How To Set Up 5 Types of Dynamic PPC Ads

While the standard text ad is still arguably PPC marketers’ most used in the rolodex of ad types, AdWords is releasing more dynamic ad formats that are fluid, tailored, and lean away from keywords and instead use customer behavior audience data.

So how do you go about setting up these dynamic ads to test yourself? Below are my how-to setup instructions for 5 types of Dynamic PPC ads, as well as some awesome additional resources for you to check out and get to testing!

Dynamic Remarketing Ads

• What Are They?

  • Dynamically generated image & text ads served on the Display Network
  • Utilize your product or service feed
  • Incentivize users to come back and complete the purchase process
  • Ads appear customized, showing users’ previously viewed products or services

• Setting Up Dynamic Remarketing Ads
  

  • Set Up Product or Service Feed
    • Upload Data Feed Within Google Merchant Center
    • Connect Google Merchant Center to your AdWords Account
  • Implement Dynamic Remarketing Tag
    • Grab AdWords Remarketing Tag from your Audiences Section of the AdWords Shared Library To Add Across All All Pages On Your Site
    • Or, If Using Google Analytics, Can Create Remarketing Audiences in GA
    • Set Up Custom Parameters per Your Business Type
  • Build Audiences To Test & Target, Which Could Include:
    • All Site Visitors
    • Visitors Who Abandoned Cart
    • Visitors Who Viewed Your Sale Page
    • Visitors Who Viewed Specific Category Pages
  • Create a Dynamic Remarketing Campaign in AdWords
  • Create Ads Using Dynamic Ads Template Tool
    • Create Ads Using AdWords Ad Gallery
    • Select Dynamic Ads
    • Select Image or Text Ads
    • For Image Ads, Explore Advanced Ad Fields To Customize, Including:
      • Layouts
      • Logo
      • Headline
      • CTA Button
      • Logo Padding
      • Background
      • Product Settings
      • Display URL, Landing Pages, & Tracking URLs
      • Option for Disclaimer
      • Ad Name

Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)

• What Are They?

  • Text ads served on the Search Network
  • Using dynamically generated headlines (that are often longer than 25 characters)
  • No keyword targeting
  • Instead, ads created through scraping site content to determine which queries to match & pages to direct to

• Setting Up Dynamic Search Ads

  • Create a Dynamic Search Ads Campaign in AdWords
  • Set Up Your Dynamic Ad Targets
    • Go to Auto-Target tab
    • Select “Add Dynamic Ad Target”
    • Select to target Category, All Webpages, or Select Webpages
  • Create Ads Using Dynamic Search Ads Format
    • Headline and Destination URL dynamic
    • Add text for Description Line 1 and Description Line 2
  • Add Page/Category Exclusions & Negative Keywords Regularly!

Product Listing Ads (PLA)

•  What Are They?

  • Product ads served on the Search Network in separate box on the SERP
  • Utilizing Google Merchant Center product feed to dynamically serve ads
  • No keyword targeting or average positioning

• Setting Up PLAs / Shopping Campaigns

  • Set Up Product or Service Feed
    • Upload Data Feed Within Google Merchant Center
    • Connect Google Merchant Center to your AdWords Account
  • Create Shopping Campaign in AdWords
  • Organize Campaign Using Product Groups
    • Start by Targeting All Products
    • After Reviewing Your Queries After A Few Weeks, Begin To Break Out Product Groups from All Products to Bid On Based On
      • Brand
      • Condition
      • Product Type
      • Custom Labels
  • Keep An Updated Feed & Add Negative Keywords Regularly!

Remarketing List In Search Ads (RLSAs)

• What Are They?

  • Text ads served on the Search Network
  • Using audience targeting to remarket to searchers on the Google SERP
  • Make ads appear dynamic by tailoring bids & ad messaging to valuable previous visitors

• Setting Up RLSA

  • When First Testing, Duplicate an Evergreen, High Performing Search Campaign
  • Trim It Down To Ad Groups With Select Best Performing Evergreen Keywords
  • Implement AdWords Remarketing Tag
    • Can Now Use Google Analytics Remarketing Audiences for RLSA! (with limits…)
  •  Build Audiences To Target & Set Bid Setting To “Target & Bid”
    • By Using This Setting, You’ll Only Be Serving Ads To Your Selected Audience rather than cannibalizing your current Search campaigns
  • Create Enticing Ads – Approach Like A Standard Remarketing Campaign!
    • Offer Promo or Free Shipping, Test Using More Aggressive Messaging, Or Try To Cross-Sell Products or Services

Countdown Ad Customizers

• What Are They?

  • New text ad format served on the Search Network
  • Allowing advertisers to dynamically change ad copy through inserting specific parameters
  • Can insert a countdown to a date, such as an event, promo, sale, or last day to sign-up
  • Text changes all tracked within one consistent ad
  • Removes work of scheduling multiple hourly countdown ad creative
  • No need to set up an AdWords Script

• Setting Up Countdown Ads

  • Check out my previous detailed blog post! Creating Urgency – How To Set Up Countdown Ads Using Ad Customizers

Other Great PPC Resources

Check out one of our client success stories from when they used Countdown Ad Customizers to highlight a 2-day promotion.  Also, take a peak at these other great resources about testing & setting up Dynamic PPC Ads.

Point It Success Story – Countdown Ad Customizers:

• Dynamic Ads Performance Results – Countdown Ad Customizers by Maddie Cary at Point It (@MaddieMarketer)

Other Great Resources:

• Why You Need To Make Dynamic Copy An Integral Part of Your 2015 PPC Strategy by Matt Umbro (@Matt_Umbro)
• Google AdWords Dynamic Search Ads: 10 Quick Tips To Get Started by Jennifer Johnstone (@JenAJohnstone)
• How To Improve Shopping Ad Performance & Quality Score in AdWords by Frederick Vallaeys (@siliconvallaeys)
• Making The Case for Bing Ads Product Listing Ads by John Lee (@John_A_Lee)
• Everything You Need To Know About Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) by Tara West (@Tara_Dee_West)
• Google Dynamic Remarketing Set-Up Guide from Google AdWords Support

Join the Conversation

Have you tested dynamic ads? How have they performed for your accounts? Reach out on Twitter @MaddieMarketer, @point_it, or in the comments below. We’d love to hear your thoughts & learnings!