Let’s get straight to the point – we want to get the best results for our clients and sometimes the options seem to contradict each other. Two of the powerful tools at our disposal are Performance Max (PMax) and traditional Search campaigns. PMax is supposedly designed to complement Search campaigns, but many marketers are still unsure about how to leverage these two channels together. So let’s explore the benefits of combining PMax and Search campaigns, when to do it, and how to get the most out of this winning combination.
Cross-Channel Exposure
One of the biggest differences between PMax and Search is the opportunity to reach users across all of Google’s channels, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. By running both PMax and Search campaigns, you can capture users at different stages of their buying journey. Search campaigns focus on people with high intent, while PMax can target higher funnel people in environments like YouTube or Discover. This cross-channel exposure can lead to increased brand awareness, more conversions, and a stronger online presence.
Missing Audience Insights
PMax’s machine learning capabilities can uncover new audience segments or behaviors that might not have been exploited through traditional keyword-based search campaigns, but your access to these insights is limited. There are some workarounds to find some useful things here and there, but gone are the days of micromanaging your accounts on that level.
But it’s not all bad. Many people in the industry (us included) have long been skeptical of Google’s machine learning options. When some of the first options were introduced years ago most marketers stood by manually doing everything in the account, including bids, keyword targeting and negatives, ad copy, etc. Every call with your assigned Google rep would just be them trying to sell you on how great these options are. To be fair, at first they weren’t great, but over time they did improve and slowly some of the options did prove to provide better results. It takes some trust though and PMax will stretch that trust to much higher levels.
Don’t Be Evil
So why the shift in opinion on using Google’s machine learning options. Well, it’s kind of two-fold. One, they sort of force it on you. It’s still possible to run manual campaigns but they’ve continually removed insights and tools that make it more difficult. And two, by not using the machine learning you will get left behind. The capabilities have improved and the results speak for themselves.
For almost all of our clients the best performing campaigns (outside of brand search campaigns) are now PMax. And it makes sense why. Many marketers assume some of these options are ways for Google to get you to spend more money. This might be true, but the continued spend would only happen if people are getting results. It is mutually beneficial for these machine learning options to work for both you and Google. If they get you good results you are more likely to spend more. Google may have done away with their “Don’t Be Evil” motto, but that doesn’t mean all of their changes are bad.
When to Use Search and PMax Together
Here is how we do it. The first campaigns we set up will usually be very specific search campaigns. These will be the keywords we expect to perform the best. Search also has the benefit of needing the least amount of creative. While search campaigns can be complimented with images and video, if those are not available the fastest campaigns to get up will be your search campaigns.
Once we have access to the creative assets we need we build the PMax campaigns. Videos and image ads let you run in places you can’t access with just Search. This can give you the incremental reach you might need.
What about Brand?
A lot of clients can be very particular about how their brand is presented and typically the best way to control that is through a more manual approach – which is Search. You can add Brand exclusions to your PMax campaigns that allow you to focus all of your efforts there on Search if you prefer that manual control, but PMax is capable of handling your branded terms as well.
Budget Considerations
Maybe the biggest obstacle outside of creative assets will be budget. It always feels like there is never enough to go around, but sometimes this is the reality.
A question to ask yourself is – If you get good enough results will the budget increase? A common phrase we hear from clients is “If we get good results we’ll pump as much money as we can.” So basically unlimited budget. Not every client will have that ability though. If there isn’t enough search demand for the most obvious money search terms, then we will test a PMax campaign to increase awareness and volume.
The other consideration is that in order for PMax to work you need to have a good amount of conversions. If you are only getting a handful every month it won’t be as effective. There are strategies to build this up and work towards optimizing to your primary hard conversion.
Want Help?
This is just one of many strategy decisions you’ll need to make for your Google Ads campaigns. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and getting help from someone else can be worth saving time and knowing it is done correctly. If you feel like you could use more help please reach out to us here at Enilon. We’d love to chat and see how we can help.
