A Beginner’s Guide to Google Ads Automation: What It Is and Keywords that Work

At times, managing your Google Ads campaigns can get chaotic, whether you’re running multiple campaigns or you have limited resources. That’s where Google Ads automation comes in. Whether you want to automate bids or script annoying repetitive tasks, automation tools can help you save time, work more efficiently and get better results out of your campaigns.

In this guide, you’ll learn the fundamentals of using Google Ads automation including Smart Bidding, scripts, and critical strategies to get you started!

If you’re a small business owner, a marketer new to Google Ads, or a seasoned advertiser in need of a boost, this guide will demystify jargon and help you make automation work for your business.

Why You Need Google Ads Automation

Google Ads automation is intended to streamline campaign management. Instead of having to manually optimize bids or spend hours wading through mountains of data, auto tools can do the deciding for you, in real-time, using concepts such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Why Use Automation?

Saves Time

Automation also saves the time of human resources on repetitive tasks such as daily bid adjustments, audience segments, or reports generated. That means that we can free you up to concentrate on strategy and creative work.

Improves Efficiency

Machine learning is powered by the real-time data that human teams might overlook — automated tools can react quicker and smarter in fiercely competitive auction environments.

Optimizes Performance

Automation is using an unfathomable amount of data to optimize for the outcomes you want, whether that’s enhancing CTRs or increasing conversions.

Custom Solutions

Tools like scripts, already quite advanced, allow advertisers to custom-fit automation for specific campaign needs.

Whether you want a greater ROI, more sales, or better brand recognition, with Google Ads automation, you can spend less time tweaking and more time strategizing.

Mastering Smart Bidding

One of the Google Ads’ automation tools that we’d like to focus on today is Smart Bidding. And machine learning is employed to optimize bids every time an auction runs, a practice that’s often called “auction-time bidding.”

What Is Smart Bidding?

Smart bidding provides a range of automated bid strategies to profile your campaign goals, such as:

• Maximize Conversions – Get as many conversions as you can within your budget. 
• Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) – Bids to help maximize conversion value. 
• Target CPA (Cost per Acquisition) – Bids that help you get as many conversions as possible at or below your target cost-per-action. 
• Maximize Conversion Value – Optimizes for the most conversion value. 
• ECPC (Enhanced Cost per Click) – Bids are adjusted by the probability of conversion while at the same time not exceeding Manual CPC.

How to Set Up Smart Bidding

Define Your Objective

Figure out what it is you want to accomplish. For instance, if you want to boost sales while staying profitable, Target ROAS could be ideal.

Input Conversion Data

Conversion tracking must be spot on. Make sure you’re tracking conversions correctly in your campaigns, whether it be form submissions, purchases, or app downloads.

Assign Budgets Strategically

Establish reasonable budgets that are compatible with your objectives for the campaign. Begin with the mid-size budget and tweak as it goes.

Monitor and Optimize

Using Smart Bidding (or any bid automation) isn’t “set it and forget it.” You can analyze performance on a regular basis and optimize audience segments, ad copy or campaigns of your creative.

When to Use Smart Bidding

Smart Bidding can be especially effective if you have:

• Significant conversion data 
• Clear, measurable goals 
• A desire to experiment with and iterate on campaigns

Automation with Google Ads Scripts

While Smart Bidding manages the most important bidding decisions for a campaign, Google Ads scripts can automate hundreds of tasks and reports that would be created based on data.

What Are Google Ads Scripts?

Google Ads scripts are bits of JavaScript-like code you place in your Google Ads account to automate specific tasks. You don’t even have to be a coder to work with scripts — Google offers templates for a large number of everyday scenarios.

Usefulness of These Scripts

• Pause Low-Performing Keywords
  Pause keywords that are not performing & save your budget for better-performing terms. 
• Generate Performance Reports
  Deliver tailored reports, e.g. campaign performance summary, right to your mailbox. 
• Adjust Budgets Automatically
  Encode scripts to boost or reduce budgets according to variables such as traffic or demand for the season. 
• Monitor and Flag Anomalies
  Use scripts to identify and alert on out-of-the-ordinary spend or traffic to protect against potentially expensive errors.

Getting Started with Scripts

Use the Script Google’s Script Library

If you’re an instructional technologist or other tech-savvy person who likes to streamline repetitive clerical tasks, then either of these might be just the ticket.

Log into Google Ads, visit Tools > Scripts, and from there select from the available templates (pre-written scripts) or write your own original code.

Test Your Scripts

Always test your scripts in Preview Mode to make certain that they behave as expected and don’t adversely affect campaigns.

Schedule Run Times

Determine how frequently you want your scripts to be run (i.e. hourly, daily, or weekly).

Analyze Results

Continuously review the quality and efficiency of automated scripts and enhance them as necessary.

Automating Key Campaign Processes

In addition to Smart Bidding and scripts, there are a number of other methods for incorporating automation into your Google Ads campaigns:

Audience Targeting Automation

Leverage Google’s automated tools to build dynamic audience segments that resonate with users. For instance, “Similar Audiences” helps you reach people similar to those in your customer list.

Dynamic Ads

Dynamic Search Ads automatically generate your headline and send your prospects to the page on your site that’s most relevant to your keyword, so there’s no need to manage keywords!

Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max campaigns help advertisers drive impact across several channels such as YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, and Gmail in a single campaign type.

Misunderstandings of Google Ads Automation

It Can Be Performed Without Any Human Involvement

Automation is magic, but you still have to keep an eye on optimization and performance at all times for settings, target audiences, and creatives.

It’s Only for Large Accounts

The advantages of automation apply to accounts of all shapes and sizes, providing efficiency and scalability.

It Destroys the Strategy

With the right automation, execution becomes easier, but it does not replace strategic planning and creative development.

Conclusion

Google Ads automation provides fantastic potential to do more with less. From Smart Bidding to scripts, this arsenal is intended to enable advertisers to spend less time with manual tinkering and more time on strategy.

Still unsure where to begin? Start small, such as testing a single automated bid strategy or trying out a ready-made script. Every adjustment will put you a step closer to becoming an automation ninja.

If you’re ready to step into the future of automated efficiency, begin experimenting with Google Ads’ tools now, and you’ll be amazed at what it does for your ad campaigns.