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In the digital marketing mix, Pay-Per-Click advertising is one of the fundamental pillars. According to Statista, in 2024, the global digital advertising market is expected to reach $740.3 billion, with search advertising being the largest at $190.5 billion. Over 50% of all clicks on Google search results pages are now from PPC. With many businesses appreciating the power of PPC, there is high-level competition.

To keep ahead by 2024, businesses must exploit these features and targeting options. By using these overlooked PPC targeting options, businesses can get ahead of competitors and make it easier to maximize their campaign success rates.

PPC Feature #1: Call Extensions

Call extensions enable you to put your phone number into your text ad as well as let users call you directly from an ad in the Google Ads platform. When a user clicks on this number, then a direct call will be made to you. Pay-per-click ads with call extensions are just click-to-call ads.

Google says using call extensions can increase click-to-all rates by up to 15% over those of normal text ads without them. Call extensions make it extremely easy for users to contact your business by prominently displaying a phone number and adding a call-to-action button.

Some of the key benefits of utilizing call extensions include:

• Higher ad visibility and clickthrough rates
• Increased calls and conversions from ads
• Better ad rankings due to relevancy signal
• More convenient user experience

To optimize call extensions, businesses should:

• Use separate call extensions for each ad group
• Refine ads to focus on inducing calls
• Set up call conversion tracking
• Adjust bids with call bid adjustments

By adding optimized call extensions, businesses can turn their PPC ads into an additional sales channel to drive more phone calls and conversions.

PPC Feature #2: Audience Exclusions

Audience exclusions allow businesses to prevent their ads from being shown to specific groups of people. This can help improve campaign performance by reducing wasted ad spend and avoiding retargeting customers who have already converted. Exclusions are configured within the "Audiences" section of Google Ads.

Some of the key benefits of using audience exclusions include:

• Preventing existing customers from seeing ads and being retargeted unnecessarily. As ClosedLoop notes, you generally don't want to retarget people who bought from you.
• Excluding groups unlikely to convert, such as competitors' employees, to avoid wasted ad spend. SearchEngineLand recommends excluding groups like industry professionals who might click ads without buying.
• Reducing frequency capping issues by excluding audiences who have seen an ad too many times. This helps maximize ad relevance.

When implementing audience exclusions, here are some best practices to follow:

• Leverage customer lists and remarketing audiences to exclude existing customers. As Lunio explains, uploaded customer lists can be excluded easily.
• Test exclusions for low-converting placements and demographics. See which exclusions improve conversion rates.
• Avoid going overboard on exclusions. Maintain a relevant reach for your campaigns.
• Exclude competitors and industry insiders to reduce false positive clicks.

PPC Feature #3: Automated Rules

Automated rules allow businesses to automatically make changes to their accounts based on triggers and conditions. This removes the need for manual optimization and helps improve performance at scale.

Some of the key benefits of automated rules include:

• Saves time by automating routine PPC tasks
• Quickly optimizes campaigns without manual work
• Helps manage large or complex PPC accounts
• Improves account performance through ongoing fine-tuning

Some of the most recommended automated rules to set up include:

• Pausing low-performing keywords - pause keywords that don't meet targets for CTR, conversions, etc.
• Raising bids for high-performing keywords - increase bids for keywords exceeding goals
• Lowering ad group bids based on conversion rate - automatically decrease bids for ad groups with lower conversion rates
• Setting bid limits - set minimum and maximum bids based on metrics and targets
• Adjusting daily budgets based on performance - raise or lower daily budget if over or underperforming.

Automated rules allow PPC businesses to scale their accounts efficiently. By setting up the right automated rules, accounts can essentially optimize themselves and free up managers to focus on high-level strategy. When leveraged effectively, automated rules are one of the most powerful yet overlooked PPC features today. As noted by WordStream, strategically implementing automated rules can lead to major performance gains.

PPC Feature #4: Custom Intent Audiences

Custom intent audiences enable businesses to target consumers based on what they have searched or browsed before visiting their websites. According to Portent, custom intent audiences are “an effective way to target mid- to low-funnel users” in Google Ads.

Using custom intent audiences, you can create segments of users who have already shown interest in topics relevant to your business. For instance, an online shoe retailer might create a custom intent audience that targets people searching phrases such as “buy running shoes” or “best trail shoes.”

Key benefits of using custom intent audiences include:

• Reach new prospective customers by researching relevant topics
• Reduce wasted ad spend by focusing budgets on interested users
• Lower cost-per-click and cost-per-conversion

When creating effective custom intent audiences, follow these best practices:

• Make audiences as narrow and niche-specific as possible
• regularly review search query reports for new relevant keywords to add
• Test multiple custom intent audiences around key topics
• Monitor performance and refine audiences over time

With thoughtful creation and optimization, custom intent audiences can significantly boost paid search results and ROI.

PPC Feature #5: Device Bid Adjustments

One powerful yet often overlooked feature in PPC is the ability to set device-specific bid adjustments. This allows you to optimize bids separately for mobile, tablet, and desktop traffic based on the unique value and conversion rates of each device type.

According to Google, implementing mobile bid adjustments alone can lead to a significant increase in call volume with lower cost per call. Since mobile conversion rates are typically lower, increasing bids on mobile can help gain more mobile traffic and ad visibility.

Some tips for utilizing bid adjustments effectively include:

• Analyze conversion rates by device and raise bids on lower-performing devices
• Increase mobile bids by 20-50% if converting at lower rates
• Lower desktop bids if getting sufficient volume and conversions
• Adjust tablet bids to balance volume and conversion rate goals

With bid adjustments, you can optimize your ad spending for the highest-converting platforms and devices. Pay close attention to performance by device, and don't be afraid to implement substantial adjustments of +/- 30% or more if needed.

PPC Feature #6: Location Targeting

Location targeting allows businesses to display ads to users in specific geographic locations. When used strategically, this is an often overlooked PPC feature that can significantly boost campaign performance. By targeting ads based on location, businesses can increase relevance, reach local audiences, and optimize bids based on geographic performance differences.

Some of the key benefits of utilizing granular location targeting in PPC campaigns include:

• Improving ad relevance for users in different areas
• Reaching audiences in your serviceable locations or key markets
• Adjusting bids based on varying Cost Per Click (CPC) by region
• Optimizing landing pages for local markets
• Excluding areas that are not your target locations

Advanced location targeting strategies involve zoning in metro areas, setting location bid adjustments, and using radius targeting for businesses with a physical location. It has been witnessed that by targeting ads to specific geographic areas, businesses can increase click-through rates by up to 50%.

To implement location targeting most effectively:

• Identify your key geographic markets and high-value locations
• Set up location bid adjustments to optimize bids by region
• Use radius targeting around physical business locations
• Exclude low-value or non-targeted areas
• Test location performance and make ongoing optimizations

By leveraging location data in PPC campaigns, businesses can maximize relevance, target priority regions, and significantly boost results through strategic geographic targeting.

PPC Feature #7: Remarketing

Remarketing, also known as retargeting, involves showing ads to people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your brand. Retargeting allows you to continue engaging with high-intent audiences who did not convert on their first visit to your site.

According to WebFX, retargeting garners a 147% higher conversion rate than using regular ads only. Remanetint allows you to re-engage visitors at different stages of the buyer's journey.

Some key benefits of remarketing for PPC campaigns include:

• Higher conversion rates - Remarketing targets warm leads who already know your brand
• Improved ROI - Remarketing converts visitors who have already shown interest
• Brand awareness - Keeps your brand top of mind with repeat exposure
• Flexibility - Can create audiences based on pages visited, actions taken, etc.

When setting up a remarketing campaign, best practices include:

• Creating different ad variants for each audience segment
• Setting up exclusions to avoid over-targeting
• Testing different frequencies, budgets, and timeframes
• Tracking conversions from remarketing separately
• Refreshing your remarketing pools frequently with new visitors

Overall, remarketing is a powerful PPC feature that allows businesses to maximize conversions from audiences who have already shown interest in their brand.

Conclusion

As pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platforms continue to evolve, businesses that stay up-to-date with new developments and experiment with innovative features will gain a competitive advantage. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will offer more possibilities to streamline campaign management and improve performance. Nonetheless, human insight, creativity, and strategic testing will remain critical to the success of PPC advertising. To achieve optimal results and ROI, businesses should combine emerging technology with human expertise.

If you want to improve your PPC advertising game, partner with our PPC Experts for strategic insights, innovative tactics, and optimal campaign performance. Contact us today for a customized approach to enhance your ROI!