Hero Conference 2015 took place in Portland, Ore at the end of April and two weeks later, the Anvil paid media team is still talking about some of the great insights learned during the two-day, session-packed event. Some of the main takeaways include mobile, voice search, social advertising, getting back to the PPC fundamentals, RLSAs (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads), and scripts for account automation.

Two weeks later, here are the top session takeaways still being talked about, along with some of the conversation that happened on twitter during the conference.

Michael Knight, Paid Media Strategist

This IS the year of Mobile

If you did not know already, 2015 is the year of Mobile. Google announced just after the conference during their most recent live event, saying there are more mobile searches than desktop searches in 10 countries, including the US. This translates to more conversion points on mobile that need to be addressed as well, as users will interact and convert differently than on tablets or desktop devices.

60% of mobile calls from the call extension; 40% from landing page #heroconf @marchex

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 28, 2015

Also, paid media advertisers need to make sure their mobile strategy is thought about differently than desktop. From ad description lengths to sitelinks, they are all optimized differently on a mobile device to be more engaging and drive users to the desired action.

Only 11% of campaigns have fully mobile-optimized creatives despite these ads having better performance #HeroConf

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 28, 2015

Sitelink extensions can improve mobile CTR by 20%+ #heroconf @BingAds

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 28, 2015

Running mobile ads without call extensions is like throwing the ball at the 1 yard line #superbowlfail #HeroConf

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 28, 2015

The Future of Search: Voice and Conversational Search

Now that Mobile is becoming the leader in searches, the conversation is turning to voice search and what the future of searches and voice will look like. Along with how to better predict what searches came from voice search and how to better target those users.

Text queries tend to be around 1-3 words while voice has 6 or more on average #HeroConf @jmgagnon

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 27, 2015

Voice users are most likely mobile, using platforms like Siri, Google Now, and Cortana and using search phrases that usually include longer-tail questions the user wants answered.  Desktop search queries average just a few words, while desktop averages 6 or more words per query. This changes how we optimize for voice search and mobile. Looking for longer queries that usually ask a question can help better understand why and how someone is using search to find your brand’s products or service.

"Let's make voice search part of the PPC conversation" #HeroConf @jmgagnon

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 27, 2015

Until now, voice search has been associated with mobile devices, but as Windows 10 rolls out, voice search will come to desktop, creating new ways in which we interact with our computers and mobile devices, blurring the lines between the two.

Voice search is ready adding to text search (24%) @jmgagnon #HeroConf

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 27, 2015

Voice search: use question KWs for voice intent, think about longer phrases, and think about brand terms. #HeroConf @jmgagnon

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 27, 2015

Voice search: use question KWs for voice intent, think about longer phrases, and think about brand terms. #HeroConf @jmgagnon

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 27, 2015

Pascal Inderabudhi, Paid Media Specialist

The Growth of Social Advertising

With 2 sessions and the closing keynote dedicated to the subject, and countless mentions in other panels of its challenges and benefits, social media advertising was one of the most highly discussed topics at Hero Conference 2015. Now that social media platforms have increased their ad capabilities, marketers are finding that not only are they good mediums for engaging with their audience, but they are also legitimate contenders for driving bottom-line business goals.

https://twitter.com/pasc/status/592816491550121984

https://twitter.com/pasc/status/592736606206955520

As social ad platforms refine and grow their performance, so must paid media professionals increase their skills and expand their responsibilities in the social space. From paid search, to display, to remarketing, and now to social; paid media professionals will have to wear more hats to stay on top of the competition. No longer confined to a single social media silo, paid media experts would be wise to cross-train with their social teams and move businesses forward together.

It’s All About the PPC Fundamentals

In our light-speed digital world, marketers are always looking for and adapting to the newest, latest thing: mobile, video, wearables, Instagram, Snapchat, Flapjack, Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs. Ok, those last few were just breakfast foods (or were they? #eggs2015), but in our rush to constantly refine our keyword sets, social data, and behavioral models, we often miss the most important target: the customer. Technology changes, but customer’s wants and needs remain.

https://twitter.com/pasc/status/592784778035855360

The second biggest trend that resonated in the panels and sessions I observed at HeroConf 2015, was a return to advertising fundamentals to reach customers. Even though digital may confine your message to 90 characters, a 300×300 box, or 15 second video, marketers can leverage advertising fundamentals to speak to customer behavior. In terms of messaging, this looks like applying behavioral economics to your copy: Social Proof, Scarcity, Anchoring, Framing, Loss Aversion, and more.

https://twitter.com/pasc/status/593097529060818944

Not only should digital marketers look back to advertising fundamentals to inform current campaigns, they should also not neglect incorporating traditional advertising media into digital efforts. From the first day’s keynote showing how Google can track online ads to in-store purchases with GPS and store Wi-Fi data, to a session explaining how to target keywords mentioned in your TV ads and schedule bidding accordingly, the takeaway was clear: solid application of advertising fundamentals can raise performance across all channels.

https://twitter.com/pasc/status/593140599844278274

Brandon Willson, Paid Media Specialist

RLSAs – Great, Not Great and Their Future.

Remarketing Lists for Search Ads are one of the current big ticket items in SEM. They give us the ability to retarget users on the search network as opposed to just the display network, which can yield huge returns. However, Larry Kim of WordStream, said they aren’t the cure-all everyone thinks, as they can shuffle conversions around, don’t work well with smaller/niche audiences, and also have a more limited reach than the Google display Network when running remarketing.

With that, RLSAs are also a thing of wonder and beauty, as they can increase click through rates, conversion rates, and even drop your CPCs by 50%. How is that possible? Simple, you are retargeting highly engaged, intent focused customers and visitors who have already interacted, purchased and shared information with your business. These users already acknowledge your brand and are likely to convert again in the future, if you capture them.

The future of RLSAs extends the already targeted approach of remarketing by integrating demographic and interest filters already in place. Finally, the talk at Hero Conference about RLSAs was about the possibility that Google will be using Identity Remarketing by using email addresses and more information to refine and provide a more granular approach to their remarketing efforts.

Scripts – You Don’t Have To Be a Code Nerd

Scripts are a great way to help automate mundane or tedious tasks. They can run search term reports, check for broken links, schedule ads and more. Almost anything that can be done in the AdWords UI can be achieved using a script. While scripts can be daunting there is good news and there is help.

bookmarked. #heroconf https://t.co/tVrOAzsAsR

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 28, 2015

http://t.co/IuXrRlat8y is where you can go for scripts you can use now. #HeroConf.

— Joe Martinez (@MilwaukeePPC) April 28, 2015

A part of the talk on scripts was also informing about ways to integrate scripts without being a coder. For instance, this website gives several options that can get you started right away and run scripts on your own accounts today with little customization. Also, another great scripts resource that came out of the conference was Free AdWords Scripts.com, where you can search for scripts and get help from Russell Savage.  Both sites include directions on setting up the scripts and how things should look when the scripts are implemented correctly.

reason #987 for scripts! #heroconf https://t.co/1ywU24KkSt

— Michael Knight (@MichaelAKnight) April 28, 2015

@ChristiJOlson "scripts are great because they take you out of just the tactical weeds to let you focus more on strategy"

— Maddie Cary Deuel (@MaddieCaryDeuel) April 28, 2015

Hero Conference 2015 Recap

Hero Conference 2015 had a lot of great speakers and information that can be used to help strengthen the strategy of the paid media accounts managed and the specialists who oversee them. After two weeks of letting the content sink in, the Anvil paid media team is still talking about and implementing some of the newest strategies that came out of the short two-day conference.

What an awesome #HeroConf video recap by @BingAds! Check this out! http://t.co/cnfQ1KKU3o #PPC #SEM #DigitalMarketing #Conference

— Hero Conf – PPC Hero's Live Event (@heroconf) May 8, 2015