Updated Guide for Setting Up Performance Max Campaigns in 2024

With recent changes to Google Ads, it's crucial to understand the updated setup process for Performance Max campaigns. This guide provides a detailed step-by-step walkthrough for setting up a Performance Max campaign specifically tailored for eCommerce businesses.

Understanding Performance Max

Before diving into the setup, it's essential to grasp the fundamentals of Performance Max:

• Performance Max leverages your best-converting audiences and products to target similar and related audiences, aiming to drive more conversions.
• New Accounts Warning: For new Google Ads accounts, it's advisable to begin with Search and Shopping campaigns before venturing into Performance Max. This approach helps identify the search terms that convert, refine product titles, optimize ad copies and images, and improve product pages and pricing.

👉 A Practical Guide To Performance Max Campaigns

Key Milestones Before Starting Performance Max

1. Identify Converting Search Terms: Use Search and Shopping campaigns to find the keywords that drive conversions.
2. Optimize Product Titles: Ensure your product titles align with the best-performing search terms.
3. Refine Ad Copies and Images: Determine which ad copies and images yield the best results.
4. Improve Product Pages and Pricing: Make necessary adjustments to enhance conversion rates.

When to Start Performance Max

Wait until your campaigns achieve at least 30 conversions per month before starting with Performance Max. This threshold ensures that Performance Max has sufficient conversion data to optimize targeting effectively.

Integrating Performance Max with Search and Shopping

Once you've achieved consistent conversions, combine Performance Max with Search and Shopping campaigns for optimal results.

Key Performance Max Settings

1. Focus on New Customers Only: Set Performance Max to bid for new customers to complement your existing Search and Shopping campaigns.
2. Brand Exclusion: Add your brand to the exclusion list to prevent bidding on branded terms.

Asset Groups Strategy

• Organize by Product Categories and Keyword Themes: Build asset groups around product categories with similar keyword search terms, similar to how you structure Ad Groups in search campaigns.
• Use Relevant Ad Assets: Tailor ad copies, landing pages, images, and other ad assets to each asset group.

Performance Max Campaign Setup Steps

Step 1: Select New Campaign

1. Campaign Objective: Choose 'Sales' as your campaign objective.
2. Conversion Actions: Select your desired conversion actions. Removing lower-level conversions like "YouTube Subscribers" or "Email Clicks" only excludes them from bidding for this campaign, not the entire account.
3. Campaign Type: Choose 'Performance Max.'

Step 2: Select Your Bidding Option

1. Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value: For eCommerce, "Maximize Conversion Value" is typically the best choice.
2. Avoid Setting a Target ROAS Initially: Wait until your results stabilize before adding a target ROAS goal to avoid limiting your weekly results.

Step 3: Set Bid for New Customers Only

• Add Current Converting Audiences: Include your converting, website visitors, and similar audiences to focus Performance Max on new customers.

Step 4: Location Targeting

• Define your geographic targeting based on where your potential customers are located.

Step 5: Brand Name Exclusion

• If you want to limit ad spend on branded terms, add your brand name to the exclusion list.

Step 6: URL Exclusions

• Specify any URLs you want to exclude from targeting if there are product categories you don't want your Performance Max campaign to focus on.

Step 7: Build Listing Groups

• If using multiple asset groups, define which products belong to each specific group.

Step 8: Create Ad Copies

• Use your best-performing ad headlines and descriptions from previous search campaigns.

Step 9: Add Search Themes and Audiences

• Incorporate your top search terms as themes and relevant audiences to enhance targeting.

Step 10: Set Your Budget and Publish

• Determine your campaign budget and publish your Performance Max campaign.

By following these updated steps, you'll set up a Performance Max campaign designed to drive more conversions based on your account's current conversion data. Remember, starting with solid data from Search and Shopping campaigns ensures Performance Max has the best foundation to deliver optimal results.