• PBR loves ads big and small…Pabst Blue Ribbon is running a literal “In-Home Advertising” campaign to pay people to put PBR-branded merch around their home
• See Megan thee Stallion’s new Nike campaign that follows her fitness journey and rise to fame
• 👀 Have you seen Volvo’s new logo?
• Comedian Craig Robinson stars in Gain’s Flashdance-inspired ad where he is a “Gainiac” for fresh laundry

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! The world of advertising with Google is always changing. Ready to play some catch-up? Here’s your Google advice straight from the horse’s mouth: Use broad match paired with Smart Bidding. This strategy makes you more likely to hit relevant searches as well as higher conversions. 

But let’s get into why that is a good strategy. Here are three things to know about matching keywords for your Google Ads strategy:

1. What are your intentions? Much of Google’s updates in the past few years have all been about user intent. Now, can we read minds? No. Can models and algorithms come close to it? You betcha. But sometimes long or complex searches can have hard-to-translate intentions. Broad match keywords can match to a variety of queries and relate keywords to each other for results that are more relevant to a user’s intent.
2. Matchy matchy keywords. Now Google doesn’t always give up the secret formula, but they do give us ingredients here and there. The Google ranking truth to know here is that an exact match keyword that is identical to a query is now always preferred as long as it’s eligible to match. That goes for both phrase and broad match keywords as well! 
3. Group Mentality. Now, this isn’t so much about keyword matches, but an organizational reminder. For the sake of tracking and improving your ads, Google reminds advertisers that grouping your ads thematically, then breaking down a group depending on how it performed is your best starting point for optimizing keywords. 

In general, Google has also simplified the keyword matching process when building ads. But, Google always suggests experimenting in your Recommendations Page with drafts and exploring Smart Bidding keyword suggestions. 

Check out Google’s full keyword announcement for specific cases and examples of keyword matches.  

Sometimes you can tell a lot about a brand by the links they share. Crazy long URLs? Ew. Generic short links? Eh.  Rebrandly is an easy peasy platform that helps you manage, build, and track your links. It’s not just for short links, Rebrandly has:

• Branded URLs
• UTM builders
• Link retargeting
• Mobile deep linking
• URL conditional routing
• Customizable reports
• Browser extension

Put your brand out there, even in your links. Get linking today!

We love digital marketing so much, we write this newsletter about it everyday.  Honestly, what’s not to love?

Howdy from Carney!

We’re a dynamic digital agency with a team of designers, developers, strategists, all with a healthy dose of marketing love sickness.

❤️ We love ads, ❤️ we love design, ❤️ we love brands.

Let us show your brand some Carney love, too!

Any Candy Crush addicts out there? Then you know the game has a narrator with some dessert-themed taglines and a deep voice. Khloe Kardashian and Doja Cat star in this ad playing the game and lip-synching those candy catchphrases. While the ad doesn’t show actual gameplay, we love the detail of the two celebrities’ nails made of Candy Crush game pieces.