Your campaign budget is made up of the average amount you want to spend each day. Don’t be alarmed if you overspend a bit for a particular day as Google compensates you for that later. The amount you set as your initial daily budget should be based on the amount, you’re willing to invest in the campaign in order to optimize future profitability.
It is difficult to determine how long that will take. Start with a small budget in order to get an indication as to how you will perform based on the conversions you’ve established along your sales funnel. While it will not be profitable within a short amount of time, you will still get an indication as to how long it will take to close the gap. You can then turn your campaign from an expense into an asset.
So, start with a test budget to get a feel for it. If the indicators look good, you can decide to increase your budget to get the stats you need for faster optimization. Conversely, if indicators are poor, you might want to slow things down, and rethink and adjust your campaign. Small PPC budgets are a challenge for advertisers. How can you make the most out of the budget?
Keep in mind these simple campaign budget tips:
- Set a budget scope
Smaller budgets lead to setting up of weaker expectations in size and scope. Try to determine approximately how many clicks per day you are likely to receive. For example, if the monthly budget is Rs. 2,000 per month and the average cost-per-click is Rs. 2.50, you can get 800 clicks per month. That’s only 26 clicks per day or Rs. 66 a day budget.
Google Ads and possibly other channels, may exceed the daily budget from time to time to maximize clicks. The overall monthly budget should not exceed the daily ‘x’ number of days in the month.
- Prioritize campaign goals
Often advertisers will add multiple goals per account. Smaller budgets limit the number of campaigns and the number of goals. Some common campaign goals include:
- Generating brand awareness
- Product and brand consideration
- Leads and Sales
- Online repeat sales
- Geotargeting settings
Geotargeting settings allow you to target states, cities, or ZIP codes. The smaller the geographical area, the lesser traffic to cater to. This lets you balance relevance with your budget. Also, consider adding negative locations where you do not want to do business in.
- Campaign Ad scheduling
Ad scheduling helps control your ad budget by only running ads on certain days and at certain times. If your business is open during specific hours, it might make sense to set ads that run only while you are open. If you are selling products online, you are always open, but it may be smart to review ad reporting to determine if there are any times of the day when there is a negative ROI.
- Keyword match types
Keyword match types are essential to controlling your budget, especially if funds are tight. Learn about match types and how each of them triggers ads. Combined with geotargeting and ad scheduling, you may have to test different match types to get the right balance.
- Use display
You can make your company appear to be “everywhere” by adopting a remarketing strategy. Be visible to website visitors and several different audiences in your target market. If you pay-per-click, the impressions do not cost you anything. Display campaigns can provide broader reach and improve brand awareness.
- Enable tracking
Ensure that a tracking code is set up through your PPC platform. Make use of website analytics to measure performances. The data that is collected is critical to stay informed of your decisions for optimization.
- Keyword bidding
Bidding on generic keywords can be costly. Find unique and long-tail keywords to compete effectively on a smaller budget. Easily find effective long-tail keywords using Google Analytics. Also, use organic searches, Google autocomplete, and tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner.
- High-volume keywords
Competitive and high-volume keywords are expensive and can put a dent into the budget. Consider putting a bid cap (max bid) on what you’re willing to pay. Try to accept a lower ad rank to pay less per-click, depending on your goals.
- Avoid dynamic search ads
Dynamic search ads aren’t triggered by specific keywords chosen by you. Instead, they are display-based keywords appearing in the content of your landing page. This often results in irrelevant clicks and impressions, which could drive up daily spend.
- Add ad extensions
Ad extensions call attention to the ad and provide additional information that can’t fit into the ad. Add the following extensions:
- Local address
- Sitelinks
- Call-outs
- Phone number
- Structured snippets
Google provides dynamic ad extensions which are automated extension that shows details from your website added to your ad text.
- Add negative keywords
Just like keyword match types, an extensive negative keywords list is critical to controlling budgets. Generate a list of negative keywords proactively by brainstorming keyword concepts that may trigger ads erroneously.
Review ad query reports to find irrelevant searches that have already led to a click. Update it regularly if your campaign keywords are a broad match and phrase match type.
- Adopt landing pages
Targeted and conversion-optimized landing pages are essential. Google judges the quality of landing pages based on parameters of relevance, ad content originality, ad transparency, and navigability. Poorly structured or outdated landing pages lead to poor conversions.
