When Google rolled out Enhanced Campaigns in 2013, many people weren’t having it. Managers were worried about the loss of control and transparency, as these new campaigns would group tablets and desktops together as one bid. You could lower your bid for those two, and increase on mobile by a certain amount. The problem was that Google wasn’t providing much information as to how much exactly you should increase your mobile bids. In addition to confusion on bidding, marketers saw CPCs jump up – as some of their campaigns weren’t using mobile and were pushed into a mobile first campaign. In May, Google rolled out an additional change to Adwords; this would allow marketers to split up tablet and desktop for a little more control on their accounts. In addition to the device split, you also had a wider range of bidding – up to 900%.
After seeing these concerns, you may be wondering if you should take advantage of these device bid adjustments.
Reasons to use device targeting bidding:
You can isolate the growing device. Mobile is skyrocketing in terms of usage, and it is making no move to slow down. Your campaigns NEED to perform well on the mobile platforms; this is a key to your company’s success.
Consider times of the day that each person is using their devices. For example, users tend to pull out their phones during weekends, nights and commuting times. While tablet and desktop browsing peaks during midday. Also – consider your audiences for each device.
Reassessing your budget for mobile, desktop and tablet can help you get the most for your money.
Some downfalls to consider before you start adjusting bids like crazy:
Time investment increases. If you add separate bids for three devices, you are increasing your workload because you are monitoring those pieces of your campaign as well.
Your data will split into thirds, which can prevent you from making changes to the entire campaign once you get this granular.
Technical issues. While Google says these targeting options are possible, they aren’t exactly supported. You might need to tweak a few things before your campaign can run smoothly.
You may hit account limits.
While some of these points may seem daunting, they shouldn’t scare you off! Mobile is becoming king of the devices, and you will want to update your campaigns and marketing strategies to ensure you don’t get left behind.