Performance Max for Retail
Performance Max campaigns for online sales aim to maximise performance across all Google channels by showing the right type of ad to each user, depending on which stage of the purchase path they are on.
In recent months, advertisers have had two options with Performance Max:
- Gradually test and compare performance against existing Smart Shopping Campaigns
- Auto-upgrade their Smart Shopping Campaigns to Performance Max without a formal testing period
No matter which option advertisers choose, there are still questions concerning the best practice for Campaign and Asset Group structures and how advertisers can take advantage of flexibility in creative assets and audience signals.
Asset Groups include creative assets such as text, images, videos and final URLs, and these can be related to a specific theme or audience. As with other campaign types across Google, machine learning will pick the top performing assets to show the best ad combination to the audience at the right time.
Campaign Best Practice
Bidding To Profit
A fashion retailer is likely to sell a variety of products within several product categories such as footwear, casual wear and accessories, and each will have its own separate profit margin and therefore different ROAS targets. However, if the business only has one profit or ROAS goal then only one Performance Max campaign would be required.
One way to break down the campaign structure further would be by ensuring there is visibility for specific products such as high margin categories or new releases.
Asset Group Best Practice
To begin with, it’s recommended to have one general asset group that includes all targeted products in the campaign. This asset group would be ideal for highlighting seasonal messaging throughout the year and brand USPs.
How can themed asset groups be used?
A winter sports retailer sells a variety of different ski and snowboarding products; therefore, several different asset groups can be created within a single campaign, for example, ski jackets:
Asset Group 1 — All ski jackets sold on the website and include text, images and videos related to ski jackets in general. The final URL would direct traffic to the ski jackets page and the audience signal would be broad.
Asset Group 2 — This could be dedicated to male ski jackets and include text, images and videos related to male ski jackets. The final URL would direct traffic to the male ski jackets page and the audience signal would be more targeted towards this demographic.
Asset Group 3 — Dedicated to blue ski jackets (or the most popular colour) and include text, images and videos related to this product category. The final URL would direct traffic to the page that contains these products and the audience signal would include a custom segment, targeting a highly relevant audience that has searched for blue ski jackets.
What next?
Performance Max is the future of Google shopping campaigns so it is key for all advertisers to understand best practices involved and how to maximise performance with this campaign type. This can only be achieved with a rigorous testing plan to identify which methods work best for each business.
If you would like to know more about how Performance Max campaigns can help you, please contact: chloe@journeyfurther.com