Running a successful shopping campaign often comes down to how well you manage your bids. If you’re dealing with a mix of high-converting unbranded queries and lower-performing adjacent queries, finding the right balance is key to maximizing ROI.
Why Query Sculpting Matters
Query sculpting isn’t just about organizing keywords—it’s about controlling where your budget goes. When 85% of your conversions come from high-performing unbranded queries, it’s clear where most of your revenue originates. Meanwhile, the remaining 15% from adjacent queries might seem less valuable, but they still contribute to your overall performance.
Ignoring these adjacent queries completely could mean missing out on potential customers who are still relevant to your business. The challenge lies in allocating resources without letting lower-performing queries eat up your budget.
Where Your Money Should Go
With such a strong bias toward unbranded queries, it’s tempting to push almost all your budget into the medium-priority campaign targeting those exact terms. However, completely cutting off adjacent queries might not be the best move. These queries may still bring in incremental sales that add up over time.
Action Tip: Use historical data to determine the CPA threshold for adjacent queries. If their performance is consistently below expectations, reduce bids but don’t eliminate them entirely.
Practical Steps to Adjust Bids
Here’s how you can approach bid adjustments for your high-priority campaign while keeping your budget focused on what works:
- Lower Bids on Adjacent Queries: Reduce bids significantly for adjacent queries to minimize spend. This ensures you’re not overspending on less profitable traffic.
- Increase Focus on Exact Matches: Allocate more budget to the medium-priority campaign targeting high-converting unbranded queries. This maximizes your return from the most reliable source of conversions.
- Monitor Performance Regularly: Keep an eye on metrics like CPA, conversion rate, and revenue generated by each query type. Adjust bids dynamically based on real-time data.
Avoid Over-Optimization Pitfalls
While it’s smart to prioritize high-performing queries, over-optimizing can backfire. For example, setting bids too low on adjacent queries might cut off valuable traffic that could convert under different circumstances. Test small changes first before making drastic cuts.
Additionally, consider seasonality or external factors that might temporarily boost the performance of adjacent queries. Flexibility is crucial when managing campaigns.
Key Takeaways
Finding the right balance between high-performing unbranded queries and adjacent queries requires a strategic approach. Lower bids on adjacent queries to protect your budget while focusing most of your resources on the terms that drive the majority of your conversions. Regular monitoring and testing will ensure your strategy stays aligned with actual performance.
Remember, even smaller contributions from adjacent queries can add up. Don’t dismiss them outright—just manage them wisely.