How Bid Strategies REALLY Affect Your Google Ads

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_02]: It is Wednesday, September 25th.

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Today, a new study puts Google's Bid Strategies to the test and finds out they do exactly what

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_02]: they promise sometimes to the detriment of other benefits.

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Also, is WhatsApp, the web's last hope?

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Why Google is putting review warnings on brand profiles?

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And TikTok goes all over.

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm Tod Maffin, that's ahead today in Digital Marketing.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Navajo Hopkins of the PPC Management Tool Optimizer just released new data about the

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_02]: impact of bidding strategies on Google Ads performance.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Here to tell us more is our Google Ads correspondent Jill Saskengales.

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Jill spent six years working at Google and now is a Google Ads coach who runs the

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_02]: inside Google Ads training program and podcasts.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_02]: We should mention in the interest of disclosure that Optimizer is a sponsor of Jill's

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_02]: podcast, but this is not connected to that in any sort of paid way.

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Jill, what are the key takeaways from this study?

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_03]: This may sound intuitive, but it wasn't to me.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Bid strategies do what you tell them to do and by that I mean when Optimizer

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_03]: compared the performance of campaigns that use target row ads versus maximize conversions

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_03]: versus target impression share, they found that campaigns that use target row ads have

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_03]: the highest row ads and campaigns that use target CPA have the lowest CPA.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I think that's really interesting to see some definitive proof that low on

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_03]: behold smart fitting strategies will achieve what you tell them to achieve.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Wait, isn't that what we should have come to expect?

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_02]: How is that surprising?

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_03]: To me it was surprising that the data just showed this so cleanly and so clearly

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_03]: because remember Todd so many people out there perhaps rightfully so every skeptical

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_03]: of smart bidding and whether really is going to drive the best results or drive the best results

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_03]: for Google which means just spending your full budget.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I thought it was really interesting to see that even something like target impression

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_03]: share campaigns using target impression share which tries to get you visibility,

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_03]: you're going to get the highest click through rate from that, which again we would expect

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_03]: but so interesting to see it so clearly laid out.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_03]: So I thought that was really interesting and just this external affirmation that yes,

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Google's Bid strategies will do what you tell them to do.

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't expect now the study at Optimizer covered this in particular but from your experience

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_02]: isn't having the campaign performed precisely to the objective you want.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Sometimes it's downside because does it not sort of throw out a lot of the other metrics

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_02]: like at the interest of getting you a lot of impressions, you know, you can go,

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_02]: you can get like an audience network kind of thing and buy a whole bunch of impressions

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_02]: but they're terrible quality is in your experience does that come into play?

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_03]: That can happen. I think what this also surfaces is that every Bid strategy is a trade-off

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_03]: because through your Bid strategy you can only tell Google about one goal.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_03]: In real life we have many goals, we want a lot of conversions and a lot of money is cheaply as possible,

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_03]: right? But you have to choose, you know, maximize conversions will try to get you as many conversions

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_03]: as possible within your budget practically which means it will spend your budget in full and try to get conversions within that.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Whereas target CPA where you say here's the CPA efficiency I'm looking to achieve,

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_03]: it may not spend your budget. You may see way fewer conversions but they're much more likely to meet that efficiency objective.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_03]: So it's not what we want to hear. We wish it was a magic system. We could waver, want to get everything all at once and

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_03]: you're right Todd, you can't necessarily get everything all at once but you do get to pick the most important thing to you

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_03]: and communicate that to Google and on the whole it will achieve that and this data shows that which I actually do find fascinating.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Well we're on the topic of conversions whenever you get on the phone or an email exchange

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_02]: to one of these Google reps that the first thing out of their mouth is well you should just spend more

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_02]: and there is some validity to that you spend more that gives the engine more data to chew on

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_02]: but how much does that matter in terms of the spend level versus the conversion volume?

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Like what actually matters here for these types of campaigns? There's more new ones to it and what

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Navan optimizer found in this study is that spending more is not correlated with better performance

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_03]: but having more conversions is. And of course those things are probably related on some level

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_03]: like the more you spend the more you conversions you can have but it was interesting no correlation

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_03]: between you know high spending having better results than low spending counts was not the case

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_03]: but accounts that had at least 50 conversions in the 30 days did see much better results,

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_03]: especially with the smart bidding strategies than accounts that had far fewer conversions.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_03]: And once you hear that I go like yeah that does make sense you have to feed these smart bidding

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_03]: algorithms enough data about who converts and who doesn't for them to be able to learn and then make those decisions for you.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_03]: So the sweet spot that optimizer found is actually higher then what Google normally recommends usually

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_03]: we say 30 and 30 you want at least 30 conversions in 30 days per campaign. And this study found that

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_03]: the sweet spot was higher it was 50 conversions in 30 days to get the best results out of

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_02]: smart bidding strategies. 30 days is it always been 30 days I used to think these things were measured

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_03]: in in seven day periods. I think in the meta ads world they tend to go on shorter time periods

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_03]: but in Google ads we usually say kind of 30 conversions in 30 days and by that we don't mean 29

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_03]: conversions one day and then for the next we mean you're averaging about one conversion a day

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_03]: for the system to have enough data to learn. And more conversion data means more learning

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_03]: means a better understanding of who that algorithm should be bidding more for and who it

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_03]: should be bidding less for. So it's recommending almost double that 50 conversions in 30 days.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Did the optimizer study get into big caps and targets at all in terms of their impact on performance?

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah these are two features that a lot of advertisers use to try to have more control kind

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_03]: of balance control with using smart bidding. But actually what this study found is that bid

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_03]: caps and targets seem to have either no impact on performance or even potentially a negative

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_03]: impact on performance. And just to explain that a little bit more a bid cap means

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_03]: you're using like a target CPA strategy but you only wanted to bid up to a certain amount. Well again

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_03]: that's kind of like trying to have your cake and eat it too and on which is more important the

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_03]: cheaper clicks or hitting that efficiency goal. And then even with targets you know I typically

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_03]: recommend when you're able to do so setting a target row as versus just relying on mask conversion value

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_03]: setting a target CPA versus just relying on mask conversions. And again depending on what your goal

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_03]: is you can actually drive strong performance both ways. It doesn't necessarily drive better

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_03]: performance to use a target base bid strategy. This might be an unfair question but let me approach it

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_02]: and try to answer it without using the phrase it depends first of all. Deal. All right if someone

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_02]: is a is listening to this they are a marketer they sell products with Google ads what is the actual

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_02]: best practice approach today. Do we set it up old school? Do we use performance max? What

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_02]: conversion tracking do we do in a nutshell give us the perfect campaign set up for conversions for

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_03]: actual click here by something. Best campaign set up lacking no other context putting a

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_03]: stake in the ground. So product base business you're going to want search or shopping campaigns

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_03]: probably start by testing both in your shopping campaign you're going to want to start with either

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_03]: a manual CPC or maximize clicks bid strategy with the goal to be able to get to target row as once

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_03]: you have enough volume with your search campaign you're going to want to start with either a manual

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_03]: CPC or maximize clicks until you get some conversions then you switch to maximize conversions

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_03]: and then once you're able to scale further and get consistent results you might consider adding

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_02]: a target there that's my answer for you. That's a great as a great non it depends answer I like it

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_02]: with with the caveat firmly in the ground excellent thanks chill. Thank you. Jill's asking

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Gales is our Google ads correspondent she's here every second wednesday you can learn more about her

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Google ads training program at our affiliate link at today in digital dot com slash g a and you can

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_02]: watch our full unedited interview there is a link to it in today's email newsletter which you can

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_02]: find up to for free by tapping the link in the show notes or going to today in digital dot com slash

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_02]: newsletter.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_02]: This episode is brought to you by popular pays by light tricks. Discover the power of popular pays

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_02]: where top tier influencers and creators meet unparalleled white glove service. Popular pays is

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_02]: not just a platform the customer reps become an extension of your team driving exceptional ROI

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_02]: brand growth. Their team's expertise ranges from seamless campaign management to creating content

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_02]: whether for viral tiktoks or highly performing reels and posts. Popular pays streamlines

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_02]: every step from finding the perfect creators to measuring success. Ready to take your influence

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_02]: marketing to the next level visit popular pays dot com slash podcast to get an exclusive 20

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_02]: percent discount that's popular pays dot com slash podcast where brands and creators meet

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_02]: to collaborate. Don't just do influence or marketing do it right with popular pays.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_02]: News sites have seen a sharp drop in traffic and ad revenue google and Facebook made news

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_02]: less prominent on their platforms and now publishers are looking elsewhere for eyeballs. Some

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_02]: have found a glimmer of hope in WhatsApp the world's most popular messaging app. What's up

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_02]: channels let's brands send links and headlines directly to followers and many outlets are now

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_02]: using it to draw in readers and build relationships with audiences outside the US. What's

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_02]: that channels exist in a separate tab from the main messaging section and users don't have to

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_02]: provide private information to follow a channel. The telemundo WhatsApp channel gained more than 30,000

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_02]: followers in just two weeks and now has more than 820,000. The outlet creates original content

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_02]: for its channel like short videos and polls. numerous media outlets have signed up for WhatsApp

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_02]: channels including CNN, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal they already draw millions of

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_02]: followers but some publishers are cautious given met as complicated history with news organizations.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_02]: And quoting the New York Times quote meta has also hinted that it may introduce paid channels in the

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_02]: future. A way for people and organizations to make money by offering exclusive posts or content

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_02]: to their subscribers. It is a well-worn path taken by companies like Patreon,

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_02]: OnlyFans and more recently, X. Google is now placing a warning on some google business profile

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_02]: listings in Google Maps when it suspects that profile has fake or fraudulent reviews.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_02]: The notice reads suspected fake reviews were recently removed from this place.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Businesses with suspected fake reviews may face penalties including not being able to receive

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_02]: new reviews or ratings for a set period having existing reviews or ratings unpublished and displaying

[00:11:36] [SPEAKER_02]: warning like this to consumers. Google hasn't said anything specific about whether this is a test

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_02]: so far it's only been spotted in the UK but if history is any guide, expect this to be rolled out

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_02]: worldwide soon. As most marketers are now deep into holiday shopping plans,

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_02]: a look at what the season sales numbers might look like. Adobe has released its online

[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_02]: shopping forecast for the 2024 holiday season. It expects U.S. online sales to be up 8.4%

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_02]: over last year. Mobile devices will drive a record 121 billion in sales that is up almost 13%

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_02]: year over year. This represents 53% of online spend this season. Cyberweek, which includes American

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_02]: thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, will drive 40.6 billion dollars in online sales that's

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_02]: up 7% from last year. And Adobe anticipates major discounts this season perhaps more than seen

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_02]: previous years. This counts are expected to peak during Cyberweek, the best deals likely happening

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_02]: before Cyber Monday holiday deals are also expected to start rolling out in mid-October now

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_02]: with discounts lingering through December. Social media influencers are expected to drive sales

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_02]: 37% of Gen Z respondents said they've purchased something based on an influencer's recommendation

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_02]: but paid search will still remain the top driver of retail sales affiliates and partners,

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_02]: including social media influencers will see the fastest growth.

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_02]: LinkedIn is helping marketers better track their in-app spend. The company releasing a new

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_02]: guide to its revenue attribution report, a tool that provides detailed insights into campaign

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_02]: performance. The 32 page guide explains how to set up this report and connect your CRM data

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_02]: to the system. It provides an overview of available data and how to use it to measure performance.

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_02]: marketers can track the performance at account in campaign levels over specific time ranges.

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_02]: To use the report though, marketers have to connect their CRMs which may be a concern for some.

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_02]: LinkedIn says shared data is stored securely with data isolation and secure access.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_02]: We have a link to the full report. In today's email newsletter,

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_02]: which you can sign up to by tapping the link at the top of the show notes, we're going to today

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_02]: in digital.com slash newsletter. At one time, the pinnacle of marketing success was getting on

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Oprah's favorite things list. Land a spot there and companies would be overflowed with orders.

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a diamond-based watch by Philip Stein at 50 diamonds people to come as with changeable bands.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: They come in six different colors and every hero in this audience is going home with a Philip Stein

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_02]: will tick-ock wants to capture that magic too, but there's a big catch.

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_02]: The company's offering brands a spot in its holiday-emporium gift guide. The guide will be featured

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_02]: in tick-tock shop and promoted by influencers and in-app marketing. But to qualify, brands must commit

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_02]: to a large ad spend. There are two tiers, silver, which requires 12,500 in ad spend over three months

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_02]: and gold, which requires 19,500 brands that meet these thresholds might be featured in the gift

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_02]: guide and get extra exposure in the app. But there's no guarantee that a brand's products will be included.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Tick-tock says it'll still choose which products to feature and depending on how it's rolled out,

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_02]: this guide may end up feeling fake. Quoting social media today, quote,

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_02]: it feels a little disingenuous for tick-tock to be promoting top gifts of the season

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_02]: based primarily on what their makers spend in the app. That means these aren't the best products

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_02]: such just the ones that have spent the most money, which makes it feel a little less like a guide

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_02]: and more like an ads showcase. Unquote.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_02]: A really cool thing happened to my nephew. He's in Australia. He's had for years this YouTube channel

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_02]: called SushiGuy51 and it's all sorts of stuff. It's gaming, he meets local politicians,

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_02]: it's kind of like a travel guide, sometimes to the area, sometimes it's a food review site.

[00:15:55] [SPEAKER_02]: And he has been trying to get it up past 1,000 subscribers for for a while now. Then he was

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_02]: it kind of stuck around 900 for a while and then he like stumbled across some big tick-tock

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_02]: account that was doing, it looks like an ad and they interviewed him and put him in this ad.

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_02]: And now his channel is past 7,000. I probably buy 8,000 now. It's really cool to see.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_02]: It's really neat to see. So if you want to give him a follow as well, it's SushiGuy51.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_02]: I asked him what it means. Apparently doesn't mean anything. It's just something he came up with one day

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_02]: and it just sort of stuck. So there you go. SushiGuy51 on YouTube, me and your aunt are very proud of you.

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Alright that's it for today. See you tomorrow.