How do you differentiate bid adjustments between top-performing and average-performing keywords?

Differentiating bid adjustments between top-performing and average-performing keywords is crucial for maximizing the efficiency of your PPC campaigns. By prioritizing your budget towards top-performing keywords, you can optimize for better results, while ensuring that average-performing keywords don't waste resources. Here's how you can adjust bids for both:

1. Identifying Top-Performing vs. Average-Performing Keywords
Top-performing keywords are those that:

Generate a high number of conversions.

Have a low Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA).

Deliver a high Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

Have a strong Quality Score (indicating ad relevance and good user engagement).

Average-performing keywords:

May generate some conversions but not at an optimal cost.

Have a moderate CPA and/or low conversion rate.

May not have as strong a Quality Score or relevance.

Have a lower ROAS compared to top-performing keywords.

2. Adjusting Bids for Top-Performing Keywords
For keywords that consistently perform well, your bid adjustments should aim to increase their visibility and maximize returns while still maintaining cost-effectiveness.

Strategies for Top-Performing Keywords:
Increase Bids to Capture More Traffic:

Since these keywords already perform well, you can increase your bids to increase their exposure and capture more traffic that is likely to convert. Higher bids will help you secure top ad positions and maximize conversions from high-intent users.

Example: If the keyword "best running shoes for marathons" consistently generates high sales with a low CPA, you can raise the bid to ensure the ad remains in top positions, capturing as much relevant traffic as possible.

Allocate a Larger Budget:

Direct more of your budget towards high-performing keywords. These are the keywords that are driving the most value, so increasing the budget helps you scale your efforts without wasting resources on underperforming terms.

Example: Allocate a higher daily budget to keywords with a proven track record of success, ensuring that you're fully capitalizing on their potential.

Consider Using Automated Bidding for Optimization:

Use automated bid strategies like Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) or Target CPA to ensure that bids are adjusted dynamically based on the performance of top keywords. Automated strategies help maintain consistency in performance and optimize for conversions without manual intervention.

Example: For a keyword with a proven high ROAS, you can set a target ROAS, and the system will automatically adjust bids to maintain a consistent return on your ad spend.

3. Adjusting Bids for Average-Performing Keywords
Average-performing keywords are those that might bring in some conversions, but their cost or return isn't as high as top-performing keywords. For these, the goal is to optimize their performance without overinvesting in traffic that doesn't yield as much value.

Strategies for Average-Performing Keywords:
Lower Bids to Control Costs:

For average-performing keywords with a high Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) or a low conversion rate, you may want to reduce the bid to prevent overspending on keywords that aren't driving profitable results. Lowering bids ensures you're not wasting budget on terms that don't provide a good ROI.

Example: If the keyword "cheap running shoes" brings in some traffic but has a high CPA and a lower conversion rate, you can reduce the bid to prevent overspending on underperforming traffic.

Optimize Keyword Targeting:

Consider narrowing the keyword's targeting or adjusting its match type (e.g., moving from broad match to phrase or exact match) to increase relevance and lower wasted spend. You can also experiment with adding more negative keywords to filter out irrelevant searches.

Example: If "best running shoes for beginners" is getting clicks from users who are not ready to buy, you can refine the targeting or use negative keywords like "cheap" to filter out low-intent traffic.

Improve Ad Copy and Landing Pages:

If a keyword is performing averagely, the issue may be with ad relevance or the landing page experience. Test new ad copy or optimize your landing pages to better align with the keyword's intent, which can help boost conversions.

Example: If your ads for "running shoes for beginners" are not converting well, refine the ad copy to highlight specific benefits for beginners, or optimize the landing page to provide more relevant product recommendations.

Use Ad Scheduling or Dayparting:

Adjust your bids based on time of day or day of the week if your data shows that average-performing keywords perform better at specific times. This allows you to increase bids during peak hours and lower bids during off-hours to ensure you're getting the best ROI throughout the day.

Example: If your keyword "running shoes for men" only converts well in the evenings, you can increase the bid for that keyword during those hours and reduce it during less profitable times.

4. Different Bidding Approaches for Long-Tail vs. Broad Keywords
Long-tail keywords tend to have lower competition and can be more specific, often resulting in a higher conversion rate. In contrast, broad keywords may have higher traffic but lower relevance and higher competition, which can lead to lower conversion rates.

Increase bids for long-tail keywords with high conversion rates, as they tend to be more targeted and specific, often leading to better ROI. These keywords are often considered top-performing keywords, even though they may not generate high traffic volumes.

Decrease bids for broad keywords that are underperforming or attracting irrelevant traffic. While broad keywords can sometimes generate a lot of clicks, they may not always be as targeted, resulting in wasted budget.

Example: For a long-tail keyword like "buy affordable marathon running shoes," increase bids if it's performing well, but reduce bids for a broad keyword like "running shoes" if it's bringing in non-converting traffic.

5. Setting Up Performance-Based Bid Adjustments in Bing Ads
In Bing Ads, you can set up custom bid adjustments based on keyword performance metrics such as conversion rate, CTR, and ROI. Here's how:

Increase bid adjustments for keywords with high conversion rates and low CPA.

Decrease bid adjustments for keywords with low conversion rates or high CPA to maintain control over costs.

Monitor performance regularly using the "Keywords" and "Search Keywords" reports to understand which keywords are driving conversions and adjust your bids accordingly.

6. Leveraging Automated Bid Strategies for Different Keyword Tiers
Automated bidding can also be used to differentiate between top-performing and average-performing keywords:

Target CPA or Target ROAS strategies can help you automatically adjust bids based on the performance of each keyword. For example, you can set a higher CPA target for top-performing keywords and a lower CPA target for average-performing keywords.

Enhanced CPC can automatically raise your bids when it detects a higher likelihood of conversion, which is especially useful for top-performing keywords.

Example: Set up automated rules to adjust bids for high-converting keywords based on performance data, and apply more stringent rules to keywords with lower conversion rates or high CPA.

Summary: Differentiating Bid Adjustments
Top-Performing Keywords: Increase bids, allocate more budget, and consider using automated bidding to capture more relevant traffic and scale effectively.

Average-Performing Keywords: Reduce bids, optimize targeting, refine ad copy and landing pages, and consider ad scheduling or dayparting to control costs and improve performance.

Long-Tail vs. Broad Keywords: Increase bids for high-converting long-tail keywords and reduce bids for underperforming broad keywords to better allocate resources.

Automated Bidding: Use strategies like Target CPA or Target ROAS to automate and optimize bid adjustments based on keyword performance.

By focusing your budget and bids on high-performing keywords while optimizing or reducing investment in average performers, you can improve overall campaign performance, maximize ROI, and ensure more efficient use of your ad spend.