Performance Max Meets Performance Creative

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Google’s Performance Max (Pmax) is no longer brand new, but many brands and retailers are still moving along the learning curve when optimizing creatives for this campaign type. 

Pmax helps automate processes to boost success across Google’s ad channels, and the right creatives for these placements make all the difference. Good creative is a necessity in today’s ad landscape. That’s why today’s blog will walk you through everything you need to know to design Pmax campaigns that outperform. 

“Creative is the #1 driver of ROI. Understanding who, how, and why consumers respond improves the entire ad creation process.”

Leslie Woods, NCSolutions Chief Research Officer

Here at Adlucent, we closely follow best practices for Google ad creatives to give you the competitive advantage in the performance marketing space. Testing a variety of creatives lets us experiment, track performance, and make data-driven decisions to better resonate with your different audiences. 

A good marketing partner is there to ensure you have all the right creatives designed for available placements and helps you strengthen your lead generation by taking advantage of the full Pmax inventory.

CHOOSING CREATIVE COMBINATIONS THAT CONVERT

Performance Max campaigns are made up of images, logos, videos, headlines, and descriptions. They are automatically mixed into various combinations, allowing us to quickly figure out what works best. 

Best practices for creative combinations:

• Images should be high-resolution in multiple dimensions
• Logos should be formatted square and horizontal
• Videos should be custom designed for their placements
• Headlines should be written to hook the viewer with a clear call to action
• Descriptions should offer more information to help viewers convert

The Pmax algorithm will favor winning combinations, so you can take advantage of all your designs and copy every time. Pmax asset requirements are as follows:

PERFORMANCE MAX VIDEOS

Performance Max video inventory encompasses YouTube Shorts with vertical videos and Discover ads with a combination of square and landscape. Designing specifically for all aspect ratios ensures you can look your best no matter where your ad turns up in Google.

As you may know, video is a required asset type for Performance Max campaigns. If you only design one size, Pmax automatically-created videos will use the one-sized video within frames for different placements and may also create videos using assets from the asset groups that fulfill those ratios. The best bet is to design with all placements in mind, which is what Adlucent does!

Note that Pmax allows a maximum of five video uploads per campaign. Structure your campaigns accordingly to ensure the best videos can run in the plethora of Pmax placements across the web.

PMAX VIDEO BEST PRACTICES FOR ACTION ADS THAT PERFORM

Performance Max places videos across in-stream, dynamic, discovery, YouTube, and local ads. Therefore, it’s important to create videos correctly sized with the right message and aesthetic that will appeal to each of your audiences.

Best practices for Pmax video include:

• Hooking attention right away
• Branding often and meaningfully
• Making the product the focus of your ad
• Being specific and tangible
• Inciting action
• Including your USP (unique selling point)

Google asserts that these insights are associated with top-performing action ads.

PMAX IMAGE BEST PRACTICES FOR ADS ACROSS THE BOARD

Best practices for Pmax images vary somewhat depending on the campaign type. In-feed placement ads benefit from feeling more like the organic content they’re surrounded by. In contrast, standard placement ads do better if they stand out from the organic content around them.

Ensure to include a tight focus on the image subject, a bold design, high-quality images, and avoid too much moodiness or visual metaphors. You want to get straight to the point, keep things bright and straightforward, and ensure your message is crystal clear.

ADLUCENT’S PROCESS OF PMAX CREATIVE TESTING

The Adlucent creative team develops Pmax campaign concepts, produces assets, and finds the right balance between variation and innovation. We launch assets in all necessary sizes to cover all placements and achieve ad strength. We measure creatives according to key performance metrics, analyze results, scale top-performing ads, and iterate on our learnings. 

ITERATING ON TOP-PERFORMING ASSETS

Over time, some creatives burn out. So, we refresh top-performing assets, specifically those rated “Best” in the Asset group. Examples of variables we can change run the gamut from background color, product category, adding speech or supers to video, dynamics, fast frame rate, and different video lengths from 10 to 30s+.

PMAX IS ONE OF MANY TOOLS IN THE TOOLBOX

Pmax is a great tool for diversifying and optimizing your creative strategy. However, it is not a replacement for all your creative placements, such as YouTube or Display. Pmax only runs a small percentage of ads on YouTube, and its goal is to drive conversions.

Separately, in a YouTube or Display campaign, you can take more control of audiences, placements, topics, etc. You also have the ability to target different goals like awareness or consideration instead of the action-driven goals that Pmax is founded on.

Conclusion

In all, Google’s Performance Max is gaining traction, and it offers an excellent opportunity for brands and retailers to flex their creative chops (or call on their agency to do so) to excel in the space.

By following Pmax’s best practices for images, video, logos, and copy and taking a strategic approach to creative testing, you’ll be in the right position to get the most out of Google’s automated campaigns. As advertising increasingly leans on these automated tools, entering the right creative inputs is more impactful than ever.

Are you interested in learning more about Performance Max? Whether you are taking things globally or just looking to embrace the new digital disruption, we’ve got your back. Check out our other digital marketing blogs and reach out to us today.

Abby Kaplan

Abby is Head of Creative at Adlucent. An innovative thinker, she is a performance-driven creative with over 12 years of experience in marketing and about five years of experience leading creative content and design at Adlucent. She is excited about big ideas, wordplay, and kerning alike, and she is inspired by the diverse set of clients that make up the creative team roster. She believes in the power of storytelling and the value of collaboration.