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How Can Seasonality Adjustments Enhance Maximize Conversion Value Performance in Google Ads?

Summary

Seasonality adjustments in Google Ads help advertisers optimize bidding strategies, particularly when using the Maximize Conversion Value bidding strategy. By anticipating short-term changes in conversion rates during peak or low-demand periods, advertisers can adjust their bids to reflect periods of higher or lower expected performance. This ensures the algorithm focuses on achieving maximum conversion values during these critical times.

What Are Seasonality Adjustments in Google Ads?

Seasonality adjustments are a feature in Google Ads that allow advertisers to inform Google's Smart Bidding algorithms about anticipated changes in conversion rates during specific upcoming periods. These adjustments are especially useful for short-term events like promotions, holidays, or product launches that are likely to affect conversion rates drastically within a defined time frame.

Google’s bidding algorithms, including Maximize Conversion Value, rely heavily on historical data and learning models to optimize performance. Without seasonality adjustments, these algorithms might take time to adapt to sudden shifts, potentially missing out on opportunities to maximize value during peak demand periods.

How Seasonality Adjustments Enhance Maximize Conversion Value

1. Proactive Adaptation to Short-Term Fluctuations

Maximize Conversion Value is designed to allocate your budget to maximize the total conversion value from your campaigns. However, during periods of unusually high or low demand, the algorithm might not react quickly enough to optimize for these changes. By inputting seasonality adjustments, you provide the algorithm with advance notice about expected conversion rate changes, enabling it to proactively adjust bids.

Example: If you run a Black Friday sale and expect conversion rates to spike by 30%, setting a seasonality adjustment helps the bidding strategy increase bids during this period to capture additional traffic at a higher conversion value.

2. Maximizing Budget Efficiency

Seasonality adjustments ensure that your budget is spent efficiently during high-impact periods. By signaling to Smart Bidding that conversion rates will be higher, the algorithm focuses on delivering higher-value conversions, such as purchases with higher cart values or leads with higher potential revenue.

Example: During a summer clearance sale, if conversion values are likely to increase (e.g., larger cart sizes), seasonality adjustments guide the algorithm to allocate more budget to periods with a greater likelihood of high-value conversions.

3. Reducing the Effects of Post-Event Learning

Smart Bidding algorithms rely on historical data to “learn” and adjust future performance. A sudden spike or drop in conversion rates without seasonality adjustments could skew this learning process, potentially leading to reduced performance after the event. Implementing seasonality adjustments prevents these skewed learnings by isolating the temporary event as an anomaly.

Example: After a holiday promotion, the algorithm could misinterpret the increased conversions as the new baseline, adjusting bids incorrectly for future campaigns. Seasonality adjustments mitigate this risk by letting the algorithm know the change was temporary.

4. Enhancing Performance During Low-Conversion Periods

Seasonality adjustments aren’t only useful for high-demand periods; they can also be applied to low-demand periods to prevent overspending during times when conversion rates are expected to drop.

Example: A B2B company may see lower conversions during the December holiday season. By setting negative seasonality adjustments, the Maximize Conversion Value algorithm can lower bids, conserving budget for more profitable times.

Best Practices for Using Seasonality Adjustments

1. Use for Short-Term Events Only

Seasonality adjustments are intended for short-term changes in conversion rates, typically lasting 1–7 days. They are less effective for long-term trends, as Smart Bidding naturally adjusts to gradual changes.

2. Apply to Specific Campaigns or Bid Strategies

To maximize the effectiveness of seasonality adjustments, apply them to specific campaigns or bid strategies that are most affected by the event.

3. Monitor Performance Closely

Track the performance of campaigns during and after the event to ensure the adjustments are having the desired effect. Adjust or end seasonality adjustments as needed to avoid prolonged influence on performance.

Limitations of Seasonality Adjustments

While seasonality adjustments are a powerful tool, they do have some limitations:

  • Seasonality adjustments are only supported for Smart Bidding strategies like Target ROAS, Target CPA, and Maximize Conversion Value. They are not available for manual bidding.
  • They may not be necessary for long-term seasonality trends, as Smart Bidding algorithms are designed to adapt over time.
  • Incorrectly applied seasonality adjustments (e.g., overestimating conversion rate changes) can lead to wasted budget or inefficient bidding.

Conclusion

Seasonality adjustments are a valuable tool in Google Ads for ensuring that short-term changes in conversion rates are effectively managed by Smart Bidding strategies like Maximize Conversion Value. By proactively accounting for fluctuations, advertisers can maximize their campaign performance during high-value periods and conserve budget during low-demand times. Proper implementation and monitoring of seasonality adjustments are key to unlocking their full potential.

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