Bidding Strategies. Which One To Use?
Mar 3, 2024
There are totally different approaches to bidding strategies for new accounts and accounts that have already been running Google Ads.
Not knowing the right approach to your Google Ads account bidding may result in a significantly lower performance.
Things I will cover are very important if you want to take your Google Ads game to another level.
Bidding strategies in Google Ads at first glance may be hard to understand if you haven't dealt with them before.
That is why I'll break bidding strategies down as simply as possible, so you can pick the best approach to meet your campaign goals.
Warning
A broken strategy or account cannot be fixed by bidding.
Proper account structure, offer, conversion tracking, keywords, website UX, and budget are more important than your bids. Firstly have all of these pieces in place and set up correctly before bidding going to work for you.
Simply said, bidding helps in calculating the best way to achieve your objectives, which usually results in profit.
The Ultimate Goal Of Bidding
The ultimate objective of bidding is to start using Smart Bidding (also known as automated bidding) tactics after your campaign reaches 30+ conversions in 30 days.
Consistency and volume are the most important requirements for profitable and well-working Smart Bidding.
There's no set rule for a campaign to reach 30 conversions in 30 days. I've worked with clients with lower conversion volumes, and it worked, although it took us more trial and error to get there.
I remember the days when I had to manually change the keywords I bid on each day. Also, I remember how awful Google's Smart Bidding was when it originally came out.
Nowadays, you will lose if you do not use Smart Bidding. Smart bidding consistently outperforms manual bidding when you have a strong account structure and conversion tracking.
Bidding For A Brand New Account
If you are launching a brand new account with no historical data, your only goal is to start getting at least some conversions. Profitability? Forget that - you won't be profitable at first.
You need to invest at least 90 days minimum to dial your account. That's what I always tell my clients so that they don't have these unrealistic expectations upfront.
Success for a new account is when, after 90 days, you have enough information to determine that you can eventually turn your Google Ads campaign profitable.
That is why you cannot use Smart Bidding right away since it won't do much because there is no conversion data for it to work well.
Work on increasing conversion volume by beginning with either Manual CPC bidding (increased conversions off) or Maximize Clicks (with a bid cap).
Most of the times I tend to choose Maximize Clicks
Determining Initial Bid
Many people overthink this. There is no perfect starting bid. As I mentioned before you just need to start bidding and gather the data.
This goes back to the foundation. Doing the right, in-depth keyword analysis will help you get a broader perspective on how much money it is going to take to even bid on keywords in your space.
If Google shows a keyword CPC is going to be $5 on the low end and $10 on the high end then start your bid somewhere in between and see what happens over the next day or two. Analyze the data and then make necessary bid changes (up or down) from there.
Go ahead to the "Tools" section in your Google Ads and then select "Keyword planner".
Type in any keyword you want to know about and the results will be shown. In this situation to determine my bid I would do simple maths: (0.12€ + 0.49€)/2 = 0.3€
0.3€ would be my initial bid for "nike running shoes"
Do you even have enough budget to make Google Ads work?
If your budget is $1,000 per month and you're a personal injury lawyer. You'd better be donating that money to charity. In this niche, CPCs (cost-per-click) are over $100, meaning your budget would only get you about 10 clicks per month.
After 90 days, you’d have about 30 clicks to analyze—leaving you no closer to valuable insights but $3,000 down.
As I mentioned, your initial goal should be to generate at least 30 conversions in a 30-day period, even if it means an initial unprofitable spend
Bidding For An Existing Account
You have data to work with so keep it simple.
If the campaign is at 30+ conversions over the last 30 days, you can start testing conversion-based bid strategies such as Max Conv. with tCPA cap or Max Conv. Value with tROAS cap.
What tCPA or tROAS cap should you set initially?
You can't make the impossible happen once you turn on smart bidding. You have to work with it and "massage it" over time.
Client: House Cleaning Company
Goal: $30 CPA or Cost/conv. (it's the same)
Campaign: S | House Cleaning | General (this is targeting general house cleaning keywords) Convs. Last 30 Days: 40
CPA Last 30 Days: $35
Current Bid Strategy: Max Conversions with no CPA cap
I have enough conversion volume over the last 30 days to start moving my bidding in the direction to hitting my overall goal of $30 CPA.
However, my current 30 day average is $35 CPA. I can’t just set the bidding to Max Conv. with a tCPA cap of $1 and expect Google to magically start hitting that - it hasn’t actually hit $30 CPA consistently already yet.
So I generally take the last 30 day average and set my tCPA to the average or -10% of the average to start. That is what I meant by saying you have to "massage it" over time.
For this case, I might start my tCPA at $32.5-$35.
Then let the bidding run for a week or two and analyze the data. Are you satisfied with volume still and is CPA starting to trend down?
If yes, then start nudging your CPA down in increments of 10-20%. Each time you make a bid change give it at least a week or two to work itself out and then keep doing this until you are ultimately hitting your goal.
Bidding for Brand New Campaigns Inside Existing Accounts?
Situation: you already have an account that is already running with plenty of historical data but you are building out a brand new campaign.
Can you just go straight to using Smart Bidding for this brand new campaign?
My answer is yes & no….
If the campaign is bidding on keywords that you data on already from an existing campaign (Dynamic Search Ads or other Search campaign) then technically you can start with Smart Bidding from the beginning and in most cases it can work out.
Usually, I recommend starting still with a Max Conv. or Max Conv. Value bid strategy for the first week or so with no cap just to see what the baseline Google gets since it will be using Account level data to help guide the bidding.
What about a brand new campaign for brand new keywords in an existing account?
Treat this like a brand new account, so start with Manual or Max Click until you get the conversion volume you need.
Doesn’t matter if you have spent $100k on ads already if you are going to be targeting a brand new set of keywords you’ve never targeted in your account this will be brand new to Google’s algorithm as well.
Quick Recap
If you have a brand new account - start with manual CPC or Maximize Clicks. Your only goal by this time is to start getting 30+ conv. in 30 days. Once you start using smart bidding, eventually, you want to dial in your CPA or tROAS goal. Carefully decrease your CPA or increase your tROAS until it reaches your goals.
If you have an existing account. If the campaign is at 30+ conversions over the last 30 days, start testing Max Conv. with tCPA cap or Max Conv. Value with tROAS cap. Carefully decrease your CPA or increase your tROAS until it reaches your goals.
Treat a brand new campaign in an already existing account like a new account. Begin with Manual or Max Click until you get the conversion volume I mentioned.
Final Word
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you find the article helpful.
If you have any questions related to this topic or anything else feel free to contact me at casimiro@conversiontitans.com or book a free call by clicking here.
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