Why Choose Portfolio-Level Bidding Strategy for Google Ads?

Advertisers are increasingly recognizing the benefits of opting for a portfolio bidding approach over the traditional campaign-level method. The portfolio concept isn't new; third-party Bid Management Tools like Skai (formerly Kenshoo) and Marin have been using it for over a decade. One main challenge with Google Ads automated bidding is the lack of data and conversions to inform bid optimization. Google suggests a minimum of 30 conversions in the last 30 days for effective automated bidding, but the more, the merrier. 

Here are 6 reasons why I, and many others, are using Portfolio-Level Bidding:

Lack of Volume at Campaign Level: One compelling reason for using a portfolio bidding strategy is the ability to consolidate campaigns that individually lack the recommended minimum conversions. Grouping several campaigns under a single bid strategy mitigates the lack of historical conversion data and accelerates the accumulation of meaningful volume. This helps the Google Ads algorithm be more effective due to the larger dataset, ultimately improving campaign performance.

Easier Management: If your campaigns share similar goals, grouping them into a portfolio is a smart move. It simplifies campaign management and streamlines optimization. You can adjust your overall RoAS or CPA target once for all or a subset of your campaigns and track the effectiveness of the bid strategy from a centralized location, saving time and effort.

Using Existing Data for New Campaigns: Starting a new campaign without any past data can be tough. But with portfolio bidding, you can use data from other campaigns in the portfolio. This jumpstarts the optimization for the new campaign, letting it benefit from insights and performance data from others. This avoids the inefficiency and hassle of using manual bidding until gathering enough conversions before turning on automated bidding.

Across Accounts: If you're managing multiple Google Ads accounts, such as different ones for various markets, brands, or lines of business through the My Client Center (MCC), implementing a portfolio bidding strategy across these accounts may make sense. For instance, if you're expanding into a new market and using a different account, or if you're expanding into a different line of business for an existing market, or even if you've run out of space in one account, which is common for large programs in industries like travel and real estate, you can leverage the data you have to start using automated bidding from day one.

Advanced Control: Portfolio bidding strategies provide advanced control settings, such as Minimum and Maximum bid limits, which are not available at the campaign level. These controls offer a robust toolset to fine-tune and manage the bidding strategy effectively. Bid limits can help prevent erratic and excessively high bids, ensuring a sense of control and stability in the campaigns.

Flexibility: Setting up bidding at the portfolio level, ideally at the highest hierarchy (MCC rather than Account level), offers significant flexibility. While the portfolio bid strategy can still be applied to a single campaign, it provides additional options with advanced settings and the ability to bid across campaigns and accounts. There are no advantages; you should always implement bid strategies at the MCC or Account level, even if you only want to apply it to a single campaign, because it gives you more options down the line.