Best Google Ads bid strategies for new accounts. A Complete Guide.

Deciding for the right Google Ads bid strategies can make or break your campaign especially when you are gearing up for the first-ever campaign launch in Google Ads Manager. Bidding strategy has a strong relation with campaign goals.

Defined and objective campaign goals are important to get the idea of which Google ads bid strategy is best for this campaign. For example, Maximize conversions for Lead Gen or Target ROAS in sales campaigns in smart bidding strategies (we will get into this later).

First, Let’s understand what bidding is in Google Ads.

Bidding is the amount you will pay for your ads to display. It determines where your ads will be displayed on SERP against your competitor. Determine bid strategy based on Campaign Goal. Test your bid strategy. Choose a strategy that aligns with your main business goal.

 

There are two main categories in Google Ad bidding.

1. Automated Bidding Strategies

   Backed by an advanced Google’s machine-learning algorithm to get maximum results.

2. Manual Bidding Strategies

   Controlled by account managers to get the most returns based on their expertise.

Automated Bidding Strategies:

1. Target CPA

1. It’s an advanced automated bidding strategy that works on top of getting clicks with the help of Google’s machine learning algorithm to get maximum conversions.
2. Google will try to get you conversions at a certain Cost Per Acquisition (CPA. For example, if your target set CPA is $20, the algorithm will try to have you pay for $20 in clicks before getting a conversion. As TCPA is just a target value, it doesn’t guarantee results after this spend.

2. Maximize Conversion

As the name suggests, it is optimized to get you the maximum number of selected goals or conversions while spending your budget. Fully automated, backed by Google’s advanced machine learning algorithm to get maximum conversions.

3. Maximize Conversion Value

This Google ads bid strategy is optimized to get you the maximum set conversion value while spending your budget. Fully automated, backed by Google’s advanced machine learning algorithm to get maximum conversions. Used mostly in Performance Max campaigns for e-commerce products.

4. Target ROAS

tROAS is somewhat similar to tCPA, to get x number of returns on marketing investment with max conversion value.
2. Essentially, ROAS is advertising similar to Return on Investment (ROI). The higher your campaign’s ROAS the more effective your campaign is.

5. Target Imp Share (for brand visibility)

1. It was introduced in 2018, by replacing “Target Search Page Location” and “Target Outranking Share”.
2. Impression share = impressions / total eligible impressions.
3. The goal of this Google ads bid strategy is neither clicks nor conversions, but to occupy SERP for brand visibility. This helps the system with provided 3 values of:
   – Target Ad Position
   – % of imp share. Top Impr share
   – Max CPC bid limit

6. Maximize Clicks

1. This strategy uses automated bidding to best spend the budget by getting the maximum clicks. This helps in getting brand traffic with useful clicks. We can set this Google ads bid strategy for Search, Standard Shopping, and Standard Display.
2. When using this bid strategy, we can still CAP the max click cost. Otherwise, Google will get the maximum number of clicks spending the given budget.

 

Manual Bidding Strategies:

1. Manual CPC

The most simple yet new account-friendly bidding strategy, with full control in the advertiser’s hand. You can set the cap on each keyword or on the campaign-level keywords.

2. Enhanced CPC

1. With active enhanced CPC, Google automatically adjusts your manual bids to help to increase your conversion rate, without surpassing the target cost per conversion.
2. eCPC is optimized for conversions and the bid is adjusted for the search that is most relevant to your ad with higher chances of leading it to conversion.

3. CPM Bidding (Display and YT Ads)

This Google ad bid strategy is focused on getting visible impressions. The goal is brand awareness either through Google display ads or YouTube Ads. Less effective due to ads targeting useless non-trackable sites.

4. Viewable Impressions (vCPM)

This Google ads bidding strategy also supports ads designed for brand awareness purposes. You pay only for 1000 impressions viewed by targeted people. This strategy can be used in display campaigns or on YouTube Ads.

Struggling to research your business target audience that loves your brand? Check out How to do audience research and targeting in 5 steps to drive sales and loyalty.

 

Use this article to help you decide when to use which bid strategy in Google Ads.

1. Brand campaigns

Use target Impr. share if there is a visibility goal for the brand. If you are tight on budget you can also use manual CPC.

2. Low keyword volume + no broad match

You can use maximize clicks. Make sure you check in on search terms regularly. Don’t use broad match here. Manual CPC also works fine here. But make sure your budget is spent in the right direction.

3. Low volume < 50 conv. + limited budget

Stick to manual CPC until you reach the threshold to switch to an automated bidding strategy. Until then keep a close eye on your search terms and exclude negatives regularly.

4. E-Com > 50 conv. / mon

Use target ROAS so you directly optimize for revenue. If you have the conversion basis it usually beats manual CPC and maximizes conversions.

5. Lead Gen > 50 conversions/month

Use maximize conversions to best steer your campaigns. If cost/conv. differs a lot between ad groups, then you should consider splitting out the ad groups into another campaign.

 

Watch this video for comprehensive explaination.

https://youtu.be/Lu4ePTY_7MY

 

📌 PRO TIPS

1. When you are tracking conversion value → Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).
2. When not tracking any, Use Target CPA.
3. Using Neither of the above, use max conversion or max conversion value.

 

5 Best Practices for Automated Bidding:

1. Allocate enough budget to get enough clicks and impressions.
2. Give enough room to bid strategy learning for the best results.
3. Use Bid Adjustments (device, location, time, demographics, call or lead interaction adjust)
4. Segment the campaign and use bidding rules (structure and rules tweak your bids depending on factors like device, location, and time of day)
5. Regularly optimize ad copy, your offer, and landing page messaging.

Stuck in figuring out what went wrong with Google ads campaign strategy? Find out the reason from this detailed article on 25 Common Google Ads mistakes to avoid.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

1. What is the best strategy for Google Ads?

No bid strategy is best until you know what you want from this campaign objective.

2. How do I optimize bids on Google ads?

Regularly monitor the campaign performance per campaign objectives. Check out if it’s showing enough results and data to stick with this bidding strategy.

3. Which type of bidding strategy is better? Automated or Manual

This depends on the marketing goal and account data. For new accounts, it’s better to use manual strategies until you get enough data to feed for automated smart bidding strategies.

4. Types of automated bidding strategies in Google?

Here is the list of Automated (Smart) bidding strategies in Google ads:

1. Target Imp Share
2. Maximize Clicks
3. Target ROAS
4. Maximize conversion Value
5. Maximize Conversion
6. Target CPA

5. How Do I Change the Bidding Strategy in Google Ads?

Head over to campaign settings, and scroll down until you get “Your bidding strategy”.

 

With a well-researched media strategy and continuous optimizations, you can improve your return on investment and secure a loyal customer base that believes in your brand.

Struggling to maintain your business ad account for profitable ROI with the right bidding strategies, Schedule a quick call with us now and let us do the heavy lifting while you focus on scaling your business and making great clients along the way.

Happy Media Buying 🙌☺️