How to use Performance Max from Google Ads effectively for your hotel!

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new magic word in the digital world. ChatGPT is taking the world by storm, introducing internet users to the potential of AI in everyday life. Want to write a cover letter but don't have the right inspiration? Use ChatGPT and you'll have a letter you can be proud of in no time.

Google, too, is increasingly trying to implement AI and machine learning tools into their operations. The platform that allows you to advertise in Google's search results is evolving more and more to give advertisers better and more efficient tools. For instance, Google is introducing the campaign type Performance Max and this could just be a really good way to present your hotel in the right way digitally...

But what is a performance max campaign? Performance Max is a new campaign type based on maximum performance. Advertisers can be visible on almost all campaign types of Google Ads through one campaign. Previously, you had to create a separate campaign for each ad type, making it quite challenging and time-consuming to get the right return on your ad spend. A smart marketer uses his time as efficiently as possible, as there are many other channels to consider besides Google.

So with this method, your ad will be shown in every network of Google:

- Google Search and search partners

- Google Display Network

- Discover

- Gmail

- YouTube and other video channels

- Google Maps

What do you need for this?

For starters, a Google Ads account! Creating an account is easy and free - so you publish your ads, of course. The nice thing about Google Ads is that you decide how much you want to spend per month at most. This way, you ensure that the costs remain manageable and you can properly measure the return.

While setting up a performance max campaign, Google will guide you on what exactly you need to provide. Because you are using all networks, you will need the elements below, among others:

- A landing page on your website that visitors land on
(often the homepage of your website)

- Your hotel's logo

- Some nice and quality images of the hotel's facilities

- Optional: a video

After you've gone through the whole step-by-step process, Google asks you what you want to spend per day. We advise hotels to start with a budget of €5 per day. This works out to an average of €152 per month. With 2 bookings generated through the campaign, for many hotels the investment will have been recouped. Once you have finished setting up the campaign, Google will check that it is set up properly and it will take about 2 days before you see the first results trickle into the account.

In the meantime, you have enough time to make sure we can measure the return. Of course, we want to know how many bookings our campaign generates and what the value of these is. To measure this properly, we recommend you create a conversion pixel. You can find this option under tools and settings > measurement > conversions. Then click on 'new conversion action' -> click on website and enter the URL of your website here. Then click on the blue highlighted + add conversion action manually and choose as target and action optimisation purchase. For the conversion name, you can simply use 'purchase'. As each booking has a unique value, under value you choose the option 'use different values for each conversion'. You can use 1 as default value here. Under number you choose all, because this is a good way to measure the total value of a booking. You don't need to change the other options. When you have done this, you can save your pixel and then send the data to your booking module or website provider. They will make sure the pixel is placed correctly in the booking module and the conversions are measured correctly.

And are you done now? No, this is just the beginning. Although you have now created an automated campaign, which is self-learning based on the interactions, you do want to make sure you do not spend unnecessary campaign budget without a return. Therefore, make sure you monitor at least once a month whether conversions are actually being made. Is your campaign not producing any conversions? Then it is time to tinker with your campaign. Perhaps you need to add some new photos or adjust some texts.

Whichever way you look at it, advertising needs attention. And no matter how automated it becomes, you should always keep an eye on it. At IFHG we have a lot of experience setting up campaigns for small boutique hotels to large hotels with 200+ rooms. If you would like a specialist to review your campaigns, don't hesitate to contact us. Because a well-designed campaign is a guarantee for more direct bookings!