Ever since Google introduced Performance Max in November 2021, the platform has been constantly evolving with updates aimed at enhancing campaign performance. Even since we first launched a blog when performance max overtook Smart Shopping, things have evolved rapidly. Staying abreast of the latest best practices and experimenting with new features have become essential for maximising the efficiency and performance of these campaigns tailored to individual clients.

What is Performance Max?

Performance Max represents a Google campaign type leveraging machine learning within an extensive ad network, spanning across Google’s entire inventory including Search, Shopping, Maps, Discovery, YouTube, and Display.

Here are our expert tips for 2024 to ensure you’re maximising the potential of your Performance Max campaigns:

1. Leverage Scripts:

Despite Google’s continual updates, certain areas of data visibility within Performance Max campaigns remain limited. To gain deeper insights and inform your strategy effectively, consider using scripts. Some of our favourites include:

Performance Max Keywords: This script provides campaign-level insights on triggered keywords along with their performance metrics. It helps in understanding Google’s interpretation of your landing pages, what keywords ads are triggering for, and identifying areas of wasted spend or underperformance.

Spend Split: A popular script offering insights into your campaign spending across different Google networks, enabling informed decisions on resource allocation.

Rolling Average Performance: This script analyses trends over a period, aiding in identifying performance fluctuations and making data-driven decisions. You can look at 7- and 30-day rolling averages across core metrics such as CTR and ROAS to see where performance is increasing or decreasing.

2. Implement Negatives:

Utilise account-level negatives and brand exclusions to refine targeting. The Performance Max Keywords script can assist in identifying irrelevant keywords across the entire account. Incorporate these negatives at the account level to enhance campaign efficiency. Make sure you use the right match type for your account. For example, you might be a business that sells holidays to South America. The keyword ‘holiday’ on its own might be too broad for your spend so negating it on exact match would be appropriate but negating on phrase or broad would stop triggering for relevant keywords such as ‘South America holidays’

3. Utilise Search Themes:

Introduced in Q4 2023, Search Themes utilise up to 25 keywords to identify relevant customer queries. Review top-performing search keywords and integrate them as search themes in Performance Max campaigns to optimize targeting. If running search campaigns alongside Performance Max, review your top performing search keywords and add these as search themes on Performance Max to help the machine learning reach the right customers.

4. Harness Audience Signals:

Customise your audience using a mix of customer data and Google’s pre-made audiences. Tailor audiences for each campaign rather than applying a uniform one across all campaigns. Regularly update customer lists, especially with the introduction of consent mode V2.

5. Optimise Asset Groups:

Evaluate campaign structure to ensure optimal performance. Do you have 100 products all in one campaign and asset group? Could these work better segmented with more tailored copy?  Consider segmenting products into distinct asset groups for tailored messaging and image optimisation. The Performance Max script can help identify high-value asset groups.

6. Consider Campaign Settings:

Understanding and configuring campaign settings correctly can save you or your client money. Key settings to monitor include:

Location Targeting: Google defaults to targeting and interest. This means that Google might be eligible to serve display ads or other ads in countries outside your targeted country. Set to just targeting and ensure your ads stay targeted where you want them.

Final URL Expansion: If you want to only send traffic to one landing page (or just the products selected if using a shopping feed) make sure this is turned off. If you do enable it, consider any pages from the offset that you want to exclude (think lower profit pages such as a blog page or reviews page). Also, make sure you’re running regular analysis on landing pages and where traffic is being sent.

If you’re curious about how Performance Max campaigns could benefit your business or are curious about optimisation strategies, reach out today for a complimentary audit.