Google Marketing Live 2018 | What can we expect to see?
Can you believe it, it’s that time of the year again! Google will be sharing the latest Ads, Analytics and Platforms innovations at Google Marketing Live 2018. This will be our opportunity to get a first look at new features and tools that Google say will help you transform your business performance. As well as this, we’ll also gain access to the latest insights and trends that are shaping the future of the industry.
Looking at the Google Marketing Live agenda, what can we expect to see?
We recently took a look at what the future of search could look like after this year’s Google I/O conference. When we look at the Google Marketing Live agenda points for this year you can see how it’s all tied together.
Innovations Keynote
Kicking off this years event will be the Innovations Keynote. This will touch on Search, Apps, Platforms, Analytics, YouTube, Display, Mobile and Shopping; similar to last year’s event.
This is where we will see some of the biggest changes and updates to Google’s products. The focus here will be on how Google can help advertisers meet the growing expectations of customers to be hyper relevant, and ultimately deliver us better results.
Ad Innovations
New ad formats and more assistive ads will be the theme throughout. Google will demonstrate how we can marry up our own data with theirs to deliver customers a better experience.
Assistive Search Ads
- Create Better, More Assistive Search Ads
- Drive better results with Better Ads and Testing
- Search & Assistance Keynote
- Assist to Grow: Strategies for Consumer Experiences in Digital
Customers need our ads to give them the answers they are looking for. Since Expanded Text Ads were launched, Google has continued to give us more and more coverage across the SERP through new ad extensions to help us do this. Customers expect to see ads that are useful, personal and frictionless. We’ll see some new search ad formats, understand how we can do better ad testing, and of course Google will show how applying machine learning can help you meet those expectations and drive performance.
This is where I believe it gets super exciting this year. With it being apart of the keynote, be ready for some exciting updates & developments. Could we finally see some new ad formats for the Google Assistant?
Google Shopping innovations
- How Retailers and Brand manufacturers can win today’s shoppers
Google shopping continues to be a focus for Google to compete with the likes of Amazon. Google recognises this, and understands that retailers and brand manufacturers face a competitive market and changing ecosystem. We’ll learn more about the solutions Google are building to help you build relationships with consumers and how we can offer end-to-end shopping experiences.
We will probably see some better innovations through the Google Merchant Centre to help both advertisers and manufacturers better understand the quality of their Google Shopping activity online and offline. We’ll no doubt get more of an update on Shopping Actions too.
Machine Learning
Big focus for the event this year. Last year the theme was focused on Intent, Data and Machine Learning, and this year is set to be building further on this.
Using AI to better understand user intent
- Intent is Everywhere: Anticipate what people want to drive growth
- Predicting intent and what people want to drive results.
- Convert Search Intent into Action with Video
- Drive growth with the latest in automation
Google believe that intent is everywhere and that with machine learning we now have the ability to use real-time signals to anticipate what consumers want. This allows us to be more helpful in the moments that matter.
There will be a real focus here on the importance of adopting Machine Learning; essentially if you aren’t using it, your losing against the competition. Google will be demonstrating this through talks from leading marketers who will share how they’re evolving their marketing metrics through automation. They will also discuss how AI can give you a better understanding of customers in order to grow your business.
Continuing on the trend from last year’s Google Marketing Next, the roadmap looks set to marry data with AI to help better understand user intent. This will be about leveraging all of the search signal data that Google is able to gather, and mixing this in with automation and other products to drive better results in every auction.
Growth through Audiences
- Drive Growth with Audiences and Targeting
- Use Your Data to Reach Audiences in the Right Moments
- Deliver more relevant ads through search audiences
- Assist to Win: Leveraging Data to Reach the Right Audiences
There will be a focus here on how Google can help you organize your data so you can reach people with the right message at the right moment. They recognise that this can be a challenge for advertisers, so this will be a top priority for them to continue working on. We will see how pairing your audience insights with Google’s unique understanding of intent lets you anticipate customer needs. This will help advertisers to grow new customers and work with existing relationships much better.
Audiences will build upon data and AI in trying to understand user intent, and ultimately create more powerful products for advertisers to use these search signals to better performance. Could we see some new beta’s and updates to existing audience products? Rumour has it that we could be getting more control over audience products such as Similar Audiences and In-Market.
Platforms
How can we use technology to better organise and understand data? Here Google will show us how they have built solutions to give us actionable insight, in real time. Data + Machine Learning + Technology = Innovation; put simply, without the right platforms you aren’t innovating. Google will try to show us how using their platforms can drive your business forward.
Trying to find the right formula to measure an online/offline omni-channel world
- Advance Your Online-to-Offline Strategy
- Enabling customers to win in an omni-channel world
- How Retailers and Brand Manufacturers Can Win Today’s Shoppers
This continues to be a focus for Google who are still trying to find the magic formula to help close the gap between your online activity and brick and mortar stores. Mobile has bridged this behaviour from online to offline, but have we truly cracked this yet from an advertising perspective? Yes Local ad experiences help you reach nearby customers, and store visits and store sales close the loop by delivering insight, but how can Google’s latest omnichannel innovations turn these insights into action?
Through simplifying their products in Google Marketing Platform, Google will hopefully demonstrate how bringing closer together their powerful omnichannel technology can help you fully understand the full journey your customers are taking. We’ll potentially see further advancements to Store Visits and making it easier for us to utilise more of our offline data.
Overarching all of this, we’ll be getting more insight into the recent Google & DoubleClick rebranding
The afternoon looks set to be focused on the recent changes that Google made to simplify it’s product offering to advertisers.
- Introducing the Google Marketing Platform
To meet rising consumer expectations, marketers need tools that allow them to better understand and reach their customers. Google will demonstrate how Google Marketing Platform helps you plan, buy, measure and optimize digital media and customer experiences.
Power Tools for Power Users: Get Things Done Faster in Google Ads and Search Ads 360
Google will showcase how it’s tolls allow us to deliver better results in less time. We’ll get the “…inside scoop on the next generation of campaign management, reporting and optimization tools in Google Ads and Search Ads 360” (Google Marketing Live, 2018).
What do you need to do?
When is Google Marketing Live 2018?
Tune into the event on Tuesday July 10th 2018 9:00AM PT/ 12:00 PM ET/ 17:00 UK Time.
Where can you watch the livestream?
Watch it at Inside AdWords, DoubleClick Advertiser Blog and Google Analytics’s blog.
How can I follow what’s going on?
Follow us on Twitter as we live tweet, and follow the hashtags #GoogleMarketingLive #ppchubbub #ppcchat
https://twitter.com/ppchubbub/status/1015909255822696448
LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/siondanielroberts
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