Paid Search & PPC

At Granular, we used to use spreadsheets for our client-facing KPI reporting. This involved downloading data for every account we had, then molding it into charts and graphs that would be readable by a client. As our number of clients grew, this task became much more difficult. We had to find an automated solution that[…]

Some people are calling the last few years “The Goldfish Era.”  Why?  Because studies are showing the human attention span has become about as long as those of a goldfish.  Actually, the data is showing that they’re shorter! According to Microsoft research, which has been quoted numerous times, human attention span dropped from 12 seconds[…]

Where can you Learn How To Kickflip In 5 Minutes, take a seat in a Harvard MBA classroom, or even make a Disney Princess Cake all in the same place? YouTube! And, guess what? In 2021 the amount of opportunity to reach audiences when they are watching or searching for videos on YouTube is essentially[…]

Note: With more and more information being released, this topic is changing quickly. We wrote this blog post & recorded the podcast at the end of January and will do our best to keep it updated as Apple and Facebook release more information. Facebook vs Apple. It’s a new chapter in an ever-growing data showdown…so[…]

The content you are about to read is satire, and as with every good piece of satire, is grounded in real life experiences. It is not meant to offend – we love our platform partners and hold web developers and designers in the highest of regards (Lord knows I certainly am not capable of doing[…]

The word programmatic has been thrown around more than normal over the past seven months, especially if you are in the marketing world. When you run a search for “what is programmatic advertising,” you’re hit with dozens upon dozens of search results that may or may not give you an exact clear answer. The simplest[…]

There’s a saying in marketing and sales that goes something like this… Some people will buy from you no matter what you do.  Some people won’t buy from you no matter what you do.  It’s what you do with the rest that determines how successful you’ll be. Since this is the case, it’s our job[…]

As the holiday season is in full swing, I imagine all the Halloween candy, Thanksgiving mashed potatoes and stuffing, and Christmas cookies; followed by a New Years resolution to be healthier. As many people do when trying to lose weight, we often use other goals to help us get there. We count calories, track physical[…]

From the start, Granular has been a trusted digital marketing partner for colleges and universities around the country and tapped to help drive enrollment, improve efficiency, and bring new students in a measurable and scalable way.  We’ve worked with for-profit and non-profit institutions ranging from small regional colleges to large universities. We have also worked[…]

Why Google’s Responsive Ad Strength Tool Is An Idea Factory I have no doubt, one of the most challenging parts of digital marketing is creating quality search ad copy that both stands out from the competition and motivates searchers to click. Not only do you have to know the product/service, offer, and company well to[…]

You’ve got all the campaign settings right.  Your target audience is exactly who you want to target.  You believe you have a great offer for that audience.  You know how much you want to pay per conversion.  But still you’re getting high CPMs with low CTRs and your results aren’t acceptable or what you thought[…]

So, you want to grant someone access to your LinkedIn accounts so they can manage your ads for you? Well, you are just in luck! This easy how-to guide will get that expert PPC professional into your Campaign Manager account and creating eye-catching, lead-generating Sponsored Content and In-Mail ads before you can say “Man, this[…]

Here I’m going to suggest an approach to using Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) campaigns in mid-to-large ecommerce Google and Microsoft Ads accounts that is likely not what you’d hear from the typical account manager. From what I’ve heard and read, most account managers use DSA campaigns to fill in the missing holes in their accounts[…]

Google Tag Manager is a tool that can bring highs and lows. It can lead you down a path of troubleshooting that will take hours for you only to realize you forgot to hit “submit” for your changes. It has the capacity to put you on the top of the world when you set up[…]

The pressure to win and be #1 is crucial in sports. Athletes and coaches spend numerous hours training, reviewing playbooks and perfecting their skills to be better, stronger and faster than their competitors. For instance, during a football combine, athletes’ skills are judged using key performance indicators like speed during a 40 yard dash, vertical[…]

At Granular, we are fortunate enough to work with colleges and universities across the nation. We work with both public and private institutions targeting both traditional and non-traditional students. As such, we’ve been able to gain a lot of insight into higher ed trends during the coronavirus pandemic. Here are 3 insights we’ve pulled from[…]

A constantly moving task and target in Search marketing is making your ads stand out from the crowd. In crowded search results pages where multiple companies (including you) are selling similar products and services, how do you best communicate what you have to offer and put your best foot forward to earn a click and[…]

Social media news feeds are crowded and noisy and people scroll through them quickly. While they can and do work for advertising, it’s not exactly a captive audience. But LinkedIn has an ad type that allows you to avoid that. Reach people’s message inbox directly LinkedIn Sponsored Message Ads (formerly InMail) are ads that are[…]

Wouldn’t it be great to know faster what users are currently searching for this week compared to the last week and year to year? You could optimize your inventory, bidding and even campaign structure. You’d not only save time for yourself, but could save your clients money!  You may be thinking, “Well I already use[…]

In his book Digital Marketing in and AI World, Frederick Vallaeys makes the point that there are some things machines can do better than humans and there are some things humans can do better than machines. It’s in using the combination of these strengths that we find the best results.     One area where[…]

As a marketing nerd, I love reading about Wendy’s tweets. Why? Because they are always bashing McDonald’s and other fast food chains (and they’re pretty good at it when they do). Wendy’s has mastered using their competitors (and trolling) to get attention. Luckily, you don’t have to master trolling to use your competitors in your[…]

Linking an advertiser’s Facebook account with an agency’s Business Manager account can often be challenging, especially compared with the other common self-serve advertising platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, or LinkedIn. Often, the linking process happens during the onboarding phase of a client-agency relationship, making any fumbles or false starts even more noticeable as this[…]

If you haven’t noticed yet, the LinkedIn advertising platform has been stepping up its game. Out of all the major digital ad platforms that we deal with (Google, Bing, Facebook, etc.), LinkedIn’s platform and capabilities has historically been the worst in my (and many others) opinion. This is of course outside of the vastly superior[…]

  On March 18, 1995 Michael Jordan shocked the world when he faxed the simple and effective press release: “I’m back.” This went viral, before viral was a thing, and perfectly got the message across that he was setting down his baseball bat and rejoining the NBA. The success and simplicity of “I’m back” is[…]

To insource or to outsource? For many businesses, that is an ongoing question. In the past few years, the benefits of outsourcing have been highly touted and embraced by companies of all sizes and in all industries. But insourcing also has a certain appeal. So, how can you choose which option is best for your[…]