As an advertiser on Quora, maximizing performance and optimizing your bidding strategy is crucial for achieving your campaign goals. One effective approach to streamline your bidding process is auto-bidding. Currently, Quora offers both CPA and CPC auto-bidding. In this article, we will explore the ins and outs of auto-bidding on Quora and provide you with a step-by-step guide to help you leverage this feature successfully.
What is CPA auto-bidding?
Cost per action (CPA) auto-bidding focuses on maximizing budget utilization while driving conversions at a desired cost per action. This strategy uses machine learning to optimize your bids in real-time, ensuring that your ads are shown to users most likely to complete the desired action.
Benefits of CPA auto-bidding
- Efficiency: Saves time by automating bid adjustments.
- Improved ROI: Focuses on conversions, potentially leading to a better return on investment.
- Scalability: Helps in scaling campaigns by prioritizing budget utilization and generating conversions.
What is CPC auto-bidding?
Cost per click (CPC) auto-bidding aims to maximize clicks on your ads while managing your cost per click. This strategy is ideal if your primary goal is to drive traffic to your website.
Benefits of CPC auto-bidding
- Traffic Focused: Ideal for campaigns where the goal is to increase website visits.
- Cost Management: Helps manage costs and optimizes budget utilization by automatically adjusting bids.
- Automation: Reduces the need for manual bid adjustments, saving time.
Who should use CPA auto-bidding?
Anyone currently using manual CPA bidding
If you are currently utilizing manual CPA bidding on Quora, CPA auto-bidding can offer a more efficient and automated solution.
Advertisers prioritizing steady CPA over scaling
If your primary goal is to maintain a consistent CPA rather than aggressively scaling your campaigns, CPA auto-bidding is an excellent choice. This is particularly beneficial for evergreen campaigns.
Advertisers with specific CPA targets
If hitting a specific CPA is crucial to your campaign’s success, CPA auto-bidding allows you to prioritize your target CPA over other metrics such as CPCs, CPMs, or CTRs.
Campaigns with a conversion objective
If your campaign’s objective is to drive conversions, CPA auto-bidding can help you optimize your bids to achieve your desired cost per acquisition.
Note: Before enrolling in CPA auto-bidding, it is recommended to have generated at least 10 click-through conversions in the rolling seven days under manual CPA bidding.
Who should use CPC auto-bidding?
Anyone currently using manual CPC bidding
If you are currently utilizing manual CPC bidding on Quora, CPC auto-bidding can offer a more efficient and automated solution.
Campaigns with a traffic objective
If your campaign’s objective is to drive traffic, CPC auto-bidding can help you optimize your bids to achieve your desired cost per click.
Advertisers with specific CPC targets
If hitting a specific CPC is crucial to your campaign’s success, CPC auto-bidding allows you to prioritize your target CPC over other metrics such as CPMs or CTRs.
Advertisers thinking about switching to CPA auto-bidding
If you are currently bidding by CPC, but want to generate conversions to switch to CPA auto-bidding later, CPC auto-bidding is a good choice.
Quora has been a consistently profitable platform for us since we began running auto-bidding. Our ROAS is regularly around or better than our goal.
Quora Ads Auto-bidding User
Why should I use CPA auto-bidding?
We recommend CPA auto-bidding if you’re looking for:
"Set it and forget it" convenience
By implementing auto-bidding for your evergreen campaigns, you can continuously optimize your bidding strategy, saving time and effort spent on manual bidding.
Consistent conversions and audience reach
If your campaign consistently delivers conversions while utilizing CPA bidding, CPA auto-bidding allows you to maintain performance. You can also target specific locations, although it may limit scalability over time.
We do not recommend CPA auto-bidding if you are:
Scaling at a set CPA
If your primary objective is to scale your campaigns while maintaining a specific CPA, CPA auto-bidding may not be the ideal strategy. Auto-bidding prioritizes the CPA goal over daily spend, whereas CPA bidding considers both the CPA goal and daily budget to increase the number of leads.
Drastically decreasing costs
While CPA auto-bidding may help lower your CPA cost, there is no guarantee of significant improvement. If you are aiming for a drastic decrease in conversion rate, it is advisable to explore alternative optimization methods.
Satisfied with CPC bidding
If you are satisfied with your current CPA while using CPC bidding, there is no compelling reason to switch your strategy to CPA auto-bidding.
Why should I use CPC auto-bidding?
We recommend CPC auto-bidding if you’re looking for:
"Set it and forget it" convenience
By implementing auto-bidding for your evergreen campaigns, you can continuously optimize your bidding strategy, saving time and effort spent on manual bidding.
Consistent traffic and audience reach
If your campaign consistently delivers traffic while utilizing CPC bidding, CPC auto-bidding allows you to maintain performance. You can also target specific locations, although it may limit scalability over time.
We do not recommend CPC auto-bidding if you are:
Scaling at a set CPC
If your primary objective is to scale your campaigns while maintaining a specific CPC, CPC auto-bidding may not be the ideal strategy. Auto-bidding prioritizes the CPC goal over daily spend, whereas CPC bidding considers both the CPC goal and daily budget to increase the number of clicks.
Drastically decreasing costs
While CPC auto-bidding may help lower your CPC cost, there is no guarantee of significant improvement. If you are aiming for a drastic decrease in conversion rate, it is advisable to explore alternative optimization methods.
Best practices for auto-bidding on Quora
To make the most of auto-bidding, follow these best practices:
Start with a single campaign
Before implementing CPA/CPC auto-bidding across all your campaigns, it’s recommended to run a test with a single campaign for a few weeks. This allows you to assess its performance and ensure it aligns with your expectations. Once satisfied, you can gradually extend its usage to other campaigns.
Set realistic targets
When setting your CPA/CPC goals for auto-bidding, it is advisable to start with a target close to your current performance on Quora. For example, if your current CPA goal is $75, with an ideal goal of $50, you can initially set your CPA auto-bid to $60-$65. Once achieved, gradually lower the CPA goal to approximately $55 to avoid sudden disruptions and potential performance issues.
Double-check ad set budgets
Remember that budgets for CPA/CPC auto-bidding are set at the ad set level. Ensure that your ad set budget does not exceed the campaign budget. If you have other ad sets not enrolled in auto-bidding, double-check your math to allocate budgets appropriately.
Allow sufficient time for optimization
Once you have set your numbers and switched to CPA/CPC auto-bidding, it’s essential to be patient. The system requires approximately five days to begin working effectively, during which you won’t be able to make changes to the bid. This period allows the algorithm to optimize and stabilize your CPA/CPC.
If you aren’t sure if auto bidding is for you, it can be beneficial running two identical ad groups and once they have enough conversions, turn one on auto-bidding and leave one off as a split test.
It can be tempting to make changes to your budget or bid strategy when things aren’t profitable immediately, but try to give auto-bidding at least a week to figure things out before changing anything.
How to get started with CPA/CPC auto-bidding on Quora – step-by-step guide
Confirm your ad set is running and eligible
Ensure that your ad set has been running on manual bidding and meets the eligibility requirements. For CPA auto-bidding, your campaign needs to have generated at least 10 click conversions over the past seven days. For CPC auto-bidding, your campaign needs to have spent at least $40 over the last two days.
Switch to CPA/CPC auto-bidding and set goals
Transition your ad set to CPA/CPC auto-bidding and define your desired goal and daily budget for the ad set. Remember that the campaign’s daily budget must exceed the ad set’s daily budget.
Example of a CPA Auto-bidding eligible ad set
Example of a CPC Auto-bidding eligible ad set
Allow time for ramp-up
Give the auto-bidding ad set approximately five days to “ramp up.” During this period, the system gradually increases the daily budget you have set to ensure stability in CPA/CPC optimization. Note that no changes can be made to the ad set during this period.
Adjust goals as needed
After a couple of weeks, reassess your CPA/CPC goals based on the performance and results you have observed. Make necessary adjustments to optimize your bidding strategy further.
Let it run as an evergreen campaign
Once you have fine-tuned your CPA goals, let the ad set run as an evergreen campaign. Enjoy the time-saving benefits of automated bidding and focus on other aspects of your advertising strategy!
For more detailed setup instructions in Quora Ads Manager, read our auto-bidding help center article.
Auto-bidding on Quora offers advertisers a powerful tool to optimize their bidding strategy and streamline their campaign management processes. By following these best practices, you can make informed decisions and maximize the performance of your Quora advertising campaigns. Embrace the convenience of automated bidding and unlock the potential for consistent conversions while saving valuable time and effort.
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