Max conversions or max clicks for new campaign?

ctrjunkie

We're running a lead gen campaign from 1st April till now, spending about 1.6 lakhs. Only got 5 conversions, and none of them were relevant. currently using maximise clicks, but before that we tried maximise conversions and that didn't work either. We want to start a fresh campaign because this one's just not performing. Is maximise conversions better for a new campaign, or should we stick with maximise clicks?

maya-b2b

Honestly, this is something I see debated constantly. The truth is, for anyone who has run a few serious campaigns, starting with maximise clicks is rarely the right move. Maximise conversions with a target CPA is fundamentally the same as maximise clicks when you set a TCPA-anyone who tells you to begin with max clicks probably hasn't tested both side by side.

People love to cite the 30-conversion rule like it's gospel. But think about it: a massive tech company runs an algorithm that supposedly needs thirty data points before it can figure out what you're trying to do. That's a convenient myth.

My approach? Default to maximise conversions with a TCPA. Look at your average cost per click, estimate your landing page conversion rate, and set your target CPA accordingly. If your CPC is around $50 and you anticipate a 20% conversion rate, set your TCPA at about $250. Then use impression share metrics to fine-tune.

If you're still unsure, don't take my word for it. Run a Google Ads experiment comparing both bidding strategies side by side. The data will tell you everything.

marketingmule

Honestly, maximise conversions on launch is a money pit unless you're dropping serious cash - like thirty grand a day. I'd go with maximise clicks to get some initial traffic and a few conversions first, then flip to maximise conversions after two to four weeks when the pixel has enough data to work with. been running paid social since 2008 and this approach has never let me down. What budget are you working with? That really dictates the strategy.

wordweaver

Oh, this question again. If you haven't got at least fifty conversions yet, don't even look at maximise conversions. You can scrape by with half that if you got them fast, but that's playing with fire. Start with max clicks or, if you've got the nerve and know your way around AdWords, manual CPC so you can actually steer the traffic where it belongs. Let the account grow up a bit before switching. Patience, darling.

bouncekiller

I always run a 50/50 split test on fresh accounts to see which one wins the pissing contest. Most of the time Max Conversions takes the crown, but every now and then Max Clicks pulls off a surprise upset. Gotta love the chaos.

cpaoptimizer

Max clicks is good if you want quick market exposure otherwise max conv help you to get leads only

dailygrind

Fix your conversion tracking first five irrelevant conversions means you are tracking the wrong thing before changing anything else

chloeest

Hypothesis: at $80/day, neither strategy has enough data to converge. Test A: max clicks with a tight negative keyword list vs Test B: max conversions with a 7-day conversion window. Ran the exact same setup for three months - same budget, same niche. Only 2 out of 16 phrase match keywords getting impressions screams either search volume is flatlining or your audience targeting is too narrow. Heatmap showed my ad copy wasn't even triggering for half the queries. Capped impression share around 12% both ways. had a call with a Google rep too - absolute waste of breath. What's your quality score on those two keywords that actually fire?

marketingmule

manual bidding has the same problem tbh. Some of the old guard swear it still works, but if OP hasn't got £40 a day to feed the algorithm, it'll take forever to scrape together enough conversions for the machine learning to kick in. what's your daily budget looking like anyway?

maya-b2b

Manual bidding does work, and sure, waiting for that arbitrary 30-conversion threshold can work too. What I've found across a couple hundred accounts over the past year is that max conversions with a TCPA consistently outperforms both. But honestly, that's hardly a solid sample size, so take it with a pinch of salt.