Google Ads will replace Smart Shopping and Local campaigns with Performance Max campaigns by the end of Q3 2022.
Performance Max campaigns were first introduced in November 2021 as a way for Google Ads users to get the most out of their…
After the successful launch, Performance Max will soon become the only campaign type for companies running Smart Shopping campaigns and native campaigns.
Let’s take a look at the updates you should be aware of.
Campaign upgrades starting in April 2022
The transition to Performance Max campaigns will be a phased approach.
Starting in April, advertisers will be able to start upgrading their Smart Shopping campaigns.
Google announced its solution to upgrade with an easy one-click tool for advertisers. This tool will let you choose specific campaigns to upgrade or upgrade them all at once.
Local campaigns will be eligible to upgrade to Performance Max starting in June.
If no action is taken on your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns by July, those older campaigns will be automatically upgraded. Automatic upgrades must be completed by September 2022.
What will change from the campaign upgrades?
Performance Max campaigns will be created from existing Smart Shopping and local campaigns. This ensures that many of your existing settings will remain the same. For many advertisers, this is a sigh of relief.
With Performance Max campaigns come some new upgrades:
- New ad inventory is available
- New insights for automation
Ad inventory will be added across YouTube and the Google search and discovery networks.
Tips for upgrading to maximum performance
Advertisers who want to maintain more control over Performance Max upgrades have few options outside of one-click or automatic upgrades.
Instead of using Google’s One Click tool, you can simply create new Performance Max campaigns now. Performance Max campaigns will have access to the inventory that already exists in Smart Shopping and Local campaigns. If you’ve never tried Performance Max campaigns, now’s the time to test them out.
When testing Performance Max campaigns, try not to run the current targeting enabled on other campaigns. Performance Max campaigns will take priority over other campaign types such as Smart Shopping.
Google is also hosting a webinar in February to delve deeper into the one-click tool. The Google team will also learn about the technology used in campaigns to get results faster. The webinar will be a good resource if you’re not sure how Performance Max works.
Performance Max best practices
Google recently updated its best practices Instructs To run Performance Max campaigns.
Not sure where to start? Here are the key points when creating a new campaign.
- Add additional creative assets to your asset pool.
- Include audience mentions to indicate conversion potential.
- Determine the appropriate budget and corresponding bid strategy.
Additional creatives are important to allow Google to automatically group them for relevant ad formats. This automation helps give you more access to available ad inventory. It is important to note that with every asset group, the assets must be associated with a single theme.
Including audience mentions is critical to campaign success in the world of automation. Audience signals help optimize campaigns faster and help find additional customers for you.
Finally, your budget and bidding strategy should complement each other. If your daily budget is too low and your target CPA is too high, the likelihood of ramping up your campaigns is slim.
summary
More automation between us. Advertisers should rely on automation when possible, while maintaining some level of control. These levels of control lie over messages, bids, budget, audiences, and more.
Prepare yourself for Performance Max upgrades by becoming familiar with the campaign type. Use Google’s resources to understand how it works when the transition comes.
Featured image: PixieMe/Shutterstock
