AdWords recently updated its automated bidding system. It’s a powerful tool, but be careful!
AdWords automated bidding allows advertisers to select a pre-defined goal like maximizing clicks, hitting a certain target cost-per-acquisition (CPA), or outranking a competitor. The feature then changes bids automatically using a number of factors to help hit that goal. When used properly, this can be hugely impactful. The target CPA goal is a favorite of mine. I know how much money I make selling a given product or service, and therefore I know how much I can afford to spend to acquire a sale. If my target CPA is $20, I set $20 as the goal, and boom – AdWords manages my bids for me to maximize sales at a $20 CPA. Since dialing in your bids to achieve your target CPA is a good prerequisite for scaling your spend, this can take a lot of the manual work off of your plate, and allow you to grow your business through AdWords.
Be careful though. Not all automated bidding strategies are created equally. Depending on what your business goals are, some of these should be avoided. ‘Maximize Clicks,’ and ‘Target Search Page Location’ are two specific goals to avoid. These goals are designed to increase traffic to your site, and increase your ad’s position respectively. While more traffic to your site and a better ad position can be good things, they certainly aren’t always – not without ROI as a constraint. If your current CPA is $30, and your target CPA is $20, increasing visits to your site is only going to put you into the red.
Crank Conversion believes that a client’s AdWords (and other media) spend is only good if it’s achieving the client’s goal. Our attention to detail and our high level of client/agency feedback allow us to make sure we’re aligned with your goals before we scale ad investment. Whether your goal is to sell a product at a certain CPA, drive a target amount of product downloads, or drive calls to your business phone, we’d be happy to crank it up for you!