1-up Your Google Responsive Display Ads with Video (& Other New Updates)

Video is critical to marketing success. In fact, video on social media can be up to 1200% more effective in getting shares and engagement than static image posts and ads. (source)

That makes the new update from Google Ads all the more important.

Last week, Google released a few new updates to their responsive display ads, including giving users the ability to add 30-second video to their responsive ads and, in turn, 1-upping their current image based ads with the awesome power of video.

What Happened

Along with the responsive ad video update, Google also released new reporting capabilities as well as more detailed ad strength scorecards to ensure your ads are operating at peak performance.

The new “combinations” report, for example, allows you to see what mix of content performs the best for your audience.

You’ll get insight into whether images, feeds, video, or plain text are performing best -- and in what combinations -- so you can get more bang for your buck. See what they did there?

The other release from Google was the ad strength scorecard (seen below via Google’s post).

The scorecard allows you to ensure that the display ads you’re releasing into the world are optimized for success.

Google’s post stated:

“Google Ads will check that you have the optimal number of unique headlines, images, and descriptions. To improve your ad strength, try taking the "Next steps" highlighted in the scorecard.”

The new scorecard really helps advertisers understand what Google is looking for in terms of an optimized ad presence -- helping you get the most for your ad spend.

Being able to preview what your ad will look like to the user, as well as fix any potential problems before hitting the publish button, can ensure your campaign is set up for success.

Why Does It All Matter?

More Effective With Video: Studies have shown that video, especially in social media, outperforms other types of advertising.

According to HubSpot, 90% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions and 64% of customers say that seeing a video makes them more likely to buy.

Video gives your brand a few additional benefits. It helps humanize your branding and assists you in delivering a clear message to the end user.

Better ROI: Being able to truly understand what mix of media performs best for your audience is critical to campaign success.

The new report can give you insight into how your audience actually interacts with your ads, allowing you to tailor your campaigns to your different demographics to deliver the best message possible.

More Insight into Google: It’s no secret that understanding Google’s algorithms is important to your paid ad success.

The new Ad Strength Scorecard helps users proof how their campaign will perform from Google’s “eyes” and address any potential issues before releasing it to the public.

By testing your ads’ strength, you’ll be able to go to market with the most optimized ads possible.

What You Should Do

With these new tools, here’s what I recommend you do:

• Start planning how you can update your display ads to include enticing videos.

• Plan a campaign that includes video explaining most of the product questions you get. These videos can help educate your users before they request to talk to your team.

• Use the new ad strength scorecard to ensure your ad campaigns are performing at peak optimization -- including the new videos you’ll be adding.

• Once you’ve launched your new video-optimized ad campaign, dig into the combinations report to understand exactly what your audience is responding to -- and what mix of media performs best.

If you’re looking for help getting the most out of your Google Display Ads, or any ads for the matter, let us know -- our team of PPC experts would love to chat!