My question is the following. Let's say i'm bidding 0.05 click and making .15 EPC. So I bump my bid to .10 so I can get more volume.
Question is, will traffic density also mean that I will get a higher EPC due to giving fresh impressions?
I have never really found a pattern with this, so I need help from you pros.
Thanks
It depends on the ad network and the algorithm they use but generally bidding higher will give you fresh impressions.
This is because the higher the bid the earlier the ad shows to a user which generally means higher quality.
But has anybody actually tested bidding low/high to see if it has affected conversion rate?
personally my EPC typically drops when I ramp the bids up on most of my campaigns, but it probably depends where / what you're running. Like anything else in AM, there's no hard / fast rule on almost anything so just experiment with it on a campaign by campaign basis and do whatever makes you the most money.
EPC doesn't always depict how much money you're going to make in the long run. Keep that in mind, your ROI may drop but with more volume you might add more to your baseline. More volume can also mean the advertiser will be happier and be more inclined to giving a pay bump, especially if you send quality leads.
So many variables at play.
Every traffic source is different.
Bidding higher means earlier exposure. And as the others have suggested, this usually correlates with higher quality traffic.
If it's a crowded market and raising your bid by 5 cents launches you over 10 competitors, then you might see an improvement. If it's a thin market and raising your bid by 5 cents only gets you 1 place further up the chain with 5 guys still ahead, then it's probably going to have the opposite effect and reduce your ROI.
As for testing bidding high vs low, yes, this is something I do with every campaign. Unfortunately there's no golden rule. I lean towards bidding higher because it offers volume and quality (in theory) from the start. Better to start with what you want than waste half a day optimising a $5 spend.