Are Performance Max campaigns actually effective for B2B lead generation with small budgets?

All answers to this question.

PMax can be a "black box," but the trick for B2B is providing strong "Audience Signals." Don't let Google just find anyone; upload your CRM list of existing customers and use "Custom Intent" based on your competitors' URLs. For smaller budgets, I’d be cautious. PMax needs a lot of conversion data to learn. If you're getting fewer than 30 conversions a month, stick to Search. If you do try PMax, make sure to use "Account-Level Brand Exclusions" so you aren't paying for clicks on your own brand name.

   Answered 2024-10-11 by Jennifer Lowery

Have you tried using "Final URL Expansion" turned off? It gives you a bit more control over where the traffic actually lands on your site.

   Answered 2024-10-12 by Derek Vaughn

• Derek, I haven't turned it off yet, but that’s a great suggestion. I noticed some traffic was hitting our "Careers" page instead of our "Demo" page, which is a total waste of ad spend. Turning that off should help keep the AI focused on the actual conversion path. I'll give that a shot this week and see if the lead quality improves.

     Commented 2024-10-13 by Marcus Reed

For B2B, negative keyword lists are still your best friend, even in PMax. You have to apply them at the account level now though!

   Answered 2024-10-14 by Laura King

• Exactly, Laura. Without those account-level negatives, you’ll end up bidding on "free" or "jobs" searches which are useless for B2B lead generation.

     Commented 2024-10-15 by Jennifer Lowery