[click_to_tweet tweet=”Should We Bid on our Competitor’s Brand?” quote=”Should We Bid on our Competitor’s Brand?”]

This is an extremely loaded question.

One everybody has to decide for themselves if it’s worth it.

Google gives you the ability to show your ad when you search for your competition’s brand name.

While this may seem like a great idea, it could turn into a disaster if you’re not careful.

Before you go down this path let me ask you a few questions.

Do you look at these businesses as your competition or potential JV partners?

If they’re potential JV partners, you can really get on their bad side fast. You may get way more sales as JV partners.

Do you think there’s enough search volume to justify creating an ad set for your competition’s name?

Let’s face it; if they only have one search a day you’ll end up with a low-quality score for ads that are seldom seen…which leads to a very high CPC.

Are you prepared for your competition to start bidding on your brand name and do you have the budget to fight them?

Bidding wars don’t help anybody except the ad networks.

There are a lot of things to consider with branded PPC searches.

So am I saying that bidding on your competition is bad?

No, there are plenty of times it makes total sense, and it comes down to ROI.

Every campaign needs to prove itself with ROI.

But what is the ROI from bidding on your competitor’s brand and is it worth it when you factor in the potential fallout?

Each person needs to make that decision.