{"id":22556,"date":"2023-08-23T15:42:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T10:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/?p=22556"},"modified":"2023-08-23T15:42:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T10:12:51","slug":"ppcchat-whats-on-your-mind-in-ppc-this-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/ppcchat-whats-on-your-mind-in-ppc-this-week-2\/","title":{"rendered":"PPCChat | What\u2019s on Your Mind in PPC This Week | 22nd August 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PPC experts are constantly adapting to changes in the platform. This week’s PPCChat session focused on how the economic conditions in the United States will affect Q4 PPC strategies, and whether any specific changes are expected on the platforms. Here is the screencap of the entire session which was hosted by Julie F Bacchini<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Q1: What is on your mind in PPC this week?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Holiday. new business. growing the team. upskilling the current team. kind of all of it? and how to create additional time for house stuff. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honestly – because of some of the chat I’ve seen – Q4 and preparing for sales season. @TheMarketingAnu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh! I’m also thinking about the Landy’s. I’m entering this year for the first time post-Covid and I hope we do well. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m thinking about things I want to do and test as fall hits. I\u2019m not ecomm, so Q4 is not to me what it is to folks selling products directly online. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am working on lining up a Q4 chat that is ecomm focused in the coming weeks with an ecomm expert! @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, I’m wrestling with the pros & cons of tROAS vs. tCPA as a bidding strategy. Google predominantly pushes tROAS, which I see as riskier. Out of the box, it does not factor in margin, and it (can) optimize for higher AOV purchases, which may not be reflective of average buyer behaviour. On the other hand, tCPA offers the ability to control for pre-defined acquisition costs. Paired with a command of LTV (60-day + repeat purchase rates) and a healthy retention strategy, this seems more in line with good business. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey gang!! Hope you’re all good! Deep in planning work this week! @PPC_Fraser<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m thinking about this article I shared on Twitter yesterday. This is why there has been such a disconnect between companies who are “killing it!” right now and those who are struggling big time, firing agencies, hoping they’ll figure out some magic bullet to solve an economic issue. It’s weird out there in Ecom right now: https:\/\/www.retaildive.com\/news\/direct-to-consumer-brands-q2-earnings-warby-parker-allbirds-oddity-olaplex\/691083\/<\/a> @PPCKirk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@JuliaVyse<\/a> – I gravitate to tCPA<\/em> for businesses that have a command on their requisite contribution margin (% leftover after CAC, OpEx, and cost of delivery). When those concepts are foreign to the client-side team, I aim to graduate them to that thought approach. If tROAS is the bridge, so be it. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>@teabeeshell<\/a> sounds like you have a good framework for it. Is the struggle that G is pushing ROAS so hard? @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m thinking about Q4 this week. I tend to overthink and overanalyze, and I\u2019m wondering what supply chain\/inflation\/potential lockdowns are going to do to ecom this year. @gilgildner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@JuliaVyse<\/a> – Yes, and the fact that it doesn’t set up businesses for success out of the box. It centres on (singular) profitability at the point of original\/first purchase, in theory. It risks skewing ad serving to outlier purchases (high AOV, high price point items). For brands with a range of prices (i.e. $50 up to $300), the data becomes super muddied if the produce set is not broken out into separate campaigns. When broken out…Google pushes for consolidation with the “target all eligible products in X campaign” recommendation. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q2: Starting a thread for thoughts on Q4<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Specifically UK side its going to be really telling how the current economic climate effects buyers. There’s always the old debate of ‘well there’s less to be optimistic about at the moment so people want to spoil themselves more’ but this year feels different…@PPC_Fraser<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q4 is going to be interesting. For my resto clients, I’m thinking a lot about organizing our brand campaigns to build a foundation for the price promos. For my public sector clients, flu season and etiquette. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m preparing for a potential shakeup in Q4. I have heard rumblings about supply chain issues (have a friend who does sales at one of the big multimodals) and I have also seen where they\u2019re floating new travel restrictions for December. @gilgildner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>@JuliaVyse<\/a> I feel like every year we say it will be interesting in Q4,\u2026 which is true. Never a dull moment. @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw an article today that goods coming to the US for Halloween and Thanksgiving are getting held up at Panama Canal due to low water levels\u2026@NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on how our Halloween client does over the next 60 days. I think that will help foreshadow the year. Hope for the best and plan for the worst. @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know the financial news likes to talk about inflation coming down, but as the purchaser of things for our household, it is all still quite a bit more expensive than it was a couple of years ago. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot have been talking about the impact of student loan payments picking back up in October. That can erode at consumer confidence and purchase power, so there could be strains on Q4 for advertisers.FWIW, I do not<\/em> think that discounts are the answer for this. By Q4 (in any year), thoughtful brands have already tested their own price elasticity of demand. Pricing is a huge strategy, and the easiest (laziest) thing to do is merely discount. Limiting your margins in Q4 is cutting off your nose to spite your face. The focus should be on profitable\/breakeven acquisitions to carry into Q1. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 19% inflation since 2019, so as the saying goes, \u201cyour dollar ain\u2019t shit\u201d. Everything is more expensive but some things are WAY more expensive. The average family cannot afford a lot. @gilgildner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inflation is down but prices have stayed the same up here in Canada too. @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some prices have stabilized after being sky-high here in the US, but everything still costs more. From electricity to gas to food and household goods. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you parse the language carefully, most of the “inflation is down” language is derived from stats that show the rate of price increases have decreased. So prices are increasing slower than they were, but still increasing. @robert_brady<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We might be in for a very bumpy holiday season for spending. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@robert_brady<\/a> Yep, the inflation decline numbers are \u201cnominal\u201d at best and probably flat-out lies at worst. @gilgildner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a new freelancer – I am weary of those clients who want to book me on to perform a Black Friday miracle. I already had a call with one who wanted immediate results and was being concerned with their current agency because they weren’t seeing their ads on the SERP when they searched for their product. For the sake of my sanity – I shut the door on that one! @TheMarketingAnu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More brands need to hear that you don\u2019t win Black Friday in Q4. You win it by acquiring a lot of profitable customers in Q1 to Q3. @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q3: Which platform(s) do we think will drop changes on us before the end of the year? And are there any specific changes you\u2019re anticipating and\/or expecting to see happen?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Google for sure, bye bye DSAs. Amazon maybe, and TikTok probably. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google has already told us they are rolling Discovery ads up into Demand Gen campaigns too. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think most platforms will delay major features through Q3\/Q4 so as to not shake up the money season @gilgildner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GMC Next maybe will roll out more. Something for GA4 I bet. More PMax news. September and October will be busy for new stuff. Plus all the new phones that come out @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’d imagine every platform will roll out some release. The ones that worry me are where they alter fields that do the reporting. Or when Google makes changes via the GTAG. The auto-creation of GA properties was only one example of what they can do through the tag. @heyglenns<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come October, will be 3 years since PMax came out of public beta. That is something to think about @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think we’ve seen most of the significant changes that will roll out. Others have already commented with the big two for Google:<\/p>\n\n\n\n