Looking to drive growth across Google’s entire network without the lift of managing multiple campaigns? Performance Max helps CMOs unlock full-funnel results with smarter, automated optimization. This AI-driven ad campaign type helps you reach your target audience at the right time by automatically bidding on keywords, dynamically re-combining ad elements you provide, and placing paid ads for you.
Looking to launch a PMax campaign but not sure where to begin? Our paid media team is here to break it all down for you.
What Are Google Performance Max Ads?
Performance Max ads are a type of paid media campaign offered by Google, allowing marketers to place ads across a wide range of Google channels, including Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discovery, Gmail, and Google Maps.
By leveraging machine learning, PMax optimizes for the best-performing ad variations and placements to drive conversions. All you need to provide are the creative assets that you want the campaign to use. PMax is designed to maximize performance based on your specific paid media goals and is ideal for businesses looking to simplify campaign management while reaching the right audience on Google’s network.
The Benefits of Performance Max for Marketers
What makes this ad campaign type different from traditional campaigns is that PMax takes a holistic approach, using AI to optimize ads and ad formats across Google’s networks. This campaign type:
- Allows your ads to appear across all of Google’s channels
- Uses Google’s AI to optimize, budget, target audiences, choose creatives, and attribute ads based on your goals
- Consolidates everything into a single campaign, making it easier to manage, iterate, and optimize
- Uses a collection of assets (images, videos, headlines, descriptions) that are mixed and matched to build ads
- Uses real-time data to adjust the campaign automatically to be as efficient as possible
Google Performance Max offers a smart, automated solution for both newcomers to paid advertising and businesses looking to scale their efforts and reach their marketing goals.
Should You Use Performance Max?
The simple answer is: probably, but it depends on what your business goals are. While we are fully on board with Performance Max for the reasons above, creating a single campaign presented across several channels isn’t always the best approach. For example, it’s essential to know:
- It’s only accessible to advertisers with a Google Merchant Center account
- Automating ad sets decreases the level of control you have over how your ads look and where they serve
- Lead quality is typically lower than average, especially for B2B brands
- Machine learning is at its best when using first-party customer data
Still, Performance Max is undoubtedly beneficial for any digital marketer looking to prepare themselves for an inevitable cookieless future. If you think you’re ready, we generally follow Google’s criteria when deciding if these fit our goal-based campaign needs by asking:
- Do we have specific advertising and conversion goals in mind?
- Will our campaign benefit from an automated, multichannel approach regarding budget and presentation?
- Is it time to move beyond keyword search campaigns to convert and reach customers?
- Will these ads help us get new customers?
Google Performance Max Best Practices
We understand how confusing it is to hop into a new Google ad set. So, we asked our paid media team to provide their favorite Performance Max tips to make things easier. Here’s what they offered:
- Use your budget wisely: Use smart bidding to control costs or set a maximum conversion value based on funding.
- Set clear goals: Consider whether your ad will benefit from increasing online sales, generating leads, or encouraging folks to visit your store in person.
- Get creative: Let Google decide which creative works best by producing a variety of video, photo, and text ads.
- Provide the right assets: Provide at least the minimum number of images, copy, and videos so PMax only serves the assets you provide. Without the minimum number of assets, PMax campaigns will auto-generate new assets to fill in the gaps!
- Use audience signals: Use data from previous customers to help Google’s algorithm identify and target high-intent users faster.
- Optimize your campaigns: Update creative and budgets that align with your goals. Remove unsuccessful ads if necessary.
- Test your ads: Compare different CTAs, visuals, or ad types to maximize results.
- Monitor performance: Review ad performance and budgets to ensure performance is on track.
Ready to Maximize Ad Spend with Performance Max?
Running a successful Performance Max campaign takes the right strategy, creative assets, and ongoing optimization. If you’re looking to get the most out of your paid advertising, our expert team is here to help. From campaign setup to continuous performance tracking, we’ll ensure your ads reach the right audience and drive results to meet your goals.