This article was written by Ted Dhanik
The process of budgeting for a campaign is often overlooked when setting up a new campaign. As marketers, we must be accountable for the dollars we spend, but we often make allowances for failed campaigns and call them “tests” to make ourselves feel better about the outcome. The truth is that careful budgeting and thoughtful research will take a campaign further than just buying cheap clicks.
Delivery
The way your banner advertising is delivered can have a huge impact on how well it performs. On accelerated bidding, your budget is spent quickly but your ads are served frequently. With a standard or basic delivery, your ads are served evenly throughout the day and your budget lasts much longer. It’s recommended that you start with standard delivery until you can determine when your ads perform at their peak.
Parting
Day parting your display advertising campaigns can be an effective cost-cutting tool. If you know that your ads perform very well on Thursdays, but not so much on Mondays, you could stop ads from showing on Mondays. This would reduce the amount of unnecessary spend you’re wasting on ideas that you have confirmed don’t work.
Research
The more time you spend researching new keywords and concepts for your campaign, the higher your chances of finding something cheap that works well for you. Long tail keywords, different demographic and geographic targeting can all lead to cheaper placements on better websites. You should also review any estimates the network may have for your cost per click or per view. Weigh these costs carefully against your expected margins.
Bio: Ted Dhanik has been producing insightful content related to direct marketing for the past fifteen years. Ted Dhanik is the president of engage:BDR, a display advertising network with more than 500 million potential unique users. For information on improving the ROI of your campaigns, contact Ted Dhanik.