If you speak to a Google Ads rep or review the recommendations tab in an account, you'll most likely see a big push to launch or "upgrade" to a Performance Max (Pmax) campaign. Do you stick to segregated Search, Shopping, Display, Video and Demand Gen campaigns or take Google's recommendation to run Pmax campaigns? Here's our approach to Pmax at ClickedOn.
Pmax campaigns lean heavily into Google's powerful machine-learning model, making the most of AI. These campaigns can be more about the user behind the search than the keywords themselves, which can bring you conversions you wouldn't have achieved in other campaign types. Pmax will also search far and wide to find your customers, given it covers all of Google's vast inventory, and setting up one campaign can be faster than a segregated model.
Switching to Pmax isn't a decision that should be taken lightly. Pmax tends to favour warm traffic, including remarketing and branded traffic (even with brand exclusions), inflating performance numbers and winning more returning customers than new. Pmax can negatively impact other campaigns if they are running in tandem. Account managers tend to have less control in areas like adding negative keywords. And you need to have a lot of faith and trust in Google as there is less visibility. While we love Google and how it helps grow businesses of all sizes, you have to remember that Google's end goal is profit.
When we run Pmax for our clients, it's more commonly for eCommerce clients than lead-gen businesses. Lead quality isn't an issue as there's a financial transaction at the end of the conversion, and Google can prioritise a Pmax campaign over Shopping or Search. For eCommerce clients with low brand awareness and traffic, a small customer base, or those not running many other digital channels, we'll consider Pmax. These characteristics help remedy the challenges around Pmax targeting warmer traffic and returning customers. If we want the AI power of Pmax without the wide range of placements, a feed-only campaign will limit your ads to Shopping and Remarketing.
It's easy to supercharge conversions with Pmax for lead-gen businesses; you just have to be prepared for varying quality. Rarely are two leads equal in industries like financial services, tech, and professional services. One lead could be worth thousands and the other close to spam. So we much prefer a segregated structure with more control and visibility. When we may consider Pmax in lead-gen accounts: at a small budget to supplement the individual campaigns, if the goal is upper-funnel objectives like email subscribers, or when we have access to the client's CRM to review lead quality.
Here are some hygiene practices we follow to give our Pmax campaigns the best chance of success. Use brand exclusion lists to protect your brand and reduce waste. Use account-level negative keywords (remembering this list will impact all campaigns). Contact your Google account reps to add small negative keyword lists at the campaign level. Review website placements and add account-level website exclusions. And select 'Optimise campaign for acquiring new customers' in the campaign settings.
The digital marketing space changes quickly. While the above is how ClickedOn currently works with Performance Max, this could change soon. We are always testing and recommending that businesses do the same.
