Performance Max: A Set up Quick-Start Guide

Are you ready to unlock the potential of Google Ads Performance Max Campaigns? Whether you’re a novice or an experienced marketer, this guide will help you create and launch your campaign to set yourself up for success.

What is a Performance Max Campaign?

Performance Max (PMax) is an automated campaign type designed to help advertisers reach their goals across Google’s entire network: Search, Gmail, Display, YouTube, and Native. By submitting display, text, and video assets, Google will automatically combine and run these across channels, simplifying campaign management and driving more conversions.

Key Benefits:

• Omnichannel Reach: Extend your ads across Google’s platforms.
• Machine Learning Optimization: Google’s AI optimizes bids and ad combinations.
• Simplified Setup: Ideal for both new and experienced marketers.

Who Should Use Performance Max?

• New marketers: Great for learning how to use Google Ads efficiently.
• Business owners: Increase online presence and site traffic.
• Marketers seeking more volume: Boost reach and conversions when used alongside search campaigns.

Important Drawbacks

• Black box optimizations There is a lack of transparency on where ads run, what creative performs well, and why. Advertisers can’t see a performance breakout between ad formats. This is especially pertinent when a campaign is using value-based bidding. If there is a quality difference between formats that might be hard to detect and degrade long-term business metrics.
• Lack of control: While advertisers get to add targeting signals Google will run as it sees fit. There are few immediate levers marketers can pull to change performance.

When to Use Performance Max

PMax campaigns are ideal for:

• Time-constrained marketers: Marketers with limited time to make manual campaign updates can benefit from Google’s automated optimizations.
• Marketers seeking incremental revenue or leads: Reach new audiences and increase conversions beyond search campaigns.

Key Considerations

While PMax is highly automated, it’s not suitable for campaigns needing granular control or niche targeting. It’s important to weigh the benefits of automation versus manual control.

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Setting Up Your Performance Max Campaign

Pre-Setup Requirements:

• Conversion/revenue data: This helps Google optimize for your goals.
• Creative assets: Use your business logo, images, or videos to stand out.
• Business goals and value proposition: Be clear about what sets you apart from your competitors.

Campaign Setup Steps:

1. Campaign Creation: In Google Ads, select “Performance Max” and set your goals.
2. Audience Targeting: Define your target audience.
3. Budget: Set your daily budget.
4. Upload Ad Assets: Add your headlines, descriptions, visuals, logo, and video. Video is optional, but Google prefers that advertisers include this asset.
5. Review & Launch: Check your settings before launching the campaign.

Remember, PMax campaigns thrive on data. The more data you provide, the better Google’s AI can optimize for your goals.

Performance Max Targeting Options:

• Keywords: Help Google match search intent to your ads. For traditional paid search advertisers, these are broad match keywords only.
• Custom & Internal Audiences: Reach specific users or retarget those who’ve interacted with your brand.
• In-Market Audiences: Target users actively researching specific products or services.
• Life Events & Demographics: Target users experiencing major life changes or specific demographic traits.

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Optimizing Performance Max Campaigns

Give the Bidding Algorithm Time to Learn:

PMax campaigns take time to adjust and gather data. Don’t expect immediate results but monitor performance as the system optimizes over time.

Review Keywords & Creative Performance:

Regularly review and adjust keywords to ensure relevance. Google grades your creative assets from “Low” to “Best.” Swap out underperforming assets to improve campaign performance. Google recently announced they would show conversion by asset. Use this to guide your optimization by removing underperforming assets and testing out new ones.

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Important Considerations

• Success is Not Guaranteed: Performance Max requires realistic expectations about how it can perform. Do not expect it to improve significantly over search ROAS.
• Auto-Generated Creative: While PMax can automatically generate creatives, review them for brand alignment.
• Beyond Google: Although this guide focuses on Google Ads, similar principles apply to Bing Ads.

Final Thoughts:

The digital advertising landscape is constantly evolving. Stay informed about updates, trends, and best practices through Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising’s official channels. Embrace PMax to elevate your online marketing and drive exceptional results. If you would like help getting started with Performance Max you can contact me here.

Additional Resources to Get You Started.

Here are some valuable resources to continue your learning journey and delve deeper into Performance Max campaigns:

• Google Ads Help Center:
  • Campaign creation and setup: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10724896
  • Asset group reports: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10724817
  • Bidding Strategies: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6268637
• Microsoft Advertising Help: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/advertising/campaign-management-service/campaigntype?view=bingads-13