11 Steps to a High Performing Performance Max Campaign (eCom)

In this post, I’m sharing 11 essential steps you need to follow to create high-performing Performance Max campaigns for your e-commerce business. I’ve done extensive work in this area and produced a lot of video content on Performance Max, so I’m excited to reveal all the insights I’ve gathered.

To give you a peek behind the curtain, at Growth, we have a comprehensive checklist for every new client we onboard for Google Ads. This checklist consists of 52 individual tasks that we complete before launching a campaign. While you won’t see all that today, I’ve summarized everything into 11 actionable steps you can implement for yourself.

The 80/20 Rule

Let’s jump right into it! The first step is to apply the 80/20 rule to your product split. This rule states that 20% of your products generate 80% of your revenue. By identifying these high-performing products, you can segment them into a higher-demand Performance Max campaign. The remaining 80% of your products will go into a second, lower-demand campaign.

To find the right products, I recommend analyzing the natural demand for each product using your Shopify data and GA4 (Google Analytics 4). This data will help you make informed decisions about effectively splitting your campaigns.

Create Funnel Visualization

Next, we create a funnel visualization using a tool like Miro. This visualization outlines different strategies based on your monthly ad spend. For instance, if you have a budget of $5,000, you won’t be able to utilize the same full-funnel approach as a client spending $40,000. Understanding these differences is crucial for maximizing your return on investment (ROI).

In the description below, I’ll link a video that explains this funnel strategy in greater detail, so make sure to check that out!

Calculate Break-Even ROAS

Once we have our product segmentation and funnel visualization ready, it’s essential to calculate your break-even Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). This step is particularly beneficial, especially if you have many products. You can understand your profit margins by entering your product details—such as costs, shipping, and selling prices—into a break-even calculator. This insight will guide you in determining the ROAS you need to achieve to remain profitable.

Develop Ad Copy Using the PMAX Framework

Now that we understand our segmentation and break-even ROAS, it’s time to create our ad copy using the Performance Max ad copy framework. This framework is available for you to use without providing your email. Simply click the link in the description, make a copy, and it’s yours!

Previously, we could only use up to five headlines for our Performance Max campaigns, but now we can utilize up to 15. I’ll create a refreshed video on leveraging this framework, including tips to enhance user experience, so be sure to subscribe to catch that!

Organize Your Asset Checklist

Next, let’s discuss the importance of organizing your image and video assets. We use an asset checklist for our Performance Max campaigns. For each product group, we aim to have:

A square image
A portrait image
A landscape image

In addition to images, we also need videos. For each product, we require:

A one-to-one dimension video for YouTube Shorts
A landscape video for regular YouTube

Being organized is crucial for Google Ads and marketing in general. It’s a lesson I’ve learned over time, and it pays off!

Create Custom Match Lists

Now, we create custom match lists based on past purchases. I like to utilize two variations for these lists:

All purchases: This includes every customer who has made a purchase.
Top 20% of purchases: This focuses on your highest-value customers.

We use both lists together for A/B testing within our ad group, which helps us optimize our targeting for the best results.

Stop the Bleeding

During the onboarding process, which typically lasts about 2-3 weeks, it’s important to focus on stopping the bleeding from existing campaigns. If your current campaigns are underperforming, we’ll work to fix them or pause them entirely to prevent further losses while we prepare the new ones.

This phase is crucial, and you should take your time with it. If you cut corners here, your new campaigns won’t perform as well as they could.

Use Google Ads Editor

When it’s time to build your campaigns, I highly recommend using Google Ads Editor. It allows for a much quicker and more efficient setup than using the platform’s built-in tools. This is especially true for Performance Max campaigns, where creating a search campaign is now just as straightforward as using the editor.

Optimize Google Merchant Center

Next, let’s talk about your Google Merchant Center. It needs to be well-optimized to support your e-commerce efforts. Typically, we apply for a Comparative Shopping Service (CSS), which helps reduce costs and improves competitiveness in ad auctions. This service costs around $30 per month, but it’s worth it if you spend a substantial amount on ads.

Implement Brand Exclusions

One common challenge with Performance Max campaigns is the attribution of conversions to brand searches. To mitigate this issue, we implement brand exclusions and create a negative keyword list in our settings. There are several strategies to achieve this, including:

Adding a brand exclusion list to your campaign settings
Utilizing negative keywords
Bidding higher for new customers
Setting your campaigns to bid only for new customers

I’ll link a video in the description that dives deeper into these strategies!

Ongoing Optimization and Scaling

Finally, we arrive at the last step: ongoing optimization and scaling. After the initial setup, it is essential to continuously monitor and optimize your campaigns over the first three months. Each account will react differently, so testing various strategies is key to finding what resonates with your audience.

In month two, we particularly focus on testing, and in month three, we scale up what works best. I’ll also share a future video detailing our specific strategies for this phase, so stay tuned for that!

Conclusion

To wrap things up, those are the 11 steps you need to follow to create high-performing Google Ads Performance Max campaigns for your e-commerce brand. These steps are available for free! However, if you’re a brand owner and would prefer to let us handle this for you, feel free to schedule a call with Growth, and we can manage the entire process.