Chris Wright, one of our Media Planner/Buyers here at JAA, has recently completed Google’s Marketing Expert certification, gaining the latest insights on Performance, Measurement, and YouTube. Here are Chris’ key takeaways…
As part of my continuous professional development at JAA, I’ve been taking my Google Marketing Expert certification. This course contains all the latest information and updates from Google, covering the three core pillars of Performance, Measurement and YouTube. The course consisted of a mix of live webinars, standalone subject videos, and curated series. These allowed me to engage with product experts and industry specialists alike.
In a constantly changing digital world, it’s more important than ever to stay abreast of technical changes and big announcements, which could have massive impacts on how we run our campaigns. In the past few months, I’ve gained actionable insights which have helped us stay ahead of the curve and anticipate what’s next. We need to adapt our strategies to thrive, just like the woods and wildlife we work with the Woodland Trust to protect!
What Have I learned?
Performance
This section was particularly relevant to my day-to-day as a media planner, focusing on how to get the most out of Google Ads with a lower budget than competitors, and spending smarter not harder (in true underdog style!). We gained industry updates on how to improve marketing effectiveness and upgrades to Broad Match keywords, maximising the “power pair” of Performance Max and Search. Alongside this, a glimpse into the future of AI in marketing, exploring its potential impact on the consumer journey. I achieved an understanding of how to leverage these tools to achieve improved campaign performance, and apply them practically to our PPC activity.
One particularly interesting session touched on the latest in generative AI search features, and how they’re transforming the way consumers interact with brands. With the increasing prevalence of AI in search and digital advertising tools, it’s crucial we learn how to leverage these advancements to connect with our green audience in more impactful and meaningful ways.
Measurement
As the push towards privacy-centric measurement continues, largely fuelled by the deprecation of 3rd party cookies and greater user privacy controls, it’s vital to understand the rapidly changing privacy landscape, so we can future-proof our digital measurement. One product expert used the analogy of a dot-to-dot to illustrate the increasing difficulty of maintaining full visibility on the user journey and conversion numbers. Looking at the illustration below… you lose a few dots, and you can still make out the outline of a tree, start to lose a few more and suddenly those dots could be anything.
On top of this, I learned from global product leads about the importance of key privacy solutions. Consent mode and enhanced conversions, as well as the impact implementing them can have on reporting accuracy and campaign optimisation are key. I’ve also been able to build on my GA4 knowledge, a tool which is at the forefront of providing durable measurement and audience solutions. This was coupled with how to build 1st party audiences and use exploration features, to really understand the user journey and scratch beneath the surface of the campaign.
YouTube
Video is an incredibly important medium and an essential part of the Google ads toolbox. Focusing on bottom of the funnel channels like search is great at driving efficient performance in the short term, but doesn’t help achieve long-term growth. Meaning eventually, demand will dry up. We covered updates on both YouTube and Demand Gen, understanding audience scale through the new reach planner tool and YouTube’s connected TV formats. The channel is now a viable route to reaching audiences on the biggest screen in the house.
Summary
Completing the Google Marketing Expert certification has equipped me with the latest tools and strategies across Performance, Measurement, and YouTube – empowering me to navigate the shifting digital landscape with confidence. From mastering cost-effective ad strategies, to understanding privacy-centric measurement, to leveraging video for sustainable growth, these insights will continue to shape our campaigns at JAA. With a forward-thinking approach, we’re not only prepared to adapt but to thrive. It’s vital to ensure our efforts resonate meaningfully with audiences, whilst supporting vital causes, like The Woodland Trust.
