As businesses continue to look for ways to reach their target audiences more effectively and efficiently, they are looking to platforms like Google, Facebook, and others for new objectives and products.
One of the vital innovations helping advertisers to do so is Google Performance Max, a solution that uses machine learning to help businesses deliver effective ads across multiple Google properties, including Search, Display, YouTube, and Discover. The objective has quickly gained popularity and is now used by small and large advertisers.
But what is Google Performance Max and how does it drive value for advertisers? If you want to learn more then this article is for you.
Here, we will look at
What is Google Performance Max
Google Performance Max is an advertising solution launched by Google in 2021. Traditional Google advertising products, such as Google Search Ads or Display Ads, focused on advertising individual Google products.
Google Performance Max is different. Utilizing machine learning and multiple goal optimization, the solution allows users to advertise across the whole ecosystem of Google’s advertising products. This includes:
Google Search
Google Display Network
Google Maps
Youtube
Gmail
Utilizing all these different channels, Google claims to reach 90% of the internet’s users. To optimize across these different channels, Google Performance Max uses newly developed algorithms and machine learning optimizing towards one or multiple goals chosen by the users.
The goals choose able to include all standard Google objectives.
Choosing multiple goals is also a new element not seen in previous Google campaign objectives. For example, users can choose to value of different conversion goals. Maybe you value traffic lower than a purchase on the website. You can manually choose the multiple goals and add a specific value, telling Google Performance Max what to optimize for.
Overall, Google Performance Max might be the most powerful single-goal campaign type that an advertiser can find right now. Machine learning takes over manual optimization that historically had to be done by hand. Also, the reach of Google Performance Max is much larger than any other campaign type found right now.
How does Google Performance Max work?
Google Performance Max optimizes bidding for you
Based on the single or multiple goals (sales, traffic, etc.) chosen by the advertiser Google Performance Max optimizes the campaigns across the different channels that are part of the network.
With this campaign type, the advertiser is not allowed to do any manual bidding. Instead, Google uses machine learning and automation to allocate budgets and place bids across different channels. The only element you can control is the cost-per-action (CPA) which can be predefined by the users.
Google Performance Max optimizes ads for you
Google Performance Max utilizes the newest types of dynamic ad creative, which makes it possible to run campaigns across the whole Google Network without the need to create individual ads for each campaign. This also allows reaching the full breadth of the ad network.
Another benefit of such is that Google uses information gathered throughout the process and machine learning to optimize the ads, improving performance and mitigating ad fatigue.
Google Performance Max reports across channels
Google Performance Max also reports across all the different channels making it easy to get a single overview of the campaign performance notwithstanding the different channels the campaign ran on. It also makes it easier for an advertiser to understand how to attribute sales or other actions and what channels drive the different effects.
What are the benefits of Google Performance Max?
Improved Targeting
One of the key benefits of using Google Performance Max is improved targeting. With machine learning algorithms, Google Performance Max can analyze data from a variety of sources to help businesses better understand their target audience. This includes factors such as:
Demographics
Interests
Behaviours
By leveraging this data, businesses can create more personalized and relevant ads that resonate with their audience, which can lead to better engagement and conversion rates.
Google Performance Max uses a variety of targeting options to help businesses reach their desired audience. This includes audience targeting, which allows businesses to reach users who have previously interacted with their brand.
Additionally, Google Performance Max offers interest targeting, which targets users based on their interests and behaviours, as well as in-market targeting.
Increased Reach
Another major benefit of using Google Performance Max is increased reach. By delivering ads across multiple Google properties, businesses can reach a larger audience and increase their brand visibility.
By delivering ads across multiple Google properties, businesses can increase their reach and visibility, as well as improve the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns by targeting users at the right time and place.
Better Performance Optimization
Google Performance Max also offers better performance optimization than traditional advertising solutions. By analyzing data in real time, Google Performance Max can automatically adjust bids, ad formats, and targeting criteria to improve campaign performance. This can save businesses time and resources while improving the overall effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.
Google Performance Max uses Smart Bidding to help businesses optimize their bidding strategies. Smart Bidding uses machine learning to automatically adjust bids based on a variety of factors, including user behaviour, device, and location. This can help businesses maximize their advertising performance by delivering ads to users who are more likely to engage with them.
Flexible Ad Formats
Another benefit of using Google Performance Max is the ability to use flexible ad formats. Google Performance Max offers a variety of ad formats, including text, image, and video ads. This allows businesses to create ads that match their brand and marketing goals, while also ensuring that the ad is optimized for the specific platform and audience.
Furthermore, Google Performance Max offers ad sequencing, which allows businesses to tell a story with their ads across multiple touchpoints. Ad sequencing can be used to create a cohesive and engaging ad experience for users, which can improve brand awareness and increase engagement.
Better ROI on Advertising Spend
Finally, one of the most important benefits of using Google Performance Max is better ROI on advertising spend. By using machine learning algorithms to optimize ad performance, businesses can achieve higher engagement and conversion rates while also reducing their advertising costs.
Furthermore, Google Performance Max offers conversion tracking, which allows businesses to track the performance of their ads and optimize their campaigns based on actual conversion data. This can help businesses identify which ads and targeting criteria are most effective at driving conversions, which can improve overall advertising performance and ROI.
What are the downsides of Google Performance Max?
Decreased control
The most obvious downside of Google Performance Max is the loss of control over the advertising spend. As the advertiser leaves the optimization to Google’s algorithms, they do not have any control over the spending across the different channels compared to working with other advertising channels.
While smaller brands with less experience might favour this, experience marketers might not want to give the control away and rather utilize their existing knowledge. Especially when there is little trust in the algorithm, giving away all power to the algorithm is daunting.
Specific audiences
Due to its large reach, Google Performance Max is good at reaching large and diverse audiences. However, some advertisers and businesses might want to reach more specific users.
Businesses that operate in niche or highly specialized markets may find that Google Performance Max is not well-suited to their needs, as it may not be able to target its audience effectively. When using Google Performance Max, they risk wasting advertising spend on non-important advertising channels decreasing their effect and ROI.
High cost
Finally, one potential downside of using Google Performance Max is that it can be costly for businesses, particularly those with smaller budgets. While the platform offers a range of powerful tools and features, businesses must be prepared to invest in these tools and pay for the cost of advertising on Google.
Additionally, as the platform relies on machine learning algorithms to optimize ad performance, businesses may need to commit to a long-term strategy and budget to see meaningful results.
Should I use Google Performance Max?
When it comes to evaluating using Google Performance Max, there are three factors that influence whether you should use the campaign type.
Do I not need to have full control over my advertising spend?
If you use Google Performance Max, algorithms will optimize the campaigns for you. This decreases the control you have over budget allocation of budget and bidding.
Do I have a broad target audience?
Do I have enough advertising budget?
If the answer to all the questions is yes, then start using Google Performance Max. If not, continue using other campaign objectives to drive positive impact.
How to get started with Google Performance Max?
If you want to get started with Google Performance Max, you can set up the campaign after choosing the objectives in Google Ads. This is easy if you have prior experience in working with Google’s systems and does not take much additional time.
An even easier way is to use omni-channel platforms, like Nexta, that allow you to combine Google Performance Max with other campaigns across the Meta universe and others. Here, you are not met with the complexity of Google Ads but an even simpler UI/API and campaign setup.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Google Performance Max is an advertising solution that can help businesses achieve better advertising performance by using machine learning algorithms to improve targeting, increase reach, optimize performance, offer flexible ad formats, and achieve better ROI on advertising spend.
However, if you want to continue having maximum control over your advertising spend or have a very specific target audience, it might not be the right objective for you.
If you're interested in using Google Performance Max to improve your advertising performance, it's important to work with a qualified and experienced advertising partner who can help you leverage the full potential of this powerful advertising solution and helps you to combine Google Performance Max with other campaigns on Facebook and other platforms.