A Comprehensive Guide to Optimizing Performance: Best Practices and New Tactics for 2024
When Performance Max was first introduced, it caused quite a stir in the advertising world. Some were excited about the opportunity to access more visual inventory without needing a separate budget, while others were concerned about the loss of control and reporting. Now that Performance Max has been around for a while, advertisers have started to settle into workflow and campaign structures. However, there is still debate about which rules of engagement are universal and which are specific to certain industries or spending levels.
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore each aspect of Performance Max campaigns and discuss the best practices and innovative trends to consider. It’s important to note that as the campaign type constantly evolves, the information provided here is current as of Q2 2024.
Performance Max’s Core Strategic Value
Before diving into the mechanics of Performance Max, it’s crucial to address the debate surrounding its core strategic value. Some believe that Performance Max is a top-of-funnel campaign type because it heavily promotes visual content on platforms like YouTube and display ads. Others see it as a lower funnel campaign that may even “steal” branded queries. The truth lies somewhere in the middle and depends on how you set up your campaigns. If you put minimal effort into Performance Max, using default settings and limited creative, you’ll likely see average results across all parts of the funnel. However, with proper planning and optimization, Performance Max can serve as a valuable tool for driving data, sales, and beyond.
Campaign Structure: One Campaign or Many?
When adding Performance Max to your advertising account, you have the choice of structuring it with either one campaign or multiple campaigns. The decision depends on several factors, including whether you want to take advantage of up to 100 asset groups per campaign.
One campaign with multiple asset groups is the most common and least useful way to run Performance Max. While it’s possible to achieve success with this structure, it often indicates a focus on testing the ad type rather than developing a solid strategy. This structure is best suited for brands with one major market or offering.
Multiple campaigns with one asset group allow you to dedicate a budget to each product, service, or persona based on its ROI potential. However, this approach can get expensive quickly, and if you spread yourself too thin, you may not get enough conversions to see good results.
Multiple campaigns with multiple asset groups should only be used in select circumstances. While this structure allows you to cover all aspects of your brand, it requires careful budget management and alignment of asset groups. Brands with a substantial budget and a wide range of inventory or service areas are best suited for this structure.
Creative: Feed, Video, and AI
One of the biggest frustrations for traditional PPC advertisers is the lack of control over creative in Performance Max. While you can input creative assets, you cannot control how they are applied. This has led many advertisers to focus on feed-only Performance Max campaigns, which rely on shopping or site feeds to serve ads. However, the data shows that there is not a significant difference between feed-only and mixed assets. The key issue is that many advertisers have a bias towards text ads in the visual era.
To bridge the creative gap, Google and Microsoft heavily rely on AI to help advertisers generate visual content. However, not all brands can fully embrace AI-driven creative, especially if it has not been approved by legal and stakeholders. In these cases, brands have three options: obtaining buy-in for creative resources to create visual content, helping teams understand that AI-driven creative uses pre-approved content, or potentially missing out on Performance Max placements due to a lack of well-crafted visual content.
URL Expansion and Automated Assets
Performance Max offers two creative add-ons: URL expansion and auto-created assets. URL expansion allows ad platforms to crawl your site and create ads based on relevant pages, similar to Dynamic Search Ads (DSA). However, it’s important to note that URL expansion may not provide clear search term data and can result in false positives or negatives due to placement type.
Auto-created assets populate missing assets within an asset group using existing assets and creative from your content. While this can be convenient, the assets created may not be as clever as those made by humans. It’s important to review and approve the auto-created assets to ensure their alignment with your brand.
Budgets: Borrow or Invest?
One challenge advertisers face with Performance Max is budget allocation. Brands are used to budgeting a certain amount for digital marketing, and Performance Max often requires either spending more or borrowing from existing campaigns. There is no right or wrong answer, but it’s essential to consider the auction prices and minimum monthly spend required for each channel. A budget should be able to drive at least one lead per day and accommodate at least 10 clicks per day.
Borrowing from existing campaigns can be a viable option if your siloed campaigns are hitting a wall in terms of impression share or market share. Performance Max can add new prospects to your search pool and capture those who prefer visual content. However, it’s crucial to maintain control over frequency and timing in existing visual campaigns.
Investing more in Performance Max can be beneficial due to its ability to test potential keyword concepts and remove human bias from campaign choices. Performance Max represents a more experimental testing campaign that can yield 18% more conversions at similar costs.
Conversions/Tracking: How Many Do You Need and Are You Cannibalizing?
Performance Max only runs on maximum conversions and maximum conversion value. This means you need to meet certain conversion thresholds for the campaign to succeed. Campaigns with fewer than 30 conversions in a 30-day period are likely to struggle. However, there is also the concern of Performance Max taking credit for branded conversions and the decision of whether to exclude branded traffic from the campaign.
Audience signals, such as websites visited, in-market and life events, and general demographics, can help ad platforms understand your target audience better and increase the chances of meeting conversion thresholds. Excluding existing customers from Performance Max can help ensure that branded traffic doesn’t affect the campaign’s performance. However, allowing branded traffic can be beneficial for brands looking to re-engage with existing customers and maintain their position in the market.
In conclusion, there are no definitive answers when it comes to optimizing Performance Max campaigns. Every brand has different needs and goals. However, by following the best practices and considering the tactics discussed in this guide, you can make informed decisions that will lead to better results. Remember that Performance Max requires effort and optimization to achieve success.
