Should the Budget or the Bid Be Higher to Increase the Reach of a Campaign?

Short Answer: The bid must be proportionate to the daily budget. You cannot have a bid higher than your daily budget; both need to correlate to effectively increase your campaign’s reach.

Full Explanation

When running a campaign, the bid and the budget are two interconnected aspects that directly influence the reach of your ads. The bid is essentially the amount you’re willing to pay for a specific action, while the budget is the total amount you allocate daily for the campaign. It’s important to understand that setting a very high bid but maintaining a low daily budget will not increase your campaign’s reach because the budget restricts how much you can actually spend per day.

Therefore, the bid needs to correspond to the daily budget you have set. If you try to set a bid that exceeds your budget, the system cannot effectively process your desired spending, resulting in limited or inconsistent reach. Ensuring the bid aligns with the daily budget allows the campaign to run smoothly and achieve the intended reach.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Determine your daily budget for the campaign — this is the maximum amount you want to spend each day.
Set your bid amount in proportion to this daily budget. Your bid should not exceed the amount you are willing to spend in a day.
Monitor your campaign performance and adjust both the bid and budget as necessary to maintain this balance.
Remember that the bid controls the competitiveness of your ads, while the budget controls how often your ads can appear.

Real Examples

For example, if your daily budget is set at $20, your bid should be at or below this amount to ensure your campaign can spend the budget efficiently. Setting a bid of $50 with a $20 daily budget would create a mismatch, preventing your campaign from reaching its full potential.

Common Mistakes

Setting a bid much higher than the daily budget, which limits the actual spend and reach.
Not adjusting the bid when increasing or decreasing the daily budget, leading to ineffective campaign delivery.
Assuming increasing only one of these values will improve reach without considering their correlation.

FAQs

Can I set a bid higher than my daily budget?: No, because the bid needs to be proportionate to the daily budget. Setting a higher bid than the budget is ineffective.
Which is more important: the bid or the budget?: Both are important and must correlate. The bid determines how competitive your ad is, and the budget limits how much you can spend daily.
What happens if the bid and budget don’t correlate?: The campaign may not deliver properly, limiting your potential reach and wasting resources.

Key Takeaways

Always ensure your bid amount corresponds to your daily campaign budget.
Neither the bid nor the budget alone determines reach; their relationship is crucial.
Maintaining this balance enables your campaign to maximize reach within your spend limits.