How we increased the effectiveness of advertising with Performance Max and Search

Realisation

Promotion features: the client is selling apartments in Dubai, so the key point was to work on the texts, emphasising the unique offers and benefits, as well as fine-tuning the targeting to attract the right audience.

The advertising account had already run different types of campaigns and we analysed their results, as well as the demand for real estate services in Dubai. After discussion with the client, we defined the main goal — maximising conversions and calls — and created a promotional strategy by combining Performance Max and Search Ads campaigns.

We connected the call tracking system and integrated it with GA4 and Google Ads to feed call data into the campaigns to train them.

Before the launch, we updated the texts, emphasised the most attractive UTPs (e.g. unique location of the apartments, sea views, availability of amenities) and filled the ads as much as possible. We wrote a variety of extensions, headlines and descriptions to maximise the effectiveness of the ad campaigns. Added image resizes for Performance Max campaigns. Created a set of the most relevant and targeted website actions for training campaigns, which we added to customisable campaigns.

When setting up and optimising Performance Max, we focused on the right targeting signals. The campaigns were launched to an audience of 25-54 year olds interested in buying property, with the aim of attracting those who are actively looking for investment opportunities in Dubai.

We then optimised the campaigns based on the results:

1. Added new headlines with key phrase insertions to increase the relevance of the adverts;
2. Worked with different types of key phrase matches;
3. Regularly performed minus search to exclude irrelevant traffic;
4. For Performance Max campaigns, we tested different bundles of targeting signals. We added search query topics, interests related to buying property in Dubai, and the audience of website visitors. This allowed the system to precisely target the right audience.
5. Over the period of the advertising campaign, we updated the text objects and regularly updated the creatives, which helps to retain interest and prevents audience fatigue from monotonous adverts.
6. We adjusted budgets according to changes in demand to maintain an acceptable cost per conversion.

Results

In the last month of the pre-optimisation period, the number of conversions was 136 (37 on-site conversions and 99 calls) and in the last month of the post-optimisation period, the number of conversions was 364 (111 on-site conversions and 253 calls).

Dynamics of the number of conversions from the website (forms, widgets) and calls received from advertising sources

Regular optimisation of the search campaign showed a noticeable result in the auction statistics. The advertising campaign consistently ranked first in terms of the percentage of impressions received among competitors at the auction.

In the last month before optimisation, the cost per conversion was $19.57, in the last month after optimisation it was $7.46.

Dynamics of cost of conversions ($)

The results of this advertising campaign confirm that competent setup and regular optimisation, combined with a properly chosen promotion strategy, help to significantly increase the number of applications and reduce their cost. It is important to work on the quality of advertising to ensure maximum audience coverage and engagement, as well as to update advertising materials — texts, creatives and ads — in a timely manner.