Google Performance Max for the agriculture industry: Does automation really work in such a specific sector?.

The agricultural industry is one of the most challenging sectors for online marketing. Products are highly seasonal, purchasing decisions are often made in advance, and some audiences do not use digital sales channels on a daily basis. Will an advertising campaign based almost entirely on artificial intelligence and automation - Google Performance Max - work in such an environment? And how does it compare to classic product campaigns (PLA)?

What is Performance Max's smart advertising and why does it stir emotions?

Performance Max (PMax for short) is an automated type of Google Ads campaign that works simultaneously across multiple channels: Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail. The advertiser provides input materials (text, graphics, video, product feed), and the system itself selects ad combinations and optimizes the budget to achieve set goals - usually sales or leads.

Advantages of smart advertising in PMax agriculture

• wide reach - ads are displayed in places that standard campaigns don't always reach,
• Automatic optimizations based on data and AI,
• lower average cost per click (CPC) compared to classic campaigns.

Disadvantages of PMax smart advertising

• limited transparency - it is difficult to assess which channels and phrases generate the best results,
• The need to provide high-quality input data (feed, conversion signals),
• the need for precise product allocation, in order to provide precise signals and proper optimization,
• The risk of budget „leakage” into less valuable interactions if the campaign is not properly monitored.

PLA - a classic product campaign that still matters

PLA (Product Listing Ads), known as product campaigns or Google Shopping, is a product feed-based ad format that presents users with specific offers with a photo, price and product name. It is one of the most effective e-commerce tools, as it reaches people with very high purchase intent.

PLA Advantages:

• High conversion rate (the user sees the product and price before clicking),
• Full control over the product feed,
• The ability to target seasonal products with precision.

PLA limitations:

• only works on the shopping network and Google search - does not include YouTube, Gmail or GDN,
• harder to build brand awareness (it's more of a tool to „catch” ready customers).

Are PMax and PLA competing with each other?

No. PMax uses the PLA feed as one of its main data sources and extends its reach to other channels. This means that PLA and PMax campaigns should work together - PLA for precision search sales, PMax for scale-up and customer acquisition in other channels.

For the agricultural industry, this means:

• PLA will work great during the peak season, when farmers are actively looking for fertilizers, grain seeds, rapeseed, corn or protection products,
• PMax will work more broadly - for example, building awareness of brands or specific varieties, showing video tutorials on YouTube, or reaching out to new customers before the season.

Benchmarks and results from Google Ads campaigns

Market analyses and campaign data show:

• PLA (product campaigns)
  • Average CPC: PLN 0.22-0.80.
  • CTR: 1.2-2.4 %
  • Conversion (CR): 0.15-0.2 %
  • ROAS: 400-500 %
• PMax
  • Average CPC: PLN 0.32-0.59.
  • CTR: 1.2-2.04 %
  • Conversion (CR): 0.2-0.8 %
  • ROAS: 1000-8000 %

It can be seen that PLA achieves a slightly higher CTR, because it appears with very precise product queries. PMax, on the other hand, reduces the cost per conversion more often and significantly increases ROAS, as it combines different channels and uses machine learning for optimization.

Case study (based on agricultural e-commerce implementations)

 E-shop with parts for agricultural machinery

• Harvest and autumn season (July-October):
  • PLA generated 70% of online sales - mainly due to high customer purchase intent.
  • PMax was responsible for an additional 30% of sales - mainly from remarketing and YouTube.
• Conversion cost:
  • PLA: PLN 67.70
  • PMax: 34.60PLN
• ROAS:
  • PLA: 470 %
  • PMax: 1900 %

E-shop with fertilizers, crop protection products and seeds

• May-September season:
  These efforts adopted only running PMax campaigns for online sales, and set a high ROAS target.

• Conversion cost:
  PMax: PLN 40.85

• ROAS:
  PMax: 1930%

Practical tips for agro marketers

1. Product feed is the foundation
   • Add seasonal labels („spring,” „harvest,” „autumn”),
   • cite availability and promotions,
   • Use custom attributes (e.g., „sales priority”).
2. PLA and PMax together is a good solution
   • PLA catches customers in search engine,
   • PMax is scaling up and reaching out more widely.
3.  Seasonal approach to campaign activation
   • PLA + PMax for crop protection products February-June, canola and cereal seeds in summer, and corn from November to May, machine parts during intensive periods such as harvest.
4. Monitoring and optimization
   • use Google reports (search terms, channel performance, asset insights),test different creatives and audience signals,
   • Control the quality of leads, not just the number.

Smart advertising in agriculture - summary

Does Performance Max operate in the agricultural industry?

Yes. It's a tool that in seasonal sectors can significantly increase sales and build brand awareness, as long as the marketer takes care of the inputs and their cyclical optimization.

The product campaign is effectively being displaced over time by Performance Max in Google Ads, which can also be seen in the agro industry. However, it is worthwhile to make sure that two sales formats work for now, especially during the peak season, when farmers are actively searching for specific products.

If you have a limited budget, you may want to opt for the PMax format only, but this requires much more work on proper optimization and a fairly precise division of product groups. Keep in mind, the automation used in the PMax campaign does not give us full control over the appearance of the ad and where it is displayed. Smart agriculture advertising requires us to be a little more involved in the preparation of the campaign at the beginning, so that we can maximize its results afterwards.

Contact us and we will help you prepare an effective Google Ads campaign PMax!

We have been connecting agro brands with farmers for over 20 years.

Talk to us about your campaign and start reaching the right audience.