Myth Or Truth Does Sa360 Really Give Me Better Performance
Management Summary
SA360 has an interface comparable to Google Ads and getting used to the tool is very intuitive. In this article we will give you some tips on what the tool can explicitly be used for and whether it is suitable for everyone.
What exactly is Search Ads 360?
Search Ads 360, or SA360 for short, helps you keep track of complex accounts and manage paid search campaigns from one tool. SA360 can be used to take marketing activities in the area of paid search to the next level and save resources because it can target the activities from different engines to the respective platforms.
While both Google Ads and Microsoft Ads accounts were previously managed from two different systems, these will be combined in SA360 and can now be controlled from one interface. Even cross-engine bidding strategies are possible, which are particularly useful when the conversion volume is too low. In this way, the campaigns benefit from each other.
But what does Search Ads 360 really do for me?
between Google Ads and SA360. However, we noticed that the performance of all customers improved after the switch. Of course, numerous factors play a role, such as previous performance, the current setup, seasonality and many other influences. Overall, however, it can be said that we were able to increase relevant conversions for each company.
Conversion of Google Ads and introduction of SA360 at Migros Bank
In the highly competitive financial market, Migros Bank was able to further increase its efficiency by using SA360. In collaboration with the customer, we first defined the relevant conversions for success. We then tailored our bidding strategies specifically to these success-relevant conversions.
We were able to increase these so-called focus conversions by 46% at Migros Bank in conjunction with auction-time bidding.In this case, not only hard conversions but also soft conversions played a role, which contributed significantly to the improved overall performance.
When switching from Google Ads to SA360 Bidding, clicks increased by 28% compared to the previous period, focus conversions increased by 46% and the weighted CPA was reduced by a full 12%.
Migros Bank quote,source
Use of value-based bidding via SA360
But we were also able to raise the efficiency of our existing customer Magenta to a new level by using SA360. Compared to the previously identical setup, we were able to increase the conversion value by 19% by focusing on value-based bidding. In this case, the other KPIs such as clicks were even increased by 8% with a 10% lower CPC.
Magenta quote,sourceGoogle and SA360 themselves report average increases in conversion value of 14% across all of their customers and industries when switching to value-based bidding. In our case, we were once again significantly above the benchmark.
The initial SA360 setup
The tool cannot simply be set up across all engines and used smoothly straight away. Although this would be desirable, some technical precautions are still necessary so that everything works together seamlessly and the campaigns are based on a common basis.
In this case, we are no longer talking about Google Ads tags, but rather Floodlights tags, which are then used as a performance measurement across the various engines. As with other tags, these of course also have to be implemented and the initial setup is not a direct disadvantage, but should still not go unmentioned. As is well known, a certain basic setup is mandatory for all tools, as performance cannot be measured without proper tracking.
It should be mentioned that the tool is not provided free of charge, like Google Ads, but rather a portion of the budget used has to be paid.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact us to find out more about the next steps and whether we can recommend SA360 to you at all. The tool offers a lot of advantages, but these must be discussed individually depending on the intended use.
The advantages over the individual engines
In general, it can be said that SA360 can of course do everything that the individual engines already include, but also offers various other features. On the one hand, they make it easier to use multiple engines and, on the other hand, they also offer further optimization options that go beyond the settings integrated into the respective engine.Features of SA360:
- Budget Bid Strategies
- Custom variables
- Deduplicated conversions
- Cross-engine budgets and bid strategies
- Combination of different conversion actions from different systems
- Inventory management or templates for various automation functions
What do these individual SA360 features offer me?
Budget Bid Strategies
When it comes to fixed budgets that are to be used in regular campaigns or, for example, on a monthly basis, the so-called budget bid strategy is suitable. With the help of this feature, it is possible for campaigns contained in the respective portfolio to receive a fixed budget, which the tool optimally controls based on performance. The strategy acts very individually and flexibly on the respective performance within a previously defined period of time and this means that seasonal effects are already taken into account independently by the tool and no further adjustments need to be made.
Custom variables
Using these variables, it is possible for additional information to be recorded and adjusted conversion values to be taken into account accordingly. For example, it is possible that a conversion from category A is not the same as the conversion value from category B. Using the custom variable and adjusting it, it is possible to adjust this conversion value for each category.
Deduplicated conversions
Data contained within the Google Marketing Platform is shared together, enabling parallel use of deduplicated conversions and audiences across multiple channels. Compared to standard Google Ads tracking, floodlights provide a more accurate picture of user behavior on the Internet. In this way, you can track, for example, which brand a customer prefers, which tariffs they are interested in, or how many products they have put in their shopping cart.
Cross-engine budgets and bid strategies
Sufficient conversions are crucial for successful campaigns. Without the recommended conversion volume, even the best algorithm will find it difficult to achieve the set goals – be it tCPA or tROAS. Both require a minimum of reliable signals to function optimally. This becomes even more difficult when there is strong seasonality.
This is where cross-platform budgets and bidding strategies come into play. This allows both budgets and bidding strategies to be combined. Particularly when it comes to bidding strategies, the following applies: “A lot helps a lot.” This means that the campaigns can benefit from each other.
Several campaigns with a similar goal, such as tROAS, can be combined in this way. This gives the algorithm more signals to achieve the common goal. The necessary minimum of individual campaigns is achieved more quickly and everyone benefits from more efficient campaign results.
Combination of different conversion actions from different systems
In SA360 it is not only possible to use your own floodlights, but also to combine conversions from different systems. For example, a floodlight can be combined with a Google Ads tag and the campaign can be optimized based on this combination.
The Google Marketing Platform is planning to integrate GA4 this year. This will make it possible to combine Floodlights with GA4 Conversions. This combination allows bid strategies and campaigns to rely on a broader base of Floodlights and GA4 Conversions for optimization, opening up additional opportunities.
SA360 vs. Google Ads, source: e-dialog
Inventory management or templates
Inventory management in SA360 allows advertisers to efficiently scale and automate their search campaigns, keeping them fresh and relevant without the need for constant manual intervention.
Inventory management uses data from an inventory feed to automatically generate campaigns, ad groups, text ads, keywords and Google Ads sitelinks and dynamically change them whenever the status of these elements in the feed changes.
More information about inventory campaigns can also be found in the blog post with the topic “Inventory Campaigns in SA360 for Education – A Guide”.
Conclusion:
As already mentioned several times, the use cases and use of SA360 differ significantly from pure Google Ads or Microsoft Ads. This can be seen both in the use of specific features such as templates in SA360, as well as in more complex setups across different channels, taking into account programmatic advertising and the simultaneous use of floodlights as well as the connection of social media data into a common cross-channel conversion attribution.
Using SA360 offers numerous advantages that justify both the initial setup and the costs. Performance is further improved by merging budgets or bidding strategies, leading to significantly more efficient results.
