5 New Google Updates that Will Blow Up Your SAAS Growth

Google keeps releasing new features and updates every now & then.

And you shouldn't miss out on them.

This year, Google Ads has released a lot of groundbreaking features to redefine SAAS marketing strategies.

Especially when you're building a SAAS business.

From improved automation to the introduction of new video view campaigns…

And a lot more.

These updates are not just changes….

They represent new opportunities for SaaS brands to:

• Refine their strategies
• Reach more targeted audiences
• And ultimately boost growth…

… in a highly competitive digital landscape.

In this guide, I’m going to cover each new feature and how each one can help you in the growth of your SAAS business.

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1. Performance Max Campaigns

If you’re building a SaaS business, Pmax campaigns can work as a booster engine for its growth.

Don’t believe me?

SaaS giant Slack leveraged Pmax campaigns to boost team registrations by an impressive 30%.

Now, let’s see what it is and how it can help you grow your SaaS business.

So, Pmax is a goal-oriented campaign type that uses machine learning to automatically optimize the ad performance and bid in real-time.

So that it can drive more conversions and meet your campaign goals.

It servers your ads across all Google channels:

• Search
• YouTube
• Display
• Gmail, etc.

And targets users regardless of intent.

To get the most out of the Pmax, you'll need to give it the best input.

So that it can automatically create better ads, produce better results, and help you meet your campaign goals.

But what kind of input?

You need to provide Google AI with the right inputs to help it understand your goals and target the right audience.

Must-haves:

1. Tell Google your goals: What do you want to achieve (sales, leads, traffic)?
2. Give clues about your audience: Who are you trying to reach (age, interests, behavior)?
3. Provide high-quality ads: Text, images, and videos that showcase your brand.

Bonus points:

• Track conversions to see how your campaign is performing.
• Set a budget and choose a bidding strategy.
• Decide where you want your ads to show (locations, languages, interests).
• Tell Google where you don't want your ads to show (websites, apps, categories).
• Fine-tune settings (ad scheduling, rotation, frequency).

Remember, the more you tell Google, the better it can optimize your campaigns.

So we’re done with the setting for our SaaS campaigns. Now it's time to provide it with the campaign assets.

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What does a PMax ad consist of?

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Additional assets or Extensions

• Audience signal
• Promotions
• Prices
• Calls
• Structured snippets
• Lead forms

These assets are optional, but it is highly recommended to add them.

They will only boost visibility, improve your ad performance, and encourage users to take action.

Now the thing is…

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How Can YOU Use pMax Campaigns for Your SaaS Growth?

So to make it easy for you…

I’ve broken down the whole strategy to effectively use Pmax for your SaaS growth:

1. Define Clear Goals: Determine what you want to achieve with Performance Max, whether it's generating leads, increasing free trial signups, or boosting paid subscriptions.
2. Understand Your Audience: Identify your ideal customer profile and gather insights into their demographics, interests, and online behavior.
3. Leverage Smart Bidding: Utilize Smart Bidding strategies, such as Maximize Conversions or Target ROAS, to align your ad spend with your business objectives.
4. Maximize the number of assets: In a Performance Max Campaign, you can include as many as 20 images. It's a good idea to upload 15 to 20 images for each campaign. This helps Google figure out which images are most effective on different platforms and which ones lead to more people taking action. I also suggest trying out four to five different titles and descriptions for each ad campaign.
5. Optimize Landing Pages: Ensure your landing pages are aligned with your ad messaging. For example, if you’re running a use-case campaign on a specific feature, make sure the landing page that you use for the ad has this as well. You want to maintain consistency to reduce your bounce rate.
6. Monitor and Adapt: Regularly review campaign performance and make adjustments as needed to optimize results.
7. Experiment with Different Ad Formats: Explore various ad formats, such as image ads, video ads, and Shopping ads, to determine the most effective approach for your audience.
8. Utilize Automation Features: Take advantage of Pmax's automation features, such as audience targeting and ad scheduling, to streamline your campaign management.

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2. Enhanced Conversion Tracking (ECT)

Recently, the web has had stricter regulations on user privacy.

To counteract that, while maintaining your ability retarget your ideal audience…

Google has implemented ECT.

This you more granular data about your website conversions through hashed customer data.

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How does it work?

Imagine someone is looking for a software tool for their business on their work computer. They find an ad for a software service and click it, but they don't buy anything right away.

• Later, this person leaves work and uses their phone, linked to a personal email, to go back to the software service's website. This time, they sign up for a free trial of the software. They enter their details, like their name, address, and phone number, into the form. This information they give is called first-party data, and it's shared with Google.
• When this person was at work, they were using their business email to look for software tools. But they also use their phone to check this email. The security app on their phone helps Google connect the phone number they used to sign up with the work email they were using!
• Then, Google's special system, called 'enhanced conversions', makes a single profile for this person using this first-party data.

Without this special setup from Google, this useful information wouldn't be available. Google wouldn't be able to figure out how to show ads to people similar to this software seeker.

Long story short…

Google still attributes conversions to your ads even if they aren’t directly signed into Google.

This enables you to track conversions more accurately and effectively.

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How to use it?

• Setup enhanced conversions for leads either manually or using Google Tag Manager.
• Define your conversion goals and track what matters most to you, like signups, purchases, or free trials.
• Connect your CRM to Google Ads to seamlessly track customer data and attribute conversions to your ads.
• Create customer-matched audiences based on your CRM data.
• Use tROAS bidding with custom audiences to optimize your bids for even better conversions.

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3. Experiments

You can use experiments to conduct A/B tests…

And then use those tests’ results to make data-driven decisions to grow your SaaS.

With experiments you can test a variety of different things in Google Ads, such as:

• Ad copy
• Bid strategies
• Ad extensions
• Location targeting
• Audience targeting

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List of Assets You Need for Google Ads Experiments

Each type of test requires specific assets to function effectively.

Here's a table outlining them:

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How to use experiments to grow your SAAS business?

Here are some examples to get a clear view on how to use experiments:

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4. Demand-Gen

Google is killing Discovery ads and transitioning to Demand Gen campaigns.

These campaigns are a newer and upgraded version of discovery ads.

Which uses Google AI to target users based on their interests and behaviors. This make it easier to connect with consumers and drive demand from the mid-funnel, all the way to purchase.

And you can use it to reach up to 3 billion active monthly users.

The purpose of this campaign type is to create a buzz around your SaaS solution.

And you can use them to grow your SaaS business by:

• Reaching a wider audience
• Improving Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
• Generate leads
• & nurture prospects.
• Reducing Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)

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"With Demand Gen, your brand can reach over 3 billion potential customers on Google's most visual and engaging platforms, where 9 out of 10 people take action immediately after discovering new products or brands."

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But what makes them different from discovery ads?

Demand Gen campaigns are based on the same principles as Discovery campaigns, but they have some additional features that make them even more powerful.

Here’s how it’s different:

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Overall, Demand Gen offers a more sophisticated and data-driven approach to generate demand and drive conversions.

Now that you know what’s demand gen and how it’s different from discovery ads. It’s time to give you the secret sauce.

Alright the sauce is…

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How to Use Demand Gen for Leveling Up Your SaaS Business?

As I already shared above that deman gen is all about creating a buzz around your SaaS product.

But how?

So the 1st thing is…

1. Focus on creating awareness and driving consideration:

In the early stages of the customer journey…

Focus on building brand awareness and generating interest in your SaaS product. Use:

• Video ads
• Display ads
• & content marketing…

… to educate potential customers about your offering.

2. Nurture leads with targeted content and messaging:

Once you've generated leads, nurture them through the sales funnel with personalized content and messaging.

You can use:

• Email marketing
• Retargeting ads
• & landing page optimization…

… to move leads closer to conversio

3. Align demand gen with your overall marketing strategy:

Lastly, ensure your demand gen efforts are consistent with your overall marketing strategy.

Use the same branding, messaging, and targeting across all channels to create a cohesive brand experience.

A key focus here is you want to target a broader audience earlier in the funnel.

This allows you to capture a bigger pool of potential customers as opposed to just bottom-of-funnel marketing.

Statisically, only 3% of the market is ready to buy at a time.

So by targeting earlier in the funnel, you prepare yourself for higher ROAS/ROI long-term.

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5. Video View Campaigns

This new Google Ads feature also termed as “VVC” was rolled out on 28 September 2023.

It’s a new and the best way to promote your SaaS brand’s message and story across skippable in-stream, in-feed, and Shorts ad format on:

• YouTube
• Google Video Partner websites
• & the Display Network.

One of the best way to connect with your audience on a deeper level is story telling. And video ads are the best way to do that.

For SaaS businesses, it’s the best opportunity. You can show off your product’s benefits through storytelling in video formats.And then convert the user into your lead with a soft CTA.

For example:

While I was looking for the best automation software on YouTube, I came across Zapier's in-skippable video ad.

In that video ad, they highlighted their product’s benefit, i.e., how their software can help me save time by automating the day-to-day repetitive tasks. And then it asked me to take action by trying it for free.

Likewise, you can also take advantage of VVC campaigns and make the viewer convert into your lead by offering a free trial.

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"With VVC, powered by Google AI, you can reach relevant audiences more efficiently, drive deeper connections, and achieve up to 40% more views and 30% lower cost-per-view."

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• Specialising in your market
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