Why bother setting Dynamic Keyword Insertion up for paid search ads?

There are 2 reasons:

• Higher click-through rates
• Improved ad quality
• Personalized ads that appeal to multiple audiences

This is all without having to create multiple ads.

This article will discuss DKIs and the benefits they offer.

Continue reading, or jump to the next section:

• What’s Dynamic Key Insertion? 
• What’s Dynamic Keyword Insertion?
• Why Dynamic Keyword Insertion? 
• Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI)
• Setting up Dynamic Keyword Injection
• Keyword Insight and Responsive SEO Ads
• Match Click Landing Pages & DKI 
• Why Dynamic Key Insertion Still Doesn’t Work for You
• Last Thoughts on Dynamic Keyword Insertion

What is Dynamic Key Insertion?

Dynamic keyword insertion (or ‘DKI’) is an advanced Search ad feature that dynamically modifies your Ad content to match user keyword searches.

What does dynamically altering something mean?

Dynamic edits DKI is the modification of your ads to match the search terms that users enter into search engines.

This lets you personalize your ads to be more relevant to users.

Users are more likely to click on your ad to go to your landing page

It’s good news! Yahoo! now offers dynamic keyword insertion Search ads can be created using Google Ads and Bing!

What is Dynamic Key Insertion?

Now we know that DKI uses dynamic editing to insert keywords triggered by search queries in our ads texts.

What does it mean?

Let’s look at an example page for an eCommerce product and show how dynamic keyword insertion can be done.

DKI can create multiple headlines from one ad

Imagine you’re driving traffic to your product site using paid advertising.

All products on this page belong to the same product group and are very similar.

While the ads you place on this page may look identical, you must modify them to fit your audience.

Multiple keywords can be used to get your site noticed.

• Ski jackets
• Ski jackets for men 
• Ski jackets for women 
• Parkas are waterproof
• Winter jacket

Or brand terms such as

• Burton jackets
• Salomon jackets

Advertisers can make pages that appear simple and more complicated by adding ads to them.

Why? Why? There are hundreds to thousands of custom ad variants if you combine all relevant keyword combinations and segmented audiences.

Create customized ads with

DKI lets you create one set of ads and make small adjustments.

DKI makes dynamic insertions using keyword lists

How can DKI account for these ad variants?

Start by making a list of keywords that are closely associated with your page.

The code can be added to your ad text.

Google is alerted via the code snippet when a user searches on our list. The DKI Ad text automatically updates to include the search terms.

The search engine results pages won’t show a generic headline. Instead, they will display the item they are searching for (e.g. Search engine results pages will not show a generic headline. Instead, they will see the item they are looking for (e.g. dark chocolate or sugar-free chocolate).

Let’s use the same process for our first example, the product page of snow clothes.

How would DKI modify the ad for their ski jackets business?

This is the code that we used in our example: Keyword: ski jackets 

This is the default text for the ad. This tells Google to use ski coats wherever it would be appropriate.

If the default text cannot be replaced by a keyword from your collection, it will be displayed in the advertisement.

If an ad triggers using a keyword you are targeting, then the default text “ski jackets” is replaced with the relevant keyword.    

Imagine if “Burton Jackets”, which is a term on our database, was searched by a user. “

Why Dynamic Key Insertion?

Why should you use DKI? Dynamic keyword insertion offers 4 important benefits you shouldn’t overlook

1. Easy (Scaleable) Personalization

Personalization is a passion of digital marketing professionals.    

What can DKI do to personalize your online advertising? Why is DKI so important?

Personalization is simply the use of what you know about someone to create an experience that is uniquely theirs.

Personalization is a way of showing empathy and building trust psychologically. You can expect brand loyalty and consistent conversions.

However, there’s a problem. Personalization can prove difficult (85% of CMOs agree with this Mckinsey study ). It’s difficult to collect enough information about our target audience.

DKI is just amazing because of this.

Dynamic keyword insert personalizes your advertisement dynamically. You don’t even have to know anything about the person viewing it!

Users who see your DKI ads provide the information you need (their search terms).

Use your language to make your ad more relevant.

Your DKI ad can be personalized and scaled to all searchers that see it 

2. Higher click-through rates

Scalable personalization has one bonus: a higher click-through rate (CTR).

People will click on ads that are more relevant to them if they know who you are.

DKI will help you increase your CTR.

These insert the keyword of the searcher dynamically in your ad and bold it.

In a digital advertising environment, where attention spans are short, bold text is crucial. It makes sure that only the most important parts of the advertisement are visible to the searcher.

3. Boosted Quality Score

DKI ads can also improve your ad quality score

Google uses the quality score to determine the relevancy of your ads for searchers.

While quality score can technically not be directly affected, Google emphasizes expected CTR and ad relevance in this score.

What potential perks could dynamic keyword insert bring to your ad’s relevance and CTR?

Google values ads that provide value to searchers. Google loves ads that are useful for searchers.

4. Saved Time & Resources

Still not convinced about dynamic keyword insertion

This perk of DKI is for busy marketers and business owners.

DKI is the best solution if time is a concern and quality is important.

Dynamic keyword insert saves you the time and effort of creating similar ads but doesn’t lose personalization.

One ad is all you need. It will be tailored for the searchers you are targeting.

Dynamic Keyword Insertion

DKI is a great tool, but ads can be problematic if they’re not properly set up.

We have broken down the right and wrong ways to use dynamic keyword insertion.

The Right Way

• Follow Google Ads policies.
• Make sure your ad and landing page has a message that matches.

Make sure your headline, headline, offer, and CTA all match the tone of your landing pages

Maybe the product being advertised isn’t available or hidden. Perhaps the ad links to an outdated landing page.

If your landing page makes your audience feel uncomfortable, you won’t get a click.

You can have a compelling advertisement and a terrible landing page, but it’s worse than that. It means you’re spending clicks that are unlikely to convert.

• Each keyword variation must be understood when it is inserted into the ad copy.

Dynamically adding keywords to an ad is not advisable if the keyword changes its context.

You should also check for misspelled keywords and terms that are not singular or plural in your advertisement text.

• Keywords should be related to making dynamic keyword insertions in an ad set.

It may seem tempting to target multiple terms in the hope that users will convert.

Do not forget DKI. It allows you to create a relevant experience.

Make sure your ad sets are closely related to your landing pages.

• Use concise keywords and clear copy in your ads.
• To determine if the DKI keyword works for your audience, you can test it in your headline, description, or both.

The wrong way

We’ve covered many ways to make your DKI advertisement successful.

Let’s look at some easy ways to avoid making mistakes in dynamic keyword insertion (so you don’t make them!) )

• DKI does not allow you to target long-tail keywords.

Keywords that are related to your page are important but not too niche is 

You must ensure that your keyword choices are compatible with the context in which you are ad copy. Burton Ski Jackets may seem like a long-tail keyword, but you will soon realize that each keyword you dynamically change has very similar keywords.

The ad “Cheapest Ski Jackets Near You” would have a long tail that wouldn’t fit the copy.

• Only use DKI with Broad Match Keywords.

Broad match keywords are keywords that trigger your ad when you search for similar terms (or variations) of those terms.

Let’s say you searched for the jacket keyword “Jacket” to find the page about ski jackets. There might be people interested.

The problem is that the ad will be displayed for anyone looking for jackets. 

Be careful not to make too many assumptions. Only those who are interested in ski jackets should be shown.

Combining broad-match keywords with DKI can reduce ad relevance while reducing the budget.

• One-word keywords are not allowed to be DKI.

This tip is very similar to the warning about broad match keywords.

It’s also prohibited to use single-word keywords as headlines.

They look sloppy.

• Do not use DKI to target keyword misspellings.

Maybe “Dizzee World Tickets” has a similar search volume to “Disney World Tickets “.

Misspelled words can still be included in your DKI ads.

Why? Google won’t allow ads with misspelled words

• Do not use DKI to bid on trademarked terms and keywords that are identical.

If a trademarked product or brand name appears in your ad’s headline or body, it could seem that you are trying to promote a fake.

You could also be perceived by your audience to impersonate the brand.

This can negatively impact brand loyalty and have legal implications in many industries.

Poor targeting and keyword choices are the most common problems when setting up DKI in error.

Be sure to choose keywords for dynamic keyword insertion. Be careful not to be too narrow or too broad. Be sure to consider which landing pages your traffic is directed towards.

Sticking to the best practices discussed will make you successful

How do I set up dynamic keyword insert

There are two main ways to set up DKI ads.

You can find both setup methods by creating your Search ads as usual.

Then, add your keyword list.

This is a list of keywords and search terms that you believe are relevant to landing pages to which you wish to drive search traffic.

These keywords must be identical but should differ to allow for searches by multiple audiences.

Research is important, but keywords should be included in your ad. DKI dynamically inserts keywords into your keyword list.

Next change the keyword matching to an ‘exact match’.

On the next page of Google Ads, you’ll create ads. You can choose between manual setup or guided.

Guided method

The guided method guides you through the entire process. You simply need to add the keyword code in guided mode. The ads platform will guide you through the setup.

For Example

You can decide whether you want dynamic keywords in either the title or description section or both.

{Then type in a Next, and type in a bracket. Select Keyword insertion from the drop-down menu.

Fill out the default text of your ads once you have selected it. This is the default text that your ads will show up with when someone searches for a term not in your keyword list.

Next, select the case in which the default text should appear. This will alter the way it appears in your advert.

• Use the title case if you want to dynamically change the headline.
• If the keyword appears midway through a sentence using ‘Lowercase’
• If the keyword is at the beginning of the description, you can use the Sentence case

Then simply click apply.

You only have the keyword, without any ad copy. Copy and paste this in with the default keyword at the right place in the title or description.

For Example

I wouldn’t just leave the ad with the keyword ski jackets. Instead, I would write the headline. Then make sure the code is correct.

Get a Discount on Our 2021 Ski Jackets

Or

Ski Jackets On Sale Now, Up To 50% Off!

The best thing about the guided method is its simplicity. {Once you add the Simply add the symbol and follow the prompts.

Manual Method

The manual is different from guide in that you first add the headline and body copy. You can then manually add the DKI Code at any point within the description or headline.

When you reach the section where the dynamic keyword is needed, write it using brackets.

Warning: When you use manual mode, it is necessary to specify how your keyword will appear in the ad. This is done by changing the word keyword’ within the brackets. Google will then use this to format your DKI term’s ‘case’.

For Example:

• The keyword is Title Case: Keyword: Ski Jackets
• The keyword is Sentence Case: Keyword: Ski jackets
• is in lowercase: keyword: ski jackets

Check that your default text is consistent across all your descriptions and then click on apply.

You can add dynamic keyword insertion to responsive search ads.

You can and should.

This is in addition to Google’s push to everyone to use responsive search (i.e. phasing away expanded text ads by 2022), but it’s also an automated way to save time and send relevant messages to your audience.

Responsive Search Ads aim to identify the most effective ad versions. This is done by testing multiple headlines, and description combinations and comparing them.

You can write up 15 different headlines, and 4 descriptions.

Add DKI to the equation and you’ll have a wide range of options for ad placements.

Just make sure you:

• Review each of the headlines and descriptions to make sure your keywords are still relevant.
• Add the best keywords to your headlines and descriptions
• Use headlines without keywords to avoid annoying your audience with repeated ads
• Use short and long descriptions to make your ad text more interesting.
• Use the best practices that Google suggests for responsive search ads.

Match Post-Click Landing Pages & DKI

We have covered almost everything we know about DKI.

We have one more exciting addition that we want to let you know about. DTR is a Dynamic Text Replacement.

Although it is not technically part of DKI it can be used in conjunction with it to improve campaign performance. 

Let me break it down.

Remember that message match we talked about earlier?

We want the landing page and the ad to be in sync, providing a positive user experience from their click-through to conversion.

Mirror language is a technique good copywriters and ad writers use.

This is where you research your audience and find the language they use to describe it.

Mirror language is great for increasing sales because it makes it feel like the audience is looking for it. Because they understand your solution, it resonates with them. Mirror language, like DKI, improves trust and relevance.

Dynamic Text Replacement (DTR), is very similar to this mirror-language concept.

This works as follows:

You first create a landing site with Dynamic Text areas using a landing page creator such as Unbounce.

This is the standard or ‘control’ version that will be used by most people. 

Next, connect your DKI campaign to this page and place ads.

This is the cool part: The page tracks which dynamic keyword the user searched for, and clicks on the DKI advert…

…and then it uses the keyword to edit page copy dynamically!

Check out the changes in the text to match the keyword that was searched for by the user.

This is a very basic form of personalization.

And better still?

DTR has not been affected by the privacy and tracking restrictions.

The search term is what allows customization, not the user’s data. You can still use dynamic text replacement to get minor personalization, even if privacy settings are in place. 

While it takes some planning and preparation to map the page and ad, and then connect them, the results can be well worth it.

• Cheaper ads
• High-quality Traffic
• Higher quality score
• Higher-performing pages.

This is a win-win situation that requires a little extra effort.

9 Reasons Dynamic Keyword Insertion Doesn’t Work For You

You’ve tried all the best practices and DKI still doesn’t work for you.

9 reasons to be thankful.

Let’s troubleshoot your issue using dynamic keyword insertion: 

• Are you having general issues with your ad

Check the Google Ads policies twice and make any changes to your account.

DKI won’t work if your ad isn’t getting many impressions. Double-check that your ads settings are correct and that there aren’t any bid management errors for this campaign.

• Are you overwhelmed by too many characters?

There is a limit to the characters allowed for keyword insertion! This includes 30 characters maximum for headlines and 80 characters for descriptions. The URL path can contain 15 characters.

• Does each keyword combination make sense?

The keywords must be used in the right context. DKI can only be helpful if the ad text is still easy to read. Make sure that all keyword variations are compatible with your copy.

• Does the ad copy grab their attention enough to get them to click?

Ad text should contain more than the DKI keyword. Make sure your ad copy converts well.

• Are you prone to misspellings?

Google cannot publish ads that contain misspelled words.

• How do you rank for that particular keyword organically?

A company ad may be clicked by someone who sees the organic listing. It may be beneficial to create ads that target users who have commercial search intent.

• Do the landing page and the advertisement match?

As we have mentioned, messaging matches are an important aspect of a high-converting landing site. If you are advertising a product make sure it is easy to find on your page.

• Do you want to use dynamic search ads for your business?

Certain ad types do not use keyword targeting to show ads to searchers. Dynamic search ads are one such type.

Your dynamic search ads won’t insert keywords if you have set up keyword insertion. Instead, your ad description will display the default keyword insertion text.

• How is your landing page after a click?

Maintain your brand’s aesthetic by making sure your landing pages load quickly and are easy to navigate

Perform a QA check before publishing to ensure that the page is ready for use, all forms and buttons are working, and that tracking is enabled (on all devices).

Note: some landing pages don’t even support dynamic text. If your URL doesn’t support dynamic text, you can remove keyword insertion.

Final Thoughts about Dynamic Keyword Insertion

This is the complete guide to Dynamic Keyword Insertion.

These best practices will ensure that you get better CTR and better performance from your ads, no matter if they are Google Ads, Bing Advertises, or any other search engine.