Manual CPC traffic for B2B lead gen?
I've seen numerous comments on Reddit lately mention that Manual CPC doesn't seem to bring in relevant traffic anymore, even compared to something like Maximize Clicks. To what extent, if at all, is this true? I know that smart bidding can outperform Manual…
I've seen numerous comments on Reddit lately mention that Manual CPC doesn't seem to bring in relevant traffic anymore, even compared to something like Maximize Clicks. To what extent, if at all, is this true? I know that smart bidding can outperform Manual CPC given ample data, but our business operates in such a low-volume niche (cybersecurity assessments in the Dutch market) that the most logical choice would be either Manual CPC or Maximize Clicks. I do appreciate the granularity that comes with Manual CPC, but I'm willing to switch to Maximize Clicks should it be necessary. Do you still see success using Manual CPC in your leadgen campaigns?
已收录讨论
I see. Would going from Manual CPC to smart bidding down the line be equally viable to going from Maximize Clicks to smart bidding? Because in that case, I don't suppose I have any reason to run Maximize Clicks.
When I have a conversion volume issue (like you) I tend to start with Max Clicks vs Manual CPC. But both are viable. Though, keep in mind Google uses data beyond just your conversion data to strengthen the value of Max Conversions bidding strategy so your volume bottleneck might not be as big of a problem as you think. Really, the only way to know for sure is to run an experiment comparing two bid strategies against eachother. Feel free to reach out if you need some help.
Maximize clicks is as you hear it! Terrible!!! However manual bidding has been ok ! Not as good as it used to be
I'm having a hard time with this aswell. Did you know you can do maximize clicks with an overall max cpc bid or is that not good enough? I just launched my campaign but when I used smart bidding it consumed my daily budget within one single click... So now I'm trying to get as much data with maximize clicks with a max cpc.
Manual cpc still brings in relevant traffic. We still use it in niche verticals and it far outperforms smart bidding. Though we also have a lot of manual bid adjustments and have our demographic dialed in.
Manual CPC can still work in these sort of niches where you're getting a low volume of conversions but you just need to focus on phrase and exact match and have a really good landing page experience. I personally will not use maximize clicks for your situation unless you're using it for discovery before transitioning over to max conversions.
manual cpc still being solid for you here lines up with what the other two replies said, and the reason is basically data volume. smart bidding (googles automated bidding that uses machine learning to guess who's likely to convert) needs a decent number of actual conversions coming in every month to learn the pattern of who converts, usually something like a few dozen a month per campaign at minimum, and in a niche like dutch cybersecurity assessments youre probably nowhere near that volume. when theres not enough data the algorithm is basically guessing, which is exactly what that other commenter described happening, maximize clicks or smart bidding blowing the whole daily budget on one click because it hasnt learned anything real yet. manual cpc feels more tedious but it means youre the one setting the ceiling instead of an algorithm thats flying blind, so id stick with it and lean hard into phrase and exact match like marketingwithdean said, broad match especially paired with automated bidding in a low volume niche is a recipe for your budget going to totally irrelevant searches. id also add audience layering as an observation setting, not targeting, things like in market or affinity segments relevant to it security or compliance, that gives you a bit more signal about who youre bidding on even while staying on manual. if you do want to eventually move to smart bidding, id treat maximize clicks as a data gathering phase on purpose, let it run a month or two just to build up conversion volume in the account, then reassess whether you actually have enough data for target cpa or maximize conversions to have something to learn from. jumping straight to smart bidding with low volume is what usually burns people, not smart bidding itself.
Test max clicks with a tight budget cap alongside your existing manual CPC campaign
Manual bidding is doing just fine. Better quality traffic.
Manual CPC has been in the crapper for a long time now. Every person I audit that runs manual CPC has a big problem with crappy traffic and poor performance. I always start biz owners on max clicks or max conversions now.
I would stay away from maximize clicks. There's no reason for it. If you're interested in smart bidding, go with tcpa. Personally I would stay on manual cpc for your business.
I've had good results with Manual CPC in low-volume B2B accounts. I don't think it brings better traffic than Maximize Clicks by itself. Traffic quality mostly comes down to keywords, negatives, and targeting. If you're unsure, run a simple test. Maximize Clicks with a CPC cap versus Manual CPC, then let the data decide.