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Smart Bid FAQs

Note: Smart Bid won't work unless you are tracking conversions. Make sure you are registering conversions of the goal you want to use in your campaign.

What initial CPM should I fill in?​

This will depend primarily on the competitiveness of the campaign's targeting. An in-stream format will require a much higher CPM than a banner format, just as a campaign targeting the US will require a higher CPM than India. At the launch of a new campaign, the initial CPM is the equivalent of a Smart CPM campaign which will prevent you from overpaying the traffic.

Tip: Ideally, if you have a campaign with similar targeting, you can refer to it to set your initial CPM. Otherwise, we recommend you to start with a competitive CPM from the beginning, as the faster you get data, the sooner Smart Bid will efficiently optimize your campaign.

What if my campaign fails to meet my goal?​

If your campaign does not reach its goal, here are different actions you can take to solve the problem:

  1. Give it time. Smart Bid requires data to efficiently optimize your campaign.
  2. Your goal is too ambitious; therefore review your Target CPA/ROAS goals.
  3. Your campaign targets many zones (e.g. native), so it will take longer to achieve significant data to reach the first level of zone-level optimization.
  4. Your campaign has a bid optimization configured to “Maximize Volume” which is an optimization that is prioritizing volume and the exploration of new traffic segments over the target goal; consider switching to “Maximize Target CPA/ROAS” bid optimization. Note that this option will be available only if your campaign has generated at least 30 conversions.

If you already know your campaign will not perform well on certain targeting segments (e.g: if your offer is not compatible with Android Operating System), then adjust the targeting settings of your campaign to block it, so Smart Bid does not spend time in testing those segments.

Can I target one single zone?​

Yes, it is possible to target a single zone. However, Smart Bid is most useful when your campaign is targeting multiple zones.

What is the required budget?​

There is no minimum budget. However, Smart Bid requires data. So, an effective budget will depend on the value of the Target CPA or the conversion value for a Target ROAS campaign. The higher the value, the higher the budget you will need to achieve meaningful data. The targeting of your campaign will also affect the budget. A campaign targeting one single zone will require less budget than a campaign targeting thousands of zones.

Tip: PPL models are perfect for Smart Bid and limited budget. However, it is possible for advertisers promoting PPS offers with high conversion values to reduce their budget by setting a different goal that is part of the conversion funnel, like a form submission or an email input.

What is the difference between Bidder and Smart Bid?​

These two features are designed to facilitate the management of advertiser campaigns. The Bidder is more of an automation tool, allowing advertisers to apply automatic campaign updates, based on certain metrics. And the “Automatic Bidding Optimization” feature proposed by the Bidder optimizes the campaign bids at the zone. Smart Bid however will optimize the bids of your campaign in real-time, based on the probability of conversion for a large number of data points.

Can I enable Smart Bid on an active Smart CPM campaign?​

Yes, and it is even recommended. If your Smart CPM campaign already has conversion data, this will be used from the start by Smart Bid as soon as you switch to this Pricing Model.

How long will it take for my campaign to reach its goal?​

The time will vary depending on the volume of conversions data and actual target goal. Typically, it takes around 30 conversions for Smart Bid to be able to start optimizing more efficiently. The higher the volume of conversions, the sooner Smart Bid will reach your goal.

OK, so I'm happy with the initial results of my Smart Bid Campaign. What should I do next to ensure I maximize volume?​

  • Make sure to use "Maximize Volume" Bid Optimization. That should be the most impactful action, as it will bid more aggressively on optimized segments and also test new segments more aggressively.
  • Increasing the Initial CPM will ensure you get the most volume on segments being tested. It will also increase the chances of being the top bidder, which can have a positive impact on campaign performance.
  • If you can increase the Target CPA/ROAS then you should. Similarly to Initial CPM, it will ensure you get the most volume, in this case on optimized segments. It will also increase the chances of being the top bidder, which can have a positive impact on campaign performance.
  • If you hit your Daily Budget on the campaign or you are close to it, increase it. That's for any campaign, not just Smart Bid.
  • Frequency Capping is a very important campaign setting with regards to volume. Especially for high frequency formats such as banners or native. Increasing Frequency Capping should definitely increase volume. However, CTR and CR should be monitored as higher Frequency Capping may result in lower campaign performance. That's for any campaign, not just Smart Bid.

I had an issue with my tracking solution and the conversions registered in ExoClick do not correspond to the real conversions I had. Will this affect Smart Bid? If yes, what should I do?​

Conversion data in your account needs to be accurate in order to allow Smart Bid perform the appropriate optimizations. If the amount of conversions registered in your campaign does not match the real amount, then we recommend you to modify your CPA/ROAS so as to match the amount of conversions you are getting, at least until the issue with your tracker has been fixed.