Optimizing your Performance Max campaigns with Google Ads, GA4 data

Efficiency Max advertisements have been touted as an efficient way to handle Google Adverts throughout a number of Google-owned channels, making marketing campaign administration less complicated for PPC advertisers.

It combines all of Google Adverts’ channel choices collectively in a single marketing campaign and makes use of Google’s AI (Gemini) to optimize budgets and advert serving throughout all channels based mostly on efficiency. 

On the floor, I’ve seen nice outcomes from our shoppers’ Efficiency Max campaigns, but it surely’s actually left me questioning which channels carried out greatest.

Think about the learnings you possibly can glean from the fast testing and information assortment of AI utilized to your Google Adverts!

It may simply show you how to tweak and enhance channel-specific campaigns and even make the most of learnings from Google Adverts throughout different advert platforms.

Exploring Efficiency Max information

Delving down into Efficiency Max information is simpler mentioned than achieved. Google is cautious in offering solely sure insights into the campaigns.

For instance, inside Google Adverts (and when pulling the information from Google Adverts by way of the API), advertisers can’t parse out efficiency information, resembling conversions or price per conversion, by channel. And why not?

I imagine Google is utilizing Efficiency Max for 2 predominant objectives. 

First, Google will possible understand that sure advert channels, resembling Google Uncover, act extra as a branding interplay than a bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) interplay.

With entrepreneurs principally being measured by efficiency, resembling clicks and conversions, I think advertisers weren’t biting on these advert codecs.

Efficiency Max permits Google a conduit to pressure advertisers to make use of channels they might not have initially chosen below the guise of general optimized efficiency.

Nevertheless, entrepreneurs profit from AI-optimized ad-serving, however at a value. We are able to’t take away the channels from Efficiency Max, which is affecting general conversion efficiency.

So if Google Uncover is negatively affecting efficiency, will Google cease exhibiting your Efficiency Max advertisements there, or will they proceed to indicate the advert on Google Uncover to spice up that advert channel’s utilization on the expense of optimum click on and conversion efficiency on your marketing campaign? 

Sadly, advertisers aren’t in a position to modify Efficiency Max channels and have comparatively no visibility into advert channel efficiency.

And therein lies the conundrum with Efficiency Max. Like it for the price range optimization or hate it for the shortage of efficiency management. 

If you happen to, too, have a love/hate relationship with Efficiency Max, let me share some methods you’ll be able to bend Efficiency Max to your advertising will by information from each Google Adverts and GA4, even regardless of its information limitations.

As Menachem Ani shares in his 2022 article, focus your effort on guiding the AI machine.

Create broader campaigns and study from them

After we first began testing Efficiency Max for a positive wine retailer we work with, on the advice of other Performance Max experts, we created very particular wine selection campaigns, resembling champagne, merlot, white zinfandel, and so forth. Nevertheless, we didn’t discover this essentially profitable. 

Whereas some wine varieties carried out nicely, much less in style varieties struggled. Even after garnering excessive CTR, they usually didn’t end in conversion and income.

We shifted methods and determined to go a bit broader. With this technique, we decided which varieties carried out strongly by income information. Those who carried out nicely earned their very own breakout Efficiency Max marketing campaign.

When testing Efficiency Max, think about beginning with a broader class after which studying out of your information to slender it down.

You possibly can glean this data from GA4 utilizing an Explorations report (or pull the information by way of the GA4 API) and evaluation merchandise gross sales by marketing campaign.

This may let you know the particular classes performing nicely by Efficiency Max and will possible assist their particular Efficiency Max marketing campaign.

Dig deeper: How to combine GA4 and Google Ads for powerful paid search results

Create a number of asset teams per marketing campaign with a particular focus

Consider asset teams such as you would advert teams in search campaigns. In search advert teams, it’s a greatest observe to group frequent key phrases collectively in an advert group. Do the identical with asset teams and the asset focus.

We not too long ago ran two asset teams in a check in a Efficiency Max marketing campaign for a similar retailer. The asset teams had the identical advert copy and extensions however totally different pictures and movies by group. 

• Group A contained pictures and movies that includes lovely surroundings of vineyards, luscious glasses of wine pouring or a gaggle of mates celebrating with wine. 
• Group B featured pictures of particular wine bottles from our stock, utilizing a wide range of manufacturers based mostly on our hottest wines in that class. 

Whereas Google doesn’t make it intuitive, you’ll be able to evaluate the outcomes of two asset teams. Asset teams in Efficiency Max campaigns are considerably akin to advert teams in search campaigns, however there’s restricted reporting in Google Adverts round asset teams. 

To see how one asset group performs towards one other in a Efficiency Max marketing campaign, navigate to the marketing campaign in Google Adverts, and as a substitute of the default asset group Abstract view, swap to the Desk view:

The desk view supplies better element of efficiency by asset group, and you’ll customise the columns as nicely, permitting you to see conversion information by asset group:

Use totally different vacation spot URLs for every asset group

Nevertheless, seeing asset group efficiency in GA4 is a little more troublesome. Not like advert teams, GA4 doesn’t go asset group data by to GA4. So, if you wish to pull this information collectively in GA4, how will you do it? 

The only means is so as to add a monitoring parameter to the asset group vacation spot URL. For instance, you possibly can create a separate vacation spot URL for every asset group utilizing a parameter, resembling utm_creative_format, then seize that parameter in a customized dimension in GA4. 

This may will let you break down precise conversion and gross sales information by asset group in GA4 along with marketing campaign. 

Advert energy isn’t at all times indicative of attainable success

In Efficiency Max asset teams, extra asset objects (resembling pictures, movies, and so forth.) sometimes increase your ad strength. Nevertheless, Google’s definition of advert energy isn’t at all times indicative of possible success. 

Within the instance beneath, each asset teams have equivalent belongings besides for the visible creatives. The one variations between the 2 teams are:

• The main focus of the inventive asset: The “Good” asset group focuses on scenes of the product, whereas the “Common” asset group focuses on precise product pictures.
• The sorts of inventive belongings: The “Good” asset group comprises the utmost variety of pictures and 5 movies, whereas the “Common” asset group comprises the utmost variety of pictures and no movies.

We examined this similar asset group throughout all campaigns for over 30 days, utilizing a scenic asset group versus a product picture asset group. 

In each case, the product picture asset group that includes product bottles outperformed the scenic asset group each time, despite the fact that Google’s outlined Advert Energy technique implies that the scenic asset group will carry out higher. 

The scenic asset group usually garnered extra clicks and a better CTR, but it surely by no means generated income over that check interval – solely the product picture asset group did. 

Whereas advert energy as a metric could seem like useful, use your precise conversion information from 

Set your ROAS excessive, then go increased

If you happen to set your ROAS aim at 200%, then you definitely’ll get round 200%. However what if you happen to set it increased? 

Considered one of Efficiency Max’s biggest strengths is its means to maximise price range to attain your required ROAS. Push it to the utmost and use Efficiency Max for what it’s good at.

Test your outcomes in GA4 and Google Adverts to see how the change impacts efficiency.

Watch out for the cross-network default channel grouping

Efficiency Max campaigns seem as “cross-network” in GA4’s default channel groupings. Rolling all campaigns collectively below this combination grouping to guage efficiency will be tempting. 

Nevertheless, as a result of Efficiency Max is AI-assisted, combining new campaigns with present ones received’t present the true readability that particular person campaign-level reporting will. Keep away from the temptation to guage Efficiency Max on an combination degree in GA4.