In the first half of 2019—more precisely, in the month of May—Google Ads launched a performance planner to help marketers get an overview of their account and individual advertising campaigns.
In this article, we will cover the basics of how to use Google Ads Performance Planner and some tips on how to get the most out of this tool.
Key Points
- What Is the Google Ads Performance Planner
- Benefits of Using Google Ads Performance Planner
- Requirements of Google Ads Performance Planner
- How Does Google Ads Performance Planner Work
- How to Create a New Plan in Google Ads Performance Planner
- What Is Included in a Draft Plan Page
- Our Takeaway
What is the Google Ads Performance Planner
The Google Ads Performance Planner is a tool that allows you to plan, track and optimize your Google Ads campaigns. It provides performance data for all active campaigns as well as predictions for how future changes may impact their overall performance.
Moreover, this Google planner can be used to create drafts of new campaigns or improvements before testing them in a live environment.
Benefits of Using Google Ads Performance Planner
Using a performance planner can bring marketers plenty of advantages. As a first thing, this tool is able to set specific goals for each campaign and track how well they are performing.
Secondly, the planner helps companies stay on budget by comparing how much they have spent and what is their target budget.
Last but not least, Google Ads Performance Planner allows marketers to see which campaigns are currently active.
Requirements of Google Ads Performance Planner
Contrary to popular belief, not every campaign is eligible to use the Google Ads Performance Planner. Your ad campaigns must comply with the following requirements.
First of all, the campaign must have been running for over 72 hours, receiving more than three clicks and at least one conversion within the last week. It is also necessary to use bid strategies, such as manual CPC, target CPA, or enhanced CPC.
On the other hand, you cannot use the performance planner if you didn’t manage to get any clicks or conversions, your campaign was deleted, or in case you are using a shared budget.
How Does Google Ads Performance Planner Work
Once you have met the requirements for using the Google Ads planning tool, it will be accessible from within your Google Ads account under Tools and then Planning.
The main screen of the planner will show an overview of all active campaigns and their performance data. Marketers can also use this screen to create new campaigns or drafts.
How to Create a New Plan in Google Ads Performance Planner
Creating a new plan in the Google Ads Performance Planner is simple and only takes a few minutes. To get started, simply click on one of the campaign tiles in the overview section or select Create new plan from the top menu.
You will then be prompted to select the campaign you want to include in your plan. On the next screen, you will be asked to set a name and start date for your plan to take action. For example, if you are planning a Christmas campaign, you would want to select the start date a few weeks before the holiday begins. Once you have entered all the required information, click Create Plan.
Your new plan will now be available in the overview section of the Performance Planner. From here, you can track your progress and make changes as needed. If you want to share your plan with someone else, simply click on the Share button and enter their email address.
What Is Included in a Draft Plan Page
The Draft Plan Page allows you to create new campaigns or apply changes to existing ones without affecting their overall performance. When generating a new draft, it is possible to make updates as you would in a published campaign.
A Google Ads Performance Planner’s draft plan page includes four different sections that advertisers shouldn’t overlook.
Overview
The overview section contains general information about your campaigns, such as their name, status, budget, and start/end dates, along with graphs that show how the campaign has performed over time. You can use these graphs to help identify any trends in performance.
Settings
This section allows you to specify which Google Ads accounts and Analytics properties should be used for data collection. You can also choose whether to show historical data or not.
Predictions
Predictions prove how future changes, such as increasing the budget or adding a new keyword, may impact the performance of your campaign. Predictions take into consideration clicks, impressions, cost, and conversion rate.
Data Table
The data table section includes detailed performance data for your campaign. You can use this data to identify areas that need improvement or to find new opportunities.
How to Use Google Ads Performance Planner: Our Takeaway
It can’t be stated enough how the Google Ads Performance Planner is among the most powerful tools to improve your advertising campaigns and get the most out of your budget. Not to mention, this tool can give an estimated overview of how specific changes might affect the campaign performance in the future.
If you are looking for a way to improve your Google Ads performance, you should give the Performance Planner a try.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the main goal of the Google Ads performance Planner tool?
The Google Ads Performance Planner tool is there to help advertisers to track how well a campaign is performing. Its primary purpose is to give better insights to advertisers and help them enhance their future strategies in both a time and cost-saving matter. Hopefully, our guide on how to use Google Ads Performance Planner was helpful and can help you understand your conversions better and set new goals.