With rule-based optimization, you can automate aspects of your daily optimization including editing target bids and statuses. Creating custom optimization rules not only saves you time and money but helps you to exceed your CPA goals.
Rule-based optimization is a powerful tool and rules can be as simple or as complex as your goals demand. To get you started, we’ve created a few example rules in your account showing some common campaign management scenarios. You can edit these rules to fit your individual campaign goals. See below for instructions on setting up and managing your rules for Push.
Creating a rule
1. Sign in to your RTX Platform account and click Push, then Rules.
2. Click the blue NEW RULE button.
3. Select the type of rule you would like to create from the Rule dropdown. You can choose from Change Ad Group Daily Budget, Change Default Bid, Change Site/App Bid, Activate Target (Site/App/Publisher), and Pause Target (Site/App/Publisher)
4. Type in a Name for your Rule
NOTE: Once you select a rule type, the Rule Conditions, Budgeting Rules or Bidding Rules (if applicable), and Ad Group Assignment section will display.
5. Set your rule's conditions under Rule Conditions
First, you'll have to set one or multiple conditions for the specific rule you selected. You can set conditions based on Avg. CPC, Conversions, Conversion Rate, Conversion Value, CPA, EPC, Clicks, Profit, ROI, and Spend. NOTE: ROI is defined as (Profit/Spend)*100
You will also have to set Time Frame, which determines what data is considered when the rule runs, and Frequency, that determines how often the rule runs, for each rule you create. NOTE: For Time Frame, last 1 day = last 24 hours at the time the rule runs, last 2 days = last 48 hours at the time the rule runs, etc.
You can also choose to exclude recent data from being considered when this rule runs by completing the Exclude Recent Hours condition. For example, if you input “24” in the box, the last 24 hours of data will be excluded each time the rule runs. NOTE: The last two hours of data are automatically omitted to account for possible delays
Indicate whether you would like the rule to be automatically added to any ad group where Rules are enabled by checking the "Default Rule" checkbox. If you make a rule a default rule, it will be added to any ad groups where you currently have Rules enabled, and any ad groups where you enable Rules in the future. TIP: You can remove a rule from an ad group by clicking the x next to the rule’s name on an ad group’s settings page, and then saving your changes.
For the "Change Ad Group Daily Budget" rule, you'll need to complete the "Budgeting Rules" section. Here, you can input what you’d like your daily budget to be set to, or enter how much you'd like your daily budget to increase or decrease by. You can set your budget to an exact amount or by a percent of the current daily budget. You can also decrease or increase by an exact amount or by a percent of the current daily budget. For all budgeting rules, except where you're setting the budget to a fixed amount, you'll also have to input a min and/or a max budget. If the rule calculates a budget that's below the min or above the max you specified, the budget will be set to whatever you input as the min or max.
For the "Change Default Bid" and the "Change Target Bid" rules, you'll need to complete the "Bidding Rules" section. Here, you can input what you’d like your bid to be set to, or enter how much you'd like your bid to increase or decrease by. You can set your bid to an exact amount or by a percent of EPC or of the current bid. You can also decrease or increase by an exact amount or by a percent of EPC or of the current bid. For all bidding rules, except where you're setting the bid to a fixed amount, you'll also have to input a min and/or a max bid. If the rule calculates a bid that's below the min or above the max you specified, the CPV will be set to whatever you input as the min or max.
6. Assign your new rule to ad groups under Ad Group Assignment (optional)
You can enable Rules / assign a rule to ad groups upon rule creation, or do it later. Eligible campaigns are listed under Available Ad Groups. You can select the + next to a campaign (or Select All!) to move it over to Selected Ad Groups. Please note that if you checked Default Rule earlier, and you have campaigns with Rules enabled, the rule will be applied to those campaigns even if you don't explicitly select those campaigns in this step. TIP: Use the "Active" and "Paused" checkboxes to view available campaigns based on their current status! NOTE: You can only apply a rule to an ad group whose parent campaign has a pixel installed. If you’re not seeing a specific ad group, ensure you have a pixel assigned on your campaign’s settings page. It's also important to check that you have a Default Conversion Amount entered on your campaign’s settings page, or have appended a static or dynamic value after the "r" parameter in your pixel, as certain rule conditions need your conversion amount for calculations. If you do not enter a conversion amount, rules that need one for calculations will consider your conversion amount as $0.
7. When you have finished creating your rule, click SAVE. This will save the rule, enable Rules for and assign the rule to any applicable ad groups, and bring you back to the Rules page which will display your newly created rule.
NOTE: For each ad group where a rule is assigned, a conversion must have been fired in the last 30 days in order for the rule to run. Additionally, for a rule to make changes to a specific ad group or target, it must have stats such as clicks, spend, or conversions during the selected time frame.
Managing your rules from the Rules page
You can create a new rule or manage existing rules all from the Rules page. You can get to this page by signing in to your RTX Platform account and clicking Push, and then Rules.
The table on the Rules page lists each of your created rules and includes each rule’s status (active, paused, or archived), name, rule type, whether a rule is a default rule or not, number of ad groups each rule is assigned to, and additional Options.
Under Options, you can select Rule Settings to be brought to a rule’s settings page where you can make edits to the rule (you can also simply click the name of the rule to get to the rule's settings page!), you can choose Copy Rule which will bring you to a new rule settings page with settings copied over from the copied rule where you can make edits and save as a new rule.
Enabling Rules from an ad group’s settings page
You can also enable rules (and create new rules) on an ad group’s settings page when creating a new ad group or editing an existing ad group.
To enable rules from an ad group’s settings page, scroll down to the Rules Based Optimization section. If you have any default rules, the default rules will automatically be added to the campaign when you enable rules, but you can delete a rule by clicking the “x” next to it. You can also click into the box to add any additional active or paused rules, or to create a new rule. Once everything is complete, click the SAVE AND CONTINUE button! NOTE: It's also important to check that you have a Default Conversion Amount entered on your campaign’s settings page, or have appended a static or dynamic value after the "r" parameter in your pixel, as certain rule conditions need your conversion amount for calculations. If you do not enter a conversion amount, rules that need one for calculations will consider your conversion amount as $0.
NOTE: If you create a new rule and mark it as a default rule, upon saving, it will be applied to the ad group, all ad groups where you currently have Rules enabled, and any ad groups where you enable Rules in the future.
NOTE: For each ad group where a rule is assigned, a conversion must have been fired in the last 30 days in order for the rule to run. Additionally, for a rule to make changes to a specific ad group or target, it must have stats such as clicks, spend, or conversions during the selected time frame.
If you later switch your optimization settings from Rules to off and then enable Rules again, the rules you previously had assigned to the campaign will reassign as long as they're not archived. If you created any new default rules since turning Rules off, you'll have to manually assign them to the campaign. If there are no previous rules to reassign to the campaign, your current default rules (if there are any) will assign.
Rule-based optimization tips
On each ad group’s Site and App page, you’ll notice two new columns: Rules Adjusted Status and Rules Base CPC. If “Yes” appears in either of those columns, it means that the target’s status or bid was last updated automatically by a rule you created.
Retest, retest, retest! Rules can only reactivate targets that a rule has paused. If you've manually paused or archived a target, or you've manually added a target to the blacklist, rules will not reactivate it. Before enabling Rules, make sure to enable any paused or archived targets, and remove any targets from your blacklists, in order to retest them - They'll be paused or re-added again if rule conditions are met!
Don't set your spend condition too low. You want to make sure that your targets have enough impressions and data before any action is taken on them, especially being paused.