Google Performance Max is a campaign type that uses machine learning to optimize your ad performance across multiple Google networks. With the right approach, Google Performance Max Shopping campaigns can serve as a powerful tool for e-commerce businesses looking to drive more sales and revenue without investing too much in the supervision of online marketing campaigns. In this blog post, we will cover the most essential Google Performance Max optimization tips.

Set Clear Goals for Your PMax Campaigns

Setting clear goals for your Performance Max campaigns should always be your starting point. Remember two things when setting goals for Performance Max campaigns. 

• Goals could include increasing sales, improving conversion rates, generating leads, attracting new customers, etc.—so clearly define what you want your customer to do right from the start.
• Define primary and secondary action for a smooth customer journey.
  • Primary actions. These are the most important things you want to achieve with your campaign. For instance, if you sell things online, your main goal may be to sell more products. If you want to generate leads, your main goal may be to get people’s contact information.
  • Secondary actions. Additional goals are things that people can do that help you reach your main goals. For example, in an online sales campaign, additional goals could be people signing up for your newsletter or adding items to their shopping cart. In a lead generation campaign, additional goals might include people downloading a resource or looking at your website content.
• Measurement and optimization. Having clear goals helps you measure the success of your PMax campaigns. You can use key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates, return on ad spend (ROAS), or cost per acquisition (CPA) to see how well your campaigns are doing. Make sure to regularly check and analyze campaign metrics to see if you’re reaching your goals. If not, use data to make changes and improve your campaigns to better match your objectives.

Performance Max campaign goals should be specific and match your primary and secondary actions to make sure your customers have a good experience. They also help you measure, improve, and adjust your campaigns to reach your desired results quickly and easily.

Use High-Quality Assets: Images, Videos, and Texts in PMax Campaigns

Performance Max campaigns use visual machine learning to analyze product images, so it’s important to use high-quality images that accurately represent your products. This will help the algorithm match your products with the right audience and maximize your ad performance. Outside of price, the first thing that a potential customer checks out is product images. Always use high-quality product images that match key features and benefits in the product description. Also, remember to:

• Provide many high-quality assets as possible. This way you’ll be swaying PMax towards generating more or less predictable ads visual-wise. If you miss some assets PMax will generate ads that may not look attractive, hence affecting their potential.
• Use the ‘Ad strength’ indicator to replace low-quality assets with better creative. 
• Make sure assets comply with Google’s ad requirements.
• Match assets with product descriptions. Make sure your images and videos match the key features and benefits mentioned in your product descriptions. This helps build trust with customers.
• Update and refresh assets. Keep your ads fresh to avoid ad fatigue. Regularly update and refresh your images and videos to engage users and maximize ad performance over time.
• Conduct A/B Testing. A/B testing helps determine the most effective images, videos, or ad copy. Experiment with different combinations to find what resonates best with your target audience.

Using high-quality assets in your PMax campaigns is fundamental for maximizing ad performance. These assets not only impact the algorithm’s optimization of your campaigns but also play a pivotal role in captivating potential customers and establishing credibility. By offering a diverse range of high-quality visuals, adhering to ad requirements, and leveraging tools such as the ‘Ad strength’ indicator, you can consistently enhance the quality of your Performance Max creatives and generate superior outcomes.

Segment Your Products into Listing Groups

One of the key benefits of Google Performance Max Shopping campaigns is that they allow you to segment your products into different groups based on attributes such as price, brand, and category. This makes it easier to target specific audiences with the right products and to optimize your bids and budgets accordingly. Take the time to segment your products into relevant groups.

Why You Should Segment Your Products

• Segmenting your products helps you create ads that are more relevant to what users are searching for. This increases the chances of clicks and conversions.
• Grouping products with similar attributes gives you better control over your bidding strategy. You can set specific bids for different product segments based on their performance, price points, or margins.
• Segmenting helps you allocate your budget more efficiently. You can prioritize budget allocation to top-performing segments, ensuring that you get the most out of your advertising spend.
• Creating listing groups with similar products allows you to tailor your ad copy and creative assets to match the characteristics of each group. This personalization can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates.

How to Segment Your Products

• To segment your products effectively, consider using attributes like product type, brand, category, price range, or other relevant characteristics. For instance, if you sell clothing, create separate groups for men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel.
• Your product data feed, which provides information about your products, is crucial for segmentation. Make sure the attributes in your feed are accurate and complete. Google uses this data to match user queries with your products.
• You can further refine your product grouping by creating custom labels within your feed. These labels can be based on factors important to your business, such as seasonality, product availability, or profitability.
• Regularly monitor the performance of your listing groups to identify top performers and areas for improvement. Google provides detailed metrics for each group. Adjust your bidding and budget allocation based on this performance data.
• Create custom listing groups for users who have interacted with specific products on your website. Show them tailored ads featuring the exact products they viewed.
• Take advantage of Google’s machine-learning algorithms to optimize your listings. Use automated bidding strategies and targeting options to streamline the management of your segmented products.
• Keep your listing groups up to date by regularly updating them as your product catalog evolves or seasonality impacts your offerings. This ensures that your ad campaigns align with your current product lineup.
• Test and optimize—use A/B testing and experiments to find out which segmentation strategies work best for your business. You might need to improve your segments over time using performance data and testing results.

Sort Your Assets by Asset Groups

When you create a Performance Max campaign, you add images, logos, headlines, descriptions, and videos to make an asset group. Google Ads automatically mixes and matches these assets based on the Google Ad channel (YouTube, Gmail, Search, and so on) through which your ad is delivered. You can create multiple asset groups per campaign to group assets by theme or to group assets with different targeting. And remember that

• At least one asset group is required for each operation. 
• Each campaign can have a limit of 100 asset groups.
• An asset group cannot be shared between campaigns.

Use Exclusions in Your Performance Max Campaigns

Exclusions are a crucial component of Performance Max campaigns. They allow you to exclude audiences, brands, locations and placements that are not relevant to your campaigns. By using exclusions, you can optimize the campaigns and reduce the likelihood of your ads showing to irrelevant audiences, which can lead to wasted ad spend. Read this detailed blog post on how to use exclusions for PMax campaigns.

Optimize Your PMax Bidding Strategy

With Performance Max, you have two bidding choices. 

• Maximize conversions (with optional target CPA). If you have a new account, begin with this one so that Google can get as much data as possible.  This option works well if you
  • already have some historical data 
  • seeking to maximize conversions within a certain budget. 
• Maximize conversion value (with optional target ROAS).  With this approach, you can maximize conversion value while maintaining a fixed budget or return on ad spend. It works for accounts that have historical info as well. 

Plus, try to

• set a reasonable budget—don’t go with either a small or a large budget, particularly if you’re just getting started with PMax
• use your average budget size as a standard.

Also, try some of these tips, depending on the situation.

• Start with maximizing conversions for new accounts. If you’re starting a new account or have limited data, begin with the “Maximize Conversions” strategy. This allows Google to gather initial data and optimize your campaigns more effectively.
• Use historical data for Target ROAS. If your account has a lot of historical data, consider using the “Maximize Conversion Value” strategy with a Target ROAS. This will help you prioritize revenue and ROI in your campaigns.
• Monitor and adjust. No matter which bidding strategy you choose, it’s important to regularly monitor your campaigns’ performance. Use key performance indicators (KPIs) like CPA, ROAS, and conversion rates to evaluate the effectiveness of your bidding strategy.
• Test and experiment. Don’t be afraid to experiment with both bidding strategies to see which one works better for your campaign goals and budget limitations.
• Consider seasonality. Take into account any seasonal factors that may impact your business. Adjust your bidding strategy and budget accordingly to optimize your campaigns during peak periods.

Keep Your Product Shopping Feed Streamlined and Fresh

Regardless of the method you use to manage your product feeds, follow the advice below. 

• Always keep your product feed organized and updated. 
• Submit/resubmit the feeds every 30 days (even if you did no updates). This ensures that the data is current and relevant. 
• If you have many feeds, don’t move items from one to the other. 
• Define a product maximum for large feeds.

Check these blog posts for more tips on Google product feed management ⬇️

• What are Google Shopping Feed Types and How to Use Them
• How to Prevent and Fix Errors in Google Shopping Feed
• How and Why to Exclude Products from PMax Campaigns

Use Negative Keywords to Filter Out Irrelevant Searches

Negative keywords are a great way to optimize your Google Performance Max campaigns. Negative keywords are those search queries that you don’t want your ads to appear for. For example, you can exclude the queries for kids’ boots if you sell men’s boots only. By using negative keywords, you can filter out irrelevant searches and focus your budget on the most promising opportunities. Learn more about using account-level negative keywords here.

Leverage Additional (Third-Party) Automation for Your Performance Max Campaigns

Automated third-party tools can positively affect the efficiency of your PMax campaigns. Bidbrain, for example, can provide you with 

• handy feed management tools
• advanced AI bidding algorithms
• automated product title rewriting
• activation of products without historical data
• extraction of insights unavailable in PMax and Google Shopping, and so on.

Check this page to learn more about Bidbrain’s features for shopping ads optimization.

Monitor and Adjust Your Performance Max Campaigns

It’s important to keep track of how well your campaigns are doing. Regularly check the metrics and make changes to your bids, targeting, and ad formats to make your campaigns better. Look at the Insights page to get valuable data and trends that can help you understand how users behave and make smart decisions. You can see which products or services are getting the most attention, who your audience is, and what devices they use to see your ads.

This information can help you improve your campaign strategies, find the best-performing groups, and make your content more appealing to your target audience. Keeping an eye on these insights and making necessary changes is crucial to keep your Performance Max campaigns effective over time. Regularly check the Insights page to analyze PMax campaigns thoroughly.

Final Thoughts

Optimizing your Google Performance Max campaigns is crucial for achieving the best possible results and maximising your return on investment. Whether you’re an experienced digital marketer or a newbie to online marketing and advertising, remember to take the time to fine-tune your PMax campaigns, test different strategies, and stay up to date with the latest trends and best practices in the industry.