You're a marketer with a treasure trove of customer data at your fingertips. What if you could use that information to supercharge your ad campaigns? That's exactly what creating an audience signal for your Performance Max campaigns allows you to do. In this article, we'll dive deep into the nuts and bolts of crafting effective audience signals, exploring strategies that can transform your Google Ads performance from good to extraordinary. So, read on and find out how to create an Audience Signal for your Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads!
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How to Create an Audience Signal for Your Performance Max Campaigns in Google Ads:
Access your Google Ads account
Navigate to "Campaigns"
Select the Performance Max campaign you would like to modify
Navigate to "Asset Groups"
Select the pen symbol next to "Signals" for the Asset Group you would like to modify
Under "Audience signal", click on "Add saved audience signal"
Select "+ New audience"
Give your Audience a name and select at least one Audience Signal option under "Your data", "Interests & detailed demographics" and "Demographics"
Save the signal and apply it to the relevant Performance Max campaigns
Keep in mind that an Audience Signal is NOT your targeting. It is a suggestion for the Google Ads algorithm to find the right customers for your business. For best practice, make sure your signal include at least one option under Your data, Interests and detailed demographics, and Demographics for it to be a complete signal.
Your data:
Click on "+ Create new segment" and utilize various options:
Website visitors (e.g. specific pages)
Customer list (upload customer data such as email addresses and phone numbers)
Lead form (interacted with forms)
App (app users)
Google Analytics 4
YouTube users (if you have YouTube channel connected to your Google Ads)
Interests & detailed demographics:
You can find various options:
In-market segments/audiences: People who are actively looking to make a transaction in various categories
Life events: Target people who are going through renovating a house, getting married, retiring, etc
Detailed demographics: Targets parents, single/married, education levels, etc
Affinity audiences: Relevant to browser behavior
Custom interests: Create segment based on custom interests such as people who browse certain websites or use certain apps
Demographics:
Gender
Age
Parental status
Household income
💡 Tip for demographics:
Always include "Unknown" for the gender and age group, because a large population of Google Ads audience is classified as unknown. So if you remove this option, you might run the risk of limiting your audience too much.
Household income is not accurate in emerging markets such as Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. If you're targeting emerging markets, this will unlikely be helpful.
Frequently Asked Questions on Creating an Audience Signal for Your Performance Max Campaigns in Google Ads
What is an Audience Signal in Performance Max campaigns?
An Audience Signal is like a hint you give to Google's algorithm about who might be interested in your ads. Think of it as suggesting to Google "Hey, these types of people might like my product" rather than strictly telling it who to target.
Will Audience Signals restrict who sees my ads?
No. Unlike traditional targeting that sets strict boundaries, Audience Signals are just suggestions. Google's algorithm can still show your ads to anyone it thinks might convert, even if they don't match your signals exactly.
Why should I use Audience Signals in my Performance Max campaigns?
Using Audience Signals is valuable because they:
Help Google's algorithm learn faster who might be interested in your products
Reduce the initial learning period of your campaign
Guide the system using your knowledge of your customers
Can improve your ad relevance and ROI
Help you start with better targeting from day one
Can I track how well different Audience Signals are performing?
Not directly. Google doesn't show performance metrics for individual Audience Signals. However, you can create separate Asset Groups for different signals, which lets you compare how these groups perform overall.
Pro Tip: Think of Audience Signals like recommendations to a personal shopper. You're telling them "Here's what my typical customer looks like" but allowing them to use their judgment to find other potential customers too.
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