How we halved CPC on brand – and increased revenue

The challenge: Are we paying too much for our own brand?

We wanted to test whether we could significantly reduce CPC on exact brand searches without losing visibility, conversions or revenue.

This question is particularly relevant at a time when many marketing teams are working with fixed ROAS or CPA targets and need to prioritise where the budget delivers the most value. Optimising brand campaigns may seem basic – but it is often where you find the lowest hanging fruit.

The hypothesis: Can we buy our own brand for less?

The goal was simple:
Maintain visibility – lower the cost.

We set up an experiment across several markets, where we adjusted just one thing:
Bidding strategy.

From automated bidding → to manual CPC with a low bid level.
Everything was limited to exact brand searches, ensuring 100% control. At the same time, we wanted to avoid overlap with broader brand terms and long-tail searches, which could potentially have lower conversion value or more competition.

Setup and methodology

• Campaign type: Search
• Match type: Exact
• Bidding strategy: Manual CPC
• Bid level: Fixed low (locally adjusted per country)
• Duration: 1 month vs. previous month (a short period, but we achieved significant results)
• Evaluation: Impression Share, CPC, spend, clicks, revenue and conversions

We maintained the same ad setup, ad extensions and landing pages to isolate the effect of the bid adjustment.

Resultaterne: Mere for mindre

På blot én måned opnåede vi følgende:

• Gns. CPC –58,23 %
• Annonceforbrug (cost) –61,66 %
• Klik (traffic) +8,20 %
• Omsætning (conv. value) +4,37 %
• Konverteringer +4,85 %
• Visningsandel (Search IS) +3,24 %

Med andre ord: Vi skar 60 % af budgettet og fik mere ud af det.

What does this tell us?

The main takeaway? Google is more than happy to use your entire budget – even when it is not necessary.

By switching to manual CPC on exact brand searches, we leveraged the high quality score and brand authority in the auction. The result was cheaper clicks and lower spend – with no loss of visibility.

CTR dropped slightly (-13%), but this was offset by:

• Lower cost per click
• Higher conversion rate
• More conversions overall

In addition, the test showed how effectively brand traffic can be used as a ‘margin driver’ in your overall Google Ads setup. When the cost per click is halved and volume increases – without a rise in costs – the profit margin is directly improved.

What should you be aware of?

This setup does not work for everyone. For example, if you have:

• Low brand awareness
• Multiple affiliates, resellers or competitors bidding on your name
• Poor ad quality or lack of domain authority

…then you risk losing visibility if you scale back too much.

That is why we always recommend:

• Monitoring Impression Share (Search Lost IS (rank))
• Comparing CTR and conversion rates carefully
• Considering split tests or geographically segmented tests (e.g. one country at a time)

Recommendation: Dare to Challenge Smart Bidding?

If you currently have strong brand traffic in Google Ads, you should consider a test like this.

Here’s how to get started:

Mini-Guide for Your Own Test:

1. Create a separate brand campaign with exact match
2. Switch to manual CPC with a low bid
3. Closely monitor:
   • Impression Share
   • CPC
   • Conversion Rate
   • ROAS / CPA
4. Compare with previous data or a parallel setup using Smart Bidding

When does it make sense?

• You have a high quality score (8-10)
• Your brand is well-known and searched for directly
• You want to reduce spend without losing control
• You have organic top rankings and want to avoid internal cannibalisation

Conclusion: Control can lead to savings

Automation is not always synonymous with efficiency. This test shows that with a few simple steps – and a bit of courage – you can halve your brand traffic costs without sacrificing performance.

It is not about abandoning Smart Bidding – but about knowing when to take control yourself.

If you would like help to structure your brand campaigns more intelligently, we are ready to support you.