7 Reasons Not to use an Automated PPC Bidding Strategy

There are seven automated PPC  bidding strategies from Google that help advertisers reach a variety of business goals with minimal work. Three of these are based on Smart Bidding, a mechanism whereby Google uses machine learning to predict which clicks are most likely to drive conversions and conversion values.

These can be highly effective for advertisers, but there are seven (7) important pitfalls to avoid when considering switching onto these strategies.

1. Short on Conversion Data

   For automated bidding strategies to really excel, there should be a substantial amount of historical conversion data available in the account. For example:
   eCPC – Requires around 15 conversions in the last 30 days for this to be most effective
   Target CPA – Google recommends 30-100 conversions in the last 30 days
   Target ROAS – Requires 50-150 conversions in the last 30 days

2. Impression Share

   It’s very much possible for your current ads for keywords in your account to be showing less than 10% of the time. With automatic bidding, you can’t selectively choose to increase individual bids on terms that are absolutely core to your product or service.

3. Type of Conversions Being Tracked

   Which types of conversion actions are currently being tracked? This is important to know before allowing machine learning to take the reigns and drive performance in a desirable direction. On this same note, it’s also wise to revisit conversion windows before making the switch to an automated bidding strategy.

4. Short-Term or New Campaigns

   It works best to optimise towards realistic goals so one pitfall to avoid is to target goals that have been achieved before. Targets need to be established and unfortunately, this is not always possible for campaigns of short duration.

5. Seasonality

   Bidding strategies learn best across normal, stable conditions. This means try to avoid changing to new strategies during peak periods such as Easter & Black Friday.

6. Page Position

   People must first see your ads before your business can start growing exponentially from the ground up through paid search channels. Automated bidding again restricts the ability for us to lift bids on those critical keywords which could leave ads at the bottom of the page.

7. Excessive Bidding

   Expensive bids can easily be avoided with a more manual approach as it is a great insight into how Google will manage and run your account when you hand over this control through an automated bidding strategy.

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Closing Thoughts

Most advertisers prefer to use manual bidding as their bidding strategy for greater levels of control and management. This would be strongly recommended for any campaign that is being reworked due to underperformance or when creating new campaigns too. Enabling Google’s machine learning to take over your account results can provide great learnings & results but be prepared for the rise in costs and budget required.

However, automated bid strategies can be utilised in highly effective ways for particularly smaller businesses. Working towards a certain Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) enables many of these businesses to operate at cost-efficient levels with somewhat limited budgets.

Are you tired of putting hours of hard work into your PPC campaigns and generating very little results? Are you looking for a way to generate high-quality, business-ready leads while utilising best practice through your PPC campaign? Book your consultation today and we'll take all your PPC worries away.