In order to know what happens when you use a flexible bid strategy, we need to understand that each bidding strategy is designed for a particular type of campaign or advertising objective and each type of bid has a certain objective.
As some of our articles mention, Google Ads works through a bidding system and as advertisers we decide which keywords will be shown in our ads. We can also look for the ones that offer the maximum bid that we are willing to pay for each time a user performs a related search, appear in Google advertising and click on our ad.
The bidding system calculates the quality of the website or landing page, the competition that exists, the relevance and originality of the information offered to the user, the quality of the selected keywords, the forecast of clicks or impressions for the ad, and of course, the maximum bid offered by the advertiser. So based on all these combinations, Google Ads will decide in which position our ad will appear.
Depending on which of the flexible bid strategy options we use, the outcome we want to obtain will be different. Here is what it is important to know about the several alternatives for a flexible bid strategy:
COST PER CLICK (CPC)
Automatic: Simple and at the hand of Google Ads. It is not the best choice if our advertising objective is to maintain a certain ad position or a specific conversion cost. Because it does not allow you to configure individual CPC bids with automatic bids, only the maximum for the campaign. It is a good option if:
- We want the daily budget to be always the same and we are very clear about it.
- We don’t have time to monitor and update the cost per click (CPC) bids.
- The main objective is web traffic.
- Guide to know how much to apply to each product or location.
Manual: We will invest more time to achieve a well-defined goal. With this option, we can adjust the maximum CPC bids to control the cost and volume of clicks in the ads. It is a good option if:
- We want to control CPC bids for specific words and regions.
- Our goal is to increase web traffic, not as much as brand awareness.
- We have a very specific goal for a product or a section of our website.
- It is not necessary to exhaust the monthly budget.
Perhaps it is a less recommended option at the beginning if we are not clear which Keywords and locations work best.
COST PER PRINT (CPM)
If your goal is to obtain direct feedback from customers by buying a product or filling out a form, it might not be the best choice. The objective of this offer is the visibility of ads and the following must be taken into account:
- The message we want to give appears in the ad itself, so we do not want visitors to click.
- The ads are designed to increase the visibility without the need to generate clicks or traffic.
- The cost values are per thousand impressions.
- The type of campaign is “Only for the Display Network – Remarketing”, not for the Google Search Network.
- The ads are not only oriented to keywords, but also to specific locations.
- The main objective is to increase brand awareness. Static image ads and other multimedia formats are usually more suitable for this purpose.
COST PER ACQUISITION (CPA)
This is the best option if your goal is to obtain more conversions, but it is an advanced option and we must meet some objectives at the campaign level:
Enable conversion tracking.
- The campaign must have received a minimum of 15 conversions during the last 30 days. The AdWords system needs this conversion history in order to make accurate predictions about conversion percentages.
- The campaign must have received a similar percentage of conversions for at least a few days.
- The campaign must have used conversion tracking for at least two weeks to be more effective. The AdWords system is based on historical conversion data, so the longer the conversion tracking has been up, the more data the system will have. The campaign must be geared towards direct response. For example, signing up for the newsletter, or making a purchase.
- The campaign must have a single well-defined conversion rate, such as a completed purchase or a registration.
- The campaign must have a relatively stable conversion rate, with no major changes during the last two weeks.
But be careful; if the campaign already uses the CPA bid but has received less than 15 conversions in the last 30 days, the offer will remain enabled unless we deactivate it. However, by doing so, we will not be able to activate it again until the objectives are met again.
Remember that in Synapse Ads we guide you on how to use these types of tools. We offer you the keyword mixer tool that will guarantee the success of your conversion optimization. Your commercial growth is our priority and we have all the information to help your business improve every day.
