Should Small Businesses Use Smart Bidding in Google Ads?

By: Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach

Are you a small business owner wondering if Smart Bidding is right for you? You might have heard conflicting advice, with some experts recommending against it for smaller companies. However, I'm here to tell you that Smart Bidding can be a winner for businesses of all sizes.

What is Smart Bidding in Google Ads?

Smart Bidding is a set of Google Ads bid strategies that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize your bids for conversions or conversion value. This means that Google's powerful AI analyzes millions of signals to determine the optimal bid for each individual auction, helping you get the most out of your advertising budget.

The Benefits of Smart Bidding for Small Businesses

Smart Bidding offers several advantages for businesses of all sizes. You get to harness the power of Google's advanced AI, which is constantly learning and improving. Your bids are optimized in real-time for each auction, ensuring you're always bidding competitively. And you get access to millions of signals to optimize your ads in real time.

How to Use Smart Bidding with Low Conversion Volume

Google recommends having at least 30 conversions per month for Maximize Conversions and 50 conversions per month for Target ROAS. If your business doesn't meet these thresholds, you can still use Smart Bidding by implementing micro-conversions.

Micro-conversions are smaller actions that indicate a user is interested in your product or service. For example, an ecommerce store might track "Add to Cart" or "Start Checkout" as micro-conversions. By tracking these smaller actions, you can provide Google Ads with more data to optimize your bids, even if you have a low overall conversion volume.

Examples of Micro-Conversions

• Ecommerce: Add to Cart, Start Checkout, Sign Up for Email List
• Lead Generation: Visit Pricing Page, Start Contact Form, Download Whitepaper