Over the past few years, marketing AI has evolved from a hazy theoretical concept to an invaluable tool, handling labor-intensive tasks and helping teams conserve their precious time and brain power. It’s also completely reshaping paid advertising by boosting efficiency, accuracy and ROI on pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
That is, of course, if you know how to use it to your advantage.
While some organizations are seeing a boom thanks to AI, many are still working out the kinks of when, where and how to use AI for ad campaigns. And if you don’t understand how to wield this shiny new tool properly, you could waste more time and money than you save.
To help your company stay ahead in an increasingly competitive paid search environment, let’s explore how AI impacts PPC campaigns, where early adopters use AI to generate massive success and what to expect in the near future.
How AI Can Enhance PPC Campaigns and Performance
Because AI can process vast amounts of data in seconds, and machine learning (ML) can make real-time predictions, AI/ML is a stellar resource for targeting your audience and determining your bidding strategies.
Armed with AI-driven insights, you can create campaigns that hit their mark right out of the gate and make well-informed decisions that optimize campaign performance over time.
Audience Targeting
Paid media teams are rarely short on data. If anything, they frequently have too much information to parse through efficiently, and creating accurate audience segments can be a hefty task.
Thankfully, AI speeds up the process by rapidly assessing audience demographics, behavior and other patterns so you can target wisely, and ensure the people who see your ads are those likely seeking your solution.
For example, Meta’s AI-powered tool, Meta Advantage+, helps find the best placement option for ads across its platforms —including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. Google AI also helps place ads where they’re most likely to reach intended audiences and provides recommendations to boost optimization scores. Both platforms also offer AI solutions to expand your custom audience.
Automated PPC Bidding (and Upcoming Changes)
AI-powered bidding has been around for years, allowing users to automate bids based on predetermined goals like cost-per-action (CPA) or target return on ad spend (ROAS). But recently, AI has become even more effective in ensuring ads are displayed to the right audience, at the right time and for the best cost.
Of course, while AI can streamline the process, it’s never wise to take a “set it and forget it” approach to bidding. When using automated bidding, make sure you’re setting the right parameters and keep a close eye on your bids.
Beginning in October 2024, Enhanced CPC bidding on Google Ads will be sunset for new users, meaning that automated and AI-powered bidding will be the standard moving forward.
Using AI for Ad Copy and Creative Optimization
AI should never be considered a substitute for your creative team. But AI-powered tools can help speed up and scale the creative process. ChatGPT and other natural language processing chatbots can crank out as much ad copy as you need, and AI-powered creative solutions can generate dozens of versions of a single concept in seconds.
That said, success still requires significant human interaction, from crafting informative prompts to ensuring your ads don’t land your brand in hot water.
Generating Ad Copy
Writing highly engaging, relevant, click-worthy copy can be extremely time-consuming —especially when you have to repeat the process across several ads in dozens of ad groups. The good news is that this is where generative AI shines. Simply give your preferred generative AI tool background on the product or service you’re advertising, your audience, the action you’d like them to take and the character limits, and watch as it brainstorms a seemingly endless supply of titles and descriptions.
Of course, while tools like ChatGPT can rapidly generate dozens of variations of ad copy, we don’t recommend publishing without thoroughly editing for voice, tone and sensitivity. Consider AI-crafted copy as a [very] rough first draft, or a jumping-off point to inspire human-written content.
Dynamic Creative Optimization
Marketers have long dreamed of being able to personalize ads for each consumer. Now, thanks to AI, that’s finally possible. Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) uses AI to create, test and optimize ad creative in real-time, customizing PPC campaigns to each user’s demographics, behavior and preferences. And it can accomplish all of the above while respecting user privacy and adhering to data regulations, with many platforms rolling out features that allow marketers to only use “consented” data (i.e., data consumers have consented to use for marketing purposes).
For example, using location and interests, a recreational clothing brand’s ad might display fleece-lined jackets to a skier in Denver and spandex shorts to a cyclist in Southern California. By continuously changing ad messaging and visuals, DCO can serve personalized combinations and automatically optimize based on what works. This slashes the amount of manual work in A/B testing and reduces wasted ad budget, ensuring only the most effective and relevant creative reaches your audiences.
Predicting the Future of AI in PPC Campaigns
While no one knows for sure how AI will impact the future of PPC, here are three things we can expect:
- AI will become even more sophisticated.
First, deep learning will likely continue improving AI’s accuracy in predicting user behavior, further optimizing ad delivery for more efficient campaigns and better budget usage. Additionally, as machine learning gets “smarter,” natural language processing will likely become even more conversational and contextual to create more relevant copy. - Platforms will continue to integrate AI-powered tools into their offerings.
Expect to see more products like Meta Advantage+ that assist with audience targeting, generating creative, selecting ideal placement and optimizing budget. LinkedIn is beta testing its own AI-driven tool, Accelerate, which is slated to launch this fall. - Despite AI advancements, humans will remain at the helm of PPC management.
Some thought leaders suggest AI may eventually take over PPC management entirely —automating the entire experience from ad creation to campaign optimization, with little to no human intervention. But that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, if ever.AI lacks deep critical thinking skills, human empathy and the ability to understand the subtle nuances of human language. So, while it’s a powerful asset, you still need humans to ensure your ad creative are resonant, relevant and don’t feature offensive or inappropriate content.
Why Choose Kuno Creative for Your AI-Enhanced PPC Campaigns?
It’s smart to leverage AI-powered solutions in building, managing and optimizing PPC campaigns, but there’s a learning curve associated with these tools. Relying too much on automation can jeopardize your brand, but failing to leverage specific features can leave you behind the competition.
That’s why it’s helpful to work with experts who know how to incorporate AI into paid media to maximize your opportunities while still maintaining a hands-on approach to campaign management.
For example, the Kuno Creative team often leverages AI-powered tools to assist with predictive modeling, audience targeting and optimization recommendations, but ultimately makes decisions based on proven experience and strategic expertise. Using this approach, the team consistently generates quality traffic and conversions for clients while reducing CPC.
The bottom line is marketing AI is necessary to remain competitive and offers plenty of advantages for PPC campaigns. However, human creativity is essential to connecting with audiences and establishing meaningful relationships with prospective customers. By working with an agency that combines the two, you can achieve sustainable success.
