Click Through Reads #60: Enhanced Conversions, Bing Updates & LinkedIn Podcasts

Hey Click Through Readers, 

Welcome back to another week of industry news and updates! 

In preparation for a cookieless world, Google rolled out Enhanced Conversions for offline conversion tracking. This measurement improvement helps recover conversions that might not have been measured and improve bidding optimization from better data. 

Speaking of measurement, key findings from Wordstream by LOCALiQ published research on Search Advertising benchmarks for 2021 can help you analyze your outcomes and plan for success.

Microsoft was also focused on measuring, outlining the key differences between Google Search and Bing ad networks in a chart they published. We highly recommend you take a look at it, as well as the array of updates Microsoft released to kick off March.

TikTok and LinkedIn shared some exciting new roll outs as well – so let’s roll into it! 

Google Rolls Out Enhanced Conversions for Offline Conversions

As privacy measures continue to be rolled out, enhanced conversions has been a big focus for Google lately. Last week, Google announced the rollout of enhanced conversions for leads. 

Enhanced conversions benefits advertisers by improving the accuracy of conversion measurement with hashed, first party data. When a user fills out a form on a website that includes first party data (email, name, address, phone number), the data is captured by the tracking tag, then is hashed and sent to Google. 

With the new rollout of functionality for leads, Google is able to measure offline conversions without needing to rely on a Google Click ID.

Spring Into Bing’s March Market Expansion and More

Bing has just published several new updates to help kick-off March! Here is a quick tour through some of the more notable additions:

Bing’s March Market Expansion Update

Continuing from their February updates, Microsoft announced the next stage in their huge LATAM market expansion: Shopping campaigns for Latin America!

“Marketing For Purpose” Update

This displays a textual flare with search ads that calls out specific social issues, helping consumers find companies with shared values. In their example, a ‘green’ hotel chain features a ‘carbon-neutral’ tag next to their search ad.

Multi-Asset Audience Ads

• 16 images
• 15 short headlines
• 5 long headlines & descriptions.

Tip: As we’ve experienced with other Bing product rollouts, be sure to give yourself extra time for campaign approvals –Especially with Audience Ads.

Seasonal Bid-adjustments

This allows advertisers to adjust bids according to the time of year. For example, automatically increase bids for travel ads during the months or weeks leading into summer break.

Google vs Bing Search

• Microsoft published a useful chart describing the key differences between Google Search and Bing ad networks. We recommend taking a look and discovering how Bing provides a unique experience from Google Ads.

LinkedIn Launches Podcast Network For Professional Audiences

LinkedIn is piloting their new LinkedIn Podcast Network. 

This is particularly beneficial for B2B brands aiming at professional audiences. Podcast topics range from technology to mental health, and you can listen by following the host and subscribing to their weekly newsletter. 

While the offering is not fully open yet, brands with existing podcasts can fill out a lead form to learn how to join when it becomes available. These podcasts will also be available on other platforms such as Spotify.

TikTok Extends Maximum Video Lengths to 10 minutes

TikTok has updated their maximum video length to 10-minutes, the biggest jump in video length since the platform’s launch.

Instead of having to upload multiple videos for longer content, creators will be able to utilize the extended video length and keep users engaged for longer periods of time.

Longer user engagement means a higher potential to be served ads while on the platform.

What’s A Good Google Ads CTR/CPC/CPA In 2022?

How often do you get asked questions like “what’s a good click-through rate?” or “why is our cost per acquisition so high?”? Keeping up-to-date on industry benchmarks is crucial to help answer these questions for your business.

Wordstream by LOCALiQ recently published their Search Advertising benchmarks for 2021, and they are a good starting point for level-set expectations and goals. Consisting of data points from thousands of campaigns in both Google and Microsoft Ads, this report sets benchmarks for both Search and Display campaigns across 20 industries:

Click-through rate (CTR)

• The average across all industries in 2021 was 3.17% CTR.
• In the business category, the highest CTR was within Arts & Entertainment at 10.67%. 
• The lowest CTR was 3.84% in the Attorneys and Legal Services category.
• When analyzing your ads, view your Quality Score for an indicator of how they’re performing against your industry peers. 

Average cost-per-click (CPC)

• Given the higher than average cost it takes to acquire a customer in this industry, the Attorneys and Legal Services category also pulled in the highest average CPC at $8.67.
• The Real Estate and Travel industries ranked for the lowest average CPC at $1.40.

Conversion rate (CVR)

• CVR data showed that in 2021, CVRs varied amongst industries; however, when looking at the products each sells, their CVRs make sense.
• Animals & Pets had the highest CVR at 19.19%, followed by Physicians and Surgeons at 19.15% CVR.
• The industries pulling in the lowest CVRs included: Furniture at 3.25% CVR; Real Estate at 3.93% CVR; Apparel/Fashion & Jewelry at 3.60% CVR.
• The intensity of competition directly corresponds to a low or high CVR.

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

• Attorneys and Legal Services had the highest CPA out of all industries at $73.70. 
• The lowest CPA in 2021 was in the Animals and Pets category at $14.88, followed by Automotive Repair, Services and Parts category at $17.81 CPA.
• Director of paid search at Search Lab Mark Irvine notes that CPA metrics have shown improvement in recent years due to the following factors:
• Improvement of Lead Management Systems (CRMs).
• Improvement in audience targeting.
• Improvements in keyword targeting.

For more information and tips to improve campaigns, as well as LOCALiQ’s full report, check out Search Engine Journal’s article.