Google Ads smart bidding is a great way to run ads because it does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.  

However, a lot of people use it wrong. You can’t just use it off the bat and expect it to generate leads at a profitable price. 

In this article on Smart Bidding Google Ads, we will discuss how you get optimal results through advanced work that will help you both save time and generate the best return on investment. 

 

Watch the video version of this article below:

What is smart bidding in Google Ads?

Smart bidding in Google Ads helps in optimizing for conversions, depending on the goal you want to achieve.

 

Types of smart bidding

There are different bidding types and these are: 

Target CPA– a strategy that sets bids to help get as many conversions as possible at or below the target cost-per-action (CPA) you set.

Target ROAS– a strategy that helps you get more conversion value or revenue at the target return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) you set.

Maximize Conversions– automatically sets bids to help get the most conversions for your campaign while spending your budget.

Maximize Conversion Value– maximize the total conversion value of your campaign within your specified budget with maximizing conversion value bidding strategy.

Enhanced cost per click (ECPC)- helps you get more conversions from manual bidding.

 

Why use smart bidding

It’s a great tool that does a lot of the heavy lifting. You don’t need to worry about keywords bidding, bid adjustments, and dayparting. Everything is done for you automatically.

 

Getting Started

Make sure your conversion tracking is enabled. You cannot give Google machine learning a target without a navigation source. 

We often run a manual campaign and get 30-50 conversions as quickly as possible then convert it over to smart bidding.  

It takes at least 30 conversions for enough data to feed into the system for a solid Google ads smart bidding strategy and at least 50 conversions for Target ROAS. 

 

Performance Reports 

Google Ads smart bidding has a reporting called the bid strategy report and it can help you see how your bidding strategies are doing. 

To see the report go to Campaigns, find the bid strategy column, and click the link. 

 

Conclusion

When using smart bidding, be sure to allow time for the learning period. A common mistake I see made is expecting results too soon and pulling campaigns before the account has optimized it’s learning.  

If you have a budget of $100 per day, give it $400-$500 per day on the onset so it has plenty of ability to learn. It’s okay if it spends heavily upfront so it can get you to your targets sooner than later. 

Remember it’s still an auction and when setting your target CPAs or target ROAS don’t make the mistake of basing it on just the upfront revenue.   

Look at the customer lifetime value. What’s your revenue with upsells, cross-sells, repeat business, and referrals?

Do the math and know your numbers because your sharp competitors will and they are bidding based on long term strategy.