Google Performance Max – What’s new?

In 2021 Google announced a new type of campaign would become available to advertisers; Google Performance Max (PMax). PMax allows advertisers to display ads throughout the entirety of Google’s network including Display, Search, Maps, Discover Feed, YouTube, Gmail and the Shopping Ad Inventory. All from one campaign.

Using fully automated targeting the all-in-one hybrid model is further indication of the future of Google advertising and the shift towards the use of machine learning. As Google says themselves, “Performance Max campaigns puts your business goals front and centre and allows our automation to target your business goals above all else. This is crucial in order to maximise performance from Google Ads!”

What are the benefits?
Apart from having everything in one place, what actually sets these new campaigns apart? Firstly you can find new customers. With Google’s real-time understanding of consumer intents and preferences, paired with your input using audience signals, PMax can unlock new customer segments you may not have expected.

A goal-based campaign type with custom goals allowing you to maximise your conversions or set a conversion value. You can be assured the latest in Google’s machine learning technology will be working to ensure the most accurate predictions about which ads, audiences, and creative combinations perform best for you.

Google will customise the creative assets for you creating a whole load of insights into your performance. This will allow you to further optimise campaign creatives and copy and improve your ROI. This is helped further by the more in depth attribution data.

There are plenty of other new features which you can benefit from. The rising search trends, for example, provides a greater understanding of what customers in your segment are searching for and will allow your business to adapt to trends.

A new, and exclusive feature to PMax is Audience Signals. This feature allows you to make suggestions to Google about the audience your ads should target. With a range of new segments available, such as, ‘past website visitors’ and ‘interest affinity’, you can truly find your customer niche and carry out effective remarketing.

How Calltracks can help
Performance Max is the culmination of Google’s work with machine learning. Created to display the most efficient and effective way automation can advertise your product or service. Like with anything, it isn’t perfect.

If your conversion goal is a call, you may still have problems tracking the user’s journey before they entered Google’s network. As we looked at in our last blog Call tracking vs Google’s forwarding numbers, call tracking can be used to fill the gaps that Google misses and this is no exception.

To make the most out of your Google Performance Max ads you need to think creatively and supply plenty of assets for the campaigns to work with. It is still a new feature of Google Ads and you may need to start small and gather data to find out what’s working.

We specialise in data and provide call tracking solutions to a wide range of businesses, in a variety of industries. Any questions about how to convert on the phone and want to understand what works? Get in touch!