these 4 Google Ads custom columns to get the most out of your ads //

Google’s rush to an AI-driven future hasn’t left me with many reasons to smile.

There is a tool that can provide PPC nuanced reporting and customization to marketers who understand how to use it.

Custom columns is my favorite Google update for 2022.

This article will teach you:

• What are Custom Columns?
• Why Marketers Should Use Custom Columns
• Four of the most important uses cases that I’ve seen.

What is Custom Columns?

Custom Columns is a reporting column you can create within the Google Ads interface to provide metrics and calculation important to your business.

You can expand your reporting beyond what is already built into Google Ads. The tools have been around for nearly 10 years but they received a major upgrade about a month ago, which Search Engine Land contributor Greg Finn detailed in great detail.

Why Marketers Should Use Custom Columns

Custom Columns can be used in hundreds, if no thousands of different ways.

Custom Columns are particularly useful to businesses that have more than one type of conversion. You can assign a variety metrics according different conversions.

Google, Microsoft, Meta, and others are all moving towards AI and automation. One of the few controls that marketers still have is to feed offline conversion information in Google’s system. This will improve the precision and accuracy of bidding, targetting, etc. This functionality is only possible with Custom Columns.

Custom Columns are a great tool for businesses that have a single type of conversion. They can use it to create a trend recognition system faster and more efficiently, which can give them a competitive advantage. As we will show you in a specific use case, it can keep Google from being overly aggressive with budgets.

Segmentation by conversions: Use case 1.

Custom Columns is the most common way I use to analyze conversion types, such as lead, MQL and SQL, trial, subscriber etc.

This column type is suitable for all industries and businesses that use multiple conversion actions.

These data provide you with a wealth of information about each stage in the conversion process.

It is possible to look at the different views and see what search terms, keywords, or ads are driving them. This allows you to be very specific in determining where you should optimize, reduce, or increase your budget.

You’re making all optimization decisions on the basis of a single roll-up view if you don’t use this feature. It doesn’t really matter if there is only one conversion type. However, if there are more than one, you will lose a lot of precision.

Say, for instance, that your campaign generates a lot of MQLs and leads, but very few SQLs.

You may be spending money on audiences who may like what you have to offer and take the first desired actions, but are unable to move beyond the sales qualification phase due either to size or budget.

This would allow you to reduce your spending without any revenue impact and it would be great to share this information with the Product team.

Case 2: Average conversion cost for specific time periods

One of my favorite uses is to analyze the average conversion costs for a specific time period. This could be yesterday, last weekend, or even last 30 days.

This is useful in all scenarios.

It doesn’t matter what time period you choose, comparing metrics with historical data will help you see if costs are above or below the average.

It allows you to adjust budgets and bids, and it helps you identify problems before they snowball. The columns of comparison align more neatly than Google’s UI.

Case 3: Competitive Analysis

Want to look good in front of your clients or executive team?

Create a column to track the click-through rates and CPCs. This will help you gauge market activity and competition.

When you flag data, it can help you to know when to check out Auction Insights and see what is happening externally.

It’s a great way to monitor activity around brand terms (e.g. competitor poaching) but also for non-brand keywords.

Cost increases and increased competition can be great reasons to test new ads and differentiators, or even take on your competitors in the copy. It’s also a great way to share this information with higher-ups, who are always looking for information about what their competitors are doing.

You’re probably relying too heavily on Auction Insights if you don’t use this column setup to track competitor activity. Custom Columns fill the gap left by Auction Insights in terms of recognizing trends.

Use case 4 – Spending anomalies

How many of you (raise your hand) have witnessed Google taking liberties with its budget caps?

To counter this, I create a column that identifies anomalies in spending. This column flags any instances where the spend yesterday was greater than 120% the average of the previous seven days.

It is important to diagnose and spot these fluctuations in sensitive accounts, particularly those with larger budgets. By adding this column, you can avoid relying on your usual reporting cycle to detect them.

Check for irregularities in the campaign, keyword, and ad levels. Make sure that performance justifies increased spending and that Google is not simply going rogue.

It’s a great way to show your client or manager that you have EQ. It can even lead you to ask your Google representative for some’make-good’ requests.

Using Google Ads’ full functionality

Custom Columns have been given a lot of flexibility with the 2022 updates. My wish list would be very short for reporting features. Since I brought it up, I would love to see metrics such as top-of the-page and absolute rates of top-ofthe-page, along with a more glitch-free UI which helps troubleshoot errors in formulas.

It is up to marketers to make the most of the full functionality. This will shorten the analysis/action cycle by keeping all the information in Google’s interface.

Custom columns can help you uncover trends and insights that will answer your most important questions about accounts.

The different views by date ranges and formula functionality offer a way to move from Google Ads Data 101 into a powerful analytics and EQ powerhouse. All for the price of some elbow grease.

The first Search Engine land published the post Google Ads Custom Columns: Why is important.