Google is converting Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max. If you run an online shop that advertises with Smart Shopping, this will affect you sooner or later. You can migrate yourself or leave it to Google. If you migrate yourself, you keep more control over the outcome.
In this article you will read what is changing and how to protect your results. You will get a step-by-step plan, a practical example and answers to frequently asked questions. We explain technical terms briefly.
What is actually changing?
Smart Shopping is a campaign type in which Google automatically decides where and when your product ads appear. You provide a product feed, a budget and a goal. The system does the rest.
Performance Max works on the same principle, but goes a step further. Your ads can appear on Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps. Smart Shopping already covered some of those placements. Performance Max adds several more.
A few key terms at a glance:
- Product feed: a file containing all your products, prices, images and stock levels. You manage it in Google Merchant Center.
- Asset: a component of your ad, such as a text, image or video.
- ROAS: return on ad spend. It is the revenue you earn for every euro spent on advertising.
Migrating yourself or letting Google do it
Google can convert your campaigns automatically. That takes no effort on your part, but you decide nothing. You do not know exactly when it will happen. You also cannot prepare your ad material in advance.
Migrating yourself has clear advantages:
- You choose the timing, for example outside a busy promotional period.
- You check your feed and conversion tracking beforehand.
- You supply your own texts, images and video.
- You determine how your campaigns are structured.
It takes a few hours of preparation. That usually pays for itself in more stable results.
Take your learning data with you
A campaign that has been running for months has learned a lot. The system knows which products sell well and which searchers often buy. This is known as learning data.
Google offers an upgrade tool in Google Ads. With this tool, your campaign history is preserved. So do not start again with an empty Performance Max campaign. If you do, the system starts from zero and the learning phase costs you money. The learning phase is the period in which the system works out what performs. Your results often fluctuate during that time.
Therefore, use the upgrade tool and not the "new campaign" button. After the upgrade, also check your budget and your ROAS target straight away. These settings should match what you were used to.
Fill in what is missing
Performance Max also shows your ads outside Shopping. In those placements, Google needs more than just your product feed. It is therefore best to supply the following yourself:
- Multiple headlines and descriptions that fit your products and your brand.
- Images in different formats, such as square and landscape.
- Your logo.
- A short video.
If you do not supply a video, Google will create one itself. This happens automatically from your images. Such a video often does not fit your brand well. The same applies to texts that Google compiles itself.
You do not need to set up an expensive production process. A simple video featuring your best products works better than an automatically generated version. What matters is that your brand remains recognisable.
Keep an eye on your margins
Smart Shopping optimises for revenue. Performance Max does the same. That sounds fine, but not every euro of revenue generates the same profit. A low-margin product can sell a lot and still earn you little.
So divide your products into groups with similar margins. Give each group its own target. That way your budget flows to what earns the most, not to what sells the most.
Suppose you have an online shop selling garden products. You sell garden cushions with a high margin and parasols with a low margin. In a single campaign, the parasols draw most of the budget, because they sell easily and have a high order value. Your revenue rises, but your profit lags behind. You split the products into two groups. For the cushions, you set a lower ROAS target, so you can invest more in visibility. For the parasols, you set a stricter target. After a few weeks, you see that the budget is better distributed and that the profit per euro of ad spend is rising.
You can create such a split with separate campaigns or with product groups within a campaign. A separate campaign gives you more control over budget and target. This is particularly useful if your margins are far apart.
Check your tracking before and after the migration
Performance Max optimises on the data you give it. If your conversion tracking is not accurate, the system will learn the wrong lessons. So check a few things beforehand:
- Are you tracking purchases and passing on the actual order value?
- Is your product feed accurate, with correct prices and stock levels?
- Are there any disapproved products in Merchant Center?
- Have you based your ROAS target on your margins rather than a guess?
- Have you chosen a quiet moment for the switch?
That last point is particularly relevant right now. Black Friday is approaching. If you want to migrate just before the rush, give the system enough time. If you want to avoid any risk, wait until after the peak. With the upgrade tool the impact is smaller, but a quiet period is still the smarter choice.
Do not look at the figures every day during the first weeks after the migration. The system needs time. Assess your results over a period of several weeks. Only intervene if something clearly goes wrong, for example if costs rise without additional sales.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose my results if Google converts the campaign automatically?
Not necessarily. With an automatic conversion, the campaign history is in principle preserved. The difference is that you do not decide the timing or the set-up. Your own texts, images and video will be missing, and your margins will not have been taken into account. Migrating yourself gives you more control.
Do I need to supply a video?
It is not mandatory, but it is recommended. Without a video, Google creates one from your images. That video usually fits your brand less well. A short, simple video of your own is often better.
Can I still steer towards low-margin products?
Yes. You can divide products into groups and set a separate ROAS target for each group. You can also create separate campaigns for high-margin and low-margin products. That way you decide where your budget goes.
Free 30-minute introductory meeting
Do you want to be sure your migration goes smoothly? Adventio Marketing in Amersfoort will be happy to help. Together, we will look at your campaigns, your product feed and your margins. You will hear what you can expect and what to tackle first.
Book a free 30-minute introductory meeting. You will get an honest picture of your options, with no obligations.
