Which bid strategy should you use in Google Shopping campaigns?

By: Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach

Are you confused about which bidding strategy to use for your Google Shopping campaigns? Whether you're launching a brand new campaign or trying to optimize an existing one, the path forward can be ambiguous.

For Standard Shopping campaigns, your choices are limited, and picking the right one at the right time is the key to success. This isn't about a single "best" strategy, but rather a phased approach that matures as your campaign does.

This guide will walk you through my proven 3-step process:

1. Choosing the right starting strategy to gather data.
2. Fueling the learning process with conversions (or micro-conversions).
3. Graduating to and optimizing the ultimate goal: Target ROAS.

Which bid strategies can you use in Google Shopping campaigns?

Standard Shopping campaigns in Google Ads only offer three potential bidding strategies: Manual CPC, Maximize Clicks, or Target ROAS (tROAS).

While Target ROAS is your only true Smart Bidding option and should be your ultimate goal, it's usually a mistake to start a brand new campaign on tROAS. Smart Bidding needs data to work effectively, and a new campaign has none. You need to earn your way there first.

Step 1: Choose Your Starting Strategy (The Data Gathering Phase)

The goal of a new Shopping campaign is to gather performance data as quickly as possible. You need to learn which products, search terms, and customers are valuable. You have two solid options for this initial phase:

• Maximize Clicks: This is often my preferred starting point. It tells Google to get you as much traffic as possible within your budget, which is the fastest way to gather data. If you're concerned about initial costs, you can set a maximum CPC bid limit, but remember: expensive clicks aren't the enemy, low-quality traffic is.
• Manual CPC: This strategy gives you maximum control over your bids from day one. It's a good option for experienced advertisers who want to manage bids at a granular level, but be warned - it can be a significant time investment.

Step 2: Gather Enough Data for Smart Bidding

Before you can graduate to Target ROAS, you need to "teach" the algorithm what a successful outcome looks like. This means you need conversion data.

The Conversion Threshold

To ensure a smooth and successful transition to Target ROAS, you should have at least 30 conversions in the last 30 days. Ideally, 50 or more conversions will give the system even more data to work with, making success faster and easier.

What If You Don't Have Enough Sales? Use Micro-Conversions.

If your store has a lower sales volume, waiting for 30-50 sales can take an eternity. This is where micro-conversions become your best friend.

Micro-conversions are smaller, valuable actions users take on the path to purchasing. For an ecommerce store, these are typically:

• Adding an item to the cart
• Beginning the checkout process

By tracking these actions as conversions, you give Smart Bidding more data signals to learn from. Think of them as training wheels for your campaign, helping it learn to ride faster so you can enable the powerful Target ROAS strategy sooner.

Step 3: Graduate to Target ROAS and Optimize

Once you've consistently hit your conversion threshold, you're ready to make the switch to Target ROAS.

Making the Switch

In your campaign settings, change the bidding strategy to Target ROAS. It's crucial to set your initial target based on your campaign's actual performance. Look at your ROAS over the last 30 days and set your target at or slightly below that number to ensure a smooth transition without disrupting performance.

Optimizing Your tROAS Shopping Campaign

Smart Bidding is powerful, but it's not a "set it and forget it" solution. Once you're on Target ROAS, you should continuously optimize:

• Review Your Search Terms Report: Even with Smart Bidding, you need to ensure your traffic is relevant. Regularly review your search terms and add negative keywords to block wasteful spending.
• Check Your Product-Level Reporting: Dive into your Products tab to see which items are your top performers and which are lagging. This insight can help you optimize your product feed, adjust pricing, or decide which products to pause.
• Don't Be Afraid to Experiment: Once the campaign is stable, test different tROAS targets. Can you increase your target to improve profitability? Or should you decrease it slightly to drive more conversion volume? Small adjustments can lead to big improvements.

By following this phased journey - starting simple, gathering data, and graduating to Smart Bidding - you can build highly effective and profitable Google Shopping campaigns.