If you’ve worked in digital advertising management for more than a week, you’ll know it’s all about timing; when to launch, when to push, when to reduce pace and when to pull the plug completely. Having sufficient lead time makes executing the aforementioned undertakings fairly simple. But if you’ve been in digital advertising more than 2 weeks, you’ll know that strategies can change on the fly. With that, we’ve got to be able to adapt and act quickly for our clients – an art we take great pride in being able to consistently deliver on at PMG.
With that said, Google announced in late 2015 that it was opening up the new AdWords iOS app for beta testing. PMG jumped at the opportunity to explore this new tool first hand.
The Primary Benefit of the App
Consumer shift to mobile means our clients’ campaigns have had to evolve to become more responsive at all times of the day, especially during the past holiday season. The AdWords for iOS app made it easy to address issues that arose – without being chained to our laptops. Given the easy access to our campaigns via the app, we became even better equipped in delivering prompt account adjustments from campaign to keyword level for our clients, as well as keep our “family satisfaction rates” high over the holiday period.
I know what you may be thinking: Panic stations! We’re now connected and expected to be in the accounts 24/7! Not so fast. Whilst the app has provided us a more accessible portal into the accounts away from our laptops, the overarching benefit has been a greater degree of overall convenience. A user will quickly realize that the app UI lends itself to addressing quick and perhaps urgent adjustments. If you’ve downloaded the app to carry out bulk bid adjustments or custom ad extension edits, you’ve come to the wrong place. Mobile means simplicity and the app has captured the essence of this industry requirement well.
Digestible Performance Data
The app’s uncomplicated presentation of performance metrics makes for a user friendly and effective experience. The layout brings visualization to the forefront, with the ability to observe trends by setting time intervals painlessly. Although condensed, Google has kept their Opportunities functionality present in the app which highlights areas of potential improvement for account managers.
Increased Focus on Visualization vs the Desktop View
The app load time has been impressive considering the size of some of our clients’ AdWords accounts. Furthermore, the functionality transitions within the app are near seamless. Gone are the days of logging into AdWords in a mobile browser and navigating your way through the labyrinth of ad groups with the pinch, zoom and scroll approach.
That said, I feel there is still room for improvement on the visualization front. The ability to see comparative periods would be my first and major point on the list. Additionally, the functionality to easily see best and worst performers per segment (campaign, ad group etc.) would be a valuable addition as well.
Overall, the AdWords app stands to be a useful and effective addition to your campaign management approach. Download it here for your iPhone. If you find yourself on an Android device, you can download the equivalent (and original mobile) version here.