Travellers have more options than ever when it comes to searching and booking places to stay.
From hotels to Airbnb, people can look up multiple places to stay in their travel destination, then compare prices, amenities, locations, and perks. The travel advertising industry is more competitive than ever, with advertisers racing to get their promotions front and center. But what if something could handle that for you?
Google Performance Max for travel goals provides advertisers with a simple, efficient, and all-in-one campaign. Powered by Google’s AI, the campaign lets you show relevant ads to people at important touchpoints of their trip logistics. Deliver promotions across multiple channels with just one setup point.
Reach more guests and gain more conversions. Here’s the rundown on Google Performance Max for travel goals.
What is Google Performance Max?
Google Performance Max is a new type of ad campaign that Google launched in late 2021. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to optimize ads across all channels on the Google Ads platform: Search, YouTube, Gmail, etc.
Alternative campaigns generally target a single ad format, but Performance Max ads target multiple ad formats within a single campaign. And the AI decides when, where, and how to deliver these ads on which platform as the campaign progresses.
The tech giant has designed Performance Max to optimize ad performance by leveraging ML and AI. The aim is to maximize conversions, which includes actions such as purchases, sign-ups, and other desired user engagements.
How Do Performance Max Ad Campaigns Work?
Before launching a Performance Max ad campaign, you’ll need to enable Google Ads Conversion Tracking for your website. This allows Google to link the campaign to the tracker and monitor your performance metrics.
The Performance Max campaign itself leverages ML algorithms to continuously optimize your campaign and its performance. The algorithms analyze user behaviour, conversion data, and other factors. Then they determine the most effective ad placements, bidding strategies, and targeting options.
The general steps to setting up a Performance Max campaign are:
- Set up a goal (sales, lead generation, etc.)
- Determine budget and bidding strategy (e.g. maximize spend or pre-set target cost)
- Create an asset group (headlines, descriptions, images, logos, etc.)
- Select a target audience (optional)
- Add extensions (existing or created)
Performance Max Ads for Travel Marketing
Google has begun rolling out Performance Max for travel goals campaigns to advertisers worldwide. The goal is for hotel and travel-related agencies to reach customers at any stage of their planning process. Whether a person is actively searching for travel destination logistics and plans, or simply casually browsing online, Performance Max will target them with relevant promotions.
The idea is for hotel and travel advertisers to serve across all Google properties with ease, which maximizes their Google Ads performance. They can also easily create property-specific asset groups and monitor them so they can optimize their campaigns accordingly.
Benefits of Performance Max for Travel Goals Campaigns
The primary benefit that comes with using Performance Max for travel goals campaigns is that advertisers can easily deliver ads across all Google properties and platforms. They can then maximize their ad performance with Google Ads in multiple formats. But, of course, there are additional advantages to leveraging Google’s ML-powered ads.
Diversified guest acquisition
The ad campaign can easily expand the reach of your business to reach more potential customers. As a business, your resources might limit what channels on which you display ads, but Performance Max automatically places ads across Google’s entire network. This omnichannel approach lets you target customers on sites and platforms you may not have otherwise reached.
Simplified setup and reports
In terms of setup, Performance Max simplifies the ad creation process. As you open the interface and begin inputting information, Google suggests elements such as:
- Ad messages
- Headlines and descriptions
- Image views
- Amenities and features
- URLs
You can also create a properly listing directly in Google Ads, or link a Hotel Center account.
For reports, Performance Max puts together property-specific metrics and indicators so you can measure the performance of each of your properties separately. The Insights page can help you identify trends, uncover demand forecast, and gain search term insights.
Improved efficiency
Travel marketers know that pricing and availability change frequently, sometimes even day to day or hour to hour. Performance Max campaigns incorporate real-time data so the AI can adjust your ad messages to showcase up-to-date prices, availability, and promotions. This way, your ads remain relevant and accurate, boosting user trust and leading to higher conversion rates.
Additionally, Performance Max campaigns are fully automated across all channels. Marketers can then optimize their workflows and focus on other initiatives like budgeting, creative assets, ad optimizing, and analyzing insights.
Increased bookings and conversions
Per Google, advertisers on Performance Max earn (on average) “18% more conversions at a similar cost per action.” This mostly comes from the expanded reach, since the AI streamlines the addition of new formats and displays the ads across 7 Google properties.
Moreover, Performance Max campaigns reach users across multiple devices – including desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. The cross-platform presence means your business can engage with travellers regardless of their preferred device, which maximizes exposure and accessibility.
Identified issues
Google launched diagnostic insights in 2022, a tool that gives advertisers automatic alerts. The AI identifies potential issues that come up in relation to:
- Account or billing status
- Policy violations and updates
- Campaign status
- Budget and bidding
- Conversion tracking
- Ad strength and performance
The tool also gives recommendations on how to troubleshoot or address these issues, or resolve existing errors.
Downsides of Performance Max
There are, however, some disadvantages to Google Performance Max. Industry experts have leveled some critiques at the ad campaign – most notably the lack of insights. There is little information on how the AI allocates ad budget, whether across the different channels or the type of visitor (prospect vs remarketing).
Moreover, the wide range of ads in Performance Max leads to an increased risk of cannibalizing your existing ad campaigns. It may impact your branded Search Ads by claiming credit for the conversions that match the keywords, which will inflate the Performance Max metrics.
Businesses also have limited visibility into the placement of their ads. Also, Google Owned & Operated platforms tend to take up majority of the placements.
Lastly, the control over your ad campaign rests more with Google than it does with your business. You as the advertiser input all the information, but Google’s AI makes all the decisions. The tech giant does assure advertisers that Performance Max is not a blackbox of information and the campaign is focused on optimizing for conversion. Still, marketers may want to think hard before signing on.
Should You Use Performance Max Campaigns?
It does feel tempting, the idea of having access to all of Google’s ad inventory for any kind of campaign. But Performance Max may not work with everyone, especially those who prefer to be more hands-on in their marketing approach. Since Google operates the Performance Max campaigns on a set-and-forget basis, this may not be so appealing.
However, the ad campaign may be most convenient and efficient for:
- Small businesses with limited time, resources, or marketing knowledge
- Travel advertisers who don’t want to pay for a PPC agency
- Large businesses looking for new or diversified angles
- Any business wanting to simplify its PPC advertising
Maximize Ad Campaigns With Performance Max
There are many advantages to leveraging Google Performance Max for your travel ad campaigns, especially for those who want to diversify their marketing or automate the advertising process. While you do sacrifice some level of control, the simplified setup, increased efficiency, and omnichannel approach could drive more bookings and maximize ad performance. Supercharge your travel marketing with Google Performance Max for travel goals and optimize your campaigns with the all-in-one AI solution.
Need help with your PPC marketing? Get in touch with us at Kika for your marketing management needs. Book a free consultation for specialized, effective advice.
