement Types You Need To Watch Out For

It’s true. There are some really bad placements for your ads on YouTube. For the unsuspecting advertiser that follows a basic campaign set up and uses some broader targeting options (like topics and keywords), they may just find that they’ve been serving ads before and during videos that either don’t deliver any value, or worse,[…]

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