How to Create a Winning Google Ads Budget Strategy for B2B SaaS

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Silvio Perez

Thinking about investing in Google Ads for your SaaS but not sure how much it will cost? 

In this article I’ll break down how to create a winning budget strategy step by step. 

You’ll walk away knowing how much you’ll need to invest on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis. 

And most importantly if Google Ads makes sense for your business. 

Let’s dive into it 👇

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

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How much is required for a starting Google Ads budget?

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This is the first question that usually comes to mind when considering Google Ads. 

Which will then be met with a variation of questions such as: 

  • Is $10/day enough for Google Ads?
  • Is $100/day enough for Google Ads?
  • Is $1,000/day enough for Google Ads?

And so on, and so on… 

When the reality is it’s all circumstantial based on the keywords you’re looking to target. 

Equally important to how much is required is how many people are searching? 

You could have a keyword that costs $0.01 per click but if only 5 people search is it really worth it? 

So in order to answer this question you have to perform keyword research with the Keyword Planner.

Navigate to Tools > Planning > Keyword Planner within your Google Ads account to access it. 

It doesn’t cost anything to open a free Google Ads account so anyone can access this tool. 

Within the Google Ads Keyword Planner enter your dream keyword you want to research. 

For example, I’ll use “google ads courses” as an example: 

Google Ads keyword planner tool interface for discovering new keywords, featuring ‘google ads courses’ as an example.

After researching I can see the following keyword costs and monthly volume estimates:

Google Ads keyword planner results for ‘google ads courses’ showing average monthly searches and top of page bid estimates.

I recommend always using the top of page bid (high range) as your estimate. 

I’ve never seen these estimates be 100% accurate and you’ll never know your real CPC until launch. 

To account for this margin of error I recommend adding +20% on top of your top of page estimate. 

This means in our google ads courses example:

  • It would potentially cost me $13.7 per click ($11.42 +20%) 
  • I can receive up to 1,600 clicks per month in the USA. 

Based on these two data points we can assume it’s possible to spend up to $21,920 per month on this keyword ($13.7 * 1,600). 

Outside of the return on investment, don’t forget about return on effort. 

If your dream keywords have very limited search volume (ex: < 100/month) it might not be worthwhile. 

How to forecast a daily, monthly, and quarterly Google Ads budget

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Once you know your estimated cost per click you’re ready to put together a forecast. 

We’ve created a free Google Ads Budget Calculator tool that you can use to easily plan your daily, monthly, and quarterly budget. 

You’re going to need the following information for the forecast: 

  • Your average cost per click (from the Keyword Planner or real data) 
  • Your quarterly sales goal 
  • Your average win rate 
  • Your average revenue per sale

With all this information at hand you’ll plug these different values into the calculator. 

Based on your landing page conversion rates you can model a worst, moderate, and best case. 

Google Ads budget calculator interface with goals and inputs for sales goals, CPC, and revenue, showing results for worst, moderate, and best case scenarios.

From here you can see how much it will cost to acquire a customer and the budget required to hit your sales volume target. 

I highly recommend paying attention to the number of clicks required per lead, this will help frame expectations on how much traffic you’ll need and if your search volume is sufficient. 

As you’ll see, your landing page effectiveness is essential at reducing costs 💥

With this forecast at hand you’ll know exactly how much to invest. 

How to allocate Google Ads budget by  campaign strategy

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You should be clear on how much you’ll need to invest in your Google Ads campaigns. 

Now the next step is to figure out how you’re going to allocate your budget. 

In my experience managing Google Ads campaigns for B2B SaaS companies, there are five proven campaign themes to invest in; NonBrand, Brand, Competitive, RLSA, and Content. 

Here’s my recommendation on budget allocation by each if you want to maximize volume. 

Use all of these as starting points and modify the amounts based on your data/nuances. 

Pie chart showing Google Ads budget allocation by campaign theme: NonBrand 40%, Competitive 25%, Brand 20%, RLSA 10%, Content 5%.

NonBrand = 40% of total budget

NonBrand campaigns are where you’re bidding on high-intent keywords that don’t include your brand, for example google ads courses would be non brand for us at AdConversion. 

Think about your keywords you’d like to cover that problem aware prospects would search for. 

NonBrand keywords typically contain high-intent modifiers such as: 

  • Software
  • Platform
  • Tool
  • Technology
  • Solution

If you have enough search volume on non brand keywords there’s no easier way to drive conversions than showing up for people looking for solutions to their problems. 

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Brand = 20% of total budget

Brand campaigns are commonly referred to as “defense” campaigns where you’re bidding on your own brand name to outrank competitors bidding on yours.  

You can make the case that people searching your branded terms would convert anyways and it’s not worth the investment. 

This is why I recommend no more than 20% of the total budget on this campaign initially. 

I’ve seen exceptions here with some of our clients where they saw net new revenue decline significantly from pausing their branded campaigns. 

Let your data guide your allocation. 

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Competitive = 25% of total budget

Competitive campaigns are the opposite of brand where you’re bidding on competitors' names to appear for their existing customers and prospects. 

These campaigns can be really hit or miss depending on your execution.

Make sure you’re doing it in a classy way and have dedicated comparison pages. 

This theme can be really powerful at driving qualified traffic as these searchers are solution aware. 

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RLSA = 10% of total budget

RLSA stands for remarketing list for search ads. 

This just means search remarketing, anyone that searches your keywords AND is part of an audience. 

For example, anyone that has been to your site in the past 90 days and is searching your keywords.

RLSA campaigns can be really powerful when you have enough site traffic and are dealing in competitive niches. 

Depending on your available remarketing audience sizes you can decide if this makes sense initially. 

Given the limitation of size we typically only allocate 10% here to begin. 

Content = 5% of total budget

Content campaigns are great for supporting SEO efforts. 

If you have certain keywords you’re struggling to rank for, content campaigns are worth investigating. 

This is where you’re going to bid on longtail content related keywords that typically have much lower cost per click prices and drive that traffic to a blog or relevant content piece. 

Depending on your content strategy I’d give this some consideration. 

Hope you found this article helpful! and now know how to create a winning Google Ads budget strategy. 

Frequently asked Google Ads budget questions

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Does Google Ads work on a small budget?

Yes, and no. Small is relative to your average cost per click prices. 

I’d recommend being able to afford at least 100 clicks per month. 

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Does Google Ads work for B2B SaaS? 

Absolutely, intent is what makes Google Ads so powerful. 

The biggest challenge for B2B SaaS is scale. 

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What is a good Google Ads budget? 

A Google Ads budget is one where you can support your business objectives. 

Using the following information you can create a forecast to understand what is good: 

  • Your average cost per click 
  • Your quarterly sales goal 
  • Your average win rate 
  • Your average revenue per sale

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Silvio Perez
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