Pmax campaigns are the game changer for all advertisers, but the conflict arises when choosing a definitive approach – Feed Only or Full Build. Both have the capacity to bring desired results, yet it might vary from business to business, how it is managed and who should use what!

In the current day scenario, Performance Max or Pmax campaigns have revolutionised how advertisers approach marketing, offering them holistic and structured solutions by combining various Google Ads inventory under one roof. 

This all-in-one approach simplifies management and maximises campaign potential. But, like any other tool, it can be customised to suit specific business goals and objectives. 

eCommerce businesses often start validating various products on Meta before switching to Google’s space to capture the demand and scale rapidly. 

But when running a PMax campaign, marketers face a key question: should I go with a Feed Only setup (without assets) or opt for a Full Build (with assets)? Which one is likely to yield the best results in driving growth? 

Let us find out. 

If you are taking a backfoot to implement these tricks into your ad campaigns, we can help you out. Experts from the best PPC agency in UK can guide you through the process.

We will take you through an illustration of how the marketing strategy for each platform (Meta and Google) works, capturing demands while helping to scale up your brand. 

This image is a flowchart of a structured approach to scaling eCommerce businesses through a dual-platform advertising strategy involving Meta (Facebook and Instagram ads) and Google Ads. Primarily, it highlights the process of validating products on Meta, capturing demand, and expanding the reach using Google’s search and shopping ads. 

This marketing strategy has gained significant traction and hype due to the evolving dynamics of consumer behaviour and the need for a comprehensive multi-channel approach.

As an eCommerce business, whether you are small, medium, or large, you need a clear strategy to grow your sales and scale effectively. The process shown in the image is a tried and tested approach that you can follow to achieve your intended goals. 

Scroll down below to know them step by step. 

Feed Only (Without Assets) – Scaling Your Business With Product Feed

When incorporating a feed-only Performance Max campaign, you will not have to add images, headlines and descriptions. This is because it pulls down information from the product feed provided to the Google Merchant Centre. As a result, you get an auto-generated feed that drives ad placements across various ad platforms. This method is very specific and works well when a business is already running Meta campaigns and additionally wants to capitalise on the demand they have created using Google Shopping. 

In the context of the image: 

It Starts By Validating Your Product On Meta

Like the image, your products are validated using Meta ads that include Facebook and Instagram. Businesses can use these platforms to test whether there is interest and demand for the products. According to the data you receive, you will want to spend $500 and scale up to $1,000 per day on ads to see how well your product resonates with diversified audiences. 

Meta’s targeting options are powerful that it allows your target audience to see through the ads based on their specific interests, demographics, and behaviours. As advertisers in the backend, you will be able to monitor to know which groups of people are most likely to buy your product by just doing this. The entire process is all about gathering data and evaluating what works best. 

What you are testing is different creative ads- videos, images, and texts with messages that resonate with your target audience and actually interact with your ads. 

In short, your brand is creating a foundation towards understanding the audience before it starts ramping up bigger budgets. 

Next, Go Forth To Analyse The Winning Interests Or Angles (Feed Only) 

After the validation process (winning interests or angles), you can capture the demand created by Meta through Feed Only Performance Max campaigns. Since ‘no assets’ are required, the setup becomes faster, leveraging brands to switch to Google and Shopping campaigns quickly. 

Here, you can start targeting the search intent and audience signals identified from performance data on Meta. 

As you already have the data in hand regarding customers’ interests and which ads are performing their best, you can narrow down the filter to focus on those groups by refining your campaigns. 

Let us break it down: you might find that your ads work particularly well for people interested in home decor or sustainable products. 

You will also discover whether specific messages or creative approaches (e.g., discounts, product benefits) resonate better than others. This is where you really fine-tune your advertising efforts on Meta, using your best-performing content and audiences to maximise results.

It Is Time To Switch To Google Ads (Without Assets) 

How it works: People see your product on Facebook or Instagram and rarely buy it immediately. Instead, many will later look for your product or similar products on Google. By having Google Ads in place, you make your product appear on the page when they are looking and prepared to buy.

Google is where people with high intent go to find what they want to buy. 

When you switch on Google Ads, you capture these high-intent customers who are already familiar with your product because of the Meta ads. This shift from Meta to Google helps to bridge the gap from interest generation to purchase intent, effectively capitalising on the demand Meta created. 

Your Brand Can Now Scale To $1,000 – $3,000 Per Day Rapidly

Feed Only helps businesses scale fast by capturing the demand from the bottom of the funnel. As a result, you can target that potential group of customers who have converted and have become paying customers. As a matter of fact, it also complements Meta ads since it reaches the same potential customers who have already been engaged with the brand but are now on Google properties. 

Without testing creative assets, the process is totally streamlined, proving that businesses can ramp up their daily ad spend much quicker.

Pros Of Feed Only Performance Max Campaigns

• Much faster setup and execution. 
• Works perfectly with the demand generated from Meta. 
• An excellent option for product-centric campaigns that are highly search-driven. 

Cons Of Feed Only Performance Max Campaigns

• Due to a lack of assets, you get limited reach on search and display networks. 
• Possibilities of missing out on brand awareness as there is no need for visuals or engaging content in feed-only campaigns. 

Full-Build (With Assets): Marketing Strategy For Maximum Reach 

Unlike the feed-only Pmax campaigns, in full-build campaigns, brands must leverage all the assets while scaling online campaigns with Meta and then expanding to Google. 

Here is how it works in relevance to the flowchart: 

The Same Process – Validate Product On Meta

The process of validating the data remains the same. First, you can start by running ad campaigns on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) to analyse the product’s appeal in the market. This involves scaling the budget from $500 to $1,000 per day to understand audiences’ interests. In the Pmax campaign, this corresponds to gathering data and insights into the best-performing creatives and targeting strategies. 

Next Goes Finding The Winning Interest And Angles 

Once the assets (images, videos, texts) go LIVE and the campaigns start rolling, the next focus phase would be refining them to find winning interests and angles for the campaigns. 

The target audience and creative approaches become clear concerning which works best in driving conversions. 

In this stage, the advertisers will use data collected from the Meta platform to fiddle with and optimise their ad campaigns. This will help pinpoint the best-performing combinations of assets, which are essential and vital for scaling the campaign even further.

Switching To Google: Expanding With PMax (With Assets) 

Once on Google, your priority needs to shift towards targeting relevant interests or keywords aligning with the searches people are looking for. With Performance Max, you will be able to capture the demand that you have created on Meta, fine-tuning your Google campaigns. 

This is where ‘full-build’ Performance Max comes in. 

With assets including images, videos, and various copy elements, you can fully tap into Google’s expansive reach. PMax is a campaign type running across all the inventory of Google, including:

– YouTube

– Display Network

– Search

– Shopping

– Gmail

– Discovery

When you add all creative assets, Google’s machine learning allows you to make better decisions about where to showcase your ads. This includes showing to people actively looking for a product or service or even to those just browsing content that covers topics associated with your industry or niche. 

In addition to that, these generated ads reach the right set of audiences at the right time, leading to higher customer engagement. 

Here is an example to better understand the prospect: if your product is a skincare item, you can add search themes like “skincare”. Now, by adding such broad match keywords, Google can identify relevant audience signals and serve ads to users showing interest in similar topics. 

While you cannot directly target keywords in Performance Max, using these themes helps Google to focus on potential buyers, making your campaign more effective.

Scale Up Your Ad Spend From $1000 – $3000 Per Day

Lastly, when you are done setting up your Google ads, you can now target as per relevant interest, customer match list and keywords on demand initially captured from Meta. 

The goal here is to capture the same audience engaged from your Meta ads (mainly Facebook and Instagram) and reach them across various different Google platforms. 

Since you have already tested it on Meta, precisely what will work, you can be sure that the money will be well-spent to bring in more sales. Thus, scaling up your ad spend on Google will help capture even more demand and boost sales significantly. 

Pros Of Full- Build Performance Max Campaigns

• Broad reach of the audience using multiple Google channels. 
• Automated optimisation based on real-time data. 
• Leverage to test assets for improved performance. 
• Higher conversion rate with multi-asset targeting. 

Cons Of Full-Build Performance Max Campaigns

• Lesser manual control over ad placements. 
• A variety of creative assets is required, resulting in consuming time. 
• Harder to monitor how each channel is performing. 

Why Is This Strategy With Performance Max Campaigns So Effective For Businesses? 

This approach has become highly effective for several reasons:

– It Combines Multi-Channel Strengths

By building interest with Meta and capturing intent with Google, eCommerce businesses can utilise the two most powerful advertising platforms together, achieving synergy. 

Meta works perfectly at awareness-building and creating interest, while Google is good at capturing high-intent shoppers who are ready to convert. 

This multi-channel approach signifies that your brand is potentially reaching your target audience at every crucial point in their journey, from viewing the product to adding it to the cart and finally purchasing it. 

– Data-Driven Growth

When you test the products on Meta without overspending, your brand gets the data and insights into which items perform best. As a result, your brand can now figure out what works, refine its strategy, and apply this knowledge when the switch to Google is made. 

Thus, this strategy of Performance Max feeds you with data before scaling on Google, making the ad spend far more efficient.

– Performance Max Optimisation

With Google Performance Max campaigns, you ensure that you apply Google advanced AI to optimise your ads. 

Whether going forth with a feed only or with a full build, your eCommerce business will achieve the best results by reaching your customers across all of Google’s platforms and adjusting your spend to achieve the highest return on investment.

Which Approach Will Help Your Business To Grow? 

Choosing the right Performance Max campaign approach—Feed Only or Full Build—depends on your business needs. While each offers unique benefits, the right strategy will fuel your growth by aligning with your creative resources, control preferences, and automation goals. Understanding which option will provide the most growth depends on factors such as your creative resources, control needs, and the level of automation you’re comfortable with.

Let us find out which option is best for your eCommerce business.

When To Use Feed Only Performance Max

• This PMax option is ideal if you do not have high-quality images or videos and need to get your campaign up and running quickly.

• It is best suited if your business is not focusing on Video or Display ads and just wants to showcase your products through Shopping and other bottom-of-funnel channels.

• You can also go for this option if you have several other active campaigns and want more control over your budget allocation. A feed-only PMax campaign ensures your budget is used exclusively on Google Shopping.

• Additionally, this feed only PMax campaign works well only if your main goal is to drive conversions through Shopping ads rather than experimenting with broader advertising formats like Video or Display, allowing for a more targeted approach.

When To Use Full Build Performance Max

• Use full build Performance Max when you have diverse creative assets, such as images, videos, and texts, for maximum campaign reach and impact.

• It is a good choice if you are looking for full automation and optimisation on all of Google’s networks, enabling your business to access Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping, and Discovery ads within a single campaign.

• Ideal when you want to take advantage of Google’s machine learning in testing different asset combinations to find the best-performing variation for each audience segment.

• This option is perfect if your brand wants to grow its customer base by targeting new prospects and returning users simultaneously across all channels.

Bottom Line

For eCommerce businesses looking to grow, this strategy provides a clear and effectual roadmap. Picking between PMax Feed Only with no assets and Full Build with assets comes down to your core business goals. While one offers streamlined simplicity for product-based campaigns, the other brings creatives to the table that drive greater awareness and conversions through enhanced visibility. 

However, a full build can give businesses a competitive edge toward long-term growth in a very crowded market.

If you are stuck in making a fair decision for your eCommerce business, let us do the heavy lifting. Our experts can decide which one is best for you so that each dollar invested gives potential ROI at the end. 

Contact us today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

1. What is the difference between a ‘Feed Only’ and a ‘Full Build’ Performance Max campaign?

A Feed Only Performance Max campaign only uses your product feed data to create ads, while a Full Build campaign utilises creative assets like images, videos, headlines, and descriptions to augment the product feed for a holistic approach.

2. When should I use a ‘Feed Only’ Performance Max campaign?

‘Feed Only’ campaigns are a good choice when product visibility is of your utmost importance, and you can rely on data-driven targeting without a need for any extra creative assets, especially for eCommerce businesses with strong product feeds.

3. What is the advantage of a ‘Full Build’ Performance Max campaign?

A Full Build campaign enhances product visibility with creative assets like visuals and copy, increasing engagement and improving performance across all Google channels like YouTube, Display, and Discover.

4. How does campaign performance differ between ‘Feed Only’ and ‘Full Build’?

A Full Build campaign may perform better, as with more creative inputs, one can get a higher chance of making compelling ads in diverse formats, whereas ‘Feed Only’ will allow for a scope perhaps limited to shopping ads.

5. What role do creative assets play in a Performance Max campaign?

Creative assets like images, videos, and headlines make the campaign more visually appealing, help capture attention across various placements, and lead to higher brand recognition and better conversion.

6. Is a ‘Feed Only’ Performance Max campaign more cost-effective than a ‘Full Build’ campaign?

Yes, ‘Feed Only’ campaigns may be more cost-effective due to the lack of asset creation, but they might not maximise the potential reach and engagement compared to Full Build campaigns that utilise diverse ad formats.

7. How does the quality of assets affect a ‘Full Build’ Performance Max campaign?

Quality assets will significantly enhance the ad performance in a Full Build campaign: It boosts click-through rates, engagement, and overall output of a campaign, particularly for visual placements like YouTube and Display.

8. Can I switch from a ‘Feed Only’ to a ‘Full Build’ Performance Max campaign later on?

Yes, you can always upgrade a ‘Feed Only’ campaign to a ‘Full Build’ by adding creative assets, which can help expand your reach and improve overall performance.

9. Which type of Performance Max campaign is better for brand awareness?

Both approaches are promising. However, a Full Build Performance Max campaign is better suited for brand awareness as it uses creative assets to showcase your brand’s identity across multiple channels and ad formats.

10. What considerations must I look for when comparing ‘Feed Only’ versus ‘Full Build’ campaigns?

Account for what your goals are in the business, resource availability in creating assets, the scope of the complexity of your product offering, and whether you aim for only visibility or broader engagement by including creative elements.