What are the key bidding strategies?

Manual Bidding

Here, you set the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click on your ad. This gives you full control over your bids and allows you to adjust them based on performance.

  • Advantages: Full control over your costs, flexibility to make adjustments based on specific keywords or times of day, and the ability to optimize bids for high-performing ads.
  • Disadvantages: Requires constant monitoring and adjustments to stay competitive. If you don’t manage it well, you could miss opportunities or overpay.

Automated Bidding

Automated bidding uses algorithms to automatically set bids based on your campaign goals, such as increasing conversions or maximizing clicks. These strategies are designed to optimize your bids in real-time to help you meet your objectives.

Types of Automated Bidding:

a. Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)

  • Goal: To get as many conversions as possible within a target cost per acquisition (CPA).
  • How it works: Google Ads adjusts your bids to try to achieve your target CPA. For example, if you set a target CPA of $10, Google will automatically adjust bids to aim for that cost for each conversion.
  • Best for: Campaigns focused on getting conversions (e.g., sales, sign-ups).

b. Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

  • Goal: To maximize the return on ad spend (ROAS).
  • How it works: You set a target ROAS, and Google will automatically adjust your bids to try and achieve that return. For example, if you set a target ROAS of 500%, Google will try to get $5 in revenue for every $1 spent.
  • Best for: E-commerce businesses and those looking to optimize for profitability.

c. Maximize Clicks

  • Goal: To get the maximum number of clicks for your budget.
  • How it works: Google automatically adjusts your bids to get as many clicks as possible within your set budget.
  • Best for: Campaigns looking to drive traffic without a strict focus on conversions.

d. Maximize Conversions

  • Goal: To get as many conversions as possible for your budget.
  • How it works: Google Ads automatically sets bids to maximize the number of conversions based on historical data.
  • Best for: Campaigns where the focus is on driving conversions (sales, leads).

e. Enhanced Cost-Per-Click (ECPC)

  • Goal: To increase conversions while keeping your CPC in check.
  • How it works: ECPC is a hybrid approach where Google adjusts your manual bids based on the likelihood of a conversion. For example, it might raise bids for searches more likely to convert and lower them for others.
  • Best for: Campaigns with existing manual bids looking to improve conversion rates.

Cost-Per-Mille (CPM) Bidding

CPM, also known as cost per thousand impressions, is a bidding strategy where you pay for every 1,000 impressions your ad receives, regardless of whether the user clicks on it.

  • Advantages: Good for increasing brand awareness and visibility since you’re focusing on how often your ad is shown rather than how often it’s clicked.
  • Disadvantages: Doesn’t guarantee clicks or conversions, so it may not be ideal for campaigns focused on performance or direct response.

Cost Per View (CPV)

CPV is a bidding model that is used primarily in video ads (e.g., YouTube). In CPV bidding, you pay when a user views your video ad or interacts with it in some way (e.g., clicks on a call-to-action).

  • Advantages: Useful for video ad campaigns where you want to drive views or interactions with your content.
  • Disadvantages: Doesn’t guarantee conversions; it’s more about engagement and awareness.

Cost-Per-Engagement (CPE)

CPE is commonly used in social media advertising, where advertisers pay based on the engagement their ad receives, such as likes, shares, or comments.

  • Advantages: Ideal for engagement-driven campaigns, particularly on social platforms like Facebook or Instagram.
  • Disadvantages: May not directly lead to conversions or sales; focused more on interactions.

Target Impression Share Bidding

Target Impression Share is an automated bidding strategy where you set a goal for how often you want your ads to appear in a certain location on the search results page.

  • Goal: To show your ad in a specific position on the search results page (e.g., top of the page, absolute top).
  • How it works: Google Ads will automatically adjust bids to ensure your ad appears in the chosen location as frequently as possible.
  • Best for: Brand visibility and ensuring top placement on search results.

Maximize Conversion Value

Maximize Conversion Value bidding aims to get the highest possible total conversion value within a given budget, as opposed to maximizing the number of conversions.

  • Goal: To prioritize higher-value conversions over simply increasing volume.
  • How it works: Google automatically adjusts bids to focus on getting more high-value conversions based on your historical data (e.g., larger purchases, premium services).
  • Best for: Businesses with variable conversion values, such as eCommerce stores with products of varying prices.

Portfolio Bidding

Portfolio bidding allows you to group multiple campaigns, ad groups, or keywords that share a similar goal and apply a unified bidding strategy across them.

  • Goal: To manage multiple campaigns or keywords under one strategy, simplifying the bidding process.
  • How it works: Google automatically adjusts bids across your portfolio to optimize performance towards the selected goal (e.g., maximizing conversions or targeting CPA).
  • Best for: Advertisers managing multiple campaigns or keywords with similar goals, enabling easier management.

Choosing the Right Bidding Strategy

Choosing the right bidding strategy depends on your campaign goals and the type of business you’re running. Here’s a quick guide:

  • Maximize Conversions and Target CPA are ideal for performance-focused campaigns (e.g., sales or leads).
  • Target ROAS works best for eCommerce campaigns looking to optimize revenue over simple conversion volume.
  • Maximize Clicks is good for increasing traffic to your site.
  • CPM and Target Impression Share are best suited for brand awareness campaigns, where visibility is a priority.
  • Maximize Conversion Value is excellent for businesses that have varied conversion values and want to focus on high-value conversions.

Scroll to Top