Performance Max is a newer type of Google ad campaign, launched in 2021. According to Google’s data, advertisers that use Performance Max campaigns see an average 13% increase in total conversions for a similar cost per action.
Sounds pretty great, right? Read on as we explore how Performance Max campaigns work and share best practices for success.
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What is a Performance Max campaign on Google Ads?
If you’ve run Google Ads before, you’re likely familiar with some of its automated advertising options, such as Smart Bidding or Smart Display campaigns. These use a mix of your input plus machine learning to spin up campaigns in real-time on your behalf, optimized down to the individual customer. Performance Max essentially combines all of those automated technologies — bidding, creative, and more — to display ads across all of Google’s channels, including:
- Search
- Display
- YouTube
- Discover
- Gmail
- Maps
The whole point, as you might expect, is to maximize the performance of your campaigns based on your advertising goal — whether that’s lead generation or store traffic.
The hands-off aspect of Performance Max is exciting enough, as it enables marketers to save time creating campaigns and reallocate it elsewhere, such as analyzing campaign performance. That brings us to one of the more exciting features of Performance Max: the campaign insights. These offer useful insights you can leverage throughout your marketing strategy, even beyond Google Ads.
For example, you can see which asset combinations are most effective, giving you ideas for which headlines, descriptions, and images resonate best with your target audience.
You can also see which audience segments are engaging with your campaign, which may spark new ideas for target audiences or verticals you can reach through product development and marketing strategy.
In the example image below, the advertiser included people looking for pet supplies and those who identified as “dog lovers” in their targeting criteria. Based on the campaign’s performance, Google also found that married people and those searching for camping & hiking equipment engaged with the campaign. Based on this information, the advertiser could create image assets designed to target those audiences, or they might develop a product geared specifically towards camping enthusiasts.
The process for setting up a Performance Max campaign varies depending on your goal. You can find instructions here.
How to set up your campaign for success for Performance Max
Performance Max is designed to work well, but you can always help it work smarter by following a few best practices.
1. Give the campaign time to work.
Like other smart ad campaigns, Performance Max relies on machine learning to understand what makes your audience tick, and adjust your campaign accordingly. For these campaigns to be successful, you need to allow for a short learning period. Google recommends running a campaign for at least 30 days to six weeks.
2. Upload plenty of creative.
The more assets you can upload, the better. Provide at least five descriptions, headlines, and image assets. As your campaign starts running, check in on the Insights to see which asset combinations perform better, and consider that when developing new creative.
3. Introduce Google to your audience.
You can give the algorithm a head start by uploading your own first-party audience data, such as remarketing lists and similar audiences from other campaigns. This way, Google doesn’t have to start from scratch when running your ads, enabling you to enjoy better results faster.
4. Watch your insights.
Lastly, keep an eye on the insights for your Performance Max campaigns. Like we mentioned above, these offer a treasure trove of information, which you can then use to improve your marketing campaigns in Google Ads and elsewhere. They may even inspire new product ideas!
Maximize your Google Ads performance
Performance Max campaigns deserve a spot in your advertising strategy. So do other Google ad types, Instagram ads, Facebook ads, and more. Discover the right advertising mix for your brand with the help of Your Marketing People. Contact us today.
