I’ve discovered that Google is introducing a fascinating new tool called Campaign Mix Experiments (beta). This innovative framework allows me and other advertisers to experiment across various campaign types, budgets, and settings all within a single, unified setup.
How it works:
As an advertiser, I can create up to five experiment arms, each with its own unique combination of campaigns. This means I can include the same campaign in multiple arms and distribute traffic among them.
Google’s mix experiments support a wide range of campaigns, including Search, Performance Max, Shopping, Demand Gen, Video, and App campaigns, though it does exclude Hotels.
I’m able to customize traffic splits starting at a minimum of 1%, and the results are adjusted to the smallest split for a fair comparison — ensuring accuracy in our findings.
What I can test:
The beta provides an exciting opportunity to explore and test budget allocation across different campaign types. I can also assess account structures, varying between consolidation and fragmentation.
It allows me to examine differing bidding strategies, targeting options, and feature adoptions, alongside studying cross-channel performance interactions, beyond just individual campaign impacts.
Why I care. With this new tool, I can go beyond individual campaign testing, gaining insights into how various campaign types interact and identifying which combinations yield the most substantial business outcomes.
Reporting details: I can monitor results through the Experiment summary and campaign-level reporting, selecting from confidence intervals like 95%, 80%, or 70%, and focus on key metrics such as ROAS, CPA, conversions, or conversion value.
Best practices:
I make sure to keep the experiment arms similar, only altering one variable at a time. I align the total budgets across these arms unless budget allocation itself is the variable being tested.
It’s advised to avoid shared budgets and significant changes while the experiment is underway, and to run these tests for at least six to eight weeks to ensure the results are statistically reliable.
Between the lines: Google is shifting the focus from a single-campaign victory to understanding how the right mix of efforts can lead to success, especially as automation reshapes the landscape.
Bottom line: By utilizing campaign mix experiments, I gain a realistic view of how different campaign types and financial plans work collaboratively. This empowers me to make informed decisions on where my spending truly adds value.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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