3 Tips For Optimizing Your Ad Bid Strategy

The journey toward finding the perfect ad bid strategy for your PPC campaign can seem almost torturous at times. You continually test your CTAs, raise and lower your budgets, obsess over whether you are using the right keywords, images, etc. The constant fiddling can leave ad managers feeling like a hamster running on a wheel leading nowhere. There is no magic formula for coming up with the perfect bid every single time. You can increase your odds of achieving your target KPIs for your ads by refining your tactics. Below are a few ideas you might want to incorporate into your PPC ad bid strategies, going forward. 1. Make Sure Automated Bids Are Right for You Most ad bidding novices find it easier to use Google Ads automated bidding strategies. They set up bids based on varying factors and your set budget. That leads many new bidders to conclude that relying on automation for bids is a safer bet than trying to manage their accounts manually. There are instances, however, where manual bids can pay off in a more significant way. When You Have Low Conversion Volumes — If an account has low conversion volumes, there will not be a lot of raw data available. That means the automated bidding won’t have the information needed to make the best decisions. The algorithms can jump to conclusions that end up hurting your overall conversion rate. It is a much better strategy to place manual bids until you have at least 45 to 60 conversions under your belt. When You Have a Limited Budget — You need budget flexibility to maximize the benefits of automated bids. When You Have PPC Experience — Start doing your homework and gain experience placing bids. That makes it easier to respond to rapid changes with manual bids, instead of letting the automated bids take care of everything. You can end up gaining better results for campaigns that may be too complex for the current algorithms to process. 2. Go After In-Market Audiences An in-market audience consists of those who have already done extensive research into a specific product. They know what they want and have moved further down the marketing funnel. Attracting clicks from in-market audiences allows you to collect more refined details around their behavior. You also have an advantage in that you know exactly what type of ads you must build to attract their attention. Try out a few audiences to see how they perform. Once you gain a firmer understanding of the in-market audience, start testing out different ad variations. Then raise or lower bids depending on how well they end up performing when it comes to actual conversions. 3. Add Your Brand With so much competition online today, it's easy to lose out on business even when prospective customers are searching your brand name. That's why most businesses should be bidding on their brand keywords. You can enhance the effectiveness of a branded search campaign by making sure to feature your brand name in your ad headline. That puts your brand directly in the minds of consumers who are searching for you. Otherwise, they might end up scrolling past your ad to a competitor or a website from the organic search results. Test out adding your brand to your ad Headline 1 vs. Headline 2 or in the body of your copy. You should start to see better clickthrough rates and conversion rates when you include your brand information front-and-center. It pays to put yourself forward in the minds of consumers as much as possible with so much digital competition for your audience’s attention. Summary PPC bid strategies can be confusing for both novice and professional advertisers. It might pay off more to manually place bids vs. relying on algorithms to automate your bids. Research in-market audiences to find prospective customers who have already researched your product or service and are more likely ready to buy. Plus, complement your overall branding strategy by including the brand name in your ad headline. Want more tips to improve your ad campaigns? Click here to grab a copy of our "Ultimate Google Ads Checklist."

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3 Tips For Optimizing Your Ad Bid Strategy

Phil Frost

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Phil Frost