Determining your digital marketing budget can be tricky. Allocate too much, and you risk unspent funds and a higher cost per acquisition (CPA). Allocate too little, and you won’t generate enough leads to turn a profit.

Budget Cat desires a hefty budget, but is it warranted?

Paid Search Budget Basics

A good starting point is determining your industry’s average cost per click (CPC). Multiply this by 10 to ensure a minimum of 10 daily clicks. This assumes a 10% conversion rate, exceeding the average for non-branded searches. Let’s illustrate with a pest control company specializing in rodents and bugs. Rodent-related clicks cost $5-$8, while bug-related clicks are $2-$3. Two separate campaigns are recommended: one for rodents ($50-$80/day) and another for bugs ($20-$30/day). This approach aligns budgets with service value and allows for service-specific ad groups. If this seems unfeasible, don’t fret! You can overcome budget constraints by adjusting your target audience and timing. Let’s explore three common budget-related obstacles and their solutions to boost conversions.

Roadblock #1: Your target keywords exceed your budget, and budget adjustments are not possible.

Solution: Utilize cheaper variations of your desired keywords.

Close variants have become increasingly crucial in account structure and search engine result pages (SERPs). This allows you to bid strategically. For instance, “personal training,” “personal trainer,” and their misspellings attract similar traffic. However, “personal training” generally costs less than “trainer” because the latter implies a transactional intent.

If budget constraints exist but you need traffic from a specific keyword, focus on bidding on its cheaper variations. Pause higher-priced close variants (e.g., those appearing at the top of the page or with a higher CPC). While you remain eligible for pricier variants, your bid for the cheaper option ensures you only win when the auction aligns with your budget.

Solution: Integrate expensive keywords as extensions in branded, competitor, or budget-friendly service/product campaigns.

While automating extensions might seem tempting, manual creation is recommended when facing budget constraints. Site links, price extensions, and other action-oriented extensions offer flexibility. Highlighting a service through an extension might be more effective than directly bidding on its expensive keyword. For instance, motorcycle accident keywords are pricier than generic auto accident keywords. If you’re an attorney specializing in auto accidents, include motorcycle accidents as a site link while bidding on general car accidents. This allows prospects searching for motorcycle accident services to find you at the cost of the generic term, avoiding the premium associated with the specific service. Price extensions can prequalify leads by indicating your pricing, even using qualifiers like “starting at” or “up to.” This ensures only those willing to spend the specified amount engage with your ad.

Roadblock #2: You need rapid lead generation but lack the budget for Google Search as your primary driver.

Solution: Utilize networks with lower auction prices and extensive reach for remarketing through your search campaigns.

Google Search is excellent for lead generation because it targets active searchers. However, this comes at a cost. With a tight budget, consider using Google Search as a secondary or tertiary strategy. Explore Display advertising, which offers cost-effective brand visibility and wider reach. Recently, Display introduced cost-per-lead bidding, slightly raising the average CPC but remaining significantly cheaper than search. Facebook, operating on a CPM model, offers calculated CPCs based on ad engagement (click-through rate). While Facebook audience targeting has become less precise, it still holds potential for engagement. Utilize lookalike audiences based on your existing customers or page followers. Bing search, often underestimated, boasts nearly 40% market share and provides refuge from Google Search’s high prices. Bing grants greater control over ad group settings (scheduling, location targeting) and allows for auto-import updates. Leverage Bing, especially when specific SERP targeting is non-negotiable. With an average CPC of $1.54 compared to Google’s $2.69, your budget stretches further, extending your reach to Yahoo SERPs.

Impression share loss due to rank prevails! ☹

Roadblock #3: Your challenge isn’t the overall budget, but a restriction on the maximum bid per click.

Solution: Employ bidding strategies that demonstrate the required auction prices for optimal value to whoever imposed the bid limit.

This is less of a compromise and more of a lesson in profitability. When a brand seeks competitive leads without exceeding a specific cost per click, consider “Target Page Location” with a bid cap set at 10% of the daily budget. If impression share suffers due to rank or poor query quality, you have data highlighting how focusing solely on individual bid cost, rather than overall ROI, hinders the account’s performance.

Solution: Limit your bidding to locations/times that align with your bid restriction.

Auction prices fluctuate based on location, time of day, and device, just like search methods. If the brand remains inflexible, schedule your ads to run only when auction prices align with their limit. Similarly, implement location bid adjustments, targeting, and exclusions based on an area’s affluence and serviceability. Remember, targeting the US without bid adjustments concentrates your budget primarily on CA, NY, FL, and TX. Adjust bids accordingly if their auction prices or serviceability don’t align with your goals. Ultimately, success hinges on aligning bids with budgets and focusing campaigns on specific objectives. Don’t hesitate to explore other networks for audience building and budget optimization, especially in expensive industries.