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Digital Marketing Guide to Google Ad Creatives for PPC Campaigns
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Digital Marketing Guide to Google Ad Creatives for PPC Campaigns

Publish date
August 6, 2024
Author
Team Marketechy
Category
Ads
The popularity of Google's paid search and display ads as core digital marketing channels keeps growing. Gitnux statistics show that 65% of smaller B2B companies use Google Ads to acquire new customers.
Table of contents

Search, display, and other types of paid ad campaigns offer tremendously broad coverage and pull in target audiences across all types of platforms and devices. Yet PPC specialists must know how to serve ad creatives properly.

Would you like professional tips on designing ad creatives and running advertising campaigns that meet Google's requirements and convert leads? Use our guide for detailed instructions.

Start with a Detailed Plan for Your Ad Campaign

First and foremost, you need to define the primary criteria of an upcoming Google Ad campaign:

  • The end goal (brand awareness, more targeted traffic, more conversions)
  • Target audience (what messages match their interests)
  • Unique selling proposition (what differentiates you from your competitors)
  • Optimal campaign budget (the budget will depend on an estimated cost-per-click, expected number of clicks, conversion value, and your target conversion rate)
  • Campaign keywords (key phrases matching with particular intent and bid size)
  • Relevant landing pages (where to land site visitors to make them convert)

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You must clarify each listed aspect beforehand to ensure your future campaign meets your business objectives. Despite being simple and obvious, some of them are often ignored, which leads to lots of disappointment with the ad campaign outcome.

Top 3 Types of Google Ad Campaigns Explained + Google Ad Creatives Requirements

Let's review the three most popular types of Google ad campaigns and their related ad creatives. Learn why and when to use each, and follow our guidelines to design ad creatives Google will like.

1. Google Search Campaigns (GSC)

Search campaigns are text ads users see at the top of Google search results when looking for products or services. They are highly effective for growing sales, leads, or website traffic, as users' search intent is closely related to what you offer.

Related ad type:

  • Responsive ads. Transform into text or image ads while automatically adjusting the size to fit the available space.

Ad requirements:

  • At least 5 headline variations (15 max) with a 30-character length limit.
  • At least 2 description variations (4 max) with a 90-character length limit.
  • The path field length is limited to 15 characters.

Here are some tried-and-true approaches we recommend any advertiser practice for Google Search campaigns:

  • Convey the unique value in your headlines. Differentiate headlines so they articulate the different values of your product or service: benefits, competitive advantages, and unique features.
  • Don't get overly repetitive with the same keywords. Provide at least 3 headlines without your seed keywords but related to the subject.
  • Consider pinning headlines and descriptions that encourage conversions. Once you have collected sufficient performance data, you can identify top-performing ad creatives. Pin headlines or descriptions that consistently drive conversions to feature them in each ad exposure. In Ad Manager, you can set pinned items to position 1, 2, 3, or randomly placed.

NOTE: The first pinned headline usually includes the main keyword (e.g., digital marketing services). The second and third headlines may include benefits (e.g., Get project estimate within a day).

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Such an approach is highly recommended for building a snippet with logically connected headlines. Otherwise, headlines could form somewhat strange combinations:

Still, you must use pinning carefully, as by pinning a single headline, you reduce the number of Google's automated combinations by 75%. Therefore, this approach works best when targeting narrow searches and niche audiences.

2. Google Display Campaigns (GDC)

Google Display Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services through appealing images and video banners. Users see display campaigns as they browse websites, apps, and Google-owned resources like YouTube.

Display campaigns are powerful tools for expanding your reach beyond Google Search. They help build brand recognition and awareness by serving memorable and eye-catching visual ad creatives.

Display Ad campaigns also have such benefits as:

  • CPC bids are generally lower than search ads. Business2Community estimated the average B2B Display ad bid in the US to be $0.79, whereas the average Search ad bid was $3.33. Lower bidding allows you to scale PPC campaigns, lower CPL/CPA, and increase ROAS while staying within smaller budgets.
  • Broad coverage. If you plan to extend your Paid campaign coverage to as many web channels as possible, display campaigns are your choice.
  • Broad awareness. Thanks to low-cost bidding, display campaigns effectively reach broad audiences and build brand equity.
  • Effective retargeting. Display ads yield above-average conversions if you retarget the audiences that have already engaged with your messages and visited your website.

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On the other hand, you should keep in mind the limitations of display campaigns:

  • Crafting ad creatives takes extra time. Designing banners for ads may be time-consuming. Yet, you can speed up visual asset creation with AI automation tools and pre-defined templates.
  • The average conversion rate is 3X lower than for search ads. WordStream's recent research shows that B2B display ads have a 0.8% conversion rate compared to a 3.04% CVR of search ads.
  • Ad blockers use. The good news is that Display Network doesn't charge for blocked ads, yet it still counts them as impressions. The bad news is that the impression count is skewed; therefore, you can't identify the size of the audience that actually engaged with your ad and calculate the conversion rate correctly.
  • Banner blindness (ad fatigue). Site visitors prefer the content they're interested in rather than looking for your or someone else's ad creatives. Luckily, you can still exercise different approaches that will wear off the ad fatigue. We'll cover more on that when we get to best practices for keeping your ad creatives at a high level.

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Related ad type:

  • Image ads. JPG or PNG images and animated graphics in GIF.
  • Responsive display ads.

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Ad requirements:

For image ads

  • Formats: GIF, JPG, PNG
  • File size: 150KB
  • Animation length: 30 seconds or shorter
  • Animated GIF speed: slower than 5 FPS

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For responsive display ads

  • One to 5 short headlines with 30 characters or less.
  • Long headline of up to 90 characters.
  • One to 5 descriptions inviting people to take action.
  • Landing page URL.
  • Your business or brand name.

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3. Performance Max Ads

Performance Max is an AI-driven, goal-based PPC campaign type that allows you to access all Google Network using one campaign. It empowers advertisers to serve ads across multiple mediums, including YouTube, Search and Display Networks, Gmail, Google Shopping, Google Maps, and Google Discover feed.

Performance Max campaigns prioritize maximizing leads and conversions by automatically adjusting the budget and bids.

Your Performance Max campaigns are more likely to succeed if you adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Align ad asset groups with audience segments. The grouping of ad creatives will help Google algorithms generate messages that impact your top, middle, or bottom-funnel audiences the most.
  • Narrow down targeting with proper audience signals. Audience signals data enable you to share customers' demographics, interests, and behaviors with Google to help its AI engine find the best-matching audience.

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Performance Max works best based on first-party audience data, which you can feed to ad networks by uploading your customer list to Google Ads Audience Manager. Thus, your ads will likely generate higher ROAS and conversions.

  • Tell Google brand names of your competitors. If your competitors offer similar products or services, you can inform Google about them to create a similar audience for your ads.

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Related ad type:

Automatically AI-generated based on specified assets and objectives.

Ad requirements:

  • Headlines. Optimally, 3 to 5 headlines below 30 characters are required, but the maximum limit is 15. It's also recommended to add at least 1 shorter headline with 15 characters or less. Additionally, you'll need 1 to 5 long, 90-char headlines in your asset group.
  • Descriptions. Provide 2 to 5 text descriptions. The total length is limited to 90 characters, but it's recommended to diversify your assets with 1 description that is less than 60 characters.
  • Display URL path. The length is 15 characters with two variations required.

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The advertiser also must assign a unique business name that doesn't exceed 25 characters. You can't set your custom CTAs in Performance Max, but you can select them from the preset.

Here are the requirements for image assets:

You can also upload videos with a minimum 10-second duration or longer to capture potential customers' attention.

This is where Marketechy steps in to develop a plan of work tailored to your growth marketing, metrics, and budget.
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The Hidden Traps of Ad Creatives Worth Considering

Even when the headlines and descriptions of your ad creatives look fine, many things can still go wrong if you don't have PPC expertise.

Here are the most common pitfalls to be aware of:

Dysfunctional post-click landing page

Google demands that the linked landing page be functional and excludes it from the ad campaign if it returns 5XX or 4XX response codes or blocks the Google crawler. Run a tech SEO audit to ensure your landing pages have no issues. Also, pay attention to cross-platform and regional accessibility – users must be able to access the landing page regardless of their device or location.

Mistakes in headline and description variations

Some common reasons Google Ad Network disapproves your ad copy are:

  • Incorrect capitalization. Pay attention to capitalizing proper nouns and standard abbreviations. The best practice is to capitalize each word in the headline except for articles.
  • Unallowed punctuation. Google declines headlines ending with an exclamation mark. The description text may have no more than one exclamation mark. Generally, Google actively penalizes gimmicking use of punctuation and special symbols, like using "@ home" instead of putting it simply "at home." Ensure that punctuation in ad creatives is suitable and doesn't make your text copy look strange. Also, leave out emojis.
  • Unclear CTAs. PPC campaigns allow Google to make money from click-throughs. Therefore, it may reject CTAs that confuse users, for example, by stating "Click here" without any explanations as to where the button leads. You also shouldn't add contact numbers, email addresses, or website addresses as CTAs.

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To sum up, Google is all for informative, clear, and honest ad text copy that helps users recognize the value of advertiser propositions and resonates with their intent. You should address the customers' wants directly and be specific about the solutions you offer.

3 Ways to Enhance Ad Creatives for Better Campaign Performance

Here are three ad creative enhancement practices that can help you optimize ads for core types of PPC campaigns. Use them to ensure your Google ad campaigns reach the right audience and convert leads.

1. Match the campaign type and content of ad creatives with the sales funnel.

Over the last few years, the cost of Google Ads has grown tremendously, with some businesses reporting 4X increased expenses. Therefore, to stay cost-effective, you must invest in PCC with a clear plan and use ads at the right time and in the right place of the sales funnel.

That's why before crafting your ad creatives for search, display, performance max, or other campaign types, you must define when your potential customers will see them. This approach will help you understand what message or image can push users to convert.

As a rule, the sales funnel is divided into three stages: top funnel (ToFu), middle funnel (MoFu), and bottom funnel (BoFu). Here are some tips on choosing the right campaign type and customizing your ad creatives at each of these stages:

  • ToFu. Since the target audience is only getting acquainted with your product or service, a display campaign is an optimum choice. It has a lower CPC than search ads and covers a broader target audience.

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The main goal of these ad creatives is to leave a long-lasting first impression, so make sure to use nice visuals and address the most common problem of your potential audience with your text.

  • MoFu. At this point, the target audience has already heard about your brand and shown some interest. You also have some information about the audience and can use it for ad campaigns. Hence, it's time to develop remarketing audiences and run search or performance max campaigns. For e-commerce, you can prefer shopping ads.

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Regarding the messaging in ad creatives, we recommend becoming more precise and addressing users with specific offers like "Get a demo" or "Schedule a free consulting session," etc.

  • BoFu. When potential customers are about to make the buying decision but cannot make the final move, remarketing can nudge them into the purchase. Like for MoFu, search or performance max campaigns are an excellent fit for BoFu.

You can repeat the special offers used for MoFu campaigns or create more convincing ones by adding a sense of urgency, for example, with phrases like "Register now for a free trial", etc.

By matching ad creatives and campaign types with the customer's journey, you will make ads more personalized and grow conversions.

Read more about how to build a successful digital marketing funnel.

2. Use Google ad campaign extensions for search ads.

Campaign extensions are additions to search ad creatives that significantly improve the click-through and ROI of your PPC campaigns. They include site links, pricing, phone numbers, CTA buttons, and other information about your services.

However, remember that Google decides whether to add extensions based on your overall ad rank, suggesting those can improve user experience.

NOTE: Search network campaign extensions can be generated automatically from the structured data markup code or filled in manually. It's up to you to define what types of extensions you want to include in your campaign. Just remember to add them to your Asset library.

Consider implementing the following extensions for your search campaigns:

  • Sitelink. Include more custom links that bring users to specific services or product pages.
  • Ratings. Nurture trust by adding ratings. This extension is particularly beneficial for e-commerce sites but can also yield great results in B2B.
  • App (mobile only). This one can be triggered on mobile devices only and contains a direct link to download an app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
  • Click-to-Call (mobile only). Enables users to directly call the company from search results with the smartphone they use for browsing.
  • Price and promotion. Provides details on a product's price or promotion.
  • Location extensions. Provides details on the advertiser's address with a map or the distance to visit the listed location. This extension is highly effective for businesses that target a local audience.
  • Call-to-action. Provides a button users can click to complete the specified action directly from search results.

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Besides the listed extensions, you can also use enhanced site links, ad disclosure, and the phone number (for desktop). These are only the options for search ads, but Google offers similar extension capabilities for other types of campaigns. You only need to decide what additional information is the most likely to convert leads and include it in ad creatives.

3. Diversify display ad banners for display campaigns.

Varying visual assets in your Display Google Network campaigns will likely fight ad fatigue and ensure a decent CTR. A few best practices can help you achieve this.

  • Use logo variations. You can add up to 5 logos to your ad creatives, which is excellent for refreshing the perception of your messages. However, having at least one square and landscape logo among your assets is a must. Those must have 1200x1200 px and 1200x300 px.
  • Use croppable images. The DGN partner's website layout might auto-crop banner images, so they must remain distinguishable. Ensure the foreground elements are visible.
  • Provide distinct banner and headline messages. If you add a tagline to the banner, make it concise and catchy. The headline CTA should be more extensive and introduce customers to the specific value without going over the same point as the tagline.

NOTE: Frequency capping is a go-to remedy for ad fatigue. You can enable it for Google Display campaigns. If you suspect that you tire your audience with the same ads, you can set the frequency cap manually on the campaign, ad, or ad group level.

When to Update Ad Creatives?

Maintaining your Google Ads campaigns at peak performance largely depends on recognizing the signs of ad saturation and fatigue. Here are the KPIs to monitor:

  • Low CTR from the start typically indicates that your ad creatives don't appeal to the audience. Thus, you've probably done something wrong with your targeting settings, or prospecting was inaccurate. The gradual decrease in CTR, in turn, can point out ad fatigue gaining traction.
  • Conversion drops typically signify that selected landing pages misalign with ad messaging. It's time to refine your ad messaging and on-page value proposition in general according to changes in customer trends.
  • Increased CPA. If campaign reports show overspending on new customer acquisition, your general PPC strategy needs an overhaul. You're likely missing out on the continuity of your advertising and following up on qualified leads.
  • Decreased ROAS. When ROAS goes down, you should revise keywords and refine ad copy to align it with searchers' intent.

Entrust Your Ad Creatives and Campaign Management to Marketechy's Experienced Team

Our seasoned specialist will align your ad creatives and campaigns with your business goals. As a full-service marketing agency, we take care of creating, testing, and repurposing creative assets for Google Search and Display Network.

Request our assistance, and our team will deliver a tailored and holistic strategy for your PPC campaigns. Contact us to boost conversions, improve engagement metrics, and make ad advertising work.

Ready to grow your online presence and quality leads? Drop us a line!
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