Performance Max: The best of Google, All-in-one
New to Google Ads and wondering what exactly Performance Max campaigns are? Or have you been using Google Ads for a bit but only utilizing Search Campaigns? In this article, we’ll be breaking down exactly what PMax is, how to use it, and why it may be better for your advertising needs vs. a search campaign.
What is Performance Max?
Performance Max is a goal-based campaign type that aims to increase conversions across Google’s range of advertising channels. This includes Search, Display, Discover, Maps, Gmail, and YouTube. This allows retailers to increase their presence across different ad formats.
Advertisers will set their own conversion goals to be used by the automated bidding technology.
This campaign type promises more conversions by optimizing ad performance in real-time and across all channels using Smart Bidding, Google’s AI-driven automated bidding, which is used in Smart Shopping campaigns
Advertisers upload various assets appropriate to each channel, like images and video, and Google’s machine learning approach then tests which combinations work best for your campaigns. The intention is to have single-campaign optimization across all advertising platforms. Targeting for these campaigns is based on Audience Signals, and is also dependent on your bid strategy.
What are the benefits of Performance Max?
Google’s new campaign type promises advantages over other offerings.
Performance Max hopes to increase online leads and conversions through the automated optimization of budgets and bids across all Google platforms. This could be more efficient than a generic search campaign.
With Google’s real-time data on shopper intent and preferences, Performance Max can help you discover new audience segments that you might’ve been unaware of. This can help you get your ads in front of more interested shoppers.
This new campaign type relies on creative assets supplied by advertisers. That means you can create assets that best suit your audience of shoppers, helping you take control of your ad campaigns.
When to use Google Ads Performance Max?
Performance Max would work well for advertisers looking to appear on all of Google’s advertising platforms, with the ability to access all of this from a single campaign.
It’s also a good option for in-house advertisers, possibly for smaller businesses, looking to set up a simple Google campaign without needing to delve too much into strategy.
For more of a breakdown, Performance Max is the best option to use when:
You have specific advertising and conversion goals. For example, driving online sales, lead generation, and others.
You want to maximize the performance of your campaign, and you aren't limited by which channel your ads appear on.
You want to easily access all of Google’s advertising channels using a single campaign.
You want to gain additional reach and conversion value beyond keyword-based Search campaigns.
When to NOT use Google Ads Performance Max?
Much like Smart Shopping campaigns, Performance Max operates as a ‘black box’. While you get results on top-performing audiences, you don’t receive all the data that could be used to reach conclusive results to accurately inform campaign optimization.
The ability to have single-campaign optimization across all Google advertising channels is definitely a plus, but you gain almost no visibility on channel-specific performance and how the assets you provide are utilized. This makes it difficult to enact meaningful changes to your campaigns or see how each channel is performing.
Since there’s no channel-specific performance for advertisers, you can’t be sure that your campaigns aren’t cannibalizing your other campaigns.
Unfortunately, Google hasn’t implemented any device modifiers and there isn’t any device-specific data on performance given to advertisers. This makes it hard to test campaigns to their fullest, and you have no way of comparing desktop and mobile.
Get started with Performance Max campaigns
If you’re interested in getting started with Performance Max campaigns but don’t want to handle the nuances of setting up your campaign and making sure it’s running correctly then let us take care of that for you. Contact us today to get started on your Google Ads journey!
