Although “Performance Max” sounds like the name of a new energy drink or fun workout class, it’s a little less exciting, but a lot more beneficial to growing your small business. Performance Max campaigns are a fully automated, cross-channel campaign type rolled out on Google Ads back in 2021.
This campaign type, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), helps advertisers streamline their strategy across all potential Google Ads placements. Questions have been popping up since PMax was introduced, and like many business owners out there, you’re probably wondering if this campaign type is right for you. We’ve got you covered with the quick and easy answers to 10 Performance Max campaign questions.
Contents
- What is Performance Max?
- What channels does Performance Max use?
- How do Google Ads PMax campaigns work?
- How much do PMax campaigns cost?
- Should you use Google Ads Performance Max campaigns?
- How do you set up a PMax campaign in your Google Ads account?
- What kind of bid strategy does Google Ads Performance Max use?
- What are some PMax dos and don’ts?
- Can you run Performance Max campaigns on Microsoft Ads?
- When should you not use Google Ads Performance Max?
Your Performance Max questions, answered!
Here are the answers to 10 PMax FAQs to help you navigate this popular Google Ads campaign type.
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1. What is Performance Max?
Google Ads Performance Max campaigns are a fully automated way to show ads for your business across all of Google’s networks, including Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Maps, and Gmail.
2. What channels does Performance Max use?
The full list of channels your ads will show on for PMax includes:
- Search engine results page, Google search and search partner networks (search ads)
- Google display network (display ads)
- Discover feed (ads on Google apps)
- YouTube (video ads)
- Google Maps (local ads)
- GMail
It’s rare to find one strategy that touches on six different channels; and when a cross-channel marketing strategy is more important than ever, PMax can be a great lever.
3. How do Google Ads PMax campaigns work?
With Performance Max, Google uses AI to create a campaign complete with multiple ads and targeting parameters based on inputs you provide, such as images, videos, text, audience lists, and more.
4. How much do PMax campaigns cost?
While you don’t have to pay anything up front to get a new PMax campaign running, you still assign budget targets to your PMax campaign like you would with a standard Google Ads search or display campaign. You’ll only be charged once an ad accrues performance metrics; in other words, you could be billed for video views, clicks, and other user engagements.
There is no set cost associated with PMax campaigns since it can vary by day, placement, industry competition, and more. However, our latest search ad benchmarks report found that the overall average cost per click for Google search ads is $5.26 and the average cost per lead is $70.11.
PMax campaigns are generally a good fit for small business ad budgets because they’re able to secure more display and video ad placements which are cheaper than search ad placements—typically less than a $1.
Usually, SMBs start their Google Ads budgets at $1,000-2,000 per month, and daily budgets for new campaigns can start at $20-50. But most businesses eventually find themselves spending up to $10,000 per month.
With that in mind, you can take a closer look at cost averages in your industry to gauge how much a PMax campaign can run you. Just be prepared for your Performance Max costs to fluctuate while Google’s algorithms test, optimize, and collect data for ideal results during the learning period.
5. Should you use Google Ads Performance Max campaigns?
Performance Max campaigns are ideal for businesses looking for a full-funnel, cross-channel marketing strategy since they allow for multiple ad placement opportunities. They can also be a lifesaver for businesses tight on resources or bandwidth since AI does the heavy lifting of campaign management, asset creation, and more.
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6. How do you set up a PMax campaign in your Google Ads account?
You can create a Performance Max campaign for your business using the following steps:
- Follow the prompts to name your PMax campaign and provide your business’s website URL.
- Select your bid strategy.
- Pick your basic campaign settings.
- Upload images, videos, and provide text for your ads. You could also have AI generate these assets for you during this step.
- Follow the prompts to create your first asset group.
- Assign audience signals to your asset group.
- Apply a daily budget to your campaign.
- Review and publish your campaign.
- Congratulations! You’re now running a Performance Max campaign in your Google Ads account. You can use a third-party marketing dashboard or features within Google Ads, like channel reporting and more, to check back in on its progress regularly.
7. What kind of bid strategy does Google Ads Performance Max use?
If you go to create your PMax campaign and get stuck on the second step, which is picking a bidding strategy, it can be helpful to know that all your options in that drop-down are considered Smart Bidding strategies. Unlike manual bidding, Smart Bidding strategies dynamically adjust in real time according to your goals and the ad auction.
8. What are some PMax dos and don’ts?
Here are a few quick Performance Max tips you won’t want to miss:
Do: Make sure your conversion tracking is solid before you start running your PMax campaign. Your Performance Max campaign makes optimization decisions based on your conversion goals and any conversion values you assign to your conversion actions.
Don’t: Ignore available PMax reports. Just because your Performance Max campaign is fully automated doesn’t mean you can simply “set it and forget it.” You’ll want to use insights available within Google Ads to track your campaign’s progress consistently. That way, you could continue to tweak your campaign’s assets or audience signals depending on how it’s performing.
Do: Take your time when providing audience signals. Audience signals in PMax, like search themes, for example, help guide your campaign in the right direction when it comes to hitting your target market. The more you refine your audience signals, maybe even by uploading your own first-party data, the more effective your campaign will be at driving high-quality leads or conversions.
Don’t: Ignore your ad asset quality. When it comes to Performance Max, high-quality images and videos are the name of the game. Many of the potential ad placements you could secure with Performance Max are media-rich. So, if you don’t have solid images or videos for your ads already, definitely take advantage of AI (like using Google’s asset generator within the ad editor) to create these assets fast.
9. Can you run Performance Max campaigns on Microsoft Ads?
It’s easy to replicate your Google Ads Performance Max success on Microsoft Ads. Microsoft Ads released its own Performance Max campaign type, and you can copy over your Google PMax campaigns into Microsoft using the auto import tool.
10. When should you not use Google Ads Performance Max?
We’ve talked a lot about when to use PMax, but if you’re wondering when not to use Performance Max, we’ve got an answer to that, too. Performance Max is pretty much meant to be a universal strategy that’s fit for any business. However, no two Google Ads accounts are alike, and whether Performance Max is right for you will depend on your unique needs and goals.
If you’re not yet very familiar with using AI in marketing, for example, you might struggle with the lack of manual control you have over your PMax campaign. In this case, you could try a simple Smart campaign first to get a feel for the behavior of an automated campaign.
Additionally, if you already have a robust cross-channel strategy within your Google Ads account, such as running well-established, high-converting YouTube and display campaigns, a Performance Max campaign might be overkill.
Try a Google Ads Performance Max campaign today
Ready to give Google Ads Performance Max campaigns a go? As you hit the ground running with this campaign type, more questions beyond what we covered here may arise, and that’s okay! Trying a new advertising strategy is going to come with a learning curve for even the most advanced accounts. That’s why having industry resources, benchmark reports, and more can come in handy, so you can refer to them for answers along the way. Or, you could always lean on a marketing partner for support, too.
See how our solutions can help you navigate PMax campaigns and use them to uncover success for your business!
