Instacart Ads Beyond the Basics: The Importance of the Right Default Maximum CPC Bid

In our Beyond the Basics series we dive a little deeper into some of the recurring themes that have surfaced in our conversations with brands and advertisers. Each article in the series examines a particular discussion point our brand partners have found interesting.

In this article we look at the importance of setting your default maximum CPC bid appropriately, compare the scope of the default maximum CPC bid to specific keyword override bids, and outline some considerations to take into account when setting bids.

We’ll start by looking at all the auctions for potential placements, which use your default maximum CPC bid. By understanding the scope of auctions which use your default maximum CPC bid, you’ll be better equipped to set an appropriate bid.

Featured Product placements can be shown to consumers throughout the Instacart Marketplace as they shop — as they browse departments and aisles of their favorite retailers, in the suggestions for last-minute additions to orders post-checkout, in the ‘Your List’ of products the consumer might be interested in based on past purchases, and in paid search placements.

Auctions run for each of these placements and your default maximum CPC bid defines what you’re willing to pay for a consumer to click on your advertised product. When consumers browse the milk aisle, to have your products displayed in the most valuable top 3 placements you’d need a competitive default maximum CPC bid. When consumers who normally buy bottled water are reminded post-checkout, the bottled waters displayed in Featured Product spots come from advertisers who’ve won those placements with a strong default maximum CPC bid. And when consumers search for their groceries, many of the products displayed in the placements in the search results won those placements because of their default maximum CPC bid.

The only auctions which don’t use the bid amount defined in the default maximum CPC setting are keyword override bids — when advertisers want to define the bid amount for specific search terms.

Many advertisers or their agencies spend a lot of time setting up keyword override bids, which is a good strategy when they’ve identified keywords that are of particular importance to their brand. But consider the scope of the default maximum CPC bid; it’s used for all auctions for placements on Instacart Marketplace except for searches using a keyword with an override bid.

With such a broad scope, it’s important that you pay attention to the default maximum CPC bids of your ad groups. Don’t sacrifice the opportunity to win impressions from all these different auctions and have your products seen throughout the Marketplace by focusing on keyword override bids.

A strong keyword override bid only helps you to win paid search placements for searches using that term. But a strong default maximum CPC bid helps you to win top placements from all the other auctions and be seen by a larger audience.

And these other auctions are just as important when we look at the ‘path to cart’ — that is the source of items in orders — with a significant portion of orders coming from browsing, post-checkout, and ‘your list’. All the auctions for placements in these areas of Instacart Marketplace use your default maximum CPC bid. Keyword override bids are only used in auctions when consumers search for that exact term — for any other search term relevant to your brand, the auction also uses your default maximum CPC bid.

When consumers shop brick and mortar stores, they have to push their cart through different departments and down many aisles to find the products they want to buy. As a result, they can discover new items and engage with products not on their shopping list.

When consumers are shopping in the same stores but digitally, on Instacart Marketplace, the experience is different. And so is how you engage with them. Your keyword override bids help you win placements for the times consumers are actively searching for your items but for all the other times — a significant portion — you need to use your default maximum CPC bid to win placements and engage consumers not actively searching for your items.

Advertise with us to get in front of consumers when they’re searching for products like yours on the Instacart Marketplace. For more information and to get started, visit ads.instacart.com

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Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 85,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.