If you rang in your New Year with a flute of champagne and twinge of dread about shifting your Google Ads campaign, fear not. You are not alone. The hard hitting phraseology of Performance Max isn't as terrifying as it seems—in fact, it's pretty awesome. What's more exciting is what the updates and changes can do for your business moving forward into the New Year.
Cox Media Group is always staying ahead on Google Ads trends and how Google Ads can advance your business. Let's deconstruct Google Ads AI's obstacles, advantages, and promise:
What is Performance Max: An Overview
If you haven't already heard, Google Performance Max gives Google control as to where ads are distributed. Rather than segmenting Google products like maps or Youtube, for instance, Google is treated as a single channel. This means that advertisers cannot allocate particular budgets to certain channels as they have been able to in the past. Performance Max now allows advertisers to reach and convert target audiences within a single campaign across YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.
In a fast-paced industry, such a change can be jarring. The future is bright, though. With Performance Max, revenue-optimized strategies are further enhanced. In the Cox Media Group toolbox, Performance Max is a shiny new tool that will accelerate our customers' continued growth. This is a major opportunity to make lemonade from the lemon that is Google Ads 2023.
The main advantage is that Performance Max are for goal-based initiatives with the campaign objectives named as "sales," "leads," "website traffic," and "local store visits and promotions," so your end goal is considered all along the way. Is PPC or SEO more measurable and quantifiable? Now it's more about how the ad campaign is run using this new way of advertising when it comes to Google Ads trends 2023.
Advertisers that use Performance Max campaigns in their account see an average increase of 13% total incremental conversions at a similar cost per action, driving more conversions across channels. Google recognizes Cox Media Group as a Premier Partner in the top 3% of companies, meeting requirements in performance, spend, and certifications. Aboard the Google rocketship, there are sometimes significant changes that take some getting used to. Eventually, they become keys to success.
Performance Max Working With Your Team
Google Ads Performance Max is a revolutionary program offered by Google that allows businesses to confidently maximize the return on their advertising investment by using advanced machine learning algorithms to optimize their ads in real-time.
By using Google Ads Performance Max, Cox Media Group can show your company a return on investment (ROI) by improving the performance of your Google Ads campaigns. How this is done is by increasing the number of clicks on your ads, improving the relevance of your ads to users, and then increasing the conversion rate of your ads. If you have not already, consider that you should Outsource Google Ads. This isn't simply a sales push, but rather a wakeup call that the changes will keep coming and that you are safest and most successful in the hands of teams such as CMG's who live and breathe Google Ads 24/7. We are obsessed.
We are optimistic because the goal of using Google Ads Performance Max is to help businesses generate more sales and revenue from their advertising efforts.
How it All Works
Advertisers who use Performance Max campaigns in their account may see a whopping average increase of 13% in total incremental conversions, compared to similar campaigns run without Performance Max. What this means is that, on average, Performance Max campaigns may lead to a 13% increase in the number of conversions (such as sales or leads) that are generated through Google Ads.
It's absolutely necessary to mention that the actual performance of a Performance Max campaign can vary based on a number of factors, including the specific business, the products or services being advertised, and the target audience. Moreover, the cost per action (CPA) for a Performance Max campaign may very well be similar to that of other campaigns, but this can also fluctuate.
Obviously the creative and technical inception of Performance Max is designed to empower businesses to optimize their Google Ads campaign spend over its course. By using machine learning and artificial intelligence to deliver ads in real time, businesses will likely be able to compete at an even higher level and generate more of a return on their investment.
With Business Information, Google will indeed automatically crawl the domains of advertisers and render a business name and logo next to their ads when applicable. This new feature is designed to help users understand the very source of the ads they see. It is also to make sure that ads are more engaging within the given search page.
Simply by including a business name and logo, advertisers can seamlessly build trusted relationships with users and make their ads more easily identifiable. This can be notably useful for new and emerging businesses, in particular those on the local level, that may not be as well-known as household names and/or are competing in a crowded market that previously didn't permit their exposure.
Auto Apply Recommendations, Smart Bidding, and More
The best news: to actually take advantage of this feature, advertisers do not need to make any changes to existing ads or campaigns.
Yes, Google will automatically display the business name and logo when it is available and applicable. That being said, the business name and logo may not appear for all ads nor in all cases. Still, trusted advertising professionals can definitely help you navigate extenuating circumstances. You're probably still asking Is PPC or SEO more measurable and quantifiable. Well, that might just be a question to leave to Performance Max.
Excitingly, Auto Apply Recommendations is a feature that enables Google to automatically apply recommendations for improving the overall performance of an ad campaign. Recommendations for optimizing keywords, allocating budgets, as well as big amounts all fall under the category of Auto Apply Recommendations as one of the 2023 features for AI for Google Ads.
As for Smart Bidding: Smart Bidding is a type of automated bidding strategy that uses machine learning algorithms to optimize bids in real-time. Smart Bidding is thought to significantly improve the performance of an ad campaign. This is done by essentially maximizing the number of conversions - meaning sales or leads - generated at a given Cost Per Action (CPA).
Performance Max is a program offered by Google that uses machine learning algorithms to optimize ad delivery in real-time, with the goal of maximizing the return on investment for businesses that use Google Ads. The most successful companies utilize these features and outsource Google Ads so that the machine is well-oiled and ready to rumble at all times.
Several campaign types have already transitioned or will transition into Performance Max as the default campaign type within Google Ads 2023. These include Smart Shopping, Smart Display Campaigns, Discovery, Video Action Campaigns, and Universal App Campaigns.
Still Not a Replacement for Humans
Overall, the use of automated tools and features like these can help businesses to more effectively and efficiently manage their Google Ads campaigns and level up their performance.
This advancement and update from Google Ads will change the process of managing advertising campaigns, but surely will not relate the manual account management that we at Cox Media Group are confident is imperative to a healthy business. We make sure that our teams are trained on the newest most innovative products from Google and other platforms so that we can inform our customers intelligently and empathetically on the best way to move forward with their advertising strategy.
The one on one relationships between Account Manager and partner cannot be replaced simply by a tool, and as we have grown, it has always been our demonstrated philosophy that human and technology can complement each other. The technical capabilities of Performance Max paired with our top talent makes for an unbeatable combination in which Account Strategists are liberated to think critically and strategically advise you, without being pulled into a decision making process better suited for a computer. It's really a dream that frees up people to do more high impact, creative work, and still achieve goal after goal.
