PPC
50+ Creative March Marketing Ideas (With Examples!)

March marketing is basically St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, and March Madness, right? Wrong. In fact, there’s a national day in March for your erroneous thinking…
But what a good thing to be wrong about, right? Read on for:
- A full list of March awareness causes, holidays, and national days.
- Over 60 creative March marketing ideas for posts, promotions, events, and more.
- Real examples from businesses across a range of verticals.
Table of contents
March awareness causes
There are many awareness causes that you can use for March blogging, promotions, and social media marketing. You can post on or write about these topics throughout the month of March so you’re not tied to a specific date. March is:
- Asset Management Month
- Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig Month
- Bleeding Disorders
- Brain Injury Awareness Month
- Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month
- Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
- Craft Month
- National Reading Month
- Endometriosis Awareness Month
- Epilepsy Awareness Month
- Kidney Month
- Kidney Cancer Awareness Month
- Myeloma Action Month
- Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month
- Problem Gambling Awareness Month
- Red Cross Month
- Self-Injury Awareness Month
- Social Work Month
Use our blog post ideas or even our SEO-optimized blog post templates to get the gears turning!
Diversity, equity & inclusion in March
There are tons of opportunities to demonstrate diversity, equity and inclusion this month. Here are the DEI-friendly awareness causes in March:
- Bisexual Health Awareness Month
- Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
- Disability Awareness Month
- Ethics Awareness
- Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month
- Greek American Heritage Month
- Irish American Heritage Month
- Women’s History Month
And here are some specific observance days:
- International Women’s Day (March 8)
- Equal Pay Day (varies—March 14, 2023)
- World Down Syndrome Day (March 21)
- First day of Ramadan (varies—March 22, 2023)
March national days & holidays
There’s a full list of all days and dates at the bottom of this post, but here are some highlights:
Well-known observances:
- Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday (changes every year—February 21, 2023)
- Ash Wednesday (changes every year—February 22, 2023)
- St. Patrick’s Day (March 17)
- Daylight Savings (changes every year—March 12, 2023)
- First day of spring (changes every year—March 20, 2023)
- Pi Day (March 14)
- MLB Opening Day (changes every year—March 30, 2023)
Meaningful days
- Medal of Honor Day (March 25)
- Vietnam Veterans Day (March 29)
- SBDC Day (varies—March 15, 2023)
- Mom and Pop Business Owner Day (March 29)
Fun days
- Dadgum That’s Good Day (March 1)
- Everything You Think is Wrong Day (March 15)
- Something on a Stick Day (March 28)
- Virtual Vacation Day (March 30)
- Awkward Moment Day (March 18)
Who knew?
- Triglycerides Day
- Common Courtesy Day
- Near Miss Day
March marketing ideas for DEI
Okay, now let’s dive into some more specific ideas for the events and causes listed above.
Women’s History Month
Take some time in March to honor the women in your business or industry who have made an impact. For example:
- Run an Instagram or Facebook giveaway where entrants share women of history and one line to describe their impact.
- Feature famous females in your geographic and industrial niche.
- Host a webinar or event run by women only or for women only, or both!
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day exists to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness against bias, and take action for equality. Each year has a different theme, which you can learn about at internationalwomensday.com.
- Share a brief history lesson on a female or group of women in your field or niche.
- Ask your followers to share stories of influential women in their lives.
- Use the year’s designated hashtag in your posts,
- Introduce your customers to the women behind the scenes at your business.
Equal Pay Day
Equal Pay Day was launched on the 50th anniversary of the equal Pay Act and typically occurs the second Tuesday in March. It was created to address the gender wage gap, but in recent years has expanded to also include women of color, LGBTQIA workers, moms, part-time workers, seasonal workers, and more. You could:
- Support the Equal Pay Today campaign by donating a portion of your proceeds.
- Post gender wage gap stats on social media.
- Interview or conduct a poll among women in your community, whether that’s on social media, in your customer base, in your professional network, or even among your staff.
Monthly awareness March marketing ideas
Whether your business is directly related to any of the themes of March doesn’t matter. With a little creativity, you can come up with a relevant and appealing post, campaign, or event for any audience. Let’s take a look at some ideas.
National Reading Month
If content is king (or queen), then reading is the key to the kingdom. You can:
- Share your favorite books and ask your followers to share theirs.
- Ask for book recommendations.
- Post a quote about reading or from your favorite book.
- Run a book drive.
Caffeine Awareness Month
Lots of opportunities to have fun with this one across all the popular social media marketing platforms!
- Run an appropriately themed blog, social post, or video series (stats that will wake you up, tips to ramp up your savings, energize, activate, roast, ramp up, etc.)
- Guide your audience through a month without coffee, including tips on how to achieve the effects of caffeine, without caffeine. Or do it yourself and document your journey.
- Run a weekly coffee chat series over Facebook Live.
- Don’t forget about other caffeine sources like tea, chocolate, soda, and energy drinks!
- Explain something in your industry using a coffee analogy (dark, medium, light roasts, for example).
- When in doubt, turn to the plethora of relatable coffee memes out there.
Credit Education Month
This is the perfect month for businesses in the finance category, but any business can take part:
- Invite a guest speaker to run a webinar on improving your credit. This is relevant to anyone paying money to use your products or services.
- Send out an email to your loyal customers playfully framed as, while you can’t give credit tips, you can give them a $X credit on their account (March email subject line ideas here!)
- Kill two birds with one stone and celebrate credit education with women’s history.
National Nutrition Month
This is a great time for restaurants, health food suppliers, and fitness centers to market their products and offerings. You can:
- Provide nutrition tips and healthy recipes through blog posts or email newsletters.
- Run a special deal on your healthiest products.
- You can also be a bit tongue-in-cheek and describe your business as “food for the soul” or highlight true health benefits your services provide that nourish your body or mind.
- Share the latest research and facts and use hashtag #eatright and #NNM to get your posts noticed and shared.
March Madness
The NCAA men’s college basketball tournament tips off in March. There are plenty of ways to get into the spirit:
- Create a March Madness bracket to go with your business.
- Run a competition of your most popular dishes/products and encourage customers to order one of the two dueling items.
- Small businesses in or around college towns can offer patrons a discount for wearing team colors.
- Take pictures of your employees who are getting in the spirit and post them on social media with the hashtag for the team you support.
And even if you have nothing to do with sports, you can still take part. If a bridal boutique, an event planning company, and a dog treat business can find a way to jump on the bandwagon, anyone can.
National day March marketing ideas
Let’s move on to the specific days in March that make great opportunities for promotions and local marketing.
First Day of Spring (March 20)
For those of us in seasonal climates, the first day of spring is always an exciting time, so take advantage of it with ideas like these:
- Get people in the spirit with pastel-rich images on Instagram.
- Run a sidewalk sale, regardless of the weather. If it’s chilly, you can offer hot tea and coffee. If it’s raining, get a tent. Make it a fun “determined to stay positive” event.
- Start a spring series on YouTube or refresh your YouTube channel trailer with a spring theme.
Employee Appreciation Day (first Friday)
A little recognition can go a long way in maintaining your employees’ morale and productivity. Plus, high-spirited and engaged employees make for happier customers. Here are some ways to celebrate:
- Introduce your team members in an Instagram Story or carousel post, with a little something about what each one brings to the table.
- Ask your employees some fun questions and put a write-up of their answers into a blog post.
- For B2B marketing, remind your customers to express their appreciation for their employees.
Keep in mind also that these types of gestures make your business more appealing to potential customers because they humanize your brand.
National Day of Unplugging (March 4)
The first Friday of March is National Day of Unplugging and the perfect day for marketing your spa, yoga studio, or fitness center. Encourage people to visit your facility—offer a special deal for that day—and give people a chance to disconnect from the busy world of the internet and smartphones.
Pi Day (March 14)
Pi Day is March 14 (3.14), not to be confused with actual Pie Day on December first of every year. Ideas for this mathematically magnificent day:
- Schools, daycares, and after school programs can teach children about math and host fun Pi Day events.
- Bakeries and restaurants, why not add an “e” onto the end anyway and run specials on pies or pie baking classes.
- Pi is used for measuring circles. Artists and designers can promote circular or geometric art.
- Find different ways to use the numbers in pi. For example, run a sale of three days, 14 products, 15% off.
St. Patrick’s Day (March 17)
The luck of the Irish is here on March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day.
- Get involved in your community by participating in St. Patrick’s Day parades or Shamrock Shuffle fun runs that are going on. Make sure to use the event’s hashtag to get your posts found by new followers and promote your business.
- Have a green clothing contest in your office and share it on social media.
- Give customers wearing green a special discount or prize for taking a picture and tagging your business.
- Get festive and invite your followers to drop in for limited-time offerings inspired by the luck of the Irish.
- Run a contest and invite people to test their luck! To get more Instagram followers, have them tag someone else in a comment on your post.
- Write a thought leadership piece about luck.
International Puppy Day (March 23)
Marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all, except when it comes to puppies. Everyone.loves.puppies.
- If you’ve got a dog-friendly business, snap photos of patrons and their pups and post them to Instagram, tagging your customers to cultivate those relationships.
- Offer a one-day sale to new customers and show off the pups you currently walk or pet sit on social media. Make sure to hashtag your location to get your posts discovered by nearby potential customers.
- You don’t have to necessarily be a dog walker, groomer, daycare, or sitter. Show off your employees’ pups or, take photos of your own and share with your followers and give people a more personal view of your life.
Earth Hour (March 26)
Participate in the movement to have an electricity-free hour this day. From 8:30-9:30pm, countries around the world will be lighting candles and going dark on electricity. Get your business involved in your local Earth Hour event in your city, or, if there isn’t one, start it! Participating in community activities is a great marketing strategy and a good way to get your business name out there (creative business name ideas here!).
Mom & Pop Business Day (March 29)
How could we miss this one? Here are some ideas:
- Remind your followers to shop local on this small business-friendly holiday.
- Toot your own horn (ideally in conjunction with the above strategies).
- Promote your favorite local partners or even just neighboring small businesses.
Ready for more marketing ideas?
Check out LOCALiQ’s roundup of March social media holidays and ideas or take a look at the other months in our series:
Full list of March marketing national days
As promised, here are the days and dates, courtesy of National Day Calendar.
March 1
- Dadgum That’s Good Day
- Horse Protection Day
- Minnesota Day
- Peanut Butter Lover’s Day
- Pig Day
- Self-Injury Awareness Day
- Pancake Day – IHOP – Changes Annually (March 1, 2022)
- Fat Tuesday – Day Before Ash Wednesday
- Paczki Day – Day Before Ash Wednesday
- Fastnacht Day – Day Before Ash Wednesday
March 2
- Old Stuff Day
- World Teen Mental Wellness Day
- Read Across America Day (Dr. Seuss Day) – if on weekend, moves to closest school day
- Ash Wednesday– Changes Annually
March 3
- Anthem Day
- I Want You to Be Happy Day
- Mulled Wine Day
- Soup It Forward Day
- Hospitalist Day – first Thursday
March 4
- Marching Music Day
- Grammar Day
- Hug a G.I. Day
- Pound Cake Day
- Sons Day
- Tartar Sauce Day – Friday after Lent begins
- Day of Unplugging – first Friday
- Dress in Blue Day – first Friday
- Speech and Debate Education Day – first Friday
- Employee Appreciation Day – first Friday
March 5
- Absinthe Day
- Cheese Doodle Day
- Multiple Personality Day
March 6
- Dentist’s Day
- Dress Day
- Frozen Food Day
- Oreo Cookie Day
- White Chocolate Cheesecake Day
- Finisher’s Medal Day – first Sunday
March 7
- Be Heard Day
- Cereal Day
- Crown of Roast Pork Day
- Flapjack Day
March 8
- International Women’s Day
- Oregon Day
- Peanut Cluster Day
- Proofreading Day
March 9
- Barbie Day
- Crabmeat Day
- Get Over it Day
- Meatball Day
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day – second Wednesday
March 10
- Blueberry Popover Day
- Mario Day
- Pack Your Lunch Day
- Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
- World Kidney Day – second Thursday
March 11
- 311 Day
- Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day
- Johnny Appleseed Day
- Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day
- Promposal Day
- Worship of Tools Day
March 12
- Baked Scallops Day
- Girl Scout Day
- Plant a Flower Day
- Working Moms Day
March 13
- Coconut Torte Day
- Earmuff Day
- Good Samaritan Day
- Jewel Day
- K9 Veterans Day
- Open an Umbrella Indoors Day
- Daylight Saving Time – second Sunday
March 14
- Children’s Craft Day
- Learn About Butterflies Day
- Pi Day
- Potato Chip Day
- Write Down Your Story Day
- Napping Day – Day after Return of Daylight Savings Day
March 15
- Everything You Think is Wrong Day
- Kansas Day
- Pears Helene Day
- Shoe the World Day
- World Social Work Day – third Tuesday
- Equal Pay Day – Changes Annually
March 16
- Everything You Do Is Right Day
- Artichoke Hearts Day
- Curl Crush Day
- Freedom of Information Day
- Panda Day
- SBDC Day – third Wednesday
March 17
- Corned Beef and Cabbage Day
- St. Patrick’s Day
- Farm Rescuer Day – third Thursday
- Absolutely Incredible Kid Day – third Thursday
March 18
- Awkward Moments Day
- Biodiesel Day
- Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day
- Sloppy Joe Day
- Supreme Sacrifice Day
March 19
- Backyard Day
- Certified Nurses Day
- Chocolate Caramel Day
- Let’s Laugh Day
- Poultry Day
- Corn Dog Day – first Saturday of March Madness
- Quilting Day – third Saturday
March 20
- Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
- Proposal Day
- Ravioli Day
- World Flour Day
- Spring Begins
March 21
- California Strawberry Day
- Common Courtesy Day
- Countdown Day
- Fragrance Day
- French Bread Day
- Single Parent Day
- World Down Syndrome Day
March 22
- Bavarian Crepes Day
- Goof Off Day
- West Virginia Day
- American Diabetes Association Alert Day – Fourth Tuesday
- Ag Day – Changes Annually
- 3-D Day – third day of the third Full Week
March 23
- Chia Day
- Chip and Dip Day
- Near Miss Day
- Melba Toast Day
- Puppy Day
- Tamale Day
March 24
- Chocolate Covered Raisin Day
- Cheesesteak Day
- Cocktail Day
March 25
- Lobster Newburg Day
- Medal of Honor Day
- Tolkien Reading Day
March 26
- Epilepsy Awareness Day – Purple Day
- Nougat Day
- Spinach Day
March 27
- International Medical Science Liaison Day
- Joe Day
- Scribble Day
- Spanish Paella Day
March 28
- Black Forest Cake Day
- Something on a Stick Day
- Triglycerides Day
- Weed Appreciation Day
March 29
- Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
- Mom and Pop Business Owners Day
- Nevada Day
- Vietnam War Veterans Day
March 30
- Doctors Day
- I Am in Control Day
- Pencil Day
- Take a Walk in the Park Day
- Turkey Neck Soup Day
- Virtual Vacation Day
- Little Red Wagon Day – Last Wednesday
- Manatee Appreciation Day – Last Wednesday
March 31
- Bunsen Burner Day
- Clams on the Half Shell Day
- Crayon Day
- Prom Day
- Tater Day
PPC
49 Father’s Day Instagram Captions & Ready-Made Images

With over 70 million dads in the world, over 50 ways to say dad, and one billion Instagram users, you can rest assured that ideas for Father’s Day Instagram captions are in high demand.
But Father’s Day is different for every business audience—and on an individual level it can vary from joyful to painful. So here are over 40 Father’s Day Instagram captions that range from witty and playful to serious and factual, plus pre-made posts you can save and publish in just a few taps!
Table of contents
Father’s Day Instagram posts
Throughout the post, you’ll find pre-made Father’s Day images sized just right for Instagram (1080 x 1080). You can save them right off this post, or you can customize them in Canva using this link.
Inclusive Father’s Day Instagram captions
These captions will help you to celebrate while staying respectful, in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- To the fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, godfathers step-fathers, father figures, and fathers-to-be: we celebrate you today and thank you for the mentorship, love, and guidance you’ve provided.
- Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there—whether you’re a dad or like a dad. Your love is the greatest and most precious gift in the world 🎁
- While we wish all the dads out there a happy Father’s Day, we also extend our support to those without fathers or father figures and to dads who have lost a child.
- Happy Father’s Day to all the great fathers and father figures out there! And to those of you who are struggling to put on a smile today, we see you too. ❤
- To the fathers, dads, daddies, pops, papas, vaders, peders, pais, tads, abbas, babas, ates, vaters, pita-jis, pabbis, paks, babbos, otosans, padres, baathairs, buwas, tatas…we wish you a great day!
- Not all dads wear suits, watch football, or are obsessed with grilling or power tools (although there’s nothing wrong with those things!). Let’s keep our perspectives open today—comment on this post and tell us about your dad!
- Happy Father’s Day not only to all the dads on earth, but also all the dads in heaven. Sending lots of love on this day.
- On this Father’s Day, to dads, granddads, stepdads, foster dads, dads in heaven, future dads, bereaved dads, and dad figures: we’re thinking of you.
Sweet Father’s Day Instagram captions
Use these captions in your social media marketing to celebrate the dads in your life and/or in your audience.
- Happy Father’s Day, dads! Thank you for all the sacrifices you make for your families and the joy you bring to our lives.
- I’ve learned so much from you over the years Dad, thanks for being the role model you are and shaping me into the person I am today. Happy Father’s Day.
- We don’t say it enough, so say it extra today: Thank you for everything, dads.
- Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.
- A dad is someone who wants to catch you when you fall. Instead he picks you up, brushes you off and lets you try again.
- Life doesn’t come with a manual…it comes with a father.
- Wishing you a day that feels like [something they love].
- Because of your love and support, I’m a badass. Thank you Dad.
- We ❤ our dad customers!
Funny Father’s Day Instagram captions
- Happy Father’s Day, Dad. You may not know everything but you sure had me fooled for quite a few years.
- I smile because you are my father…and I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it.
- Forever grateful you still love me even after [all those times you did X] in high school.
- I love this guy more than he loves his [favorite thing here]. And that’s a lot.
- I hope this Father’s Day is as good as your life was before kids.
- On Father’s Day, let’s review the most important lesson I learned from my dad: [something funny/witty]. What’s yours?
- Dads are the only ones who can____ // Happy Father’s Day to the only person who can _____.
- Happy Father’s Day To the first person I call when ____.
- D.A.D: Delay And Doze
- “There should be a children’s song: ‘If you’re happy and you know it, keep it to yourself and let your dad sleep.’” – Jim Gaffigan
- Cold one? Cracked. New balances? Fresh out of the box. Grill? Heating up🔥 Happy Father’s Day!
- Beer + white socks and sneakers + jorts + chair nap = the perfect Father’s Day
- Cheers and beers! Father’s Day is here🍻
Factual Father’s Day Instagram captions
Use these Father’s Day facts, courtesy of Mental Floss and NPR to craft a little something different, whether that’s inspiring, nerdy, or eye-opening.
- The first statewide Father’s Day celebration was in 1910 in Washington. Sonora Smart Dodd wanted to honor her father who raised six children on his own after his wife died during childbirth. To the single fathers out there
- Roses used to be a tradition on Father’s day, red roses for the living and white for the deceased.
- Father’s Day wasn’t recognized as a national holiday until 1972.
- While the percentage of moms who are stay-at-home moms has remained stable, the percentage of stay-at-home dads has been rising slowly, from 4% in 1989 to 7% in 2016.
- 60% of men over the age of 15 in the United States are biological, step, or adopted fathers.
- Father’s Day is the fifth-largest card-sending occasion in America!
- Only 50% of all Father’s Day cards are purchased for dads! People get them for friends, grandfathers, brothers, uncles, and more.
Father’s Day quotes for Instagram
- “A father is neither an anchor to hold us back nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.” – Unknown
- “In the darkest days, when I feel inadequate, unloved and unworthy, I remember whose daughter I am, and I straighten my crown.” – Unknown
- “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: He believed in me.” – Jim Valvano
- “The best fathers have the softest, sweetest hearts. In other words, great dads are real marshmallows.” – Richelle E. Goodrich
- “Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad.” – Anne Geddes
- “My father didn’t tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it.” – Clarence Budington Kelland
- “I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.” – Umberto Eco
- “There will always be a few people who have the courage to love what is untamed inside us. One of those men is my father.” – Alison Lohman
- “A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow.” – Unknown
- “I’ve said it before, but it’s absolutely true: My mother gave me my drive, but my father gave me my dreams. Thanks to him, I could see a future.” – Liza Minelli
- “No man stands taller than when he stoops to help a child.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.” – William Shakespeare
Words to use in your Father’s Day Instagram captions
If you want to be fully authentic, build your own Instagram caption with these words to describe fathers:
- Adept
- Adaptable
- Adventurous
- Accepting
- Admired
- Adored
- Affectionate
- Appreciated
- Awesome
- Bold
- Brave
- Caring
- Cherished
- Clever
- Cool
- Courageous
- Considerate
- Crafty
- Dedicated
- Delightful
- Dependable
- Devoted
- Determined
- Embarrassing
- Essential
- Extraordinary
- Fabulous
- Fearless
- Fierce
- Free spirit
- Friend
- Fun-loving
- Generous
- Giving
- Guiding
- Gutsy
- Grill-master
- Handsome
- Hardworking
- Heartwarming
- Helpful
- Humble
- Hustler
- Impressive
- Inspiring
- Intuitive
- Keen
- Kind
- Legendary
- Loved
- Loyal
- Magnetic
- Mindful
- Noble
- Nurturing
- Optimistic
- Passionate
- Patient
- Powerful
- Perfect
- Protective
- Proud
- Real
- Relentless
- Resilient
- Resourceful
- Rock
- Rugged
- Sacrificing
- Selfless
- Sincere
- Smart
- Spirited
- Steadfast
- Strong
- Strong-willed
- Supportive
- Tenderhearted
- Thoughtful
- Tolerant
- Tough
- Understanding
- Unwavering
- Warm
- Watchful
- Wise
- Wonderful
- Zesty
Want more captions?
For Instagram caption ideas for other holidays and occasions, we’ve got plenty:
And for even more ideas, hop on over to LocaliQ’s Happy Father’s Day social media ideas and templates.
PPC
Does Google Ads Quality Score Still Matter in 2022?

Now, before you start frantically searching for a Google announcement that they removed this metric, you can breathe out a sigh of relief because Quality Score still exists within accounts.
But is it still relevant?
Quality Score has always been considered one of the most elusive performance metrics in Google Ads. And with all the changes to more automation from Google, we haven’t heard much on this metric (and what you can manually do to control it) for a while. But does that mean it no longer matters?
I ventured out into the PPC community to answer this question (I have my own opinion, of course) and was pretty surprised by my findings. So read on to find out whether Quality Score still matters in 2022! But first, a brief refresher.
What is Quality Score?
Before we get into our predictions of Quality Score, let’s first refresh on what even goes into a good Quality Score. There are three components to Quality Score—which is only assigned at the keyword level:
- Ad relevance: how closely your ad matches the search query. So, Google will be looking for your keywords in your ad copy. This is usually considered the easiest “first step” to improving your Quality Score because you can control your copy.
- Expected click-through rate (ECTR): Google’s determination of how likely your ad will be clicked on based on things like the query’s intent matching to your ad and your historical CTR data. I would consider this the toughest part of Quality Score to improve on since it’s up to Google’s prediction of your likelihood of pulling in a click, so there’s not much you can do to control this.
- Landing page experience: how user-friendly and relevant your landing page is to the searcher. Google will be grading you on portions like page speed load, keywords on the page, relevance, and more. Depending on your resources, this could be considered easy to improve as well since you can hop in your own site to make tweaks to the copy.
Google takes those three factors and compiles them into a score of 1 through 10 (1 being the worst and 10 being the best). Since Google runs a tight ship, I usually see any scores 7 and above being absolutely amazing, 4-6 as decent, and anything below a 4 having room for improvement.
How does Quality Score work?
Quality Score impacts your performance because it helps Google determine your ad rank. Your ad rank is your Max CPC bid x Quality score. So, if you’re bidding aggressively but still see that your top and absolute top impression rate or impression share loss due to rank metrics are off, I’m betting your keyword’s Quality Score is the culprit.
Perspective #1: Quality Score does not matter
Okay, I’ll admit, as a PPC Consultant I like to play devil’s advocate as I’m personally anti-Quality Score. There are a few reasons why:
1. It’s not actionable
It’s difficult to control and improve on because it’s based on Google’s algorithmic judgment. And Google doesn’t give us much clarification on what specifically in our ads or landing page is causing a low score.
2. It’s only applicable to search
Quality Score is only applicable to standard search campaigns. Why should search keywords be the only account component that gets held to this KPI? And with all of Google’s development over the years, search campaigns are only small fish in a big sea of other media-heavy campaign types like display or video.
To me, this indicates that there are information gaps in what makes Google’s algorithm tick when it comes to judging your other campaign types.
3. It isn’t always correlated with performance
I’ve seen folks get bent out of shape over a low Quality Score when their account is otherwise in great shape and hitting their goals. If you’re pulling in the conversions that you want at the cost you want, who cares if you have a low Quality Score? The last thing you want is to lose that stellar performance by changing something in order to appease your Quality Score column.
Here are a few examples from real accounts that back my points:
Missing data
You’ll see in the screenshot below that these keywords all have similar performance metrics. However, Quality Score data is often missing on some keywords, so to identify the differences between a six or a seven you’re left splitting hairs.
Inconsistent scores
In these next three keywords, they’re all very similar to each other and go to the same landing page, yet only one gets the “low quality score” status flag, while the others all have widely different scores.
Score-performance mismatch
This is one of the highest converting keywords in this account, yet the score is only average.
4. I’m not the only anti-Quality Scorer
Aaron Babaa, Google Ads Manager at Above All PPC, also doesn’t want to waste another minute staring at an arguably arbitrary metric. In his article Quality Score Is Dead! he makes two points:
Bot-driven scores are imperfect
Aaron writes, “Relevancy and landing page experience are bot-driven. That is, we are completely relying on Google’s bots to determine if our ads are relevant and if we deliver a satisfactory landing page experience. This system is imperfect. We know this because we have looked at plenty of ads that have low quality scores, but performed and vice versa.”
More score-performance mismatches
Like me, Aaron has also seen stellar campaigns with low Quality Scores:
“Optimizing for Quality Score often proves to be a wild goose chase. We’ve seen accounts with crazy-high CTRs, incredibly relevant ads, and beautiful, keyword-optimized landing pages… but terrible Quality Scores. We’ve even seen accounts where branded keywords (a keyword that is the name of the company and nothing more), show a Quality Score of 3.
The system is clearly flawed.”
And this may be small but one final point: Quality Score isn’t even a default column in Google Ads.
Perspective #2: Quality Score does still matter
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about PPC as a consultant, it’s that you can’t take it too personally. When I asked Mark Irvine (PPC expert and Director of Paid Media at SearchLab) about his take on the matter, he had strong pro-Quality Score feelings. In fact, he started out by saying:
“Is Quality Score dead? No, not at all.”
Here are his reasons for thinking that Quality Score still matters:
1. Its impact remains unchanged
Mark starts off by pointing out that Quality Score is the same as it’s always been.
“It’s still an equal factor in ad rank and ad rank still matters if you want to show up at the top of the SERP (or at all). If you’ve got a poor Quality Score compared to your competition, that’ll hurt you as it did before. If you’ve got a great Quality Score, you’ll be better off! The math of that all still holds as it did in 2013 when it was WordStream’s anthem.”
2. Keyword intent has been redefined
Mark goes on to say that while Quality Score hasn’t changed since 2013, everything else has:
“It used to be that (in 90 characters of ad text) it was really easy to write a bad, irrelevant, low-quality ad. Quality Score was a very simple metric to evaluate how “good” that ad was, and a really useful guidepost to make sure that advertisers were thinking of how their ads matched the searcher’s intent.
But since 2013, Google has tripled the size of its ads and added in customizable ad extensions, new formats, and responsive ads to help testing at scale.
No longer is the question “Does this ad match the search intent across one keyword signal?” but rather “Does this ad match this particular searcher’s intent across thousands of signals, including keyword, device, operating system, time of day, demographic, [and more]?”
3. The bar for “quality” has been raised
Building on his previous point, Mark says, “There used to be lots of advertisers writing bad ads, so it wasn’t difficult to write an ad with a good or great Quality Score to beat them all. Now, Google’s made it a lot easier for advertisers to write good (or at least not bad) ads.
That’s great for searchers and novice advertisers, but it raises the bar for everyone on writing a truly great ad with a significantly higher Quality Score. Quality Score still matters, it just isn’t the silver bullet it used to be.”
One thing we can agree on about Quality Score
Mark’s last point is in line with one of mine above regarding Google’s lack of specificity as to what exactly you need to do to improve your Quality Score.
“Quality Score is still important and the tactics you take to improve it will continue to yield incremental results. But advertisers today are more interested in PPC strategy than they are in tactics, and that’s an exciting thing to see. Improving your Quality Score might still improve your PPC results by 10%, but improving your PPC strategy might 10x them.”
Improving your Quality Score might still improve your PPC results by 10%, but improving your PPC strategy might 10x them.
WordStream Account Director Holly Niemiec sums up this concept nicely:
“I’ve always viewed Quality Score as more of a “check engine light” for campaigns. Meaning yes, it can impact a campaign’s performance but isn’t the end all be all. Keywords with low Quality Scores can still perform well, and sometimes even better than higher Quality Score keywords. And competitor keywords will always have a low Quality Score but can still convert well.
I think that making sure your ad copy and keywords are relevant and that you have a landing page that loads quickly is important, and if you have all of those things then that is more important than over-fixating on raising your Quality Score from a 5 to a 7.”
Is Quality Score going away?
Just to reiterate: no! As I mentioned in the intro and as Mark reinforces in his argument, the existence and math for Quality Score is still very much there and the same as it’s ever been.
I wrote this post not in response to any information Google has released (in fact, Google’s lack of any news on this metric over the past 10 years makes me wonder…but I digress)—but because clearly, I’m not the only one who has been wondering where Quality Score stands with Google and where it will stand in the future.
So is Quality Score still relevant?
So, you got two sides to the story today, and now it’s totally your call whether you choose to focus on Quality Score or not. If you’re struggling to get your ads to show up on the SERP, improving your Quality Score can help. On the opposite end, if you’re comfortable with your account then you may want to let your Quality Score exist as is.
So, what do you think? Is Quality Score still relevant? Let us know in the comments!
PPC
How Will ChatGPT & AI Impact PPC? 6 Expert Predictions

After decades of science fiction novels, films, and serialized Twilight Zone derivatives, the rapid onset and development of artificial intelligence has finally come to fruition.
No matter where you go on the internet these days, you will quickly become bombarded by the reality that not only has AI already become a valuable tool for mankind, but its long-term implications and rapid trajectory leave a multitude of concerns on our horizon.
There are technophiles who champion the advancement of artificial intelligence and its alarming ascension towards singularity, while understandably, many others are more than terrified of its risks.
Regardless of where you stand on the topic, one thing is clear for now: AI tools like ChatGPT are available, being heavily used, and will continue to evolve over future updates.
With these points in mind, it is clear that AI is going to have a significant impact on digital marketing (as well as almost every other industry and profession) in the coming months and years.
Here, I will highlight six predictions for ChatGPT, AI, and the future of PPC marketing:
- Increased competition (and higher costs)
- Improved targeting
- Enhanced ad copy
- More efficient ad campaigns
- Greater reliance on machine learning
- Continued innovation
Let’s get started.
1. Increased competition (and higher costs)
Due to AI tools like ChatGPT’s potential to provide advertisers with more powerful tools for targeting and optimizing their PPC campaigns, increased competition for an already saturated ad space may ensue. If advertisers who are leveraging ChatGPT are able to achieve better results and generate more revenue from their campaigns, then it may lead to higher prices for keywords and make it even more difficult for smaller advertisers to compete.
ChatGPT could be particularly beneficial for larger advertisers who have the resources to invest in machine learning algorithms and other advanced technologies. These advertisers may be able to use ChatGPT to gain a competitive advantage and outbid smaller advertisers for ad space. It is a possibility that increased usage of ChatGPT and other AI tools may improve blind spots that the account managers, agencies, and practitioners who are working for larger businesses otherwise would have missed.
It’s important to note that this prediction is not certain, and there are many factors that could influence the competitiveness of the paid media space for years to come. One thing is fairly certain though, and that is search advertising is not getting any cheaper.
Another issue that has been discussed is the reduction in the usage of Google Search because of ChatGPT.
The AI tool is very capable of answering nearly any question that you would search for on Google in addition to curating lists of recommendations for you for travel or entertainment. (The only caveat is that ChatGPT, in particular, is unable to source information beyond 2021 at this time.)
Google recently announced its own AI search experience, Google Search Generative Experience (SGE), which integrates AI into the SERP. This experience pushes organic search results even further down the page and may impact non-paid search traffic and click-through rates, leading to increased competition to show in Google Ads above SGE results.
The bottom line: Even with ChatGPT and Google SGE, I don’t believe that AI tools are going to be the end of search ads or search as a whole, but I do believe it is part of an evolution or transition to a more efficient model.
2. Improved targeting
ChatGPT (and AI in general) has the ability to analyze large amounts of data and generate insights about audience behavior. We already see this to a degree with smart bidding strategies within Google Ads.
Given that the target keywords and ad copy you have created are aligned, Google’s automated bidding can “learn” over time how to produce more of the desired results that you want, such as conversions, clicks, and more.
AI tools, however, have the capability of analyzing data through text, CSV, or JSON files. This means that it can analyze user behavior on websites and other digital channels to identify patterns and trends. It can track which pages users visit, how long they stay on each page, and which actions they take (such as clicking on links or filling out forms).
ChatGPT can also be a valuable tool for keyword research–curating lists and structures for ad groups for you to target. (Although we don’t recommend using it as your primary keyword research tool.)
With this information, ChatGPT could help advertisers develop more effective targeting strategies for their PPC campaigns. For example, it could help them identify the keywords and phrases that are most likely to be searched by their target audience and then use this information to create ads that are more relevant and engaging.
ChatGPT could also help advertisers segment their audience based on factors like demographics, interests, and behavior.
The bottom line: Although AI isn’t currently taking away jobs from PPC professionals, those who decide to leverage the tool will have a competitive advantage over those who choose not to. As one Google exec said at Google Marketing Live 2023, “You’re not competing against AI. You’re competing against other marketers using AI.”
3. Enhanced ad copy
One of ChatGPT’s obvious strengths is its natural language processing capabilities. By giving the AI enough information about the type of ad copy you are looking to generate, ChatGPT is able to produce persuasive (and sometimes surprisingly creative) suggestions. Whether you wish to use ChatGPT as a starting point to brainstorm headlines or to have it generate the ad copy word-for-word for you, it is an extremely powerful tool for PPC.
ChatGPT has been trained on vast amounts of text data and has the ability to generate natural-sounding language. This means that it could help advertisers create more engaging ad copy that resonates with their target audience.
Even the best marketers have periods of writer’s block or feel the copy that they have produced could be better or hit on the desired pain points in a more concise manner. ChatGPT is extremely helpful in these situations as it can also provide additional feedback on your target audience in addition to taking the copy you wrote and editing it to be more readable.
Google is also using AI to help advertisers create and enhance ad copy. They announced asset creation within Performance Max which will use generative AI to generate ad headlines that more closely match search queries.
The bottom line: AI tools like ChatGPT can provide a helpful jumping-off point, but these tools still lack the ability to humanize or infuse personality into ad copy. However, ad copy is such a critical aspect of marketing that any small improvement could have massive returns in regards to CTR and overall ad performance. (Use these ChatGPT prompts as a jumping-off point to help enhance your ad copy.)
4. More efficient ad campaigns
With improvements to both targeting and ad copy, ChatGPT and other AI tools have the ability to help advertisers create more efficient ad campaigns overall.
By making certain aspects of the process such as keyword research and ad copy less tasking, AI could help advertisers save a considerable amount of time and reduce costs. ChatGPT, for example, has the ability to analyze user behavior and preferences to understand what types of ads are most likely to be relevant and engaging to each individual user. It could analyze data such as search history, browsing behavior, and social media activity to determine what topics and products users are interested in.
With this information, ChatGPT could make more accurate and personalized ad recommendations for each user. Instead of showing generic ads that may not be relevant to the user’s interests, ChatGPT could suggest ads that are more likely to resonate with each user based on their individual preferences. The result of these more personalized ad recommendations could be a better user experience and higher engagement and conversion rates.
Additionally, ChatGPT could help advertisers optimize their ad campaigns based on user feedback.
The bottom line: By analyzing user behavior and preferences, AI could provide insights into what types of ads are most effective and which ones are not performing as well. Advertisers could use this information to adjust their targeting and ad creative to improve the overall effectiveness of their campaigns.
5. Greater reliance on machine learning
I’ve touched on the increasing use of machine learning in the paid media space over the last six years in numerous posts. My position on the topic has remained consistent, although slightly altered, over this span of time. To summarize my views: machine learning has greatly improved the ease of setting up and running campaigns, and with particular goals set within the platform, great improvements to performance can be experienced.
However, the increased usage and forfeiture of control from advertisers to the “algorithm” that is run by the entity designed to take your advertising budget isn’t always a good thing. These platforms can add unnecessary bloat to campaigns and limit your ability to make very refined adjustments that you used to be able to make. They are essentially trying to make PPC a one-size-fits-all robot that will run your ads for you.
As AI tools continue to evolve and improve, advertisers may become more reliant on machine learning algorithms to manage their PPC campaigns. As stated above, this could lead to greater efficiency and better results. However, it may also lead to a lack of insight into how money is being spent and a general lack of genuine nuance that a human can apply to a marketing campaign.
Google is trying to provide greater transparency into how Performance Max campaigns are being optimized through its improved search term insights report.
The bottom line: This prediction is my most concerning on the list for a couple of different reasons. The first is that an AI can absolutely run PPC campaigns for you. Whether at this stage or in future iterations, the technology is clearly capable of building and running PPC campaigns. This has the potential to eliminate jobs.
But it shouldn’t. And here’s why: Many search advertising professionals have found that the “best practices” AI implements aren’t always the best practice for a specific advertiser. The AI used to set up, create, and run PPC campaigns will be applying whatever best practices its creator designs it to have, many of which may be in the best interest of the company and not the advertiser from a cost-efficiency standpoint. This is why it’s going to be so important to incorporate that human touch and oversight into AI-enabled PPC campaigns.
6. Continued innovation
As ChatGPT and AI continue to evolve and improve, we can expect to see ongoing innovation in the PPC industry. This could lead to new ad formats, targeting techniques, and measurement tools that help advertisers get even better results from their campaigns (which we’ve already seen a glimpse of from Google Marketing Live 2023).
The rate at which we will see these changes is still up in the air. As mentioned, AI is progressing at a somewhat alarming speed. With any new technology, there is typically an adoption period that spans months and years that allows industries to catch up.
For example, it took years for businesses to master the process of selling online to the point where it is the primary place of commerce. The internet itself took decades to evolve. This gave everyone enough time to adjust to the changes and slowly evolve their businesses over time. With AI and ChatGPT, we could experience change at a rapid and disruptive rate that hasn’t necessarily been experienced since the industrial revolution.
Here are some of the top places I expect we’ll see continued innovation.
Ad targeting and performance
ChatGPT is just one example of this innovation, but there are likely to be many more developments in the years to come. One area where we can expect to see continued innovation in PPC is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve ad targeting and performance. As AI and machine learning technologies continue to improve, advertisers will have access to more advanced tools and algorithms for analyzing user behavior and preferences, identifying trends, and optimizing ad campaigns.
New ad formats and channels
Another area where we can expect to see innovation is in the use of new ad formats and channels. For example, as voice assistants and smart speakers become more prevalent, advertisers may start exploring ways to deliver ads through these devices. Similarly, we may see new types of ads that are more interactive, personalized, or immersive, such as augmented reality (AR) ads or virtual reality (VR) ads.
Measurement and attribution of ad performance
Finally, we can expect to see continued innovation in the measurement and attribution of ad performance. As more and more users interact with ads across multiple devices and channels, advertisers will need better ways to track and analyze these interactions to understand the impact of their ad campaigns.
The bottom line: The result of this continued innovation in the PPC advertising industry could be a more effective and efficient advertising ecosystem, with advertisers able to reach their target audience more accurately and users experiencing more relevant and engaging ads. It also means that advertisers need to be tuned in to the updates happening in the PPC landscape and be ready to make changes and experiment to continue seeing good results.
The bottom line: AI’s impact on PPC marketing
Overall, the future of PPC advertising looks bright, with plenty of opportunities for advertisers to achieve their marketing goals, especially when using AI capabilities to enhance campaigns rather than relying on it fully.
As AI continues to evolve, it will be more important than ever to stay on top of the curve and keep an eye on the latest updates and innovations.
Here are the six ways AI will impact PPC:
- Increased competition (and higher costs)
- Improved targeting
- Enhanced ad copy
- More efficient ad campaigns
- Greater reliance on machine learning
- Continued innovation
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