Performance Max Campaigns: Exploring the Potential

If you've been running Google ads, chances are you've either received calls from Google's reps urging you to embrace automation, such as Performance Max campaigns (P Max) or perhaps you have seen people online talking about them.

In this blog post, I'll delve into some key questions and provide additional details as this campaign evolves.

What is a Performance Max campaign?

A Performance Max campaign is a comprehensive, automated campaign that combines all available campaign types on Google.

These campaign types include:

Search Ads - Where you typically target specific keywords to appear on the Google search results pages.

Display Ads - Involve creating visually appealing images or banner ads on websites within the Google Display Network (GDN).

YouTube Video Ads - Where you can reach your audience on YouTube with your video ads.

Ads on Gmail – they are ads that appear on people's email accounts that they have with Google.

Discovery Ads – these are ads that appear on Google's app.   

Shopping Ads – campaigns that use your merchant centre feed of products (if you are a product business) to display ads within the shopping section of the Google search results. 

To set up a Performance Max campaign, you will need to provide the campaign with assets such as images, videos, shopping feeds (if applicable), ad copy, and audience data. Google will then take those assets and show your ads to your target audience.

How does it differ from other campaign types?

Unlike other campaign types focusing on a single advertising format/ad location, the idea behind a Performance Max campaign is that it utilises various campaign types (search, display, video etc...) into one cohesive campaign.

Here's how Google explains it on their help website:

Performance Max is a new goal-based campaign type that allows performance advertisers to access all of their Google Ads inventory from a single campaign. It's designed to complement your keyword-based Search campaigns to help you find more converting customers across all of Google's channels like YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps.

Performance Max helps you drive performance based on your specified conversion goals, delivering more conversions and value by optimising performance in real-time and across channels using Smart Bidding. Performance Max combines Google's AI technologies across bidding, budget optimisation, audiences, creatives, attribution and more.

They're all empowered by your specific advertising objective, for example, if you have a CPA or ROAS target, and the creative assets, audience signals and optional data feeds you provide.

Performance Max campaigns fully leverage machine learning and automation to optimise performance across multiple campaign types.

In simpler terms, Performance Max is meant to be like having an intelligent assistant for your business's advertising. It helps you reach more potential customers online and tries to get the best results possible.

It's meant to be an efficient and effective way to promote your business across various campaign types without needing to be an expert in Google Ads.

What Performance can you expect from a Performance Max campaign?

Its important to understand that P Max campaigns use various signals and data points to dynamically allocate budgets and adjust bids, targeting the most relevant audiences and placements. They rely heavily on automation, reducing the manual control available to advertisers.

For example, Performance Max campaigns are unlike search campaigns, where you have granular control over keywords, bids, and targeting settings. So there are pros and cons to using this type of campaign.

The performance of a P Max campaign can vary depending on several factors.

Based on my experience with Performance Max so far, it has shown promising results for clients focused on online sales. However, I am not yet convinced enough to abandon other campaign types entirely and rely solely on Performance Max. There seems to be a heavy reliance on branded terms rather than non-branded terms, which could give you a false sense of perspective. This makes sense as the bidding strategies available are limited to maximise conversions and conversion value, so what is going to convert better, branded or non-branded? But what is going to grow your business?

Performance Max also seems to benefit from the guidance of other campaign types to optimise its effectiveness. This could suggest that it is more of a remarketing campaign than a cold traffic campaign.

With regard to lead generation, I have encountered mixed results with clients seeking lead generation, ranging from mediocre to disappointing outcomes.

What should you consider before setting up a Performance Max campaign?

Before diving into a Performance Max campaign, there are several aspects to consider:

Assets: Ensure you have compelling images, videos, and ad copy ready for the campaign.

Data: Ensure you have sufficient audience data to target your ads effectively.

Conversion tracking: Set up proper conversion tracking to measure your campaign's success and educate the system.

Account negatives: Consider any negative keywords or exclusions you want to apply to your campaign to refine targeting and avoid irrelevant placements.

You can make informed decisions when setting up your Performance Max campaign by carefully considering these factors.

In conclusion, Performance Max campaigns offer a powerful and efficient way to promote your business across various platforms.

While they may not replace other campaign types entirely, they add value to your advertising strategy.

Embracing automation and exploring the potential of Performance Max campaigns can help you stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of online advertising. If you would like to discover how Performance Max Campaigns could work for your business, then why not give me a call to find out more.