Google will soon replace Smart Shopping and local campaigns with Performance Max campaigns. Is your company prepared to make the transition? Do you even know what this means?
If not, don’t worry!
Your friends at Zero Gravity Marketing are here to help prepare you with the basics of what performance is and how to best position yourself for this transition. Let’s dive into some best practices for campaign setup and unique features to help you succeed in your campaigns’ optimizations.
What is Performance Max?
Google Performance Max is a feature that the search giant has implemented, which will automate the targeting and delivery of your campaigns based on the information you (as a marketer) provide to the platform. If you think back to Smart campaigns, you’ll see some similarities. Performance Max will automate Google Ads in this new iteration, but the AI will only use the assets you provide, similar to how responsive ads function today.
Performance Max ads also closely resemble social campaigns in a lot of ways. For instance, they’ll run across several placements utilizing dynamic advertising formats. Additionally, you’ll have access to Performance Max reporting, which will show you information about your audience, so it can ultimately limit placement to only those most likely to be interested in your brand.
The changes to this interface began in April, and you now have the ability to manually upgrade your Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max campaigns with a single-click tool in Google Ads. However, if you delay, Google will begin to automatically upgrade your Smart Shopping and Local Campaigns in the summer of 2022.
Where Do Performance Max Ads Run?
Because Performance Max is a Google product, your ads may be shown across six different Google-owned channels, including:
- Search
- Maps
- Display
- Gmail
- Discover
- YouTube
The goal is to give the platform enough information to meet your stated objectives, then bring in conversions on your brand’s behalf. Although ads placed through this channel will run on Search and Display, the intent isn’t to replace campaigns running on these platforms; rather, they should supplement your efforts on these channels. Performance Max, however, will replace Smart Shopping and Local campaigns.
How Much Control Do You Have Over Performance Max Assets?
If you’re just getting started with online advertisements – or spending less than $1,000 a month on your ad spend budget – you’ll probably want to stay away from Performance Max. This channel wasn’t designed for individuals or companies that need to take more control over where their ads appear.
The evolution of this Google product is largely focused on machine learning, which takes control over otherwise manual, human intervention, such as where ads are shown and who they’re shown to. Users’ level of control is very low with Performance Max, which may sound great for newbies on the surface, but the platform is truly built for those who have already created a well-designed campaign flow.
How Are Performance Ads Set Up?
Performance Max uses AI and machine learning to determine optimal bids and placements intended to drive conversions for the business’s goals. You’ll have the ability to provide input on things like audience signals (using data you’ve compiled about your customers) and high-quality text, images, and videos to enhance your campaigns’ performances.
Performance Max Best Practices
When it comes to Performance Max best practices, it depends on what your business sells and the types of goals you’re trying to achieve.
As a general rule, you’ll want to:
- Give the machine learning time to understand who you are and your business. It can take around six weeks (or longer) for the AI to garner sufficient data to compare performance levels.
- Add text assets. Shoot for four headlines and five descriptions of your asset groups to ensure the machine learning algorithms have sufficient knowledge of your business.
- Add image assets. It would be best if you aimed to have at least five versions of 1200×1200 images in your asset group.
- Use as many assets as possible.
- Utilize Google Ads Conversion Tracking instead of Google Analytics conversion import to ensure you’re tracking video views or conversions across devices.
Need Performance Max Examples?
When it comes to delivering on client satisfaction in the digital marketing space, nobody does it like ZGM. From best practices to Performance Max and Smart Shopping comparisons, we’re here to help you navigate these ever-changing waters. Touch base with our team to learn how we can optimize your online ads, so you make the most ROI for your efforts.
