With the advent of Google Ads’ new product Performance Max [a.k.a. PMax] it raises questions about the need for and the future of their individual products. As explained in this article, PMax uses all inventory i.e. search, display, video, gmail and simply optimises spend on each according to what product and network is working best.
Google has mentioned a 13% improvement in ROAS as per their article here, however Search Rescue are in fact seeing much greater improvements in cost per lead [CPL] or return on ad spend [ROAS] for eCommerce.
In particular, Performance Max is delivering much better results where the client’s product or service has a value of at least $200 because that generally means a greater research phase. The use of remarketing and similar audiences by PMax means that the potential client is ‘touched’ not only at the initial search phase but after that ‘first click’ as they browse across networks afterwards until the purchase.
So the question naturally beckons, if PMax is delivering better results than normal Google AdWords / display campaigns / video campaigns / gmail campaigns then why bother with them individually… Why not simply just build 1 PMax campaign and rely on that? Well for many Search Rescue clients we are doing just that because lots of our clients simply want the lowest possible cost per lead or return on ad spend.
For clients with multiple campaign types running, PMax is great as it utilises all of these networks within one campaign. So if for example you have a search and a remarketing campaign running with the same objective of cost per lead then rolling these 2 campaigns into one Performance Max campaign will help you greatly. Given we have a lot of clients with several live products we are seeing most of our remarketing campaigns, display campaigns, video campaigns and gmail campaigns pausing and rolling into the PMax campaign.
Furthermore, our client’s Google PPC campaigns are also rolling into PMax when we foresee the below “pro’s” applying to them;
Pro’s of switching all of your campaigns into one PMax campaign:
- Have 1 campaign, not 4!
- Better performance according to your campaign objective – usually coisst per lead or return on ad spend
- Allow Google’s sophisticated AI [machine learning] to optime your campaign
- Allow Google to push and pull spend between networks according the objective
- Showcase images and videos of your products on Google’s largest network of websites, software and applications.
- Take advantage of your valuable audience data like remarketing lists and customer lists
Con’s of switching to PMax
- Complexity – to build one PMax campaign there are many layers to consider including audiences, assets, keywords, Google Analytics linking etc. If you are new to Google Ads then it can be daunting and you may even set up a worse converting campaign if not configured correctly.
- If you have a product / service of low value with a short research phase it may not be worth bothering as the CPL many not be better.
- If you don’t have assets like images, videos, a remarketing list, customer lists etc then
- you won’t get full benefit from the product and again the cost per lead may not drastically improve
- Control – you don’t get specific reporting and control on spend, placement, ad scheduling on each of the Google AdWords / display / video / gmail campaigns. It lumps them all together so you never quite know what is working.
- Multiple objectives – if your objective is impressions / reach for your display / remarketing ads but want leads from search then this is not possible. PMax allows only one objective for all products and networks.
In summary if you want control and knowledge on campaign performance then then you should continue with individual Google Ads campaigns however you just want best cost per lead regardless of where the lead came from then Google Ads Performance Max is ideal for you. If you’re in need of a high performance Google Ads agency in Sydney or beyond then give us a call to discuss how we can help you in this complex and fast changing digital landscape.
