As the peak holiday season approaches, advertisers need to optimise their marketing efforts for maximum ROI. AI-powered tools like Performance Max are crucial to navigate the shifting trends and rapidly changing holiday landscape.
Did you know Google Performance Max campaigns outperformed AI-powered and automated performance campaigns on Paid Social by 17% higher ROAS during the peak holiday season of Q4 2023? This was revealed by TransUnion’s MMM studies among US Retail and Consumer Electronics advertisers.
In an update on October 23, 2024, Google said, “To help you finish 2024 strong, we’re building on our recent announcements at DMEXCO and introducing new Performance Max features.” Let’s explore the new updates here.
Why Performance Max?
Performance Max uses Google’s AI to identify the most effective ad opportunities across all Google channels and helps drive more conversions from your marketing budget.
To help you capitalise on the end-of-year surge, Google has introduced new features after their recent announcements at DMEXCO to:
- Improve asset performance with experiments and generative AI
- Enhance video ad capabilities
- Offer greater flexibility in combining Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns
With the power of Performance Max, you can achieve your marketing goals and finish 2024 strong.
Top 3 New Performance Max Features
1. Optimise Your Assets To Connect With Your Audience
Are you ready to take your advertising campaigns to the next level? Google’s new experiment features help you optimise your strategies and drive better results.
Experiment with Asset Optimisation
- Add New Assets Beyond Product Feeds: Starting in early November, retailers in beta will be able to add rich media assets to their product-feed-only campaigns. Powerful images, text, and video assets will help you create more engaging and persuasive ads to increase conversions and sales.
- Test the Limits of Final URL Expansion: Test this feature to replace your standard final URL with a more relevant landing page from your website. By aligning your landing pages with user search intent, you can enhance user experience and boost conversions.
Gain valuable insights into your campaign performance and make data-driven decisions to optimise your marketing efforts.
Elevate Your Visuals with AI-Powered Image Generation
Google has announced an exciting update to image generation in Google Ads. With the text-to-image model Imagen 3, now you can create stunning visuals to captivate your audience and drive exceptional results.
This advanced AI technology generates high-quality images tailored to your specific needs. Whether you’re running Performance Max, Demand Gen, App, or Display campaigns, you can create visuals that truly resonate with your target audience.
Experiment with different creative concepts, quickly iterate on designs, and deliver more effective advertising campaigns.
Streamline Your Creative Review Process with Shareable Ad Previews
Google has announced an expansion of the shareable ad preview feature that makes it easier for teams to collaborate on creative assets.
With shareable previews, you can generate links that anyone can access, regardless of their Google Ads login. This simplifies the review and approval process, ensuring that everyone involved can provide feedback efficiently.
Here’s how the shareable previews have been extended to additional goal types:
- Performance Max with Product Feeds: Share ad previews for your Performance Max campaigns that use product feeds, streamline the review process and ensure consistency across your product offerings.
- Travel Goals: Share ad previews for your travel-focused campaigns, facilitate collaboration and ensure your travel ads are visually appealing and effective.
Accelerate your creative workflow, foster collaboration, and deliver more impactful advertising campaigns.
2. Expand Your Video Ad Reach with Enhanced Controls
Unlock the full potential of your video content on YouTube with Google’s advanced AI technology. Now you can effortlessly create a wider range of video formats, expand your reach and maximise your campaign performance.
Expand Your Reach with AI-Generated Video Formats
- Flip Video Ads: Reformat your original videos into new aspect ratios. Make sure that your key message remains prominent across YouTube’s diverse inventory.
- Shorten Video Ads: Generate shorter versions by automatically selecting the most impactful moments from your videos. Target specific audiences and optimise for different ad placements.
Scale your video content, reach a wider audience, and drive better results on YouTube.
Take Control of Your Enhanced Videos
Maintain full control over your video content. Use these robust quality checks to ensure that only high-quality enhanced videos are eligible for serving.
You have the flexibility to:
- Opt Out of the Feature: Disable video enhancements entirely for your Performance Max, Video Action, and Demand Gen campaigns.
- Remove Specific Videos: Review the asset reporting tab in Performance Max to identify and remove any unwanted enhanced videos.
- Customise Settings: For Demand Gen campaigns, you can opt out of video enhancements at the video ad level.
Use Google’s tools to achieve your marketing goals. If you have any questions or require assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Google account manager.
3. Enhanced Flexibility for Performance Max and Standard Shopping
Google has announced a significant change in how Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns interact. To provide you with greater flexibility and control, here are the updates for the campaigns that compete for ad placements.
How it Works:
- Ad Rank Determines The Winner: When Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns are running concurrently in the same account and target the same products, Ad Rank will now decide which campaign’s ad is displayed.
This approach aligns with how Performance Max interacts with other campaign types, such as Demand Gen.
- Get More Control Over Your Campaign: This new approach gives you more control over your campaign strategy. Use the strengths of both campaign types to optimise your ad placements and maximise your ROI.
These enhancements will empower you to achieve your marketing objectives and optimise your campaigns for success.
What The New Updates Mean For Marketers
Google’s recent updates can be helpful for businesses preparing for the holiday season. These new tools will make it easier for businesses to create effective ads and reach more customers on Google Ads.
Key Highlights for Performance Max Users:
- Expanded Experimental Features: Advertisers can now use a wider range of features to fine-tune campaign performance and achieve optimal results.
- Enhanced Creative Capabilities: Improved creative tools empower marketers to craft more compelling ads, capture audience attention and drive conversions.
Rollout Timeline:
- Immediate Availability: Most features are being rolled out immediately, enabling advertisers to harness their power without delay.
- Retail Asset Testing (Early November): This tool will be available in early November, offering valuable insights to optimise product-centric campaigns.
- Video Shortening for Demand Gen Campaigns (2025): This feature is slated for a 2025 launch, providing a streamlined approach to create engaging video content for demand generation efforts.
Need a fresh perspective? Let’s talk.
At 360 OM, we specialise in helping businesses take their marketing efforts to the next level. Our team stays on top of industry trends, uses data-informed decisions to maximise your ROI, and provides full transparency through comprehensive reports.
