In this article, we dive into 9 different combinations targeting three main categories.
- Insight into ad spend
- Maximised reach
- Latest trends
At the bottom of the article you will find the recommended formulas for use with custom columns in your Google Ads account.
In-depth insight into ad spend
The first four custom columns cover budgeting and ad spend, providing a clearer picture of where your money is going and informing timely budget adjustments:
- Expected spend: tells you what you can expect to spend by the end of the month based on your current costs. It includes the projected monthly spend based on your month-to-date costs as well as spend over the last 7 days.
- Percentage of monthly budget spent: provides insight into how well you are pacing through the month and how your resources are distributed across campaigns, ad groups and keywords in Google Ads.
- Percentage of daily budget spent: tells you whether you are reaching your daily budget or not, and indicates how much of your daily budget has been spent within a given date range.
- Percentage of spend on search partners: provides insight into what proportion of the budget is going to search vs. search partners, and what share of spend has come from Google search partners within a given date range.
Recommended columns for maximised reach
Custom columns can be configured to find answers to questions such as the cost of 100% reach, expected results from a budget increase, and similar queries.
- Max estimated impressions: Gives an idea of the total search volume within an area, based on the maximum number of impressions you could have received if your budget and ad rank were sufficiently high.
- Max estimated clicks: Gives an idea of the total traffic you could potentially generate (based on CTR) with 100% reach. Based on the maximum number of clicks you could receive if your budget and ad rank are sufficiently high.
- Max estimated cost: Shows the maximum amount you could have spent if your budget and ad rank were sufficiently high, and gives an idea of the total cost required to achieve 100% reach (based on average cost per click).
- Max estimated conversions: Gives an idea of the total number of conversions you could potentially generate — based on your conversion rate — with 100% reach. The column can also help illustrate the importance of scaling the account strategically.
Latest trends in relation to conversion
The final column we have chosen to address is particularly useful for reporting and troubleshooting, as it provides actionable insight into the latest trends in conversions — a parameter that can impact performance.
- Conversion Trend: Shows the percentage change in the number of conversions within the last 7 days compared to the last 30 days. It shows how much conversion volume has increased or decreased recently.
Key takeaways from implementing the above custom columns
- Provides a better and more transparent view of budgeting and ad spend, creating useful information about performance across activities.
- Provides estimates of the opportunities available within maximised reach that may be achievable with a sufficiently high budget and ad rank, giving an indication of the expected results thereof.
- Can streamline troubleshooting processes through useful insight into the latest trends that are constantly changing.
- Generally makes your account management easier and provides more tailored and actionable data insights.
The more actionable data insights you can analyse, the better positioned you are to develop the right strategies!
Read more about how Searchmind works with Google Ads here
Formulas for setting up your custom columns
Expected spend:
Cost.date_range(this_month) +
((Cost.date_range(last_7_days) / 7) *
(days_between(offset_months(today(), 1), today()) – days_between(today(), month_start())))
Percentage of monthly budget spent:
Cost.date_range(this_month) / [insert your monthly
budget]
*Note: The denominator (i.e. monthly budget) in this formula may vary from month to month.
Percentage of daily budget spent:
((Cost / report_days_count()) / Daily_Budget)
Percentage of spend on search partners:
Cost.network(partners) / Cost
Max estimated impressions:
Impr / Search_impr_share
Max estimated clicks:
(Impr / Search_impr_share) * CTR
Max estimated cost:
((Impr / Search_impr_share) * CTR) * (Avg_CPC /
Search_impr_share)
Max estimated conversions:
((Impr / Search_impr_share) * CTR) * Conversion_rate
*You can take this a step further by dividing Max estimated cost by Max estimated conversions, which gives a general idea of the CPA you would need with 100% impression share.
Conversion Trend:
(Conversions / day(today())) *
day(offset_days(offset_months(month_start(), 1), -1))
Note - If you experience issues copying and pasting the formulas above, try changing the subtraction symbols from a dash to a hyphen, updating the quotation marks, etc.
