As a fully-automated campaign type, Performance Max campaigns can feel like a black box. That's why my client, who we'll call Tim, was ready to give up on Google Ads all together. Tim's business sells mobile phone accessories, and he was trying to use Performance Max to drive sales.
Performance Max wasn't driving sales, and Tim didn't think it was possible to optimize this automated campaign type. Thankfully, he booked a Google Ads coaching call with me and I (kindly) showed him just how wrong he was!
Over the course of the hour, I walked Tim through the process of optimizing a Performance Max campaign.
First, I showed him how to use the Insights page to get a better understanding of his campaign performance and identify areas for improvement.
For example, we looked at the search categories report to see which kinds of searches were triggering his ads. We found that a lot of his budget had gone to people searching for "Apple Watch," but Tim's business only sells accessories for the Apple Watch, not the watch itself. This was causing a ton of irrelevant clicks and wasted ad spend. To address this, we added negative exact match keywords for terms like "Apple Watch" and "iWatch" at the account level, to prevent his ads from showing for those searches again.
Next, we scrolled down to his audience insights report to see which audiences were interacting with his ads. We found that Tim's Performance Max campaign was reaching relevant people: those actively shopping for mobile phone accessories, power adapters and chargers, headphones, and watches. Of course, someone looking for an Apple Watch was likely to also be in the market for Apple Watch accessories, we just wanted to reach them through Display, Discovery or Video inventory, not on expensive Search terms.
From the Insights report, we moved on to his asset groups. Tim's existing ad copy and images were very product-focused, with a heavy emphasis on discounts and promotions. While this approach can be effective, it wasn't resonating with Tim's target audience. Otherwise, his campaign would have been performing much better!
We brainstormed some new ideas for his ad creative, such as focusing on the benefits of his products. For example, how his phone cases can protect your phone from damage, or how his power banks can keep your phone charged on the go. I also suggested using lifestyle images that showed real people using his products in real-life situations, not just the plain white background ecommerce images.
By the end of the hour, it was like Tim has a completely new Performance Max camapign. Shortly afterward, he saw his first sales come through from PMax!
If your Performance Max is misbehaving, like Tim's, try these tips to steer things in the right direction:
- Use the Insights page to get a better understanding of your campaign performance. The Insights page can show you which searches are triggering your ads, which audiences are engaging with your ads, and where your conversions are coming from. Although you don't get to choose your keywords or audiences, these insights can help you identify areas for improvement, such as adding negative keywords (available now at the campaign level!) or improving your ad creative.
- Create compelling ad copy and images. Your ad copy and images should be relevant to your target audience and should entice people to click on your ads. This is WAY more important than your audience signals or search themes, which are optional, and are treated as merely "suggestions."
- Use scripts to gain additional insights. There are plenty of great scripts out there that can help you gain additional insight about your PMax inventory, searches and more. I use Mike Rhodes' PMax script for all of my account audits, the implementation only takes a few minutes.
- PMax script for individual accounts [affiliate link]
- PMax script for manager accounts [affiliate link]
Want to see similar results in your PMax campaigns? Book a call with me and we'll whip that automation into shape!
One more thing...
Here's what we've been talking about lately on the Inside Google Ads podcast:
- Episode 54 - Feb 6, 2025: Video
- Episode 55 - Feb 13, 2025: Breaking bidding rules
- Episode 56 - Feb 20, 2025: Certifications
- Episode 57 - Feb 27, 2025: Too Small To Advertise?
