How do you optimize SEM bids for devices, locations, and time zones?

1 Why use bid modifiers?

Bid modifiers are percentage adjustments that you can apply to your base bid for specific criteria, such as device type, geographic location, or time of day. They allow you to increase or decrease your bid depending on how valuable or relevant each criterion is for your campaign goals. For example, if you sell pizza delivery, you might want to bid higher for mobile users who are searching for pizza near your service area during lunch or dinner hours, and lower for desktop users who are searching for pizza in another city at midnight.

2 How to set bid modifiers for devices?

You can set bid modifiers for devices at the campaign or ad group level in most SEM platforms, such as Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising. To do this, you need to analyze your campaign performance by device type and compare the key metrics, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, cost per click (CPC), and return on ad spend (ROAS). Based on your findings, you can increase your bid modifier for the device type that has the highest conversion rate or ROAS, and decrease it for the device type that has the lowest. For example, if you find that mobile users convert 50% more than desktop users, you might want to increase your bid modifier for mobile by 50%.

3 How to set bid modifiers for locations?

You can also set bid modifiers for locations at the campaign or ad group level in most SEM platforms. To do this, you need to analyze your campaign performance by geographic location and compare the key metrics, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, CPC, and ROAS. Based on your findings, you can increase your bid modifier for the location that has the highest conversion rate or ROAS, and decrease it for the location that has the lowest. For example, if you find that users in New York convert 20% more than users in Los Angeles, you might want to increase your bid modifier for New York by 20%.

4 How to set bid modifiers for time zones?

You can also set bid modifiers for time zones at the campaign or ad group level in most SEM platforms. To do this, you need to analyze your campaign performance by time of day and compare the key metrics, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, CPC, and ROAS. Based on your findings, you can increase your bid modifier for the time of day that has the highest conversion rate or ROAS, and decrease it for the time of day that has the lowest. For example, if you find that users in the morning convert 10% more than users in the evening, you might want to increase your bid modifier for the morning by 10%.

5 How to test and optimize your bid modifiers?

Setting bid modifiers is not a one-time task. You need to monitor and optimize your bid modifiers regularly to ensure that they are aligned with your campaign performance and goals. To do this, you need to test different bid modifier combinations and measure their impact on your key metrics, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, CPC, and ROAS. You can use tools such as Google Ads Experiments or Microsoft Advertising Experiment to run split tests and compare the results of your bid modifier variations. Based on your test results, you can adjust your bid modifiers accordingly and scale the winning variations.

6 How to avoid common bid modifier mistakes?

Bid modifiers can be a powerful tool to optimize your SEM bids and budget, however, if used incorrectly, they can lead to errors and inefficiencies. To ensure your bid modifiers are effective, it's important to avoid mistakes such as setting too many or too few bid modifiers, conflicting or overlapping bid modifiers, or bid modifiers without data or goals. Setting too many bid modifiers can create a complex bidding structure that is difficult to manage and optimize. On the other hand, setting too few bid modifiers can lead to missing out on opportunities to reach your target audience and improve your campaign performance. Additionally, setting contradictory or overlapping bid modifiers can result in inconsistent or inaccurate bids that affect your campaign performance and budget. Lastly, setting bid modifiers without analyzing your campaign data or defining your campaign goals can lead to arbitrary or ineffective adjustments that don't improve your campaign performance or ROI.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?