Google Custom Intent Audiences (Display and Video) - Quick guide - By Sarang Kinjavdekar

Are you running a campaign and want to reach the audience who is actively searching your product /services , in a consideration phase or in the midto lower funnel. Then, you can target them by using custom Intent audiences.

This guide will cover how to do the set up and some use cases.

What is Custom Intent Audience(s)?


Custom intent audiences help you define and reach the ideal audience for your business. Built with performance advertisers in mind, custom intent audiences allow you to go beyond pre-defined audience categories and reach people as they’re making a purchase decision.


How do I set up Custom Intent Audience(s)?


Custom Intent audiences can be st up in 2 ways (i) In Google Ads ,Go to shared Library >Audience Manager > Select Custom Audiences> Click on + Button and start the creation (ii) This can also be created once you have selected the campaign goal (or campaign type and under the Audience selection area <<<< We will see the this method here


Step by Step- Creation Guide

*Click on the images to enlarge

Step 1

Start creating the campaign and reach till the Audience section, select as seen below

Step 2

Click on New Custom Intent Audiences

Step 3

This is the overview and some explanation of the screen that opens up

Step 4

Name your audience and then enter keywords and URLs related to products and services that this audience is actively researching


For example, lets say we added few keyword keyword , on the right hand side we will see some suggestions based on the keywords we added


Lets see the 1st part of the Right hand scree which is the "IDEAS"

Now lets have a look at the Audience size section

We have clicked on ADD ALL and then we clicked on the AUDIENCE SIZE

We can also see the Demographics data and it will look something like below-it has Age, Gender and Parental status details

Now lets see, if we target by URL, how does it looks like. In this case, I am taking an example of Amazon

Lets add all the keywords (or you can select the ideas that you like which I recommend)

Now you can see the keywords on left and then the total available audience size on the right hand side

What are the benefits of using Custom Intent Audience(s)?

Custom Intent Audiences are very powerful and below are some the advantages and use cases for you.

Targeting competitors 

Performing a simple competitive research and traffic analysis into your competitors’ most visited (and most valuable pages), as well as the keywords driving traffic to those pages. Based on this you will gain some insights, which can then be used for a custom intent audience campaign.

Case specific Targeting

Get creative, play around with different options- think about your audience first-what are they interested in, where are they spending time, what are they reading. For keywords- you can use Branded, generic, long tail or a mix of all. Really depends how well it aligns with your strategy

Define your own categories ,Experiment and Combine it 

As Custom intent is better than the Custom affinity and slightly lower as compared to in Market audiences. You can take advantage of this, you can go as broader you want (in terms of keywords) or as specific as you want (competitors URL).You can define your own keywords and categories which are presently not available to target.

Thanks for Reading!

Sarang Kinjavdekar

Most effective and simplest version for your Marketing Stack, which you can start implementing right away!! By Sarang Kinjavdekar

Here you go, click image to enlarge

Google Remarketing solutions- A top level overview for Advertisers- By Sarang Kinjavdekar

A top level overview of all the Retargeting solutions that Google offers -with a small description- Useful for Advertisers..

Click to enlarge

Facebook Advertising - Create multiple Language Ads in 1 Campaign- Quick guide- By Sarang Kinjavdekar

This short article is focused on Language targeting capabilities of Facebook at Ads level- How can you create upto 48 different language ads and that too in a single campaign without having to worry about doing heavy work and then create multiple language based campaigns? Read on...


Before you proceed , read this DISCLAIMER- Well I am not a big fan of this feature, I would like to set Country level campaigns first and then select separate languages later (and not mix them into 1 as the case here) and create specific Ads based on languages

I am not sure if you have used this before, Facebook has also a language selection at Ads level. Normally when you advertise on Facebook, you either have  a default or Primary/Business language and you then create campaigns based on this.Or if you are targeting different countries then you pick the language and create the campaigns based on that language. What if you only want to create one campaign and target many (upto 48 languages) and leave it to Facebook to decide which version is the nest for people? Then read on 



NOTE:- Please do not confuse this with Language targeting at Ad set level (see below)

Lets say, you are a small advertiser and want to target multiple languages via a single campaign, then you can look into it. Other use cases? 


What is it exactly?

You can advertise to people in multiple languages with a single Facebook campaign. Facebook will  automatically optimize your budget to deliver your ads.

What is needed before I begin?

Make sure that your advertising objective supports ads in multiple languages

Which Campaign objective offers this features at the moment?

You can choose from traffic (website), app installs, conversions (website), video views, reach and brand awareness.

Where to find it and how to proceed?

Here is where you can find it (click to enlarge)

To get started, follow the procedure as you normally do and then in the Language seletion section (red box above-Select your default language and then when you are done, select Add Languages below Languages. (see below- click image to enlarge)

How many languages can an Ad be made into?

up to 48 more languages.

Can i use some auto translator?

Yes there is an Auto Translator available


Other considerations?

If you chose the traffic (website clicks) or website conversions objective, you can enter a language-specific Website URL. Otherwise, your website URL stays the same for each language.

Thanks for reading!

Sarang Kinjavdekar

For Advertisers- ***NEW Extension*** Lead form Extension - Google Ads-Simplified 'Creation Guide'- By Sarang Kinjavdekar

Google Ads have rolled out this new extension called Lead form extension last month end in October 2019.

This is an amazing add on to the current Ad extensions and is a really good feature for the the Advertisers who are aiming at the Lead generation campaigns


Top level Structure

This is how it look likes at the Top level

Where to find?

This is found at the Campaign Setting level where you create the normal Ad extensions, when you click the + Ad Extension sign, you will find it

How to create?

Once you click the Lead form extension, follow the steps below,click on the button +CREATE LEAD FORM EXTENSION

Then accept the Terms and conditions

Next steps

*Click images to enlarge

Follow these steps below:

Select first CTA- this will be visible in the Ad extension under the Ad and then choose the Extension text- 30characters

Enter the Headline, Business Name and description as per the characters limit mentioned

Choose what information you want , just check the box

2nd CTA- At the moment, Visit website and Download CTAs are available

Here you have an option to manage leads in your CRM - Just select the hook here

How will it look like finally?

Before Submission (see right hand side image)

After  Submission

 

Available Video Ads formats on Youtube- A very simple explanation- By Sarang Kinjavdekar

I will share a very quick overview of different Video formats along with some other details about the formats available. 

1. Bumper Ads

Duration- 6-second.  Bumper Ads are both a complement to TrueView in-stream and Google Preferred, while also making an impact as a standalone video solution. 

Skip type- non-skippable 

Where will it run?- in-stream ads 

Media buying format- bought on target CPM , generally they offer the lowest CPM and runs majorly on Mobile

Useful for-  broad reach, low CPMs, and video completion.

2. Trueview Ads- Skippable

4 formats are available for Trueview Instream

1. TrueView in-stream is great at driving consideration and user action.
2. TrueView for reach offers highly efficient reach to drive awareness at the lowest CPMs.
3. TrueView discovery can help capitalize on key moments of discovery.
4. TrueView for action allows advertisers to convert attention and intent of YouTube users into action.

Duration-Preferred up to 15 to 30 second. No issues even if you are using higher length videos, you will be charged if the user watches the full video or first 30 seconds , whichever is earlier OR If a user takes action from the video — such as clicking to visit your site or downloading your mobile app

Skip type- Skippable. A video ad plays before, during, or after other videos, and after five seconds the viewer has an option to skip the ad.

Where will it run?- in-stream ads -Pre roll, mid roll and post roll

Media buying format- bought on target CPM (Also on CPV when True View Instream is used)

Useful for-  additional reach, frequency, and brand awareness.+ consideration and interest

3. Trueview Ads-  Non-Skippable

Duration-up to 15-second 

Skip type- Non Skippable 

Where will it run?- in-stream ads -Pre roll, mid roll and post roll

Media buying format- bought on target CPM 

Useful for-  additional reach, frequency, and brand awareness.+ consideration and interest

TRUEVIEW ADS usage at Top level

4. Outstream Video Ads

Duration- not specific

Skip type- Its on mute , auto plays in the background and when user clicks on it , the audio is enabled  

Where will it run?- run outside of a video stream, such as within a news article or before a mobile game. It extend the reach of your video campaigns beyond YouTube.

Media buying format- bought on target CPM 

Useful for-  additional reach, frequency, and brand awareness.+ consideration and interest

5.  Video Masthead Ads

Duration- not specific

Other important considerations- Its a customized package, so you can modify the video length, select companion banners and be more creative. Masthead provides massive reach in a short period of time, typically around a tentpole event or product launch.

Where will it run?- enables you to showcase your brand on a beautiful video canvas at scale, across all devices, at the top slot of the home feed.

Media buying format- bought usually on target CPD or Cost per Day buying but also available on CPM

Useful for-  additional reach, frequency, and brand awareness.+ consideration and interest

When to use which format, bidding approach and Inventory (in the Conversion Funnel- Awareness, Consideration and Conversion)?

Below is a summary

AWARENESS

CONSIDERATION

CONVERSION / ACTION

For Advertisers- Shopping Ads are now on YouTube- By Sarang Kinjavdekar

For Advertisers, who are running Shopping Ads, there is a good news. Shopping Ads are now extended to Youtube. Google announced this yesterday, just before the Holiday season is about to begin. So, if you are aiming and planning to increase sales for the Holiday season, factor this in , in your Media plan.

How will it look like?

How can you opt  for it/ How do you start running Shopping Ads on YouTube

Simply, in the targeting criteria, select the option for Youtube as seen below

Where will the Shopping Ads on YouTube appear?

On YouTube home feed and search results. On top of that, these ads are now eligible to show in Google Images as well. 

Can you show an example of how a search query results in an Ad?


Lets take an example -you type Puma Shoes review on your Mobile, below is how the search results with ads look like

Any other features/updates?


 YouTube video ads will be  more interactive, giving viewers useful and actionable information like store location, interest forms and additional calls-to-actions to help you drive more conversions.  In the coming months, sitelink extensions will become available for TrueView for action ads.

How does the extensions with a True View Ads look like?


 Below is how it will look like-

Why should you care?


 As per Google, users display shopping intent on YouTube just as they do on Google Search.

For Advertisers- Mobile Attribution- A quick guide - By Sarang Kinjavdekar

If you are an Advertiser currently running App Marketing campaigns and finding it difficult to measure or if you are looking out for some more details on Mobile Attribution, some general issues that you might face and some questions that you need to ask to your Current/Potential Attribution Partner and some to yourself as well, then keep reading. I have not detailed out the different models, I have written a post earlier about it and if you want to know how each model works, click here to read that post.

Note- Before we begin, this is not a guide on how to choose the best Mobile attribution partner, I personally have used Adjust from last 6 years and I am very satisfied with it. However, this is not a post that talsk about any specific partner, but it is more on educating about the Mobile app attribution in general. Below content is based on my experience, I hope this will help you to define your attribution strategy

Defining Attribution

Attribution- Specifically talking about the Mobile, attribution refers to measurement of user events which  are the results of marketing activity. Or it can be defined as A method of assigning credit to a particular marketing interaction, brand touch point or channel in order to quantify the contribution   that are made by them towards a desired business goal (like Turnover, Profit, Customer retention, sales volume, revenue etc)

Examples- App Installs, product purchased(IAP), Level completion(in gaming), app launch etc

Traditional online advertising attribution techniques- Uses  (1) Cookies (2)Pixels(or tags) (3) Appended URL

Mobile attribution techniques/Universal Mobile App Attribution- (1) Google Install referrer (2) Identifier matching (3) Fingerprint Matching (4)Open  URL with click id (many more are used like location tracking etc but these 4 are the major ones used by mobile tracking companies like Adjust, Appsflyer, MAT, Apsalar etc)

Mobile attribution is very complex if compared to the traditional attribution. For this presentation,  we will focus on Mobile attribution. First we will go through why attribution is needed through a sample conversion in the coming paragraphs/pictures (Major Players: Adjust, Apsalar, Appsflyer, Kochava, MAT/Tune etc)

There are several methods for attribution but it depends on 4 factors- Not all these can be tracked together through a single method 

1.Platform/App store- iOS/Apple iTunes  App Store, Android/Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore for Android, etc.

2.Engagement type- Click through vs View Through

3.Conversion type- Installs ve events

4. Flow- Web to app or App to App

Attribution benefits

1.Accurately measure mobile campaign performance

2.Accurately measure revenue and ROI

3.Improve personalization efforts as you get the holistic view of the customer journey and touchpoints

4.Make powerful optimizations

5.Compare multiple networks and see which is performing and which one does not

6.Manage budget efficiently and reduce media wastage

7.Correctly attribute credit to the source and manage payouts without efforts

Overall App Journey

The overall app marketing process can be split into 5 major areas.

1.New user acquisitions- Attract new users + Download the app

2.Installation- This is the stage where user opens it for the first time

3.Engagement- User opens the app, engage with it. Can be organic (self driven) or promoted (ads)

4.Remarketing- Attract existing users, engage and drive more traction

5.Re-engagement- Completion of an event in the app- deep links usage

Below is a picture that covers the above in easy language (click to enlarge)

Click Based Attribution

Install attribution is based on pre-determined timeframes which is also known as lookback windows. Below are some of the windows used in attribution

1.7- day standard- Network X serve the ads to user A. User A clicks on it within 7 day window, it will get the credit for that install (assuming that no other ad network is running ads simultaneously)

2.24 hour device fingerprinting attribution- Lets say if the device id or referrer is not available, the tracking is done using the device fingerprinting method. It can only record accurate data in very short window and hence the window is 24 hours

3.Facebook, Twitter and Google- Facebook- Fixed 28 days, Google- Fixed 30 days (non configurable window) while Twitter offers configurable windows of 1/7/14/30/90 days

4.Configurable window- Gives networks and advertisers great flexibility- networks need more window while advertisers can do an apple to apple comparison when running different ad networks under the same window. Its best used when we are running time bound campaigns

View through Attribution

Some agreements allows giving attribution credits even when ad is viewed and not clicked. Generally click is more powerful and it wins always. FB and Twitter charges on 24 hour window.

Click Vs. Impression attributions?Winner?

Let's say , we are running campaigns with 2 different Ad networks. Network A has the click through window of 7 days and view through window of 1 day while Network B has only click through window of 15 days, no view through.

Here network B wins because it has the last click within the lookback window and also click wins over view even if it is within the window

General rules of attribution and priority

1.Clicks takes precedence over impressions

2.Deterministic attribution 1:1 (unique identifiers, device IDs) takes precedence over non-deterministic non 1:1 (fingerprinting)

3.Clicks measured with a click date time take precedence over clicks measured without a click date time

4.When no deterministic identifiers are found then at last device fingerprinting method is used

Multi Touch Attribution- Assisted Installs and non Window conversions

In the last paragraph, we saw how we can credit an install to a network by using different methods. But that is not enough, we also need to understand how different ad networks or partners influenced the user before he finally downloaded the app. It also gives us an idea of the partner performance at individual level as well as to determine their reach

Below are some of the important terms:

Download- When user go to the app store and downloads the app into his device

Install- When the user opens the app for the first time

Attributed installs- Partner with last click and within the respective attribution window

Assisted installs- Prior to last click but within the attribution window

Non-window conversions- Partners with click within 30 days but outside of the attribution window

What are some common issues that we face normally in the Mobile attribution scenario?

1.       For mobile attribution- no model or technique is universally accepted yet (unlike the traditional web attribution which is perfect)

2.       Not all models can measure everything single handedly like Platform (iOS/Android etc.), Engagement type(Click vs view), Conversion type(Install vs events) and Flow(app to app vs web to app)

3.       None of the model is 100% accurate

4.       Every Mobile attribution partner has multiple methods of attribution so selection of vendors becomes very difficult- they use either deterministic or   probabilistic identifiers- so by using any one, so it  not possible to get the clear picture. Even if both are used still its not 100% accurate

5.       There are multiple devices that people use to engage with brands, and without a universal method to track campaigns across all of these devices, the efficacy of mobile campaigns can be under-reported or devalued.

6.       Users move from online to offline, so getting the credit for mobile in discovery phase becomes very difficult

7.       Cross device attribution model is still not universally developed and accepted

8.       Industry lacks a scalable device agnostic model that can tell how the upper funnel mobile touch points attributed to the lower funnel sales and revenues

9.       A typical user journey is becoming far complex and fragmented

10.   Cross device and cross channel campaigns possess a serious challenge for attribution

11.   The attribution is still based on last click

12.   Poor quality of identifiers leading to inaccurate attributions

13.   The technology is constantly evolving and there are new attribution providers constantly coming up

14.   Data science talent needed- to apply increasingly sophisticated models.

15.   The attribution problem actually falls into 3 buckets (a) Cross channel attribution (Search, social, email etc.)(b) Cross platform (Phone, desktop etc.) and Offline attribution (footfalls, phone calls etc.)

16.   App Marketing  technology and tracking needs skilled resources and time. For instance- deeplinking needs skilled labour

 17. Tracking and then attributing results across channels in a cookie-less platform has been a challenge.

18.   There are 2 environments- Mobile web and Mobile app- each works in silos- lacks common tracking and varying degrees of functionality

Some Questions you can ask your Potential/Current Attribution partner and some Questions you might ask yourself as well

1.       You cannot run the campaign on Mobile web if you want deterministic approach and looking for device ids. It is only available for in-app inventory and also the ad network should agree to provide it. Not every Ad networks agree or have the capability to provide it

2.       Before selecting the attribution partner, make sure that they support both- mobile web and mobile app

3.       Also check that the attribution partners can pass unique variables (like order id etc.) through conversion tag so you can validate the purchase

4.       Be very careful while selecting the parameters like de-duplication and reattribution window. This should be in-line with the overall app journey and time taken for overall conversion

5.       Very short reattribution window is not advisable; it should ideally be 7 days

6.       Be careful while you look at the attribution for Facebook (28 days) and Google (30 days), they might not be in-line with your attribution default window. Facebook even charges for impressions based conversions that happens within 24 hours

7.       Multiple vendors generally claim for the same app events or install events if the parameters are not set properly

8.       Share the revenue tokens and purchase tokens details with all the vendors so that they have the clarity on the revenue that they are generating. It’s one unique token for each and created one time. This will give your vendors the total purchase and total revenue generated and helps them in optimizing the campaign

9.       Always have the post-back passed back to the networks, this will help in optimization. For affiliates, always get publisher id, ask them to append URL

10.   Use S2S and callbacks to fetch any data into the CRM and Business Intelligence systems

11.   Make sure that all the vendors work on same attribution window. If one network has a look back period of 24 hours and another has a lookback period of 7 days, it’s likely that the latter network is taking credit for more installs

12.   Leadership should also be involved and should share the same vision, if not it will not be successful

13.   Frauds clicks from devices, channels and platforms causes serious issues in the overall attribution

14.   Work with a vendor who offers  purchase verification, fraud prevention, feature like cohort analysis, customizable attribution modeling, uninstall analysis, deeplinking, re-targeting, re-engagement, audience segmentation, de-duplication, tracking purchase in different currency  etc. to name a few

15.   You don’t have to create separate trackers for each country when you work with any ad networks. Country data can be obtained by just searching the country name. Just have a single unique tracker for each network/partner 

16.   Keep the view through attribution to  zero or in case if you still want to track it, it should not be beyond 24 hours – but again if you are doing purely Branding campaigns , then you may have to re-look into this and make it longer- again depends on your business and customer /buying life-cyclye and purchase habits.

17.   Make use of all the segments and track each network upto 4 levels-Network, campaign, Ad-group and creative (I used Adjust before)