Overview
There are three types of Budgets:
Account Budgets
Child Budgets
Google Account Budgets
The only difference between Account and Child Budgets is that an Account Budget automatically includes all the campaigns in the Account, whereas, with a Child Budget, you can choose which campaigns to include.
1. Account Budgets
You can have one Account Budget per Ad Account and it automatically includes all the campaigns within that Ad Account. Typically, this is the first budget created for an Ad Account
Use Case for Account Budget: The client has a budget target and CPA for all of their activity within an Ad Account.
2. Child Budgets
You can have as many Child Budgets as you like, they are a collection of campaigns/shared budgets within a single Ad Account. You can select the campaigns/shared budgets within a Child Budget a number of ways - How to use the Campaign Selector when creating a Child Budget.
Use Case for Child Budget: You want to set Budget Targets and KPIs at a more granular level. Examples where you might use a Child Budget:
Brand Campaigns, Remarketing, Display, Performance Max, etc
Product categories; Furniture, Electronics, etc
Locations, where each location has its own campaign(s) and budget
3. Google Account Budgets
You can create Adpulse budgets using the date ranges and budgets from a Google Account budget you have set up.
"Account budgets, formerly known as budget orders, are used by advertisers who pay by monthly invoicing. When you create an account budget, you choose a certain amount of money that you'd like to spend over a period of time. This can help you control your costs in addition to your average daily campaign budgets."
How to Create a Budget
Choosing a budget type
Click on Budgets in the left navigation and click ‘Create Budget’. Alternatively, you can also click the triple dots from the budget row. The options here are:
Create Account Budget
Create Google Account Budget
Create Child Budget
Select an Ad Account (this will be prepopulated if you used the triple-dot option)
If you've selected a Child Budget you will need to select the campaigns and/or Shared Budgets to include in this Budget, otherwise Account and Google Account budget automatically include all the campaigns within the Ad Account.
You can select the campaigns/shared budgets within a Child Budget in a number of ways - How to use the Campaign Selector when creating a Child Budget.
Entering the budget details
You will be prompted to enter the initial details that include the name of the budget - typically Account Budgets are named 'All Campaigns', whereas Child Budgets tend to be named after their grouping; 'Pmax', 'Arkansas', 'Electronics', etc
Importantly here you set the KPI type and budget target - read more on setting the KPI here - which not only provides an indicator of performance but will populate the Dashboard Budget Performance Scatter plot, and is the benchmark of the categorization of the Performance Tables.
Setting a $0 budget target will effectively turn that budget schedule into a 'KPI monitoring only' schedule, meaning no AutoPacing budget adjustments will be made by Adpulse during the $0 schedule.
Required Fields | Description |
Budget Name | The name of this budget |
KPI | Set a KPI to track your performance, and optimize the Insights generated for your campaigns. Options are:
|
KPI Detail | Here you select the value against the KPI type. Options are:
|
Creating Schedules
It's possible to create multiple Budget Schedules for each budget, which consist of:
A date range
This can be recurring or a one-off custom timeframe
A budget target
The rollover strategy
You can make as many Budget Schedules as you like, which can be made up of different time ranges and/or budget targets, meaning you could pre-define all your budget changes for your entire year. Anything you enter can then, of course, be edited at a later date.
Creating a recurring Budget Schedule
Required Fields | Description |
Schedule Type | Recurring |
Budget Target | This is the budget for the period that will recur each period, either forever or until a defined end date |
Recurring Period | This is the length of the recurring period and can be defined in months or weeks, with multiple of each available. For example:
|
Start Date | When you create a new budget you need to specify a start day of the month for this schedule. This will default to the first date of the current period but can be in the future. |
End Date | This is optional, if nothing is entered it will recur ongoing for every defined recurring period |
Pro-rata | Enabling Pro-Rata sets the Budget Target at a pro-rata value for the initial Budget Period. It will calculate the budget portion for the rest of the period (budget/days) and use that as the Budget Target for that period. This will only impact the first budget period and the full Budget Target will be used for subsequent periods. |
Rollover Strategy | When using a rollover strategy, any unspent budget will increase the next budget period, and any overspent budget will reduce it. Options are:
Rollovers will continue to accumulate from one period to the next, even if one, many, or all campaigns are paused within the budget. |
Rollover/Top-Up | This is where you can update the current rollover amount or add a top-up amount to the current budget period. The Top-Up is great if the client wants to add a little more budget to just this current period. |
Total Budget | This is the Total Budget for the current period (includes the Budget Target and any Rollover/top-up added) and is the value that pacing and AutoPacing will use. |
Creating a custom Budget Schedule
Required Fields | Description |
Schedule Type | Custom |
Budget Target | This is the budget for the period that will onlyapply to this custom time period. |
Start Date | When you create a new budget you need to specify a start day of the month for this schedule. This will default to the first date of the current period but can be in the future. |
End Date | A Custom Schedule must have and end date |
Rollover Strategy | When using a rollover strategy, any unspent budget will increase the next budget period, and any overspent budget will reduce it. Options are:
|
Rollover/Top-Up | This is where you can update the current rollover amount or add a top-up amount to the current budget period. The Top-Up is great if the client wants to add a little more budget to just this current period. |
Total Budget | This is the Total Budget for the current period (includes the Budget Target and any Rollover/top-up added) and is the value that pacing and AutoPacing will use. |
Smart Budget Settings
AutoProtect
Autoprotect is a Smart Budget feature that will automatically pause campaigns when the budget exceeds the configured threshold. To enable AutoProtect, check the Enable box and enter a percentage threshold that will trigger it.
AutoPacing
Autopacing is a feature that will automatically adjust your daily budget based on your spending. There are two algorithms you can select here, but we recommend the default 'Linear Pacing' to start with. Note that setting a $0 budget will disable AutoPacing during that schedule. Read more about the AutoPacing Algorithm and how they work here.
Notifications
Notifications are sent when AutoProtect pauses and enables campaigns, and when there is an issue with updating the daily budget via AutoPacing.
You can send notifications in two ways:
Via an email to an Adpulse user - simply select the User Tag (Managing Tags)
Via a third-party platform by using Non-user Contacts
Finally, click 'Create Budget'
The Budget will be created and the data populated in a matter of seconds with data updated hourly.
Now you have created a Budget with a KPI, this will now appear on the Account Performance chart on the Dashboard. Read more about how you can use the Dashboard here.