Value-based bidding
Also called VBB.
Bidding on what a conversion is worth rather than on how many conversions arrive. You send a different value with each conversion and the platform spends toward the expensive ones.
Why it matters
In ecommerce the value is the order total and it arrives with the order. In lead generation the form fill is worth nothing at the moment it happens and the real number turns up months later, which is why the whole problem is estimating a value on day one.
What goes wrong
Almost every guide written about this assumes ecommerce, which is why so much lead-gen advice about it is subtly wrong. The mechanics are identical and the hard part is entirely different: not what to do with the value, but where to get one.
Next to this
- Day-0 valueThe value sent at the moment the lead is created, estimated from what similar leads have historically been worth rather than from what this one eventually does.
- Maximize conversion valueGoogle AdsThe bid strategy that spends the budget to bring back the highest total conversion value rather than the highest count.
- Value optimisationMetaMeta's ad set optimisation goal that bids toward the highest total conversion value rather than the highest conversion count.
- Value-Based OptimizationTikTokTikTok's optimisation goal for bidding toward total conversion value rather than conversion count.
The rest of this step
Measure this on your own data
The diagnostic reads a CRM export in your browser and reports your volume, your match rate and the spread between your leads against the thresholds in this glossary. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.