SEm | 5 minute read
Advertise across marketing channels with Performance Max
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Google Ads continues to evolve, offering advertisers new ways to reach their audiences effectively. One of the campaign types available is Performance Max (PMax), a solution designed to deliver ads across all of Google’s advertising channels from one campaign.
What is Performance Max?
Performance Max campaigns are a goal-based campaign type in Google Ads that allow advertisers to access all of Google’s inventory from a single campaign. This includes search, display, YouTube, Gmail, discover and maps. The primary objective is to use Google’s automation and machine learning to optimize performance based on your specific advertising goals, such as leads, sales, or website traffic.
How Performance Max works
Performance Max simplifies campaign management by enabling you to advertise across Google’s entire ecosystem with a single campaign. Here’s a breakdown of Performance Max works:
- You create a campaign, set goals, and supply Google with the creative assets necessary for the campaign, including headlines, descriptions, images, and videos.
- Instead of running different campaigns on Google’s various platforms, such as Search, YouTube, Gmail, Performance Max consolidates all assets into one campaign.
- Google’s machine learning automatically adjusts bidding, targeting, ad placements, and asset combinations in real-time. The AI ensures that your ads are shown across the most relevant channels, reaching customers at every stage of their journey.
Benefits of Performance Max
Performance Max campaigns offers a rage of benefits, making them an attractive option for businesses looking to simplify campaign management. Here are three key benefits:
Automatic optimization
Performance Max automates the traditional A/B testing of your creative with the aim of increasing your overall conversion volume. Ads are refined in real-time, enabling the system to find the ads, audiences, and creative combinations that perform best.
Find new customer segments
Google trusts its own AI to serve the most relevant ads at the right time. As a result, Performance Max can help you discover new audiences for you to capitalise on. Asset Audience, a new Performance Max feature, helps you see how well certain customer segments respond to your ads.
Time effective
Performance Max makes it much quicker to set up campaigns. There’s no need to build individual campaigns across different platforms as Performance Max automates the process for you.
How to set up a Performance Max campaign
Setting up Performance Max campaign is a straightforward process, but it requires attention to detail. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you get started:
1. Create a new campaign
Start by logging into your Google Ads account. Once you’re logged in, click the “+” icon in the left-hand panel to create a new campaign and choose Performance Max from the list of campaign types. You’ll be asked to define your primary goal for the campaign, make sure to choose the goal that aligns with your business objectives.
3. Upload your creative assets
When uploading your creative assets for a Performance Max campaign, start by adding several engaging headlines (up to 5) that reflect your brand’s tone and appeal to your target audience. Next, include up to 5 descriptions that highlight your unique selling points and include clear calls to action. For images, make sure to upload high-quality images and videos. Lastly, be sure to upload your brand’s logo to ensure consistency across all your ads.
4. Define your audience
Performance Max campaigns use automated audience targeting to reach the best audience based on your goals. However, you can still help guide the process by adding audience signals. For example, you can add demographic data, interests, or remarketing lists that you think might perform well.
5. Set your budget and bidding strategy
Choose a budget that aligns with your overall advertising goals and a bidding strategy that supports your goal. If your goal is to maximize conversions, Maximize Conversions might be appropriate. For sales goals, Target ROAS might be a better choice.
5. Launch and refine your campaigns
After you’ve configured your campaign settings, click Save and Launch. Your campaign will start to deliver across all Google channels.
Performance Max campaigns rely on Google’s machine learning to improve over time, so be sure to monitor the results by tracking key metrics like conversions, click-through rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS). Google Ads will also provide insights into which assets and audiences are performing well. You can use this data to refine your campaigns, adding new assets or adjusting your campaigns as needed.
Challenges with Performance Max
Despite its many advantages, there are some challenges to consider before you get started with Performance Max.
Limited campaign control
The high level of automation means that advertisers have less granular control over campaign elements like bidding, targeting, and placements. This may be a concern for those who prefer more manual control over their campaigns.
Demand for creative assets
Performance Max campaigns require a robust set of high-quality creative assets. If you lack the resources to generate multiple assets or videos, you may face challenges in fully using this campaign type.
Longer data learning period
Performance Max campaigns may need time to fully learn. If you have a small budget or limited conversion data, it may take longer for the system to find the most effective combinations of assets, audience segments, and bidding strategies.
Who should work with Performance Max?
Certain industries are likely to benefit more from Performance Max than others. If you’re a brand that has a relatively short sales or purchase cycle, PMax can help drive incremental conversions. However, if your business is primarily lead generation or has a long sales cycle, this may not be the campaign type for you.
If you run an e-commerce business, Performance Max integrates seamlessly with Google Merchant Center to promote your products across multiple Google channels. It’s particularly effective for driving sales and showcasing inventory dynamically.
The third indicator of whether Performance Max is for you relates to budget. If the budget is strict or constantly limited, campaigns may not reach their full potential because of limited learnings. At a minimum, it’s recommended to spend at least 500-1 000 SEK per day for 30 days to determine results.
If your brand has the ability to create and maintain a healthy volume of creative assets, Performance Max’s AI-driven automation can also be a good option for smaller teams who want to focus on strategy rather than manual campaign management.
Get started with Performance Max
Performance Max campaigns are a powerful addition to Google Ads, designed to simplify campaign management while delivering measurable results. By leveraging Google’s AI and expansive inventory, Performance Max campaigns enable businesses to reach customers at every stage of their journey. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your business get started with Performance Max campaigns.
