Using Performance Max to boost your business
Google is constantly upgrading — and it’s time for you to make your move to stay on point and achieve your targets: Google’s Smart Shopping upgrade to Performance Max has begun and if driven effectively, will make your campaigns more efficient and effective. However, ignoring or mismanaging this upgrade will equally result in a drop in performance – something which no one can afford in this inflationary environment…
According to misleading market reports and coverage, Performance Max is a point of concern for online brands and retailers. The reality is that it’s not Google’s new software that’s the issue, but the apprehension surrounding the switch by important segments of the PPC community that has filtered through to retailers and online brands.
The situation has escalated to the point that some retailers are seriously considering switching back to Standard Shopping campaigns – which is crazy – as going back will never help your business move forward and thrive (we’ll talk more on this later…)
Performance Max takes automation to another level, introducing a bunch of fresh (and vital) features which can supercharge retailer outcomes when managed properly. Understandably, the Agency ecosystem is concerned about the impact that this may have on PPC teams who provide manual intervention and it is this concern that is being felt by retailers.
Put simply, online retailers, agencies and brand teams need to better engage with Google to drive profits, instead of fighting against it. They should be able to comfortably work with the latest updates and have the ability to connect Google’s marketing objectives to top level business objectives (ROAS, margin and revenue). This is where the need for an advanced third-party solution becomes obvious.
Upp is the only solution that enhances Google for you
Upp is the only operating system for retail trading that empowers timely decision making and has consistently improved overall Google Shopping results for online retailers since the introduction of Smart Shopping. Upp enhances Google’s performance with your data, uncovering previously hidden opportunities that enable retailers to achieve (short and long-term) goals.
Our connected retail performance platform uses cutting-edge AI and machine learning and does not limit visibility, or control. Rather, it provides a more detailed, granular-level view of all your campaigns – eliminating any ‘black box’ that you might be facing currently.
Google Shopping and the PPC community have their limitations as their expertise can only provide part of the picture. While online retailers can make important decisions on their campaigns and budget spend, they are still left in the dark regarding how Google spends their money. Our data-led audits of retailers’ performance, across multiple industries, found that 88% of products advertised on Google Shopping received minimal visibility, bringing down the effectiveness of the campaigns — but online retailers are left with little clue on how to prevent this kind of loss.
Upp integrates 70+ business and product performance data points from your total sales ecosystem, ensuring that your campaigns are based on comprehensive, connected data and not ‘best practices’ (or guesswork).
Upp delivers total transparency, visibility, and control through data-driven reports and analysis of your campaigns. You set your business objectives (ROAS, revenue, margin) and the SKU-level visibility provided by Upp ensures campaign optimisation at a deeper level across your Google Shopping campaigns, every minute of every day. Upp clients consistently achieve a 27% increase in growth of revenues through our platform’s constant monitoring, analysis and optimisation, to ensure that your budget is spent in the right places and at the right time.
Upp is the only solution in the market that truly engages with and enhances the powerful insights offered by Google. And our AI and machine learning goes further than simply data collection and analysis at the granular level, providing top-level insights to help online retailers fine-tune their strategies.
How can “fighting” Google make sense?
Google’s technology is second to none and its updates are designed specifically to make it better. So how can sticking with an older version or switching to an “alternative” solution (that can never compete with Google in its own field) make sense?
Yes, Performance Max can provide only limited data visibility and insights and it will continue to focus only on what happens within the Google space as it can’t consider your other online efforts.
Therefore eCommerce does need a better understanding of business objectives such as margin requirements, data visibility and transparency than can be given by Google’s data, but “opting out” of working with Google will fail to meet expectations in the long run.
Instead, we built our connected retail performance platform from the ground up, specifically to work alongside Google, with one goal in mind: to provide a level of understanding and automation that enables retailers to thrive.
That’s why 70% of our clients have successfully transitioned to Performance Max already (and why we’ve gained a substantial amount of new clients who have tried different options and suffered huge drops in performance).
Upp’s expertise around data is key to bringing thorough transparency and control to online retailers. Therefore we offer a data-led audit that helps online retailers understand how key data analytics can help them realise their business goals, while the remainder is spent actively pushing your business towards achieving said goals.
Suggested reading: Your ad spend is crucial in maintaining your brand’s profits and realising success — read our blog Why Your Budget is Wasted on a PPC Agency to find out why investing everything in an agency may not make the best sense.
Let your data guide your success with Google Shopping
The mandatory upgrade to Performance Max will be completed by October – this means the time is now to decide what’s best for your business.
While many online retailers feel they have no choice but to depend on agencies or let their in-house teams sort out the confusion, our data shows otherwise.
What we all know is that relying on manual teams ensures we are limited by time and a finite capacity of resources. And both agencies and in-house teams have only limited experience of, and scope to work with, Performance Max.
What our customers will tell you is that they have felt supported through their transitions to Performance Max and that their businesses have enjoyed enhanced performance using our platform.
Upp has proven to be so effective to eCommerce growth that we currently drive 39m+ retail products, £50m+ ad budget and drive £450m+ in retail revenue across 14 regions.
To know more about how Upp can help your online brand better engage with Google whilst ensuring higher returns, book an Upp consultation
