In the world of PPC advertising, Google Smart Shopping is becoming a more and more popular tool. Driven by machine learning, Smart Shopping uses automated bidding and ad placements to promote your brand across networks. Many marketers are being urged to switch away from standard Google Shopping campaigns altogether and rely exclusively on Smart Shopping.
It’s important to get a good understanding of how Smart Shopping works and how it can benefit your business. It’s also important to note that this doesn’t mean you should rush into completely abandoning standard Shopping.
Smart Shopping Versus Standard Shopping
Smart Shopping combines your existing product feeds with Google’s AI and data insights, which can allow you to simplify your campaign management, expand your reach, and maximize conversion value. It requires historical data to work efficiently.
Smart Shopping is highly automated, and this automated approach can save a lot of time needed to optimize campaigns. This can be beneficial, especially for marketers who have limited time for running campaigns. You don’t have complete control over your campaign the way you do in standard Shopping, but machine learning technology can identify and display the most relevant ads by testing different combinations of image and text you provide them.
Smart Shopping is designed to get as much revenue as possible out of your budget. The insights derived from this advanced technology shows your ads across multiple networks including Google Display Network, Google Search Network, Gmail, and Youtube. The ability of Smart Shopping to make adjustments according to your budget and goals can greatly improve your ROI.
Making the Most of Smart Shopping Advertising
While Google Shopping requires a manual process to set up which can be complex, Smart Shopping is easy to set up. Since it uses automation for ad placement, bidding and targeting require very little maintenance.
When you start using Smart Shopping, use Google Analytics to set up custom Channel Groupings for both standard Shopping and Smart Shopping campaigns. This allows you to use advanced segments to compare the two so that you can extract insights from this comparison.
Features and levers can be adjusted in the Merchant Center for testing, even if your feed uploads automatically. Use custom labels in your feed to test titles using Feed Rules and to isolate high performing products such as gateway products or most reviewed products. Compare click-through rate, eligible impressions, and click share by analyzing performance in the Merchant Center.
How Do You Know Whether to Switch to Smart Shopping?
You don’t have to completely replace your existing campaigns with Smart Shopping. You can still use both methods, running both Shopping and Smart Shopping together, especially while you learn more about the power of automation and how well it works for your business.
Many marketers find that there’s a steep learning curve when it comes to PPC marketing. If you need some guidance with Smart Shopping or any aspect of paid marketing, contact Softline Solutions. Get in touch with us today and let us help you maximize the benefits of Smart Shopping so that you can build a more profitable online presence.
