What are Google Discovery ads?

Google Discovery ads are a visual ad format that look like a social media post. They act in a similar way to the Facebook feed/post ad. Ads include up to 5 headlines to test the best one, an image or swipeable carousel of images (up to 15 to test), a landing page url, your business name and an optional Call to Action button such as “Shop Now” or “Get Quote”.

How are Discovery ads different to Search ads?

Whereas search ads come up when you enter a query, Discover ads show to people based on their past site visitation, app downloads, Youtube videos watched and map searches. This means Discovery ads are more about brand awareness, for people at the top of the purchase funnel.

Why has Google introduced Discovery Ads?

Google is contending with three fundamental shifts in search behaviour: the shift from answers to journeys; from queries to the queryless; and from the text-based to the visually-inspiring.

What type of ads can be placed on Google Discovery?

There are two main ad formats: Standard (single image) Discovery Ads This allows us to test up to 15 images in square, and or landscape. Discovery Carousel Ads We can upload between two and 10 images to be used as cards in the carousel

How much to budget for Google Discovery ads?

Google has recommended no less than a ratio of 70% spend on search/shopping ads, and up to 30% on awareness (ads such as Google Discovery or Google Display). So if you market in say one region, and spend NZD$500 a month on search ads, you might try $150-$200 a month on Discovery or Display clicks (allow extra for help to set up the campaign for you).

Are Google Discovery ads worth it?

Often times, clients need a greater stream of new leads and more channels than SEO, Google search ad and social media provide alone. At Alexanders, we have found Discovery ads are very cost effective for generating brand awareness (70% lower cost-per-click prices than the agency's search campaigns) and for generating top-of-the-funnel traffic.

How are Google Discovery ads different to Google Display ads?

Google Display ads are similar visual ads, but they are shown on Google partner sites. There are similar targeting options with the two. You can have a few more file formats with Display. Display ads let you have a clickable phone and location extension, but while you can’t have these on Discover, you can have a clickable lead form. You can run both at once.

What else do I need to do?

Your landing page for the campaign is critical. You need to answer their underlying need, and related questions, and offer something valuable in exchange for same email address or phone number. So we can help you plan a landing page as well as possibly a downloadable guide.

How long should you run a Google Discovery campaign for?

Can go indefinitely if your audience size is big enough, but I’d say a minimum of six weeks. The machine learning needs at least 3-4 weeks to hit its stride.

What kind of campaign ideas do you suggest?

Seasonal campaigns (Xmas, join a gym), launch a new product/service, catch people with a longer decision horizon so they connect early with your brand (construction), catch people with a problem that you solve but they don’t yet know how to solve it (sore back or neck - osteopathy). Rachel is good with ideas and suggestions.

What’s the next step?

Make a time with Rachel to discuss how you could build your brand with Google Discovery. Good times to catch up in her diary are 10am – 1pm Tue, Wed, Thu or afternoons on Mon & Thu. Ph 3488 477 ext 1, or 021 556 560.

Rachel Alexander - 17 Aug 2023

To AI or not AI, that is the question…

One emerging technology that has captured attention in the marketing world is artificial intelligence (AI) copywriting chatbots that provide humanlike responses. For those who are not tech-savvy, the concept of AI may be daunting.

We’ve (our Ai team) found it useful for copywriting, graphic design, and computer programming, to save time and be more efficient for our clients. We now have an AI team! So, should you be using AI? Just like an iPhone, you need to know how to work it to get the information you want out of it. In this blog, we share what we have learnt on our journey.

What is Bard and ChatGPT?

Bard

Google has released its version called Bard in February this year and is connected its own search engine. Access is limited to the USA and UK for now, but we have had staff being able to access it. If you can’t, you can join Bard’s waitlist

With Bard you get the benefits of its integration with Google products, such as fast export to Google Docs and Gmail, one-click Google search, quick results with diverse answer variations, and voice typing. In contrast, ChatGPT requires multiple prompts, copy-pasting, and is slower than Bard.

Using real-time data from sources is a bonus. Bard accesses real-time search results, Google Search Console, Google Trends, and Google Ads Keyword Planner for conducting keyword research. Whereas, ChatGPT is based on 2021 knowledge, so outdated in this area.

Need your spelling checked? Bard replaces Grammarly in checking typos, grammar, and adjusting content tone for web pages/Google Docs.

Have programming code explained in a flash, by copy and pasting into Bard. In the future will be able to produce code in over 20 languages.

In the future, Bard will include image generators, read images and much more, having benefited from the learnings of ChatGPT paving the way with the public testing AI.

ChatGPT

The most popular AI software tool is Microsoft’s Chat GPT which is connected to Bing’s search engine database, from 2021. It became available to the public late last year to generate content for your business based on the commands or input it receives. Chat GPT is available in free and paid versions. We cover more about ChatGPT, as everyone can access now, for free.

How to use ChatGPT

You provide the AI chat software command prompts and it then replies with content from the search engines and databases they are connected to. However, if you put an inadequate prompt in you will get substandard information out quickly, and efficiently! Which could mean an overwhelm of fluffy inaccurate information being created and circulated.

Many platforms are introducing AI into their services for example free graphic design software Canva has text to image creation and Gmail and Mailchimp are including AI Chat-like-software that helps us write better emails. Will this make us lazy writers? We could become reliant on it, just like we are on a calculator for maths – but will it really matter in the future that a machine does these basic things for us?

What is ChatGPT used for?

Increasing creativity and content efficiently. By providing in depth information in the correct formula to Chat GPT, you can generate content that can serve as a base for editing, expanding, and refining.
You save time. You don’t have to stare at a blank screen and an impatient flashing cursor. Get ideas for content within seconds as a starting point to inspire your creative juices.

It also provides additional information you may be lacking or have not thought of about the topic, which may not be that accurate or reliable.
It provides confidence as you can have AI check your writing for flow, tone or ask it to rephrase an awkward sentence that just doesn’t work.

AI Chatbot for fun

I’ve had a lot of fun with creating birthday poems with ChatGPT which I then post on my children’s and friends Facebook pages. By feeding in interesting prompts and quirks about the recipient and how I wanted it presented e.g. in a limerick I would get back a poem I could refine by making suggestions such as rephrasing and replacing words so that the poem flowed better.

Introducing our AI Team

As a digital marketing agency, we understand that the world of marketing is constantly evolving, and staying ahead of the curve is essential to remaining competitive.

Brodie

Brodie, our Graphic Designer has been invited to trial Adobe’s Firefly beta software to create text to image designs. He has found it has saved him time, was of good quality and provided creative renditions. Any images you can’t find? Ask us to generate them with AI.

Our team was impressed by how quickly Firefly could create a variety of images from our random suggestions of a goat climbing a staircase, and implement additional tweaks within seconds. We have used this technology for images in this article and in our new website.

Paul

Paul our programmer has used AI to generate basic code for specific instructions, that he then customises. He said it has saved him time and makes him more efficient in that that he can spend more time on writing complicated code and further testing.

Lyndal

For marketing and website copywriting, I find it easier to use ChatGPT to edit work rather than start from scratch. It has made the turnaround of work faster, as I have a base to work with, and can craft from there. The extra insights Ai can give in a client’s industry can be very useful.

Limitations of AI Chatbots online

Plagiarism

Will there be a loss of creativity and innovation if humans become too reliant on AI? A concern is whether Chat GPT will be able to provide truly original and helpful content in the future, since it is an open-source software. Could ChatGPT give this same information to someone else if they put in the same prompts? Potentially. It is not recommended to upload commercially sensitive information as it will live in the AI database for another user who asks a similar prompt.

Does this mean it’s open to plagiarism and everything written needs to be passed through a software to check this? Potentially yes. Schools are now facing this issue with essay assignments. Schools are including more practical assessments and tasks to reduce this tempting option for students.

Content overwhelm

With so much content already available online, there is a risk of content overwhelm – more will be produced, quickly and easily in a climate where businesses struggle to stand out from the crowd.

Accuracy

How accurate will it be? The latest information ChatGPT has from its database is from data 2 years old. ChatGPT said TikTok is a new up-and-coming social media platform, whereas it is third in popularity behind Facebook and Instagram, highlighting the fact that ChatGPT information is not current.

Security

It is now possible to create a digital version of ourselves that can read any text it is given. By uploading our voice and speech patterns into a voice AI software, we can generate an audio representation of ourselves. Then uploading an image of ourselves, we can create a moving avatar that can be combined with our AI voice to present a PowerPoint or video lesson. This is akin to a digital cloning of ourselves, which eliminates the need for us to physically present the material. This does raise the question of security with internet banking AI voice recognition being vulnerable to for fraud and security breaches.

Death by AI PowerPoint

Watching some training with a monotone AI voice reading a slide show of some complicated content recently, was like death by PowerPoint – and not a pleasant experience. The AI voice lacked any expression, and didn’t hold my interest. Additionally, the speed of speech didn’t slow down over the more complicated parts of the lesson, making it more difficult to grasp the concepts. The good news is that AI voice technology has improved already to add in expression, showing how fast the software adapts and changes.

AI is a complementary tool.

On a recent AI course, they mentioned how a machine can learn in 20 minutes what we can learn in 20 years! AI is not a replacement for human insight and expertise, but a tool. It is important to note that it is not capable of understanding your customer’s journey in the same level of detail like you do. But it will give you some starting points.

In the likely world of content overwhelm, it will be the businesses that truly understand their customer pain points that will connect through and shine. It is important to conduct market research, analyse customer data, and develop a comprehensive content strategy. And if you’re not sure where to start, a digital marketing agency can be a great resource. They can help you dig deep into your target audience’s interests, pain points, and needs, and craft content that really speaks to them.

Should you use Chat GPT and Bard? Absolutely, if you keep the limitations in mind. Use them as a starting point, but don’t rely on them exclusively. But be aware, while these tools can be helpful, without human insights they can produce mediocre repeated phrases and duplicate content that will earn SEO penalties.

AI copywriting flows well but it still needs editing from that raw state, so if you currently can’t find the time to write content, it isn’t going to save you.

As a marketing agency, our focus is on creating content that drives business. That’s where our AI Team comes in. AI does reduce the time to produce content, making it faster and cheaper to get content from your agency. We are using this powerful tool to create content that resonates with your audience and helps you achieve your marketing goals.

Helpful prompts

Customer Service

What kind of [customer service/support] do my competitors provide and how can I improve my own customer service/support to compete with them?

Brand Voice

Analyze the following text for tone of voice and style. Apply that exact style and tone of voice to all your future responses. Follow-up question: Add more [humour/statistics/shorter sentences/questions/playfulness].

Can you help me identify any common phrases or expressions that I tend to use in my writing? [copy and paste a text].

Website quiz

I’d like to stick a hello bar at the top of my website that creates a strong call-to-action & encourages visitors to take my quiz. The name of my quiz is [title here] & in X-seconds, it will help them [benefit 1], [benefit 2], and [benefit 3]. Provide 5 suggestions that are no longer than 100 characters.

Text / messenger communication

We need an SMS sequence for clients/customers who’ve registered for a sales call. Write 3 SMS messages: The first one is a confirmation that they’re signed up & we’re excited to talk. The second one is a 24-hours out notice mentioning the benefits of going to the appointment, which is [benefit], and provides details to join the call. The third one is a 1-hour out notice that reminds them of details to join the call & lets them know we’re excited to solve [problem they want support with].