CPA Goal

Updated by Michael

What is CPA Goal?

CPA Goal is an optimization in Fire & Forget® that allows you to set an amount that you want to spend to get one conversion. By using CPA Goal, you can let Maximus handle the optimizations if you have a set spend per conversion you want to target.

CPA Goal uses the same value for both Campaign and Site/Widget level optimization.


How Does CPA Goal Work?

In the Fire & Forget Settings drawer in Campaign Details or during Add Campaign you can choose one of 3 optimization modes: None, CPA Goal, or Acceptable Profit.

CPA Goal uses the dollar value you input to calculate optimizing the campaign so it will hit that Target CPA - the target cost per conversion that you want for this campaign. This can help with a set profit amount you expect for your campaign and allow you to manage less by excluding Fire & Forget settings that are used with Acceptable Profit.

Look Back Days are removed when using CPA Goal, and the Look Back period is set to Today. This means Desired Click Pacing looks only at the current day's clicks.
The Lowest Bid and Highest Bid are used for both Campaign Level and Site/Widget Level optimizations.

Fire & Forget finds the average number of clicks per conversion, and then divides the CPA Goal you entered by the average number of clicks to set bids for your campaign on the Campaign and Site level.

Fire & Forget will set the bid on the campaign or site/widget level using the following equation:

CPC Bid = CPA Goal / (# of Clicks Today / # of Conversions Today)


Site/Widget vs Campaign CPA Goal Requirements


CPA Goal will only being optimizing if the following conditions are met -

Site/Widget Level: If a minimum of 3 conversions have happened Today.

Campaign Level: If a minimum of 5 conversions have happened Today.

This means that any sites/widgets which have more than 3 conversions will be optimizing with their own site/widget data, and the remainder of sites/widgets will be using their site bid modifier (if it is a Taboola, Outbrain, or Gemini campaign) multiplied with the campaign CPC which is optimizing based on campaign level CPA Goals.

These site bid multipliers for sites under 3 conversions will adhere to the site bidding logic rules. Click here to read more in the Site Bidding documentation.


How To

Set the Optimization Mode

Click on the button on the Campaigns section of Fire & Forget Settings to switch Optimization Modes for Fire & Forget.

Set the CPA Goal

Enter the value you want for CPA Goal.


Set the value for both the Lowest Bid and Highest Bid


Example

A new campaign you are running has a conversion payout of $14, and know from experience that this offer can very easily convert for $8.

  1. Set the CPA Goal to $8.
  2. Traffic will need to come in for the campaign, and Fire & Forget will wait until 5 sales complete before proceeding with CPA Goal.
  3. After those 5 conversions Fire & Forget will continue to optimize all bids, both Campaign CPC and Site CPC bids, to values that match with the average number of clicks coming in per conversion to reach that target CPA Goal.
  4. The resulting CPC will be $0.14 based on its current data: [$8 CPA Goal / (396 Clicks / 7 Conversions)]

  1. On the site level, MSN US Homepage and Fox News Entertainment has met the goal of 3 conversions to be optimized.
    1. MSN US Homepage is set to $0.11 based on its current data: [$8 CPA Goal / (215 Clicks / 3 Conversions)]
    2. Fox News Entertainment is set to $0.30 based on its current data: [$8 CPA Goal / (28 Clicks / 3 Conversions)] (This is set to $0.30 as the resulting value, $0.86, is above the Highest Bid set)
    3. ABC News U.S. did not meet the conversion goal and will bid at the same CPC as the campaign level

In this situation, you can always modify the CPA Goal value if you need to change it.


Common Uses

Optimizing campaigns can be a daunting task for someone new to media buying, or if you want to manage a large number of campaigns and minimize your involvement as much as possible. By using CPA Goal you can be sure to keep your spend in a safe place per conversion, and allow Maximus to do the work for you.

If a new offer you are running has a set spend defined by the advertiser which they require you to run the campaign at, CPA Goal will accomplish this without any further changes needed!


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