Running PPC campaigns can be difficult. Between all of the minute changes that must be made on a regular basis to keep targeted groups from ignoring their messages and calibrating the specific elements of messaging that will ensure positive results, the last thing you want is to have to deal with more variables. But PPC campaigns are very dynamic creatures and do require plenty of fine tuning. One area that must be assessed depending on the campaign is the use of manual or automatic bidding options. Which one is right for your campaign? We’ll discuss the pros and cons of each below so that you can make an informed decision.

Benefits of Automatic Bidding

When pinging servers with dozens of PPC campaigns, it can be stressful to keep up with all the adjustments you’ll need to make on pricing. This is the biggest benefit to automatic bidding: no more micromanagement on the financial front! The ability to “set it and forget it” makes this option perfect for larger PPC account operations, and can produce very efficient and effective campaign bidding that saves just as much money as manual bidding. Because automatic bidding relies more on data, the decisions made by the automatic algorithms will be more absolute and not subject to emotional fretting (all too common in the world of PPC when it comes to failed campaigns).

Benefits of Manual Bidding

Some people have the time and expertise to handle all of their PPC campaigns – this is a huge benefit of manual bidding, as it allows you to retain total control over every decision that is made. Smaller PPC campaigns and accounts (those with fewer than a dozen ads running) are often more suitable for manual bidding, as you’ll definitely have the time to keep an eye on things. When using a manual bid option, you also don’t have to worry about any additional costs – many third-party automatic bid adjustment software utilities cost money.

Cons of Automatic Bidding

Automatic bidding is not perfect; you will have to provide some insight and time to the endeavour to ensure that nothing goes amiss. Sometimes, mistakes can occur and without a human to spot them, you may lose valuable revenue (though more often than not, this isn’t the case). Some tools that are used for automatic bidding are slow to update, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on the conditions. If you do not have a large number of actions, conversions or engagements through your campaigns, then the data available through which automatic bidding software makes its decisions may not be optimal for your strategies.

Cons of Manual Bidding

When you need to manage other aspects of your PPC strategy (or your web presence at large), manual bidding can cost you valuable time. The amount of time you spend constantly adjusting bids may more than cancel out the amount you save by doing so. Most people who are pinging servers with PPC ads will start out with manual bidding as their mode of operation, but ultimately have to transition to automatic bidding once they become successful.