Automated Efficient Bid Management

(day / month / year)

Joanna Lord

Director of Acquisition MarketingSEOmoz.org

No need to freak out.

@joannalord

Advertiser opens Adwords account

Advertiser sets budget to max they can lose without getting fired

Advertiser goes to beachand drinks Mai Tais

This is not automated bid management

@joannalord

This is not automated bid management

Advertiser opens Adwords account

Advertiser sets budget to max they can lose without getting fired

Advertiser goes to beachand drinks Mai Tais

Also not: A way to manage your keywords that don’t get a ton of trafficA way to “brand” your companyA way to collect data to use in other channelsA way to run without messing up what you’ve already accomplished

@joannalord

Instead we mean:

• Efficiently allocating your time where it needs to go

• Using your historical data to guide your future decisions

• Making your ROI formulas work to limit risk and maximize opportunity

• Making use of the tools they are providing us with

• Not losing your mind

@joannalord

When is a good time to use automated bidding strategies?

Obvious winner: When account gets too big to manually touch every word

But what about:

Transitional times (new contractor, changing tools, rebranding efforts)Off-season Right before and after promos…or during promos!Testing out new bidding strategiesWhen you are sick of doing PPCWhen one of your other job tasks needs some love

What options are available to us?

• Automated rules• Advertiser goals• Auto bidding options• Auto management tools

@joannalord

Automated Rules(Click into the campaign, will be a top nav option)

You can automate your account optimization. Can apply rules at: Campaign level Ad group level Keyword level Ad text level

Change bids when…Pause keywords when…Raise bids when…

@joannalord

Advertiser Goals(Found under the Opportunities tab)

Choose your advertiser goal: increase traffic, balance both, decrease cost Keyword ideas & bid suggestions are adjusted accordingly

You can export ideas, format & upload… easy as pie.

@joannalord

Auto display bidding options(Found under Campaign Settings)

Under “Bidding Option” you will find an “Automatic bidding” option where you can maximize clicks, with a CPC bid limit.

You can also use your past conversion tracking data as the basis for those automaticchanges (sounds a lot like you would do huh?)

@joannalord

Bid Management Tools

@joannalord

Seriously…go here: http://searchenginewatch.com/3641287

Danger Zone: What to Remember About Automation

Your automation is as good as the insights you base it on

Automation should be tested before it rolls out

Campaign automation should be revisited often

If you find your entire account is automated, time for an agency

Automation will evolve, you should too

@joannalord

Ideas to take with youAutomation is no longer the black horse of PPC

It is for everyone…just not always the same reasons

It is the direction Google is moving, I would listen up at the least

Testing out automation doesn’t hurt anyone, ignoring it could

@joannalord

Thank for listing to me ramble.

www.seomoz.org

Questions? Hit me up, I mean it!joanna@seomoz.org

@joannalord

Joanna LordDirector of Acquisition Marketing

SEOmoz.org