Outrank Your Opponent With This Automatic Bid Strategy

adwords-automatic-bid-strategyFor some companies, the competition always seems to be one step ahead. AdWords wants to help out those struggling entities by providing them with a bid strategy that specifically targets and trumps a specified domain.

The Target Outranking Share automatic bid strategy gives you the power to name any domain and attempt to beat that domain’s ads in Google search rankings. Already familiar with how automatic bid strategies work? Let’s get started.

What is Target Outranking Share?

With this strategy, you identify your rival – maybe the boutique down the street or a national restaurant chain – in order to tell AdWords that you want your own domain to outrank your rival’s domain in AdWords auctions.

Target Outranking Share works as a portfolio bid strategy, so you can apply it to multiple campaigns, ad groups, and keywords.

Although a number of factors affect how bidding will result, success in this strategy will place your ad above the competitor or will place it in search results when your competitor does not rank at all.

Why Should I Use This Strategy?

Search Engine Journal notes that you can use this strategy to beat out the seemingly unbeatable – those targets with “bottomless pockets.” If you have enough cash to spend, it can create a quick avenue to besting big box online retailers such as Amazon or Zappos. Or if you’re so inclined, it can also help you engage with local small businesses.

Keep in mind, however, that this strategy can come at a cost. Literally, it could drain your budget when you go up against the big guns. You can keep your pocketbook solvent by limiting the maximum bid for any keyword, ad group, or campaign. Keep in mind, however, that a trade-off can exist between how much money you spend on this strategy and your ultimate ability to best the competition.

How Should I Get Started?

The first step to using Target Outranking Share is to decide which domain you want to beat. If you pick Zappos.com, then you can place that domain in the “Benchmark domain” section of your strategy’s settings. If you are undecided about which domain to challenge, AdWords can list a number of relevant competitors on your dashboard.

Next, choose the percentage of auctions in which you want to challenge that chosen opponent. Higher percentages will likely demand higher budgets. Again, you can limit your individual maximum limit for keywords, ad groups, and campaigns to keep your budget in line.

Just like Atria says in its previous feature about the Target Search Page Location strategy, you can also choose whether or not you want to automate or manually control bids. Automation gives AdWords full control to raise and lower bids; manual requires your input but will let AdWords adjust bids so they are high enough to challenge the competitor’s domain.

Look in future weeks to Atria for a rundown of the Target CPA strategy and its ability to help you get as many conversions as possible. Until then, keep an eye on Target Search Page Location and give it a couple weeks to have the full effect. If you find success and beat your competitor, consider how it has affected your budget and how it could help your future campaigns compete.

Keep your keywords and campaigns strong to remain competitive in any strategy you use, and remember that Atria is always a click away for any assistance you may need.