Google has been promoting the use of Broad Match + Smart Bidding. It could even be said that you “upgraded” your keyword to broad match in recommendations, which I think is dangerously misleading for inexperienced advertisers.
Um……🤨
I’ve been in the paid media industry for over a decade now, and while I think there are situations where Broad + Smart Bidding can work, I’d prefer you do a lot of other things first.
So, in this post, I’ll share two strategies to try in place of Broad + Smart Bidding along with tips and do’s and don’ts if you think it’s the right choice for your account. But first, a quick review of keyword match types.
Quick overview of keyword match types
Over the past few years, many Changes to Google Ads Keyword Matching. We got a new one…features changed…we lost one…it’s been a crazy ride.
So let’s get to know the land Google Ads keyword match types up to now.
The image above is from Google and gives some examples of what each keyword match type will match.
Broad match has its benefits, but it also opens your ad to show for queries that aren’t relevant to your target keywords, which can result in a lot of wasted spending on unconverted clicks.
Speaking of wasted spend, see if you use any of the free Google Ads performance scorers 😎
Try Two Strategies Before Using Broad Match + Smart Bidding
Like I said, Google claims broad match has improved and when paired with Smart Bidding reduces the need to use other match types – but if you just Learn to run Google AdsI recommend starting with both strategies.
1. Start with Phrase and Exact Match
My preferred search advertising strategy so far is to use phrases and exact match keywords to target people searching for content relevant to my clients.
Here’s an example of an account I’m trying to advertise a medical payment solution. These queries are all generated on broad match keywords, they’re just…well, they suck. Neat.
So, for that reason, I’d love to see each of you give old college-try phrases and exact match keywords before you even consider going into broad match.
But if you don’t see the appeal of these match types, then you can do another thing.
2. Use Dynamic Search Ads
I’ve always been right Dynamic Search Advertising (DSA). If you’re not familiar with them, DSA campaigns work on your site rather than keywords, but are still search campaigns. All you have to do is provide your website or bulk upload page, and Google will create and serve ads to users who are searching for items closely related to your page content.
While these campaigns still rely on Google to make some keyword decisions for you, I found that, on average, they matched more relevant queries than broad match keywords.
The only problem with DSA is that it is sometimes difficult to find the size of these types of campaigns. So get ready to make it a result.
If you choose Broad Match + Smart Bidding…
If you don’t find a tighter match type or DSA size, it might be time to bite the bullet and use Google’s pet strategy. But before you do that, there are a few things you should think about or do before you start.
1. Make sure you have enough conversion data (and the right conversion actions)
In this article, I haven’t paid much attention to the Smart Bidding portion of the strategy. Well, it’s time to shine.
automatic bidding Great, but it’s a machine. It only works if it has enough data to learn and infer user interests.
This strategy can be difficult to achieve if you don’t have the conversion actions required to achieve at least 15 conversions per month. Ideally you would use other strategies Find more conversions before launch.
One such strategy might be to change what your call to action is or what you use custom transformation Action set for campaigns using Broad + Smart Bidding. If you’re able to combine multiple conversion actions to get the bare minimum, this can be a good way to make sure you’re offering a bid strategy and getting the results you want.
2. Active use of negative keywords
Given that broad match will match… pretty much everything, you’ll have to take the time to add something logical negative keywords Add to your campaign before you start. There are many places to find these:
- Search Query Report from an active campaign
- Account-level negative keyword list
- Google Keyword Planner
Just take the time to add terms that you know will come up and are not suitable to save you the headache of adding them after they’ve already cost you money.
3. Review search queries regularly
If you followed the steps above before launching, you’re off to a good start, but that doesn’t mean your work is done. There’s still a lot you can and should do post-launch to make sure you’re getting the most out of your strategy.
I hope now that I have understood the fact that broad match is truly broad. Make sure you don’t let it go completely crazy and set up a recurring task to review the query. This may be as frequent as every day for the first week, then reverts slightly to twice a week, then once a week, and then you may do it every few weeks to a month. But the job is never done.
4. Monitor lead quality
For e-commerce stores, PPC lead quality Not applicable because a sale is a sale. But when it comes to lead generation companies, not all leads are created equal.
Make sure to tag the leads generated from this campaign in such a way that you can assess their quality later.
It’s one thing to find a new source of tons of leads, it’s quite another to find out after six months that all leads are a terrible waste of money.
5. Set bid limits to get started
Whether you’re using a “Maximize clicks” or “Maximize conversions” bidding strategy, there are some general guidelines and maximums you should start with to control how much you pay per click or per conversion.
These can be set in the bid strategies section of each campaign or in a shared bid strategy. Over time you see good performance and you may loosen up those controls, but over time start to be conservative and loosen the reins.
6. Start with a conservative budget
Just like bidding, you can set a daily budget cap for this campaign. Start small, get some performance (and new negative keywords), and expand when you see some positive trends. “Keep in mind that Google can charge up to twice its daily budget if it thinks it’s going to convert, so don’t be surprised if it does.
Use Extensive + Smart Wisely
As you can probably tell from the tone of this post, I’m not a big fan of using Google’s favorite broad match + automated bidding strategy in campaigns. Maybe I’m just getting older, maybe I’ve always been a grumpy person.
Either way, this article hopes to give you some ideas of things to do before you adopt the strategy, but also tips on how to make it work in your favor if you decide to go this route.
