Did you ever wonder why Google Adwords changed its name to Google Ads? Part of the reason, according to Sridhar Ramaswamy, former Senior VP of Ads & Commerce, was to acknowledge the many places Google Ads appear. In addition to occupying a prime position at the top of search results, Google Ads show up on YouTube, Gmail, Maps and more.

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This variety of outlets means a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for PPC. Things have changed, and we’d like to talk about what that might mean for your business.

Machine Learning & AI have changed the entire PPC landscape by moving Google’s algorithms from an exact match to what Search Engine Land calls an “exactish” match. What this means is less emphasis on choosing specific keywords, and more focus on targeting your ads specifically to your customers.

To Target Your Customers, You Have to Understand Your Customers.

To understand your customers, you need two types of data. The first is the observational data you’ve collected while operating your business – your insights and understandings of who your customer is, what types of offers appeal, and so on. The second is the objective data that’s captured by your website and social media analytics. When used together, observational and objective data becomes smart data – data that helps you understand who your customer is, and how they research purchases.

Take a moment to read this Google infographic, “How intent is redefining the marketing funnel.” You’ll see that the path to purchase is never a straight line. Instead, we’re seeing customers make dozens of searches for even the most trivial purchase.  Every one of these searches represents an opportunity to connect with your customer.

To learn how to capitalize on these opportunities, read this. It explains how an individualized approach to PPC takes advantage of the high precision targeting tools Google has introduced.