SEM Success in the Automation Era

The success of maximizing your investment in search to directly generate revenue clearly lies with automation for now – I’ll spare you the digression of the pathway that automation will eventually lead us to. Target return on ad spend (tROAS) has been the automation method of choice for the past 2 years; a method by which you set a ROAS goal (say 200% or every $1 you spend in advertising nets $2 in revenue) and the ad platforms will use their pre-auction signals (user data) in conjunction with the algorithm to set bids in real time based on the individual users propensity to buy.

Recently though, I have been intrigued by Budget Bid Strategies and have seen success in limited testing. Budget bid strategies focus on maximizing revenue for a specific budget rather than focusing on a set efficiency goal in tROAS which could alter ad delivery.Our concern is with the lack of control over the investment in realtime and, with the holiday season on the horizon, we are scenario planning and working with our engine reps on how we will bridge particular situations should they arise.

Stay tuned.

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