Thinking Outside The Box- Beyond Google

When it comes to driving quality traffic to your online business, it is important to consider all the possible channels. In recent years, Google has been the first and leading source for driving traffic, and it still is today. However, here at Mrkt360, we like to think outside the box to get our clients the best possible leads within their desired budget.

As Google Channel Premier Partners, the decision to venture into other advertising avenues was mostly derived from Google’s latest changes which affected our clients tremendously. Although some of our clients benefitted from these changes, for others we needed to come up with creative ways to overcome the obstacles they introduced.

One major change that affected a large sector of our clients was Google Guarantee which launched earlier this year. Google Guarantee validates local businesses through an extensive verification process, provides them with a badge proving their honest business practices, and guarantees a refund for unsatisfied customers. Available in Canada for Plumbing, HVAC and Locksmith services, Google Guarantee Ads show on the top of the search results pages, dominating the first three positions. This means that competition for the first positions on the Google search results page is rising, especially for these industries, resulting in high bids that do not always result in conversions.

Another important change that compelled us to look for other platforms was Google’s update for Mobile Apps Targeting, making it more challenging to prevent display ads from showing on mobile apps placements which we know from experience do not convert well. Google’s intent was “to make it easier to reach the growing base of mobile users,” however, this resulted in unwanted clicks and significant losses to some of our clients advertising on the Google Display Network.

Lastly, Google’s latest update to Exact Match from September 2018, matching “the intent of a search, instead of just the specific words”, meant widening the reach of keywords “including close variations that share the same meaning as your keyword”. Although this might be beneficial to some advertisers by boosting traffic, without proper management and optimization of the ad account, this can result in budget losses.

These changes and more urged us to look outside of Google.

Bing Ads

One major avenue that we decided to test for our clients was Bing Ads, which resulted in great results for small budgets. Advertising on Bing can be very beneficial for a growing business with a conservative budget, and though it does see less traffic in comparison with Google’s vast Search network, having your ads on Bing can contribute to a well-rounded online presence without compromising on the quality of leads or return on investment.
It is very easy to get started advertising on Bing; all it takes is creating a Bing Ads account and importing your existing campaigns from Google Ads. However, unlike Google Ads, Bing offers a large set of placements outside of the Google network, reaching a large sector of audiences that do not necessarily use Google. Bing has also less competition and lower cost-per-click, resulting in lower cost-per-conversion and a higher ROI. From our experience with our clients, we have seen very good conversion data come in from Bing, and we highly recommend it to complement any business’s online presence.

Native Ads

As a Native Marketplace Certified agency, Mrkt360 helps businesses to advertise on the Display Network through Native Ads to better promote their products and services. Native Ads, as their name implies, appear like native content on various website like HuffPost, Tumblr and Yahoo, and encourage consumers to read more content than the conventional paid ads on search results pages. Native Ads are usually more engaging, informative and interactive, and allow advertisers more flexibility when it comes to how, when and where they appear. A growing part of online marketing, native ads make up over 60% of display ads in the market, making them a profitable avenue for advertisers who wish to catch their audiences’ attention with quality content while browsing their favourite website. 

As the online market keeps growing, it is important to note that being very present on Google is no longer enough to catch all sectors of traffic on the web. As it becomes more and more expensive to be on Google, and in light of the many changes in Google mentioned above, we recommend venturing outside of Google’s dominating network to find the best platform for your business.

How Mrkt360 Can Help You?

Though not all platforms would suite every advertiser’s goals and budgets, here at Mrkt360 we customize the desired campaigns to meet each client’s goals, considering not only their own preferences, but the platform and campaigns that are the best possible fit for them and their target demographics. With our expertise, tips and extensive knowledge on automation and artificial intelligence, we strive to optimize conversions across all platforms while promoting our clients’ businesses with a watchful eye toward future updates, news and changes.