One of Google’s automated bidding strategies is target impression share (“IS” for short). It’s a strategy that’s often misunderstood and underutilized. Target IS has earned a reputation as being inefficient and subsequently too expensive, hence many SEM managers have come to view its algorithm with skepticism or at least apprehension.
And while it’s always smart to not get too gung-ho about any one bidding and marketing approach — especially one that can be expensive — target IS can be very useful if you use it right.
We’re here to go over just how to do that!
First off: What does target impression share do?
With target IS, you’ll be able to set a desired impression share percentage target for your campaigns — for example, if you want your ad to be displayed 100% of the time someone searches for your name or product. These are based on impression share, top impression share, or absolute top impression share.
In basic English: Target impression share is for trying to get your ads in the best position for users to see them.
Of course, you want to do this because certain ad positioning tends to yield the greatest available conversion volume and/or high-quality traffic.
When is target impression share right for your campaign, and how should you use it?
Two examples of scenarios ideal for a target IS strategy — mentioned by Google themselves — include awareness campaigns and ensuring your brand isn’t usurped by competitors when people search for you specifically. These are achieved by setting a percentage you want your ad to try to be shown when someone searches for a given thing.
What these have in common is essentially the circumstances that target IS is well-suited for: a limited budget and fierce competition.
This is because Target IS lets you “force” yourself into the best ad position, AKA as close to the top as possible!
Generally, you won’t use this bidding strategy long-term but, for a relatively short period of time, your ads can be shown at the top of the search results page so long as you get your settings right. It’s a good strategy for when you’re initially “building” your account; building up a large enough conversion volume, seeing what works (and doesn’t), before moving into a phase where you’re angling for maximum conversions.
Critically, it’s only cost-effective to use target IS when your ads are being shown in a contested environment.
To set target IS, just go through campaign settings like you would with any other bid strategy option. Once you’ve decided upon target IS, we typically recommend using Absolute Top Impression Share as your target metric, with the setting around 80%.
On the other side, we also recommend not giving Google an unlimited cost per-click ceiling — they’ve been known to take a mile if you give them an inch in the settings as it were. A good starting place is a 110-115% average CPC to give you some wiggle room.
Still, while there are some generally good guidelines for using this strategy, it can be a bit tricky to nail down exactly which settings to use. Just like with so many search ad campaigns, you’ll learn more about which settings work best for what you want to achieve as your campaign goes on and you get more data about what’s working and what’s not.
Essentially, target IS is a great strategy for when you’re the underdog. It’s not efficient in the long-term, but it helps you get your foot in the door and take up more space where you otherwise would have a disadvantage.
That being said, because of its expense it’s important to remain watchful and play around with your targets, CPC ceilings, daily budgets, etc. This will help you make sure that A) you don’t end up accidentally spending a bunch more than you intend with minimal results and B) that you’re just generally getting the best performance out of your settings.
All in all, target impression share can help build conversion volume and the foundation for an effective marketing account. Using this to start, you can then evolve to more strategies with larger volumes as your marketing goals change and grow.
