The Google Ads platform is constantly evolving. A few years ago it was called Google Adwords – however, its evolution is more reflected in the new advertising products offered and the targeting options.
Performance Max campaigns are the latest addition to the Google advertising landscape. This campaign option has just been launched for all advertisers after a long period of beta testing.
Our digital marketing agency has seen positive results from these campaigns since their launch.
What are Google Performance Max campaigns?
Google Performance Max is a new type of goal-based campaign that maximizes your performance across the entire Google network, such as Search, Display, Discover, Gmail, Maps, YouTube. Previously, getting visibility across all of these networks meant creating and managing individual campaigns for each of these networks.
Using machine learning, Performance Max campaigns allow advertisers to make the most of both increased ad coverage and automation. This is done by providing important information, such as audience signals, images, videos and text content that Google will then combine to create different ads that are compatible with the formats of the different platforms. In other words, it combines a Search, Shopping, Display and YouTube ad.
What are the benefits of using Performance Max?
Using Performance Max helps you achieve your goals by increasing conversions, finding new customers and gaining richer insights, for example:
- Increasing your conversions and the value of your conversions by optimizing your budget and bids across all of Google’s advertising platforms; in other words, the same Google user will be reached by different ad formats from the same advertiser as they move online through the different platforms.
- The automation behind PMax helps to find new audience segments, to position on targeting that could not have been detected without machine learning;
- It is possible to collect all relevant information about the target audience. This way, you will know when, in what context, in what location and in what language advertising messages should be sent and to whom, in order to encourage action towards conversion.
- Multiple touch points for your ads with your target audience. Since these different platforms are part of the Google ecosystem, it is now easier than ever to follow your audience with your ad message through its online journey, be it on Google Maps, Search or Youtube.
The end of Google Smart Shopping.
Performance Max is set to replace Smart Shopping. Advertisers who have not yet made the transition will automatically have their Smart Shopping campaigns converted to Performance Max campaigns.
Unlike Smart Shopping, Performance Max campaigns span the Search, Google Maps and Discover platforms, giving your ads more visibility.
How to integrate PMax if you already have Google Ads campaigns that are performing well?
It is possible that you already have search or other campaigns online that are delivering concrete and satisfactory results. It is normal in this case to be apprehensive about making drastic changes to your system. In this case, we suggest a gradual transition strategy, which will limit the risk that the change potentially brings to a system that already works.
Concretely, this implies transiting only one or a few of your campaigns from your Google Ads account to Pmax in order to test them, measure the conversions and adapt the strategy in light of these new results. It is important to keep all other variables of the system the same during such a test, in order to isolate the Performance Max variable and draw reliable conclusions. Finally, this is similar to A/B testing!
How can our Google Ads agency service help you?
Performance Max campaigns can be a powerful tool for businesses that want to target the people most likely to convert. Compared to traditional search campaigns that contain only text content, the new type of campaign will also include visual content.
PH Digital offers a turnkey service for the implementation and creative development of image and video ad formats needed to achieve concrete and consistent results with a long-term perspective. This service is part of the suite offered by our digital marketing agency.
Regards,
Pierre M. Geoffrion, B. Ing
Co-Founder and Google Strategy Consultant
