Bidding Strategy

Bidding is a function of how much conversion data the account has. Pick the strategy that matches your data, not the one that sounds advanced.

The progression by conversion volume

Conversions / month	Strategy	Why
0-15	Manual CPC or Maximize Conversions (no target)	Not enough data for a target. Keep control, gather signal.
15-30	Maximize Conversions	Enough to let Google optimize toward conversions, not yet enough for a reliable target.
30+ stable	Target CPA (tCPA)	Now a target is meaningful. Set tCPA near your recent actual CPA, then move it gradually.
Revenue values tracked	Target ROAS (tROAS)	Use only when you pass back real deal values, not flat lead values.

Rule of thumb: a Smart Bidding strategy needs roughly 30 conversions in 30 days per campaign to learn well. Below that, it's guessing.

Setting and moving targets

• Set tCPA at or slightly above your trailing 30-day actual CPA. Setting it aggressively low chokes delivery - Google simply stops bidding.
• Move targets in ±10-15% steps, then wait 1-2 weeks. Each change restarts learning. Yanking the target around guarantees instability.
• Expect a 1-2 week learning period after any major change (strategy switch, big budget change, target change). Don't judge or panic-edit inside it.

The B2B trap: optimizing to the wrong conversion

Smart Bidding optimizes to whatever you call a "conversion." If that's a raw form fill, Google will happily buy you a flood of junk form fills. In B2B you must:

1. Feed quality signals back. Import offline conversions (SQL, opportunity, closed-won) so bidding learns toward pipeline, not form fills. This is the single highest-impact move in a B2B Google account.
2. Value conversions differently. A demo request is worth more than an ebook download. Assign values so tROAS/Max Conversion Value optimizes toward what matters.
3. Until offline data flows, keep a human in the loop and watch lead quality, not just CPL.

Budget mechanics

• A campaign can spend up to 2x its daily budget on a given day; Google balances over the month. Don't panic at a single-day overspend.
• Budget-constrained Smart Bidding underperforms - if a campaign is capped and converting, raising budget often lowers CPA, not raises it.
• Brand campaigns rarely need much budget. Cap them and pour the rest into proven non-brand.

Manual CPC, when it still makes sense

Low-volume accounts, brand campaigns, or when you need hard control while gathering the first 30 conversions. There's no shame in manual early - it beats a Smart strategy starved of data.

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By Ivan Falco - Frontal