What Assets Do You Need For Performance Max?
Performance Max Asset Groups
What assets do you need for Performance Max? In order to run a successful Performance Max Campaign, there are some requirements you should have ready to go prior to creating your ads. The first thing you are going to want to prepare for your campaign is how many asset groups you want to run and for what topics. You can name your asset group after whichever topic it is running for to help keep them organized and separate. Once you have decided on your asset groups, you will need to choose which landing page each group will direct to. For example, if I have a client who sells clothing- I might have one asset group focusing on shirts and that asset group will be directed to a landing page with only shirts for sale. If it is an asset group focusing on the brand as a whole, I may send it to the overall shopping page with all the brand’s products.
Photo & Video Assets
Other assets you’ll need for Performance Max are good images and video. These assets should reflect the topic your asset group is focusing on. For example, for the “shirt” asset group, you would want your photos/video to show the product and/or people wearing the product. In order to run the most optimized campaign, you will want to give Google as much inventory as you can (within the required amount) so your ad strength is as high as possible. This will allow Performance Max and it’s machine learning to rotate various ad formats and receive feedback on which ones perform best for which type of audience. The more we give it to work with, the better.
Variety Is The Spice Of Life
When it comes to size, you need to have at least one landscape and one square photo per asset group. It is also recommended you have at least one portrait image. It is not required to use a video, but strongly recommended. You can use a horizontal, vertical, or square video, or all 3 formats and the video must be equal to or greater than 10 seconds in length. If you decide not to use a video, Google will generate one using the other assets you provided (images, logo, and text). On top of photos, you will need to have a logo. It is required to input at least one square logo and recommended that you also have a landscape logo as well. See below for the asset requirement chart to learn more about the minimum and maximum for each aspect type as well as more detailed size requirements.
Once you have your photos, videos (if using them), and logo ready to go, you will need to create some ad copy to accompany them. Unlike other campaign types, Performance Max requires Headlines (30 characters max), Long Headlines (90 characters max), and Descriptions (90 characters max, one description < 60 characters). You will need to have a minimum of 3 headlines, 1 long headline, and 2 descriptions with a maximum of 5 for each. Google recommends you input as many as possible, in doing so your ads will typically rank higher. One of the things to watch out for is that you do not have copy that is too similar (for example, various versions of the same headline), as this will cause your ad to rank lower. You will need to input your Business Name at the end of the ad creation as well as either choose a call to action or go with the automated call to action (recommended).
Other assets you’ll need for Performance Max and ecommerce is product images. Something to note for e-commerce campaigns, if you are connected to Merchant Center, you can chose your Merchant Center feed and showcase those products in the ads. If you want to filter which products can be shown, you simply click the pencil icon next to “all products” and filter your products by type, brand, item ID, etc.
The Final Touches
Now that the actual ads are covered, you will need to finish the setup of the rest of the campaign. This includes bidding strategy, budget, location targeting, audience signal, and more. Your audience signal can include business data (collected in your remarketing audiences or customer lists), custom audiences, Google created detailed demographics and interests, and general demographics. The audience signal is an important part of Performance Max and helps steer the machine learning in the right direction.
The final step would be to go to the summary page and ensure your campaign is setup correctly and that you have not missed any issues. Once you have done this, you are ready to publish your Performance Max campaign and let the magic happen! It is recommended to leave any changes you make to the campaign for around 14 days before making any more changes to give the machine learning a chance to optimize with the assets you have provided.
Think Performance Max Could Work For You?
Curious to know what assets for Performance Max Campaigns could work for your business? Just contact us and set up a meeting and we can discuss the possibilities for your company. Our team wants to know more about your business and how we can be a valuable part of your marketing team.
