How to control performance max campaigns

Google’s Performance Max campaigns are generating a lot of buzz in the advertising community. With the product going from general availability (Nov 2021) to compulsory migration (Sep 2022) in less than a year, it is one of the swiftest significant launches we’ve witnessed. Here, we’ll share some of the advice we’ve learned from speaking with a variety of our clients and PPC industry professionals, including some Google employees, during our PPC Town Hall episodes.

Advertisers can exert control over performance max campaigns in the following ways:

Marketing objectives and goals

Make sure you’re giving Google the most accurate representation of your conversion. Conversion Value Rules can be used to better express your conversion values, or offline conversion imports can be used for even more precise data.

Campaign budgets

Campaign budgets can still be allocated. Whether it’s shifting budgets from one Performance Max campaign to another, shifting budgets between Performance Max and a search or shopping campaign, or even shifting budgets between platforms, budget optimizations can help you get the most out of your money. Many of them are simple to implement in Optmyzr.

Geo-targeting

You should be able to acquire conversions at the proper price with automated bidding, even in areas that don’t often perform well. Geo bid changes are not compatible with Smart Bidding, but you can still design distinct campaigns for each region, each with superior ROAS or CPA targets and creative elements that are more effective there.

Feeds

A wonderful illustration of managing PPC in the “large picture” is feed optimization. There are no keywords in any shopping efforts, not even “traditional” ones. However, Google will still show your advertisements for certain queries based on the terms you select to describe the products in a merchant feed. Therefore, feed management is a crucial strategy for optimization, and Optmyzr has a beta available for its clients who want assistance with optimizing their feed-based data.

Audiences

Although audiences have continued to gain relevance for targeting, keywords were the original type of PPC targeting. Google can target new audiences by specifying existing audiences (those not on the list of existing audiences). Or you may improve the results of campaigns like Performance Max by adding audiences you think are crucial.

Account negatives

Negative keywords are accepted by Performance Max campaigns as long as they can be entered into the system. So, enlist the assistance of an account representative to upload negative keywords at the campaign level. Also, use tools like Optmyzr to configure account-level negative placements, which can help you avoid thousands of dollars in wasted spend on applications and sites that entice consumers to click on advertisements but have a low chance of converting.

Conclusion

The introduction of Performance Max has altered the way PPC advertisers run campaigns that increase conversions for their businesses and clients. And, while much of the administration has migrated to the system’s periphery, there are still numerous things that marketers can do (as we discussed here) to continue to demonstrate their worth in the digital marketing sector.