Glossary
Budget forecast
An estimate of what a campaign will cost over a period, built from the expected bid, click volume, conversion rate and the offer's cap. It sets the test budget and tells you when to stop.
Also called: campaign forecast, test budget.
A forecast starts with the numbers a campaign already produced, or with the network's rate card for a new source: the bid per click, the volume available on the GEO, the expected conversion rate and the payout. Multiply them out and you have a spend and an expected revenue.
The useful part is the stop rule: how much you are willing to spend to learn whether the setup works. A common rule is two to three payouts per creative before deciding.
Caps on the offer limit the upside: no point planning a budget for 500 leads a day when the advertiser takes 50.
Related terms: Bid, Cap, Ad campaign, ROI.