Describe a scenario where you would use a portfolio bidding strategy and how you would configure it to achieve specific campaign goals.
A portfolio bidding strategy is a powerful tool in Google Ads that allows you to group multiple campaigns, ad groups, or keywords together to optimize bids collectively based on a shared performance goal. It's particularly useful when you have several campaigns that contribute to the same overall objective and you want to manage bidding more efficiently.
Let's consider a scenario where you are managing Google Ads for an online retailer selling a variety of electronics, including laptops, smartphones, and accessories. You have separate campaigns for each product category: a "Laptop Campaign," a "Smartphone Campaign," and an "Accessory Campaign." Each of these campaigns has multiple ad groups targeting different brands, models, or features. The overarching business goal is to maximize overall revenue while maintaining a target return on ad spend (ROAS) of 400%.
Individually managing the bids for each of these campaigns and ad groups would be time-consuming and complex, especially considering that the performance of one campaign can influence the others. For example, a promotion on laptops might drive traffic to the website, which in turn increases brand awareness and leads to more sales of smartphones and accessories. This interdependency makes it difficult to optimize each campaign in isolation.
In this scenario, a portfolio bidding strategy is ideal. Here's how you would configure it to achieve the specific campaign goals:
1. Create a New Portfolio Bidding Strategy: In your Google Ads account, go to "Tools & Settings" and then click on "Shared library." Select "Portfolio bidding strategies" and click the "+" button to create a new strategy.
2. Choose the Bidding Strategy Type: Select "Target ROAS" as the bidding strategy type. This tells Google Ads to automatically adjust bids to help you achieve your desired return on ad spend.
3. Set the Target ROAS: Enter your target ROAS as 400%. This means you want to generate $4 in revenue for every $1 spent on ads.
4. Define the Scope of the Portfolio: Select the campaigns that you want to include in the portfolio. In this case, you would select the "Laptop Campaign," "Smartphone Campaign," and "Accessory Campaign."
5. Set Minimum and Maximum Bid Limits (Optional): You can set minimum and maximum bid limits to prevent Google Ads from setting bids too low or too high. However, be cautious when setting these limits, as they can restrict the bidding strategy's ability to optimize performance. Generally, it's best to let the system learn and adjust without too much manual restriction unless you have very specific reasons.
6. Consider Using a Learning Period: When you first implement a portfolio bidding strategy, it takes time for Google Ads to learn the optimal bids for each campaign. It's generally recommended to give the strategy at least two weeks to learn and adjust before making any significant changes.
7. Monitor Performance and Make Adjustments: Continuously monitor the performance of your portfolio bidding strategy. Track metrics such as impressions, clicks, conversions, revenue, and ROAS. If you find that the strategy is not meeting your target ROAS, you may need to adjust your target ROAS or refine your campaign settings. You can analyze performance reports for each campaign and ad group within the portfolio to identify areas for improvement. For instance, if the "Laptop Campaign" is consistently underperforming, you might need to optimize your product feed, ad copy, or landing pages for that category.
8. Use Seasonality Adjustments: If your business experiences seasonal fluctuations in demand, you can use seasonality adjustments to inform the bidding strategy about upcoming changes in conversion rates. For example, if you know that sales of laptops typically increase during the back-to-school season, you can create a seasonality adjustment to tell Google Ads to expect higher conversion rates during that period.
9. Leverage Conversion Value Rules: You can use conversion value rules to assign different values to conversions based on factors such as location, device, or audience. For example, if you know that customers who purchase laptops on mobile devices tend to have a higher lifetime value, you can assign a higher conversion value to mobile conversions. This helps the bidding strategy prioritize mobile users and maximize overall revenue.
Benefits of Using a Portfolio Bidding Strategy in This Scenario:
Improved Efficiency: By managing bids collectively, you save time and effort compared to managing each campaign individually.
Better Performance: The portfolio bidding strategy can optimize bids more effectively by considering the interdependencies between campaigns.
Increased Flexibility: You can easily adjust your bidding strategy based on changes in market conditions or business goals.
Enhanced Reporting: You can track the performance of your entire portfolio of campaigns in a single report, making it easier to identify areas for improvement.
In summary, a portfolio bidding strategy is a valuable tool for managing bidding across multiple campaigns with shared performance goals. By carefully configuring the strategy and continuously monitoring performance, you can improve efficiency, increase revenue, and achieve your desired return on ad spend.