In 2020 Google initially introduced Performance Max campaigns as a new way to buy Google Ads across Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail and Maps from a single campaign. They complement keyword-based Search campaigns to help grow performance across Google’s full range of advertising channels and inventory.
After strong beta results, Google announced this month that Performance Max campaigns will roll out to all Google Ads advertisers around the world. They will also become the next generation of Smart Shopping and Local campaigns, which will both upgrade to Performance Max in 2022.
Google states that Performance Max goal-based campaigns help to drive performance based on the advertiser’s specified campaign objectives, delivering more conversions and value by optimising performance in real-time and across channels using Smart Bidding. (Objectives can be conversion goals that are sales, leads, or local store visits and promotions).
Performance Max combines Google’s automation technologies across bidding, budget optimisation, audiences, creatives, attribution, and more; all empowered by the specified advertising objective (e.g. a CPA or ROAS target) and the creative assets, audience signals, and optional data feeds provided by the advertiser.
The benefits are:
- Being able to unlock new audiences across Google’s channels and networks;
- The ability to drive better performance for the goals and get more transparent insights;
- Steering automation with the campaign inputs;
- Simplifying campaign management and easily optimising the ads.
Performance Max is the best option to use when:
- There are specific advertising and conversion goals (e.g. driving online sales, lead generation, etc.);
- The advertiser wants to maximise the performance of the campaign and aren’t limited by which channel the ads appear on;
- The advertiser wants to easily access all of Googles advertising channels using a single campaign;
- The advertiser wants to get additional reach and conversion value beyond keyword-based Search campaigns.
This is a Google Ads automated campaign that uses uses machine learning to maximise campaign performance. The advertiser simply adds the budget, business goals, desired conversions and the automation will find potential customers for the goals and serve the most appropriate ad, with the optimal bid.
This can be further enhanced by the addition by the advertiser of audience signals (including customer data) and high quality text, images, and video.
You can read more about Performance Max campaigns here.
You can also read our supplementary blog in February 2022 about upgrading to Performance Max campaigns from April 2022.
If you want to know more about how Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads could help your business, please get in touch.