The dimensions, counts and limits for assets are described in the article Campaigns assets requirements. This article is about something else: how to choose the images and write the texts so that the campaign actually performs. The examples below come from a running shoe store, the principle applies to any range.
What Performance Max does with your assets
Performance Max does not use your assets as one fixed advert. It combines them and tests those combinations across Search, Discover, YouTube, Gmail and the Display network, and keeps what converts.
Two rules follow from this, and they decide everything else:
Every asset has to stand on its own. You never know which headline will appear with which image. "Free delivery" and "on orders over €60" as two separate headlines do not work, because they may never be shown together.
Variety matters more than perfection. Five headlines that each say something different give the system more to work with than one polished headline. Five headlines about the same thing count as one.
Short headlines, up to 30 characters
Split the headlines into roles and fill each role once. Typically: what you sell, price or offer, delivery, guarantee, brands, service.
A set that works
Running shoes from €5221 characters, range and price levelDelivery within 24 hours24 characters, deliveryFree size exchange18 characters, removes the main objection4,000 pairs in stock20 characters, range as a numberNike, Adidas, Asics19 characters, brands people search forWe help you choose18 characters, service
A set that does not work
Quality running shoes Running shoes of quality The best running shoes Quality and reliability
Four headlines, one message, no information. The system has nothing to test.
The best running shoes on the market at great prices
52 characters, so it gets cut off. And it gets cut exactly where the point was.
Do not put the product name in the headline. The system fills that in from your feed. The headline is the place for what the feed does not contain.
Be careful with prices. Use "from" or leave the price out. A fixed price in a headline becomes a lie with the first price change, and you pay for those clicks.
Skip capitals and exclamation marks. They do not help performance and the system may reject them.
Descriptions, up to 90 characters
The description gives the reason to click. It should not repeat the headline, it should add what people actually decide by: delivery, returns, guarantee, availability, advice.
Descriptions that work
Free delivery over €60, size exchange within 30 days and advice from real runners.80 charactersOver 4,000 pairs in stock, dispatched within 24 hours and 30 days to return.75 charactersWe pick the model for your foot type and the surface you run on. Just ask us.76 characters
A description that says nothing
A wide range of quality goods at favourable prices.
You learn neither what is being sold, nor how wide the range is, nor what a favourable price means. This description would fit any online store in the world, which is exactly the problem.
Images and logos
You can upload up to 20 images, the minimum is 3. Each of them should do a different job. This set covers all placements:
The product on its own on a light plain background, filling 70 to 80 % of the frame. The basic asset, works everywhere.
The product in use. A runner on the road with the shoes in frame. A human element lifts attention.
A detail. The sole, the material, the stitching. It shows the quality the description only claims.
Three or four models together. Communicates the width of your range at a glance.
A themed shot. A trail, a season, a situation. It gives the advert context.
What reliably fails:
A collage of five products with price tags. None of it is legible in a small thumbnail.
Text in the image, typically "50 % OFF". It goes out of date, takes space from the product and gets covered in some formats.
The product in a corner with 70 % of the frame empty.
A photo of your shop, warehouse or a screenshot of your website. The customer is not buying your warehouse.
A logo on a photo. It belongs on a plain background, otherwise it falls apart in small placements.
Prepare all three formats: square 1:1, wide 1.91:1 and 4:5.
We always recommend filling in as many images and descriptions as you can. The more material the system has, the more combinations it can test and the greater the chance it finds the one that makes money.
A complete starter set
1 square logo on a plain background
5 images following the roles above, ideally more, each in 1:1, 1.91:1 and 4:5
6 short headlines, each about something different
3 descriptions with concrete numbers
1 long headline up to 90 characters
What to avoid
Duplicates. Identical texts and identical images are not allowed, and the system will not let you save them.
Promises your website does not keep. If the advert promises free delivery and the customer finds a fee in the basket, you pay for the click and lose the order.
Seasonal texts you forget about. A Christmas headline running in February damages your credibility. If you use one, set yourself a reminder to remove it.
Weekly asset edits. Every change sends the campaign back into testing. Let it collect data.
When you have nothing to start from
Every field has Generate with AI ✨ available. Use it as a first draft and then edit it. AI does not know your delivery times, your guarantee or what your customers ask about in the basket. Those are exactly the things that separate an average advert from a good one.
ℹ️ Give a campaign with new assets two to four weeks. Performance Max needs to collect data before it finds the combinations that work, so do not judge the assets after two days.