One of the biggest pain points for advertisers is managing PPC budgets. Whether you are working with limited cash or a hefty sum with a lot of moving parts, effective budget management can be the deciding factor for either retaining a contract or getting more marketing dollars. In this post, I will show you how to get the most out of your PPC budget so that you have more time to strategize other areas of the business and look like a marketing rockstar.

Get Organized

Using either excel or google docs, download a list of all your campaigns and statistics from each network you use to advertise.

1. Segment by campaign - Gather every campaign you want to run this year. Ignore your instinct to have network bias; you only need campaigns for now.

1. Calculate the Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) for each campaign .  Here is a quick refresher on how to calculate ROAs.

1. Calculate overall ROI - if applicable, add in any agency services to get a true idea of return.

These calculations will be the basis of your decision making from this point forward and will help you prioritize your campaigns effectively.

Maximizing Your Budget

You’ve identified the campaigns on which you want to focus and allocate your budget, so now what?

Here are some tips to help you maximize your budget.

1. Trim the fat - Get rid of all the costly keywords, placements, targets, ads, locations etc.

Pro-Tip - In Google, you will inevitably have some keywords that you’re on the fence about. Save these and use them for Remarketing Lists for Search Ads.

1. Find the optimal time of day - Scheduling your campaigns seems like a no brainer, but there are a lot of factors to consider before making a decision.

   • How are your ads optimized?

   • Are you utilizing a conversion optimization tool?

   • Is your budget delivery set to accelerated or standard?

   I like to start with small chunks, no more than 3 hours at time, and then look at the data. The idea is to save more of your budget for the times that offer a better return while also making sure that you aren’t frugal to the point of creating a negative impact during the less optimal time slots.

1. Find the optimal time of the month - You may notice that your campaign or campaigns start off a month really well and slow down towards the end, or vice versa. This lag could be due to competition “back-loading” or “front-loading,” or it could be caused by consumer behavior. Whatever the case, take advantage of it by allocating more budget during the days of the month that deliver a higher return.

2. Use location bid modifiers or break out campaigns by location - Look into your sales data to identify the geographic areas that offer a higher return, and try to hone in on them.

3. Use mobile bid adjustments - It’s very important to segment by device, if applicable. Your return could be much different on mobile vs. desktop, and you may be looking at skewed data if you don’t segment by device. Optimize accordingly.

4. Look into past sales data - In PPC, the past doesn’t always predict the future. However, if you have access to past sales data, it will help give you insight into buyer behavior.

Pro Tip

Many of these tasks can be automated; they just need to be identified first. You can automate in Google natively; however, AdStage offers automation across Google, Bing, LinkedIn and Facebook.  See how here .

Takeaways

1. ROI is king. Don’t let bias dictate your decisions.

2. Use a top-down approach to prioritize your budget.

3. Take advantage of what your competitors aren’t doing.

4. Find opportunities to save money; i.e. Remarketing Lists for Search Ads, day-parting, etc.

Getting the most out of your budget is something all marketers strive to do, and clear cut strategies aren’t always evident. However, with careful planning and organization, you will be able to identify the levers that help drive the highest ROI for your business. Have any other strategies to help maximize your PPC budget? Please comment below.