As Google Premier Partners, Blue Moon Digital had the opportunity to attend Google Marketing Live 2019. Google Marketing Live was attended by 6,000+ marketing experts from Agencies, Brands, and (of course) Google. This event is heavy hitting in the industry, and Google made many key announcements on products and capabilities which will shape how advertisers are utilizing search, display, and video to reach customers.
More broadly, the event focused on creative, execution, and measurement. Many of the new announcements not only offer advertisers the ability to reach new customers but paired these with rich and engaging ad formats to communicate with these individuals. With “47% of a brands sales lift coming from creative”(Nielsen Catalina Solutions) it is imperative that brands are utilizing superlative creative solutions to reach users. With these new advertising product announcements such as; Discovery Ads, Gallery Ads, Bumper Machine, Showcase Shopping Ads in YouTube, and Campaign KPI optimizations, advertisers will be even more equipped than ever to succeed.
Discovery Ads offer advertisers the ability to reach users within the Discovery Feed on mobile search, YouTube, and Gmail Promotions. This is a cross-platform capability which serves in an engaging ad format. These ads are effectively native ad formats served within the user’s feed. For years, advertisers have seen success utilizing native advertising across display and social platforms and this extends capabilities to more Google platforms. The native ad format engages users as they consume content and offers advertisers the ability to drive action through these platforms.
Gallery Ads are poised to offer the newest iteration of image ads in search. While they are not rolled out yet, these types of ads are a result of users expecting a more engaging and robust SERP experience and these ad formats offer advertisers the opportunity to meet these demands. The Gallery Ads will be scrollable, much in the same way as Carousel Ads within Facebook and Instagram. By leveraging more engaging creative, brands will be able to further influence a customer’s consideration along their shopping journey.
Bumper Machine, currently still in testing stages, will offer advertisers the capability to utilize AI to dissect longer form video content of up to 90 seconds, and will automatically create multiple versions of 6-second bumper ads for use in YouTube. All advertisers should be implementing video and YouTube as part of their media mix. Reason being, users are spending more and more of their time consuming video content and are increasingly influenced by video in their shopping journey. “In 2019, average adults will spend 86 minutes per day consuming digital video content.” (eMarketer Digital Video Viewers, US) Bumper Machine will remove advertising operational friction by automating ad creation. This will make video advertising more accessible to all advertisers. Utilizing YouTube offers brands have the ability to communicate directly with users and acquire new customers. Engaging bumper ad formats are digestible to the users and give brands the opportunity to share their story and acquire new customers.
Showcase Shopping Ads in YouTube acts as a bridge from performance marketing to new customer acquisition. Google is making strides to make YouTube a performance marketing channel and Showcase Shopping Ads are a large step in this direction. These ads, within YouTube, extend the conversation beyond search and engages customers as they are consuming content. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about these type of ads, advertisers have been utilizing Showcase Shopping Ads in search since 2017 with great success. However, this extension to YouTube offers even more opportunity to engage potential customers and helps to break down silos in marketing. Thus, equaling a holistic customer acquisition strategy across channels and platforms that will aid in strengthening any brand.
By creating new opportunities to engage users with relevant ads, Google is continuing to drive the industry forward. Additionally, Google also announced many new management and measurement capabilities which will enhance the modern marketers ability to manage and evaluate success. Having a holistic media plan to address a user’s intent with a relevant message will help acquire new customers and drive results. BMD is excited to implement these Google capabilities on behalf of our clients.
