When to Exclude Underperforming Products from Google Campaigns
Jun 13, 2024One of the most effective ways to optimize and enhance the performance of your Google Shopping and Performance Max campaigns is to exclude underperforming products from your product feed.
This strategy can significantly cut costs, especially for products that are draining your budget without yielding conversions. However, caution is crucial in this process, as many advertisers make the mistake of excluding products too hastily.
In this blog post, I will guide you through the detailed process I use for evaluating product performance and the specific metrics I consider before excluding any product from the shopping feed.
Understanding Underperformance: Key Metrics and Data Insights
Before deciding to remove a product, it’s important to dig into the numbers. Here are some metrics you should review:
Spend Trends:
- Check if the product consistently receives high spend over 30, 60, or 90 days.
- Notice any downward trends which might indicate a natural phase-out.
Conversion Rates:
- Compare spending with conversion numbers.
- A product with high spend but few conversions might be a red flag.
Seasonality and Market Dynamics:
- Look at long-term trends over six months or more.
- Understand if cyclical patterns might affect performance.
Competitive Landscape:
Consider changes in the market, such as new competitors or shifting pricing strategies.
Example:
Imagine you’re running a campaign for a line of winter jackets. Over the past 90 days, one jacket model has seen a steady spend increase but very few sales. On closer inspection, you notice that the conversion rate drops significantly after the holiday season, suggesting that this model might not perform well during off-peak times. Such insights can help you decide whether to exclude this product temporarily or rethink your marketing strategy for it.
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When to Exclude Products
Deciding to exclude a product shouldn’t be rushed. Instead, take a systematic approach to evaluate its performance:
- Review performance data over different timeframes (30, 60, and 90 days) to capture both short-term trends and long-term patterns.
- Monitor for consistent declines in conversions or spend, which may indicate a deeper issue.
- Compare short-term fluctuations with long-term data to understand if a drop in performance is temporary or more permanent.
- Consider external factors such as seasonality, market shifts, or new competitors that might be impacting performance.
- Schedule regular reviews to ensure your decisions are always based on the latest data.
Implementing a Data-Driven Exclusion Process
Putting your evaluation into action means setting up a process that keeps your feed optimized over time. You want to make decisions based on solid data, not just a hunch.
Here’s how to implement a systematic review:
- Set up scheduled reviews, such as monthly or quarterly, to check on product performance.
- Use dashboards and automated reports from platforms like Google Ads and Google Analytics to track key metrics.
- Identify clear thresholds for performance indicators that trigger a deeper look or potential exclusion.
- Document your decisions and review the outcomes to refine your criteria over time.
For example: if you notice that a particular product consistently underperforms across several review periods—even after minor adjustments—this structured process helps you confidently decide to exclude it, thereby freeing up budget for more promising products.
Balancing Cost Savings with Growth Opportunities
Excluding products can save money, but you need to strike a balance so you don’t miss out on potential growth. Sometimes, a product might underperform temporarily due to external factors and then rebound.
Key points to consider:
- Monitor Seasonality: A product might perform poorly during an off-season but could be a hit when demand picks up again.
- Keep an Eye on Market Trends: If competitors are influencing your metrics, adjustments in strategy might revive a product instead of excluding it.
- Plan for Reintroduction: Instead of a permanent cut, consider pausing or testing tweaks to see if performance improves over time.
- Assess Potential: Balance immediate cost savings with long-term brand or customer value. Even if a product isn’t converting well now, it might help build brand awareness or complement your best-sellers.
For instance, if you run a campaign for seasonal products like outdoor furniture, a dip during the winter months might be expected rather than a sign to permanently remove those items.