[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” hundred_percent_height=”no” hundred_percent_height_scroll=”no” hundred_percent_height_center_content=”yes” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”-100″ margin_bottom=”0″ padding_top=”0″ padding_right=”0″ padding_bottom=”0″ padding_left=”0″][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_imageframe image_id=”2412″ max_width=”” style_type=”none” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”none” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”center” lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” alt=”” link=”” linktarget=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]https://www.brandrocket.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/header-enchanced-cpc.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” hundred_percent_height=”no” hundred_percent_height_scroll=”no” hundred_percent_height_center_content=”yes” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”-20%” margin_bottom=”20%” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ spacing=”” center_content=”yes” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” undefined=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_title margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” hide_on_mobile=”medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=””]

AdWords Bidding Options

[/fusion_title][fusion_title margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” hide_on_mobile=”medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=””]

Enhanced CPC

[/fusion_title][fusion_title margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility” class=”” id=”” size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=””]

Enhanced CPC

[/fusion_title][fusion_title margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” hide_on_mobile=”medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=””]

By David Smania

[/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” hundred_percent_height=”no” hundred_percent_height_scroll=”no” hundred_percent_height_center_content=”yes” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”-70″ margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” class=”” id=””]

AdWords offers a wide variety of smart bidding options for advertisers to use to achieve company goals.

This might include targeting a specific customer acquisition cost, return on ad spend, or even a page location in the search results.

But at the very core, our end goal is pretty simple. We want to increase the number of conversions at the lowest cost possible.

But simple always becomes more complicated, especially as an account grows in size and complexity.

With growth comes an ever-expanding list of keywords, bid adjustments, locations, days of the week, time of day, and a slew of audience and demographic settings.  Wheew!

So when Google introduced Enhanced CPC (ECPC) as a bidding option in 2010, many Adwords specialists took notice.

Enhanced CPC monitors and identifies auctions that are more likely to result in a conversion, and raises your max CPC bid (after applying any bid adjustments) to compete more aggressively for those clicks.

In simple terms, bids are increased for clicks that are more likely to result in sales.

On the flip side, if a click seems less likely to result in a conversion, AdWords will decrease your bid.

Bidding can drop all the way down to $0 for ads that are underperforming, potentially providing a savings advantage as well.

Enhanced CPC will remain mindful of your max CPC, but it may exceed it for short periods of time to win certain bids.

In the past, ECPC was bound by a max CPC value and would limit the bid increase to 30% above this value.

Recent changes by Google have removed this threshold, and AdWords now auto-adjusts ECPCs “to fully account for differences in conversion rates across dimensions like audience and location.”

Now that the upper cap has been removed, how will you manage CPCs?

Google provides assurances that it will always try to keep the average CPC under the max CPC over a period of time. Unfortunately, Google hasn’t defined this period at the time of this writing.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” hundred_percent_height=”no” hundred_percent_height_scroll=”no” hundred_percent_height_center_content=”yes” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”#4fb3ce” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” undefined=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”40″ padding_right=”20″ padding_bottom=”40″ padding_left=”20″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” class=”” id=””]

“Enhanced CPC monitors and identifies auctions that are more likely to result in a conversion, and raises your max CPC bid (after applying any bid adjustments) to compete more aggressively for those clicks.”

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” hundred_percent_height=”no” hundred_percent_height_scroll=”no” hundred_percent_height_center_content=”yes” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” dimension_margin=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” class=”” id=””]

How Enhanced CPC (ECPC) Works

Enhanced CPC is a form of AdWords Smart Bidding that utilizes a variety of conversion intent signals.

Like Target ROAS and Target CPA, Adwords looks at remarketing lists, location, device, time of day, the day of the week, and many other proprietary factors that Google won’t divulge.

In order to use Enhanced CPC, an account needs to be configured for conversion tracking with enough conversions for a proper sample rate. Currently, Google wants at least 15 conversions.

Accuracy increases with the number of conversions that Google can sample and learn from.

Conversions at the Expense of Profits?

It seems pretty obvious that more clicks is a good thing, but not if they come at the expense of profit.

As an example, let’s say you have an online store that sells coffee beans. You are running an AdWords campaign to appeal to coffee lovers, and you set your max bid to $3 per click and choose Enhanced CPC.

Google’s machine learning then notices an ad auction where your ad is likely to perform well. Perhaps this is a user who is part of your remarketing campaign and they just visited a page on your site to learn more about your roasting process.

The auction takes place and the minimum bid to place is $3.50.

Since you’re using Enhanced CPC, AdWords will disregard your maximum bid of $3 and increase the level to $3.60 to optimize your placement in the auction.

The user clicks your ad, you’re charged $3.60, which results in a sale – one bag of beans for $9.

Sales are revenue, so this is a positive Enhanced CPC outcome correct?

Not necessarily. You booked additional revenue, but what if your margins are so slim that the increased bid put you in a position of losing money?

For some businesses, this slight loss on the first sale could be acceptable. The customer acquisition cost is viewed more as an upfront investment that will pay dividends later with future promotions and cross-selling opportunities.

This is one of the potential pitfalls of Enhanced CPC. Conversions don’t always equate to immediate profits, and if the transaction does cost more than the revenue received, the advertiser needs to do all they can to recoup that through future sales.

But if we’re executing our marketing programs correctly, then customer lifetime value will far exceed that upfront loss.

In Conclusion

As with other smart bidding types, you should always start small by testing a defined campaign that you can watch and measure carefully.

Let Enhanced CPC run for at least a month and dig into the details to see how the bidding option impacts your profit margins, CPC, conversion rates, and ad impressions.

If you do see increased conversions, you can scale your success through additional bid adjustments for different keywords, demographics, devices, and remarketing audiences.

If for some reason Enhanced CPC is not working for you and you’ve given it at least 30 days, you can always revert back to manual CPC.

Manual CPC is far more laborious, but you will have complete control over every bid in your campaign, down to the keyword.

Happy advertising!

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_global id=”2544″]