Bid · Lifecycle
Three phases, three bids.
What Lifecycle Bidding Is
Audiences have a lifecycle: cold (no prior contact), mid (1 to 2 touchpoints), hot (clear buyer signals). Your bid strategy should match that lifecycle rather than running one default setting across all audiences.
01
Cost Cap
Cold Broad
02
Manual
Mid-Funnel
03
Automated
Hot Retargeting
Thresholds per Phase
- Cold Broad: cost cap at 80% of target CPA, max 14 days
- Mid-Funnel: manual at 110% of median bid, from 3 touchpoints onward
- Hot Retargeting: automated with account median limit
- Switch trigger: frequency 2.8 or audience coverage 60%
Example
Running cost cap on a hot audience kills scaling. Running automated on cold burns 22 to 38% of spend. Phase matching is mandatory, not a detail.
How to Track This in Practice
Set up custom events for touchpoints: view, engage, click, add to cart, initiate checkout. Define audiences per phase: cold = 0 events, mid = 1 to 2, hot = 3 or more. Configure ad sets with the bid strategy matched to each phase. Run cohort reporting on phase performance per account.
„Bid strategy is an audience choice, not an account choice.”