Manual Bidding and Automated Bidding are two strategies used in media paid campaigns, each with its own advantages and considerations.

Manual Bidding

Manual Bidding involves setting bids for each individual ad placement manually. This approach gives advertisers full control over their bidding strategy, allowing them to adjust bids based on specific factors such as audience targeting, ad performance, and campaign goals.

For example, let's say you are running a Google Ads campaign for a new product launch. With manual bidding, you can closely monitor the performance of your ads and adjust bids in real-time to ensure maximum visibility and conversions. If you notice that a particular ad is performing exceptionally well, you can increase its bid to reach a larger audience.

Automated Bidding

Automated Bidding, on the other hand, relies on machine learning algorithms to set bids automatically. These algorithms analyze vast amounts of data, including historical campaign performance, user behavior, and contextual signals, to determine the optimal bid for each ad placement.

For instance, Facebook's Automated Bidding strategies such as Target Cost or Maximum Conversion automatically adjust bids based on predicted user behavior and conversion likelihood. This approach can save advertisers time and effort by automating the bid management process.

Considerations

When deciding between Manual Bidding and Automated Bidding, several factors should be considered:

1. Control: Manual Bidding provides more control over bid adjustments and allows advertisers to respond quickly to changes in campaign performance. Automated Bidding, while convenient, may limit the level of control.
2. Scale: Automated Bidding can handle large-scale campaigns more efficiently than manual bidding, especially when dealing with numerous ad placements and targeting options.
3. Data Availability: Automated Bidding relies heavily on historical data to make accurate predictions. If you have limited campaign data, manual bidding may be a better option.

In conclusion, both Manual Bidding and Automated Bidding have their merits. Advertisers should consider their campaign goals, available resources, and level of control desired to determine the most suitable bidding strategy.

References:

• Google Ads - About Manual Bidding
• Facebook Business - Automated Bidding