We’ve all been there at some point, facing the frustration and challenges of declining digital ad performance. Since there are so many factors that may be contributing to performance shifts, it’s important to approach these situations methodically in diagnosing potential issues. By reviewing these nine areas, you can help identify and address factors contributing to declines in campaign performance.
1) Analyze Key Performance Metrics
Start by identifying the specific metrics that are contributing to the decline. Is it a specific element like impression volume, traffic level, or conversion rate? Understanding which metrics are affected will help you pinpoint the root cause. Utilizing tools like Google Analytics for additional insights can help supplement the information available in your ad platform and also help determine if the slowdown only affects your ads or the website as a whole.
2) Review Recent Changes
Take a look at any recent changes made to your campaigns. This could include budget, bidding strategy, targeting, or modifications to your ad copy. If Google Auto-Apply Recommendations is active, you may be surprised to discover a change you were not expecting. Sometimes, even small adjustments can have a significant impact on performance. If you find a specific change that correlates directly with the timing of your decline in performance, then consider reverting it to see if that helps turn performance back around.
3) Check Conversion Tracking / Website Changes
Review your conversion tracking to ensure it has not become compromised, potentially through website changes that may have impacted the code itself. Even things like the implementation of a Cookie Consent Banner can have a dramatic impact by limiting the ability of your conversion tracking code to continue capturing as much of the activity with more visitors opting out of cookies.
4) Examine Current Product Mix
Assess any recent changes in product mix and pricing. It’s important to be aware of any top-performing products that may no longer be performing. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Are top performers out of stock?
- Have prices been increased?
- Have items become disapproved in the shopping feed?
- Have offerings changed, like promotions ended or free shipping limits have been increased?
5) Monitor Competitive Landscape
Changes in the competitive landscape can also affect your ad performance. Using tools like Auction Insights can help identify changes over time and guide adjustments in your strategy. Examples would include more competitive bidding directly against your brand where your ads are no longer the most prominent in search results, changes in competitor pricing, which could make their product offering more attractive and negatively impact your conversion rate or the addition of new competitors entering the mix and driving up the average cost per click across all advertisers.
6) Account for Seasonality
Some industries experience seasonal fluctuations in demand. You can analyze historical data to identify any seasonal trends that might be affecting your performance.
7) Evaluate Targeting / Audience Segmentation
Ensure that your targeting and audience segmentation remain relevant. Over time, your audience behaviors and interests may change, requiring adjustments to your campaigns. Using tools like Audience Insights can help you refine your targeting.
8) Recognize External Factors
It’s important to be aware of any external factors that may be influencing overall performance, like the economy, elections, and weather events (like the recent hurricanes or fires). Depending on the economic climate, you may want to consider introducing periodic promotions or options to “buy now, pay later” to help make your products more affordable to consumers during periods of economic downturn.
9) Consider Professional Help
If you’ve tried multiple strategies and are still experiencing a decline, it might be time to seek professional help. Digital marketing agencies have the expertise to diagnose complex issues and implement advanced strategies to help improve your ad performance.
A decline in digital ad performance can certainly be challenging, but it’s not insurmountable. By systematically analyzing your metrics, reviewing recent changes, and optimizing your campaigns while accounting for any external factors, you should be able to turn things around. It’s important to remember the key to successful digital advertising is continuous monitoring and optimization. By remaining proactive, you’ll then be in a better position to manage through performance declines more effectively.
