TPE #98: AI & PPC: real use-cases from industry experts
Jun 24, 2024Read time: 4 minutes
GM, Miles here! :)
AI is a hot topic in the PPC industry.
Every new product Google Ads releases is embedded with AI.
Some love it, others struggle, but most people haven’t experimented much yet.
To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of The PPC Hub, we gathered the brightest PPC minds for workshops on how to use AI effectively with Google Ads.
They showed us the good, bad & ugly of AI in PPC.
Our members left very inspired and armed with tools to start leveraging AI with Google Ads.
In today’s issue of The PPC Edge, I’m sharing my biggest takeaways of the workshops to show you what you can do with AI.
I’ll also give my opinion on where I feel it’s still lacking (gotta keep it honest, as always).
And at the end, I'll give share a link to a database of AI tools, super handy!
Let’s dive in!
The PPC Hub AI Week: lots of inspiration and real AI use-cases in PPC.
We hosted 4 workshops in 4 days with Mike Rhodes (2x), Lars Maat, and Alex van de Pol:
I’ll share my key takeaways of each workshop below.
My personal thoughts on AI at the moment: it feels like a weird mix of shiny objects, and the most important thing in the world…
Let me explain:
- On the one hand, AI feels like a shiny object because it looks unfinished. Lots of tools have huge promises, but the output is often still below-par.
- On the other hand, AI feels like the most important thing in the world because of the opportunities, its rapid-changing nature, and the fact it’s embedded in everything nowadays.
I’m not all in on AI-based solutions yet, but there are tons of great use-cases, which I’ll show you below.
Workshop 1 by Mike Rhodes (Enhancing Your Google Ads and Marketing with AI).
“AI will not take your job, but humans using AI will.” — Mike Rhodes
Mike is such a fun man to listen to.
In his first workshop, he showed us the endless possibilities with AI.
In his words: “the only constraint is your imagination”.
AI might feel “unfinished”, but it’s developing very fast.
Because of that, it’s recommended to dabble in and experiment with it at least every 3-6 months.
There are various ways to leverage AI in PPC, saving you a lot of time by automating repetitive tasks and generating unique insights within seconds.
You can make a lot of impact by:
- Automating reports.
- Gathering unique insights.
- Letting AI analyze your data.
Mike’s pMax script is the perfect example of this as it gives you tons of insights Google won’t give you. And he built the majority of it with AI!
But you could also use AI to:
- Write ad copy.
- Create conversion-focused landing pages.
- Do competitor, market, and customer research.
With AI, creating custom scripts has become easier than ever. You just need basic coding knowledge and some imagination.
Here’s a golden nugget tip from Mike: if you don’t know where to start, you can simply ask ChatGPT what it needs from you to deliver certain insights/results.
For example: you could ask: “I want to optimize my landing pages to drive more conversions based on proven conversion-design frameworks. What do you need from me to give me what I need in order to do that?”
As a result, ChatGPT will just tell you what it needs from you…
That’s really meta, but it works!
In the upcoming months, I want to build my own CustomGPT to help with landing page optimization to drive more conversions (feels like such low-hanging fruit).
Workshop 2 by Lars Maat (Use your own data and enrich it with AI in order to get those conversions!).
“AI is a tool, not the solution.” — Lars Maat
In the second workshop, Lars Maat showed us real case studies on how he’s leveraging AI with his agency Maatwerk Online:
- Using CustomGPTs to analyze data at scale.
- Finding insights based on statistical frameworks within seconds.
- Using tools to automate repetitive tasks.
Ultimately, the goal is to use AI to quickly analyze big sets of data, giving you insights that you can act upon (which ultimately leads to better results).
Here are a few tools he mentioned that are worth digging into:
- Google Vision API → extract insights from images, docs, and videos (great for SEO, too).
- Vertex AI → optimize feeds with AI, split-testing Shopping Ads with FeedX, and create image assets at scale with Adios.
Workshop 3 by Alex van de Pol (Enhancing Product Feeds and Image Assets with Google FeedGen & Adios).
This was by far the most technical workshop, as Alex showed us the step-by-step process to optimize your product feeds with FeedGen, and create image assets at scale with Adios.
My key takeaways:
- The technology feels not finished yet, and it’s a bit technical to set up (therefore, not many people are experimenting with it).
- If the tools become easier to use, I see lots of use cases for (big) advertisers, especially in the fashion and furniture industries.
- You should never run tools like these once and expect 10/10 results. Everything needs tweaking, but you can get a lot of new ideas and insights within seconds.
Workshop 4 by Mike Rhodes (Unlock the power of scripts: automate, analyze, and optimize).
“How to go from Script Zero to Hero, even if you’re scared of code.” — Mike Rhodes
Mike came back for another workshop, in which he showed us how easy it can be to create your own Google Ads scripts with AI.
What it comes down to:
- You need a basic understanding of javascript code.
- You need a basic understanding of Google Sheets.
- You need to have a solid imagination.
With these 3 ingredients, you can virtually create any script you like, analyzing data, providing insights, or automating tasks.
Many PPCers want to build their own scripts, but have no idea where to start.
If I had to pay someone to teach me how to create scripts, I’d go with Nils Rooijmans or Mike Rhodes.
In July, Mike is hosting a 4-week workshop on how to create your own scripts.
I saw first-hand how easy it can be to create these powerful scripts (as long as you know what you’re doing and have a good teacher).
I highly recommend it if you want to get unique insights, analyze data, and automate tasks at scale with scripts.
Lots of people from The PPC Hub are attending and there are some spots left.
Last year, Mike did the same workshop for $1.999-$2.999, but this year he’s dropping the price to $299.
Do with that what you will, but if you’re into scripting this is a great opportunity to learn how to create your own.
Bonus tip: check out this database of AI tools!
Mike or Lars (I forgot who it was) shared a huge database with tons of AI tools. Check it out at futuretools.io.
To recap: AI still feels unfinished at times.
But there’s no denying there is a lot of opportunity.
Keep experimenting with it so you don’t fall behind. Even if something doesn’t work well for you today, keep experimenting.
Try again in 3-6 months. You’ll be amazed by how much better AI will become in super short timeframes.
I’m gonna dabble more into CustomGPTs for ad copy, data analysis, and landing page optimizations.
When I have more insights, I’ll share them with you.
And that’s all for today.
Thank you for reading — I’ll catch you next week!
Cheers,
Miles (& Bob)
