Setting Budgets

Objective: Learn how to set up a monthly budget for a campaign.

Introduction

Your monthly budget covers the expenses for all the ad groups in a single campaign. After you create a campaign and at least one ad group, you set your campaign monthly budget and select an option for spending your monthly budget.

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Budgeting Options

Microsoft adCenter offers two budgeting options:

• Divide budget across the month
• Spend budget until depleted

Divide budget across the month:

Use this option if you want to distribute a tight budget over an entire month, or if you don't want to monitor your account regularly.

When you choose to divide your budget across the month, adCenter creates a daily budget for your campaign. This daily budget is determined by dividing the campaign's remaining monthly budget by the number of days remaining in the month. If this daily limit determined for that day is reached, the ad activity will stop for that day and start up again the next day.

Dividing your budget across the month is the recommended budgeting option because it offers these benefits:

• Lessens the impact of unexpected click surges that can deplete your budget or ad exposure.
• Helps predict how many ads to display per month.
• Reduces the chance the budget will be depleted before the end of the day or month.

It is important to remember that even if you choose to divide your budget across the month, it is possible for you to spend your campaign's monthly budget before the end of the month. This can happen if your monthly budget is set too low for the traffic generated by your keywords.

Spend budget until depleted:

Use this option if you want to maximize impressions and you are monitoring your campaign throughout the month.

If you choose to spend your budget until it is depleted, your campaign's monthly budget is spent as quickly as activity demands. Choose this option if you have a high or unlimited budget and can accommodate all the ad traffic that might occur.

For more information about budgeting options, see adCenter Help.

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Setting a Budget

In Microsoft adCenter, you set a separate monthly budget for each of your campaigns. When someone clicks your ad, the cost of that click is deducted from your campaign budget. When you create a new campaign, you will need to set a new budget. You can change any of your campaign budgets at any time.

1. Click the Campaigns tab.
2. On the Select a campaign page, select the campaign you want to change the budget for.
3. On the Select an ad group page, click an ad group.
4. On the Keywords page in the Campaign monthly budget box, enter a budget amount.
5. Select how you want the budget spent: Divide budget across the month or Spend until depleted .
6. Save your budget by doing one of the following:
   • To stay on the Pricing page, click Save .
   • To return to the Keywords page, click Save & Continue.

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