If you’re like me, you see the words “broad match” and shiver from flashbacks of running Search Query Reports and seeing you've spent large portions of your budget on irrelevant queries. But please try to put that out of your mind and stay open to what we at Revel Interactive are calling the “new broad match”.
Google reps have been touting broad match as the latest best practice, but there hasn’t been much discussion about the AI capabilities powering this “new broad match,” so many marketers are hesitant to hop on board the broad train. Well, all aboard because I have insights to share!
How the New Broad Match Works
The new broad match leverages unique performance-driving signals that you’re not currently using if you’re only bidding on exact and phrase match types. Broad match now utilizes keywords, landing pages, other keywords in ad groups, previous searches, predicted performance, and user location as signals for when to show for a broad match query. It still takes into consideration the campaign bid strategy and budget we use for keyword match types today. But it opens up our keywords to relevant, revenue-driving queries.
Experimenting With Broad Match
If you’re not sold on the new broad match yet, Google allows you to ease into it with Experiments. You can do a true 50/50 split test on current campaigns and run the exact and/or phrase match keywords as a test against broad match. Make sure to allow the test to run for three to four weeks so there’s enough time to analyze your data.
Don't you think it's time to replace your old broad match memories with happier ones? Now is the perfect time to get started. And if you need help, we're here to support you.
Photo: ©YiuCheung