What are the different bidding strategies for PPC campaigns?

PPC campaign success relies on selecting an optimal bidding strategy: - CPC: Pay per click, ideal for increasing website traffic. - CPM: Pay per 1000 impressions, great for brand exposure. - CPA: Pay for conversion actions, like sales or sign-ups. - CPV: Pay for video views or interactions, for video ad campaigns. - Maximize Clicks: Auto-bid to maximize clicks within budget. - Maximize Conversions: Google optimizes bids for most conversions. - Target CPA: Aim for as many conversions at target CPA. - Target ROAS: Achieve specific return on ad spend. Each strategy aligns with different campaign goals, from traffic to ROI maximization.

1. Manual CPC 2. Enhanced CPC 3. Target CPA 4. Target ROAS 5. Maximize Clicks 6. Maximize Conversions 7. Target Impression Share 8. Manual CPM 9. Viewable CPM

With Manual bidding you can take data driven actions to have incremental increase in metrics such as Search impression share, CTR, absolute top for a keyword, Ad rank, with Manual bidding you have the leverage to take the market share as well as impression share required to capture the market!!

If you are a digital marketer looking to have most control over your bidding strategy and max bids for each keyword, manual bidding would be the way to go. However, it might not be the most effective or efficient way when it comes to running a SEM campaign. To be effective at manual bidding, you will be required to constantly monitor bid price and ad positions on a daily basis and adjust your bids accordingly. This could be mean more effort and time required just to keep up with your competition. With Google prioritizing automated bidding strategies, this may create a disadvantage to your campaigns as you may not be able to fully tap on Google signals to get the most conversion.

Manual bidding offers full control over PPC campaign bids, allowing adjustments based on performance, competition, and trends. Ideal for specific CPA/ROAS goals or niche keywords, it demands more time for monitoring and optimization. Perfect for those valuing transparency and hands-on management.

In general, you're going to want to have a target for your bid strategies. It's important to remember the order of directives with automated bidding. With maximize conversions and maximize conversion value your directives to google are: "Spend all my budget and please get me the most conversions or conversion value you can." The first directive to the machine is to spend all your money. When using target CPA or target ROAS your directive is "Spend my budget only if you think you can achieve my ROAS or CPA target."

Using automated bidding or manual bidding depends on what your objective is and what you want to achieve. I don't like going on the debate of which type is better or what you should use or not use. both are great when you use them the right way.

Automated bidding leverages algorithms to optimize bids across various strategies tailored to campaign goals. Choices like 'Maximise Clicks' boost traffic, while 'Maximise Conversions' and 'Target CPA' focus on sales/leads with specific cost goals. 'Target ROAS' suits high-value campaigns, and 'Target Impression Share' enhances visibility for competitive keywords. Ideal for efficiency and leveraging machine learning for performance enhancement.

One key strategy when looking at optimising your automated bidding is to consider running experiments on each bidding strategy type. This could meaning running experiments on “max conversion” strategy against “max click” strategy to see which bidding method generates better results i.e., higher clicks, more conversion, better CTR, lower CPA etc. If it’s more effective, you can then switch to the better performing automated bidding strategy. I would generally recommend starting with max click (to get most traffic and Google keywords recommendation), then move on to max conversion (capitalize on conversions once you’ve identified high value converting keyword), and then target CPA (to optimise budget and reduce cost per conversion).

As a seasoned search engine marketer, I've found that automated bidding can be a game-changer in PPC campaigns. It's like having a smart assistant handling your bids, ensuring you get the most clicks, conversions, or impressions based on your goals. It simplifies the process, letting you focus on strategy while the system optimizes for results – a real win-win in the dynamic world of online advertising.

If ECPC were a person, it'd be that friend who always insists on picking the restaurant, claiming to know "the best spot." You're skeptical, but go along with it. Then, you end up at a place that looks questionable from the outside. But once inside, it's a culinary paradise, and every dish is a hit. ECPC is like that friend, confidently tweaking your bids with a sly grin, saying, "Trust me, I've got the algorithmic taste buds for success." And just when you doubt it, boom, your conversions are served like a Michelin-star meal, leaving you wondering, "How did it know?!" It's the unexpected maestro of the bidding world, turning clicks into conversions with a sprinkle of mysterious algorithmic magic.

Enhanced cost-per-click used to be the primary bidding strategy back to the SKAG structure! very effective bidding strategy to have full control on each keywords and have a flexibility to get the best result possible at the same time

Based on my experience I am not a fan of this bidding as you end up paying more than you would like to. Which is something no marketer wants. So, if you are going to use the same then I would recommend do it very cautiously & keep a close watch on the same.

As an experienced search engine marketer, I find Enhanced Cost-Per-Click (ECPC) to be a smart blend of control and automation in PPC campaigns. It lets you set your own bid limits while allowing the platform to fine-tune based on conversion probabilities. It's like having a helpful assistant that adjusts things for you, making it handy for campaigns with moderate goals or those keen on testing different bid levels. It strikes a balance between hands-on and hands-off, making the PPC game a bit more flexible and efficient.

Combines manual bids with AI magic! You set max bids, platform adjusts for conversion potential. Ideal for moderate CPA/ROAS goals or testing different bid levels.

Portfolio bidding is a game-changer in the PPC world, especially for seasoned search engine marketers like us. It's like having a superpower to streamline and optimize bidding across various campaigns effortlessly. Imagine managing a bunch of related campaigns with a single strategy – it not only saves time but also enhances overall performance. It's like having a secret weapon for tackling complexity and boosting efficiency in the ever-evolving landscape of online advertising.

Group campaigns/ad groups/keywords with shared goals & metrics. Apply a single manual or automated bidding strategy across the portfolio. Saves time, simplifies management, & potentially improves performance/efficiency. Ideal for large/complex campaigns or aligning bids with broader business strategy.

Whenever dealing with large number of campaigns this would be go to strategy. Benefits: More data for small campaigns Makes steering a lot more easier Helps lift the performance across categories

I’m pro-Smart Bidding and pro-automation in general. However, I understand that thousands of Google Ads marketers still prefer the old-school method of controlling everything themselves. Ultimately, it’s important that we’re all able to do what’s best for our clients and brands. That’s why I believe the most essential part of picking a bid strategy is lining it up with what you want to achieve.

Bidding is driven by lot of parameters such as: Seasonality Client Goals Competition Offers/Promotions Unit economics We need to factor all these in while making adjustments. The lesser the adjustments the better is for the campaign.

Beyond typical bidding strategies like, don't overlook the power of seasonality in your bidding game! Just like surfing, catch the wave of demand when it's high, and don't wipe out when it's low. Ride that seasonal trend with bid adjustments to maximize your ROI. It's like scoring big in summer with ice cream ads and chilling out in winter with cozy blanket promos. Stay agile, stay profitable! ??♂???

- Google scripts When we talk about budget and bidding, its essential to consider Google scripts as well. We can control most of the bidding, budget, and automated rules using Google Ads Manager but Google scripts provide an access beyond that. For example, Some of you might face an underspending or overspending because of the poor bidding and target CPA management, in that case you can control the campaigns using Google scripts. Every features has its own limitations, so does the Script. Using script to continues budget and bidding changes can cause a higher learning phase.

Although broadly digital marketers swiming between these three bidding strategies: manual, automatic, and enhanced cost-per-click (ECPC). I foresee marketers collectively increasingly opting for automatic or ECPC. This is especially true when you operating at scale and have solid historical data to rely on for machine & you to take better decisions.