Value-based bidding is a crucial strategy for lead generation campaigns, allowing marketers to prioritize conversions that drive higher revenue or meet specific business goals. By assigning different values to various conversion actions, you gain more control over your bidding strategy and optimize for conversions with the most significant impact. Whether it’s a purchase, a lead, or a specific action on your website, value-based bidding ensures that your bids reflect the true worth of each conversion, maximizing your return on investment (ROI).
When it comes to choosing the right bid strategy for your lead generation campaigns, there are a few factors to consider. Smart Bidding, which is the foundation of value-based bidding, predicts the value of potential conversions in each auction. If an impression is likely to generate a high-value conversion, the bid strategy will place a higher bid. On the other hand, if the impression is not expected to result in a high-value conversion, a lower bid will be placed. This strategy uses data from all your campaigns, including conversion values and real-time signals like device, browser, location, and time of day to optimize performance.
To start bidding for value, you need to measure at least two unique conversion values optimized for your business and have a minimum of 15 conversions at the account level in the past 30 days. Depending on whether you are in Demand Gen or another industry, the conversion requirements may vary. Once you meet these criteria, you can choose between two bidding strategy options:
Maximize Conversion Value: This strategy focuses on maximizing conversion value within a defined budget. It is ideal for advertisers who prioritize driving the highest possible value within a specific allocated budget.
Maximize Conversion Value At A Target ROAS: This option allows you to set a specific target return on ad spend (ROAS) and instruct Google Ads to optimize your bids to achieve that target while maximizing conversion value.
When using a target ROAS, it’s important to note that your campaign budget should not be limited or capped. This ensures that the system has the flexibility to find the next conversion at your target ROAS without hindrance. Setting your ROAS targets involves using the last 30 days’ return on ad spend as a benchmark and considering Google’s recommendations based on your actual ROAS over the past few weeks.
If you’re unsure about implementing value-based bidding, consider starting with a campaign experiment to compare its performance against your existing bidding strategy. You can choose between a one-click experiment from the Recommendations page or a custom experiment tailored to your campaign’s needs. It’s essential to give the system a ramp-up period of two weeks or three conversion cycles after launching value-based bidding to allow Google Ads to learn and optimize your bids effectively.
In conclusion, value-based bidding is a powerful tool for lead generation campaigns, enabling marketers to prioritize high-value conversions and maximize their ROI. By choosing the right bid strategy and implementing value-based bidding effectively, you can drive significant value for your business. Remember to monitor and optimize your performance continually to ensure success with value-based bidding.