Best Practices for Ad Assets Optimisation in Performance Max Campaigns

Have you ever wondered why some online ads instantly grab your attention and make you want to click? It’s not magic. It’s all about using the right Ad assets. Ad assets optimisation in Performance Max Campaigns is crucial for success. Ad assets are the building blocks of your online ads, including text, images, and videos. If you want your ads to work, it’s super important to make these assets as good as possible. 

In our previous blog post, we discussed about ad assets and their role in Performance Max campaigns. When creating assets, it’s essential to align them with your business products and Ad campaign type. The more relevant your assets are, the better they will help to improve your Ad Position.

Importance of Ad Assets Optimisation in Performance Max Campaign for Maximizing the Ad Campaign

When you add engaging assets to your ad campaign it leads to a higher quality score and higher CTR, the search engine algorithm recognizes the ad’s relevance to the audience and rewards your campaign with lower bidding costs while listing ads on the search engine result page. This allows your ad to rank higher, without excessively high bids.

For example, an online sneaker store uses high-quality image assets of shoes and engaging text assets mentioning attributes such as material, water resistance quality, and product rating extension in ads. The quality score will improve, making it appear on top search results easier without increasing the budget.

10 Key Strategies to Optimise Your Ad Assets and Enhance Your Campaign Performance

In this blog, we’ll explore the best practices for Ad assets optimisation in the Performance Max campaigns.

1. Highlight your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in your ad campaign

Your USP sets your brand apart from competitors. Communicate this clearly in your ad copy, visuals, and video assets to grab your audience’s attention. A well-defined USP improves ad performance and drives engagement.

Example: If you sell organic coffee beans, emphasize your product’s key USP in text and image assets, such as “100% Organic”, along with the necessary badge image to make you stand out from competitors.

2. Use the Ad Strength Indicator to improve your Ad’s relevance and performance

The Ad Strength Indicator displays the ad relevance and performance of your assets. The more optimised your ad is, the better its click-through rate (CTR). Search engines reward highly relevant ads by lowering cost-per-click (CPC) and increasing visibility.

3. Align Assets with your campaign goals to reach the target audience

Ensure that each asset aligns perfectly with your campaign’s objectives and target audience. A comprehensive message across all assets will enhance the campaign’s overall impact. Tailor your assets based on specific themes and ad groups.

For example, If you’re running a sale for winter clothing, your assets should include winter-themed image assets, CTA mentioning seasonal discounts, and text assets highlighting the winter theme.

4. Choose only the best-quality ad assets to boost user engagement

High-quality assets are more likely to grab users’ attention and encourage them to engage with your ad. Invest in professional visuals and well-crafted texts to make a long-lasting impression. Best-quality assets boost your ad strength and improve your ad relevancy.

For example, the status of ad assets can be checked by reviewing the assets on an assets page. If an ad for a skincare brand has a “Best” status for an image but a “Low” status for the description, tweak the text to align better with the best-performing assets.

5. Include video assets to improve your brand and ad ranking

Include your videos to have more control over branding, structure, and overall appearance. If you don’t provide a video, Performance Max will create one using the provided information. However, it will be more like a slideshow with system-selected music and may not be compelling. Adding video assets can be more relevant, increasing product relevance and boosting your ad ranking. 

Tip: Create high-quality video ads with clear messaging and a strong call-to-action (CTA) to improve engagement and conversions.

A study has found that 94% of users watch videos to learn about products or services.

6. Experiment with different assets to see what works best

Experiment with asset variations to determine which combinations generate the best results. AI machine learning algorithms can adapt and optimise based on the performance of each asset. Creating different asset groups helps improve asset relevancy and boosts your campaign performance.

7. Regularly check your asset performance to improve results

Once you upload ad creatives to your campaign, they will have a ‘Learning’ status, which means that AI is testing them and mixing them up to create the most winning combinations. After the ‘learning’ status is over, your assets display status with ‘Average,’ ‘Good,’ or ‘Excellent.’ You can replace ‘low assets’ with more similar to the ‘best assets.’ You can add more assets reflecting the ‘best’ practice asset if you still haven’t reached the maximum permitted number.

Pro Tip: After making changes to your assets, wait a few days for your Ad Strength and asset group status to update. Ideally, allow 2-3 weeks before replacing low-performing assets.

8. Optimise your Ads for mobile to make them more user-friendly

Using the right ad extension can optimise mobile ads. These assets help your ad be more prominent and appealing to mobile customers, improving campaign performance. Make sure your mobile landing pages match your ad and provide a smooth user experience for mobile users.

For example, a call ad extension that displays a phone number next to an ad allows users to call the business directly.

9. Customise your assets for each ad platform to maximize reach

Different ad platforms have different dimensions for running ads. Customize your assets for each ad platform that boosts your campaign on various ad platforms.

Google Ads
Remember that your assets will appear on various platforms like Search, Display, YouTube, and Discover. Customize your assets to suit each platform’s format and context. The more ad assets in your PMAX campaign, the more relevancy you build.

Microsoft Advertising
In Microsoft Advertising, you can create assets on different ad platforms with specific dimensions, such as Bing Search, Microsoft Audience Network, and Microsoft Start. Microsoft AI helps to suggest creatives based on your input and boost your ad campaign.

10. Use Ad Extensions for better optimisation

Ad extensions provide additional business details, such as phone numbers or direct links, improving ad visibility and engagement. It helps to expand your PMAX campaign and make it more engaging. They are free to add and significantly enhance ad performance. 

Examples of ad extensions include locations, additional links, prices, a phone number to call you, and more. Some of them are as follows: 

Call extensions: Displays your phone number or a call button next to your ad
Sitelinks: Links to specific service or product pages on a website that you wish to display
Location extensions: Show users the location of a business if you run a brick-and-mortar store

Ad assets optimisation in the Performance Max campaigns is an ongoing process. By implementing these strategies and continuously monitoring your results

Final Thoughts 

Ad assets are the foundation of Performance Max campaigns, particularly in shopping ads. You create more engaging and high-performing ads that drive conversions by incorporating various assets such as product images, descriptions, promotional offers, and ad extensions.

To maximize campaign impact, experiment with different asset combinations. Test various formats and messaging to discover what resonates best with your audience.

The better you optimise your assets, the greater your success in driving traffic, generating leads, and increasing sales.