Google is upgrading Performance Max campaigns with a range of new features just ahead of the busy shopping period. These features are specific to promoting seasonal sales which will enable marketers to promote holiday sales more efficiently. So what can we expect to see in the new and improved Performance Max features?

Asset Group Scheduling

There is now an option to add automated rules to your asset groups in Performance Max. 

This means you can now schedule asset groups so that they are paused and enabled, as and when you need. 

You can also schedule asset groups, such as preparing a set of holiday-themed assets ahead of a specific sale or promotion.

First Party Audience Insights 

To help gain more insights to your website visitors you can now add data segments as audience signals in Performance Max campaigns. This will also permit Google to find more customers who are likely to convert.

These data segments will be added to audience insights in the insights page. This will allow you to learn from the data you’re collecting and see which of your customer lists are converting best.

More Headlines

Google will be increasing the number of text headlines you can upload to your Performance Max asset groups from 5 to 15. 

Adding more headlines to your Performance Max campaigns enables Google to create and test more combinations and find the best performing ones. 

Understanding Campaign Performance With Explanations

Google is adding new explanations which are  specific to Performance Max campaigns for online sales with a product feed. These will help you quickly identify what’s driving performance fluctuations, diagnose issues, and view recommendations. 

When running a Performance Max campaign for an online sale, you may see explanations that offer an analysis of your product status and top sellers.

These insights could be used to help you  understand which products saw the biggest changes in performance during the Christmas shopping season.

Performance Planner Compatibility

Marketers can begin to plan their campaigns more efficiently and forecast results with the new Performance Planner tool for Performance Max. 

Previously available for Search, Shopping, Display, App, Video, and Local campaigns. Now it’s compatible with Performance Max and it will help you understand how you can invest your budgets to maximise ROI.

Google stated in their announcement that:

“You can forecast how your campaign may perform in the future and simulate what could happen when you adjust elements like your campaign budget and ROAS or CPA targets. Assess how changes to campaigns could affect key metrics like conversion value. Performance Planner’s forecasts are also adjusted for seasonal events so you can explore your potential holiday opportunities in the upcoming weeks”. 

Google Ads Performance Max Holiday Best Practices

Google shares the following best practices for advertisers using Performance Max during the holiday shopping season:

• Leading up to peak shopping periods, adjust your Performance Max campaign budgets and ROAS or CPA targets to maximise your visibility when consumers are shopping.
• Consider using seasonality adjustments when running a promotion or sale where you expect to see drastic changes in conversion rates or values over a short period of time.
• If you want to promote specific products this holiday season,  create a separate Performance Max campaign with its own target and budget.

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