Practical Bid Modifier Strategies

March 4, 2015

PRACTICAL BID MODIFIER STRATEGIES

Ty Martin

Sr. Director of Search Strategy

iCrossing

searchmarketingexpo.com

Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Recommended Location Bidding Strategy:

Location-Based Bidding

Set different bid modifiers for each geographic location to maximize aggregate performance efficiency


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Location Bidding Strategy Location-Based Bidding

Geography Modifier

Sacramento, CA +5%

Redding, CA -3%

Oakland, CA +6%

Monterrey, CA -3%

Los Angeles, CA +4%

Klamath Falls, CA -4%

Daly City, CA -1%

Calculate the demand efficiency of each geographic location.

Value = Revenue / Click Example:

Geography Value

Sacramento, CA 1.05

Redding, CA 0.97

Oakland, CA 1.06

Monterrey, CA 0.97

Los Angeles, CA 1.04

Klamath Falls, CA 0.96

Daly City, CA 0.99

Express it as a Bid Modifier to make it ready for upload to AdWords


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Where to Find Geo Data Location-Based Bidding

Source Example

Your own paid search performance AdWords, search mgmt. platforms

3rd party geographic overlays Household income data from Equifax

Data from your client Customer penetration per market

Site analytics conversion rate Adobe SiteCatalyst, Google Analytics, etc.


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Quick Tips on Geography Location-Based Bidding

• Cap the maximum Bid Modifier at a certain amount (e.g. +/- 20%) to avoid losing visibility in the auction entirely

• Set a new location bidding strategy for search season of the year (approx. 4 per yr)

• Set different location bidding landscapes for each high-volume campaign


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Recommended Daily & Hourly Strategy:

Daily & Hourly Bidding

Set different bid modifiers for each hour of the day and day of the week to maximize aggregate

performance efficiency


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Hourly Bidding Strategy Daily & Hourly Bidding

Hour Per Day

Click V

alu

e

Calculate the demand efficiency of each our of the day



Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Hourly Bidding Strategy Daily & Hourly Bidding

Calculate the demand efficiency of each our of the day


Express it as a Bid Modifier to make it ready for upload to AdWords

Click V

alu

e

Hour Per Day


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Where to Find Hourly Data Daily & Hourly Bidding

AdWords > Dimensions

Your Search Management Platform

OR


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

• Don’t assume an hour has low efficiency just because it has low volume

• Use reporting ‘By Click Date’ instead of ‘By Conversion Date’ (To raise bids when the click happens, not when the conversion happens)

• Set hourly bids to zero on Phone Extension campaigns when call center is closed

• As an advanced tactic, set bids for each of the 168 hours of the week (7 days x 24 hours)

Quick Tips on Hourly Bidding Daily & Hourly Bidding


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Recommended Device Bidding Strategy:

Device Bidding

Set different bid modifiers per device based on the difference in

performance


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Device Bidding Interface Device Bidding

Google: Bing:


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

• Acknowledge that smartphones are probably driving more than you are tracking (phone sales, in-store sales, etc.)

• Use the bid recommendations provided in several major search management platforms for guidance

• Take advantage of Bing’s special benefit over Google: ability to set tablet-level bids

Quick Tips for Device Bidding Device Bidding


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Recommended RLSA Bidding Strategy:

RLSA Bidding

Set different bid modifiers per remarketing list


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Favorite Bidding Tactics:

Remarketing Lists in Search

Bid higher on searchers that have visited your site because they’ve expressed intent 1

Client X Avg. Rank Cost-Per-Click Conversion Rate Cost-Per-Order ROAS

New 3.4 $0.70 1.1% $64.92 1.64

Returning 1.9 $0.87 2.1% $41.84 2.40

Like many advertisers, this travel client found that return visitors

tend to have far stronger conversion rates than new site visitors

TRAVEL BRAND

RLSA Bidding


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Save media spend by blocking ads from showing to previous buyers

2

(If you’re a one-time-purchase brand)

TELCO BRAND

TV Service Sign-Up

Exclude from future TV Service ads


Remarketing Lists in Search RLSA Bidding


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Drive repeat purchases from previous buyers by raising bids in the future

3 (If you’re a repeat purchase brand)

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP

RETAIL BRAND


Remarketing Lists in Search RLSA Bidding


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

• Start with the low-hanging fruit: Raise bids for anybody who has visited your site in the past

• Implement AdWords Conversion Tracking to see the difference in performance without requiring duplicating campaigns

• Don’t forget to apply it to Shopping Campaigns too!

Quick Tips RLSA Bidding RLSA Bidding


Ty Martin #SMX #23B

Marketing

Practical Bid Modifier Strategies