By Jackson Blackledge, ECHELONN.IO

This guide walks you through the essentials of creating and optimizing Performance Max campaigns. Same system we used to generate $28M for our brands last 30 days just with this platform alone.

The Sections

• Sections 1-3: launch and structure. Setup fundamentals, asset groups, where PMax sits in the account.
• Sections 4-7: operate. Bidding, audience signals, content suitability, customer acquisition.
• Sections 8-9: inspect and adjust. Reporting and final URL expansion.
• Section 10: avoid. The most common and most expensive PMax mistakes.

Columns in the Checklist

• Order: the recommended read sequence (1 to 10). Read the rows in this order.
• Section: the section label. Hover the section tag to read its description.
• Status: mark each row as To Do, In Progress, or Done as you work through it.
• Owner: assign each row to the team member responsible (media buyer, creative, analyst).

Performance Max Campaign Setup (Updated August 2026)

How We Can Help:

1. Want our help with scaling Google Ads? For brands spending more than $20k/mo. on Google Ads or making over 1 million annually, we’ll identify the key bottlenecks in your account and give you a personalized 90-day scaling plan.
2. Get our E-commerce Growth Toolkit: Get access to our free resources and tools, including the Product Feed & GMC Optimization Checklist, YouTube Shorts Ads Formula, Landing Pages Playbook, and more