When managing a lead gen campaign in Google Ads, many want to know which automated bid strategy they should use to maximize results; Maximize Conversions or Target CPA (tCPA)?

First off, I should mention that I never recommend starting a new campaign off with an automated bid strategy. Google's algorithm needs some conversion data for automated bid strategies to be effective.

For new campaigns, I always recommend manual bidding or Max Clicks bid strategy. After you're starting to generate some conversion data (i.e. leads), roughly 20 conversions in 30 days, you can start experimenting with automated bid strategies like Maximize Conversions or tCPA.

You can generate great results with either one. tCPA can give you more control over your CPA and allow you to gradually bring it down over time. It's important to remember that your CPA will not always match your Target CPA, it will fluctuate a bit.

It may never achieve your desired Target CPA either. There are a lot of variables that determine how successful you are with your campaign.

I think it's worth testing both Maximize Conversions and tCPA on our campaign. Whichever gives you the best result with the least amount of effort is the winner in my book.

You may even find that you can generate better results with manual bidding. If that's the case, there's nothing wrong with ditching the automated bid strategies.

Making manual bid adjustments gives you the most control over your campaign at the end of the day, it just requires more maintenance work.