How to Avoid Digital Advertising Budgeting Disasters

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Stop Campaigns from Overspending—for Good!

It’s Monday morning.

You launched a new digital advertising campaign last Friday after numerous client phone calls, extensive research, and detailed campaign strategizing. You’re excited to see the results you’ve driven over the weekend.

But after you log in to Google Ads, your jaw hits the floor.

Your client—who has a total advertising budget of $600 for the month—spent $3500 in the first three days.

How could this happen?

At some point, almost every digital marketer has implemented a change that decimated their performance by causing an advertising budget to drastically overspend. Learn about three common (and costly) mistakes that cause campaigns to overspend and how you can prevent them.

Incorrectly Setting a Daily Budget

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Accidentally adding a few extra zeros to your daily budget can spell disaster for your pay-per-click spend. And, now that Google Ads campaigns are allowed to spend up to two times the daily budget, an error like this could cost you your client (or worse).

ACTION ITEMS

  • Proof Your Accounts - Review every detail of your PPC account and campaigns before you launch. Twice. Look at everthing from your daily budgets (including your Google Ads Budgets) down to ad URLs.

  • Audit Your Peers - Implement a peer review system so that one of your team members is responsible for pointing out mistakes or providing suggestions on new accounts.

  • Don’t Skip Town - Monitor your new PPC account closely immediately after launch. If possible, avoid launching campaigns before the start of a weekend, long holiday, or vacation.

Manual Budget Tracking Errors

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Spreadsheets are useful to track clients’ campaign spends. But inputting a formula incorrectly or forgetting to add new campaign to your spend tracking sheet can lead to costly budgeting errors that are difficult to diagnose until it’s too late.

ACTION ITEMS

Poor Account Strategy & Implementation

Few things can deplete a budget faster than poor PPC account strategy. Failing to add negative keywords/placements can be just as harmful (and expensive) as implementing a strategy using a single ad group and all broad-match keywords.

ACTION ITEMS

  • Master the Basics - Utilize your company’s training program as well as free educational resources including Google’s Skillshop (fka Academy for Ads), Microsoft Advertising Learning Lab, and Facebook Blueprint.

  • Use Your Community - The PPC community is one of the most welcoming around. Cultivate relationships with PPCers online and in-person, read their content, and ask questions.

  • Keep Learning - Read industry blogs, participate in PPChat on Twitter, host learning opportunities at work, and attend conferences (when possible).

PPC Budget Management Software

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