Feedoptimization is increasingly associated with campaign optimism when we talk about Google Shopping. In a digital world where Google is increasingly able to automate processes based on data, our job as PPCs is increasingly about where Good data we can deliver.
Despite this, one of the most common challenges I see is: Google Ads advertisers that they have shopping feeders with low quality and poor information. Simple (and more advanced) grips in feedoptimisation can increase relevance and better segmentation of advertising.
As an employee in INEVO, I see many accounts and google shopping feeders in a year. These are three of the most common challenges I see:
1. Feed missing important attributes
Google has 61 possible feed attributes of which only 9 are mandatory. It is therefore self-explanatory that there are insufficient sources of information that can be used in campaign optimisation if they are found to be a major source of information. only focuses on the fields that must be filled to obtain the approval of the feed in the system.
But why do you spend time optimising attributes of color, cargo, size, material, sales price and so on when this is information that the customer receives on your website? Because this information is often critical of sending potential customers at all to your website. When you buy a T-shirt in a physical store, you probably see both color, brand and price before you decide. You might also look at the material that the T-shirt is made in and try it on in the sample room before you buy it. In some cases you may also ask the employees at the store for help to find the item you are looking for.
When we shop online we can in many cases view Google as the employee at the store. It is the search engine that will find the product we are looking for (see for). If Google does not have enough information about color, brand, material, product category, size, etc when you ask for this type of information (for example, by searching for “blue polo cotton shirt”), you will be at risk that Google will not be able to display your product either. Not because it does not exist, but because Google does not have the right information to understand that it is the right product.
2. The feed has insufficient information in the attributes
A feed with all mandatory fields and without error is rarely good enough in itself. One error I often see with new customers is that the information in the feed is defective and not specifically adapted to the channel for which it is to be used.
One important example is titles. Often, product titles from the website are used as a title when generating a feed. Although this is not a direct error, it will also not be optimal. One important reason is that the product's title is designed for a completely different context from the search engine. That your product is only named a model name can be more than well enough in the context of your online store as the product name is supported by other elements such as category, brand and more clearly. In the search engine, your title is much more “alone” and without the same context when displayed. Bad titles can therefore be a source of low CTR.
This is of course provided that your product is displayed at all. Titles are an important factor in total visibility. Google shopping does not choose search terms yourself, but Google matches your products with the search based on information in the feed. A feed with insufficient information will therefore have limited visibility.
Three. Lack of promotion segmentation
It is rare that I work with a webshop that has a steady demand, competition and margins across a wide range of products. After my experience, there is almost always optimization possibilities in segmenting the product range from just margins, seasons, competitiveness at prices, etc.
Another ‘error’ I see is therefore that all products are treated equally. Why should all products have the same measure of return on ad-pend if margins are overall different? This at best results in a failure to reach its potential in terms of profitability, turnover and profit. In the worst case, this leads to loses money.
Instead of collecting all products in one campaign and hoping that Google will randomly push the products you have the best margins on, profit data included in the feed using custom labels. This additional data point allows campaigns to be split up more profitablely and adapted targets to be set.
What effect can you expect?
The aim and effect of feed optimisation measures may vary considerably. In some cases, a large impact on visibility, traffic and conversions can be seen almost overnight. This often applies when optimising to participate in auctions for which there has been no previous relevance. This may be by optimising defective titles and descriptions.
Example of development of displays and conversions after feedoptimisation
In other cases, it's about scrapping out the little extra over time. In the case of product categories, custom labels, brands, GTINs and other fields, the effect is rarely as immediate. It's at least as important! Using custom labels that separate products with different margins or competitiveness will have no effect in themselves. They need to be used correctly. How you choose to use this information, however, can have an enormous impact on looking at the data in new ways and taking more profitable and strategic decisions in the long term.
Should you bet on feed-optimization?
The answer is yes! A good feed is in many cases the very prerequisite for digital visibility. It no longer keeps up with just has a Google shopping feed if you want to dominate digitally – it needs to be adapted and worked with.
As mentioned at the outset, I can see that the use of feed is increasingly important. Feeds will be an important factor in ensuring that our advertising becomes more relevant and profitable. In many cases, it will also be very time-saving as we can automate many processes based on feeders.
I doubtless believe that those who are able to combine business data with product data will have the greatest success in the future.
Do you feel inspired by this article? We would like to talk about how you can improve your product feed.