By default, a PMax campaign uses Account-level goals (every primary goal you’ve set up for the whole account). For high-performance campaigns, you should switch to Campaign-specific goals to tell the AI exactly which action to prioritise for this specific campaign.
Step 1: Define Primary vs. Secondary Actions
Before touching the campaign, you must categorise your actions in the Goals menu:
Primary (Bidding): These are “Bottom of Funnel” actions (e.g., Purchases, Lead Form Submits). Google will optimise to get more of these.
Secondary (Observation): These are “Mid-Funnel” actions (e.g., Add to Cart, Click to Call). Google tracks them in the “All Conversions” column but does not use them to adjust bids.
Step 2: Set Campaign-Specific Goals
Select Campaign: Click on your Performance Max campaign.
Open Settings: Click the Campaign Settings.
Find the “Conversion Goals” Section: Click to expand the Goals menu.
Override Defaults: Select the radio button for “Use campaign-specific goal settings.”
Choose Your Goal: Click “Choose Campaign goals” and select the specific category (e.g., “Purchases”) you want this campaign to focus on.
Save: Click Save.
Strategy: Value-Based Bidding (VBB)
In 2026, the best advertisers don’t just track if someone converted; they track how much they are worth.
Assign Values: Even for leads, assign a value. (e.g., if 10% of leads close for £1,000, a lead is worth £100).
Bidding Strategy: Set your campaign to “Maximise Conversion Value” (with a Target ROAS) instead of just “Maximise Conversions.” This forces the AI to hunt for “High Value” customers rather than just the “Cheapest” ones.
“Goal Guardrails” Checklist
Common Pitfall: The “Double Counting” Error
Check if you are importing conversions from both Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and the Google Ads Tag simultaneously.
Ensure only ONE of these is set as “Primary.” If both are primary, Google will count one sale as two, causing the AI to think it’s performing twice as well as it actually is, leading to inflated bids and wasted spend.
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