SESSION NOTES #005. PMax isn't "set and forget" so let's stop forgetting.

I was recently auditing a $150k a month search account. With an account of this size, I go in assuming the best - that the basics are covered and I'll need to dig deep to find anything worth flagging.

But then, I clock pretty quickly that there’s no generic PMax campaign.

Click, all products are in one asset group.

Click, there’s no search theme targeting.

Click, audience signals are incomplete.

And then the real kicker, there have been no changes in the past couple of months.

I will never not be horrified by a PMax campaign that’s been left to rot.

If you suspect you might have a “set and forget” digital marketer on your hands, ask them to do these three things every three months.

First, look at your generic PMax campaign and export all the search terms data from the last three months.

Categorise the search terms by common themes e.g. competitors, product types, product attributes, materials, colours, features, ingredients - whatever makes sense for your products (pro tip: Claude can do this step much faster than you).

Then do some sumifs magic and you’ll end up with a table like the one below.

The spots where you’re pulling above your weight (i.e. you have higher revenue relative to impressions) are where you have the strongest search-to-product fit. Write them down - you’ll need them for step three.

Second, it's time to find searches you're not currently capturing.

Run your focus categories through keyword planner. Sort by YoY change and apply an impression qualifier - I used ≥750 for this "dresses" example below.

Enough volume to be worth targeting, low enough to catch trends early.

Note down the trending keywords where you have relevant products. These are your gap search themes - add them to your list from step one. Again, the goal is getting your products shown on searches where your search-to-product fit is strongest.

Now if you’re sitting there thinking, “Sarah this is dumb, PMax is an automated campaign, the system does all of this for you doll.” Just wait.

Google actually tells you which search themes are driving incremental traffic i.e. “additional traffic beyond what is captured by your URLs and creative assets”.

Wait, did I just outsmart the smart campaign? Take that, set and forget.

Now grab your list of “sweet spot” and “blind spot” search themes and update them in your asset groups.

Aim for the full 50 - you have the slots, use them.

When PMax launched out of Beta in 2021, the black box criticism was fair - we had very little visibility and levers to pull. Since then we've got the search term reporting we always dreamed of, transparency around channel performance, and search theme targeting has come a long way.

The “black box” excuse has dried up, so let's stop using it.

Personally, I’m only just getting started. I haven't even covered asset groups, campaign structure, or the one lever that's always existed and remains chronically forgotten: shopping feed optimisation.

You wanna set and forget it? Okay, but you’ll regret it.

Hit reply and tell me what you wish your rep would tell you about PMax.

Cheers,

Sarah Arvela Webb

_{Brought to you by The Best of Sade and a five year on-again, off-again relationship with PMax.}