If you’re trying to decide whether or not to run a Zombie SKU Performance Max campaign, you came to the right place. And the quick answer is that you shouldn’t do it. Zombie SKU campaigns don’t just fail to get results, they actually destroy the results you would have otherwise achieved. This series of articles explains why.
Why Isn’t My Product Showing on Google Shopping Ads?
To start off, let’s review how shopping ads actually work, and what leads to products not showing up and getting results. This article isn’t specifically about zombie SKU campaigns, but it lays the groundwork for understanding our approach in the rest of the series.
Zombie SKU PMax Campaigns Need to Die
Next let’s dive in to the definition of zombie SKU campaigns and how they are typically set up. We then explore the theory behind why they might work, but also some of the fallacies involved, and the theory about why they probably won’t work at all.
What If We Don’t Make Zombie SKU Campaigns?
One useful way to explore the impact of zombie SKU campaigns is to look at historical data on an account to see what happened with zombie SKUs from the past when you didn’t make a zombie SKU campaign. Guess what? They spring back to life on their own, even without a new campaign.
Zombie SKU Campaign Fails the Test
And finally, what if we run a randomized controlled trial of zombie SKUs–half of them left in their original campaign vs. half in a new Zombie SKU Performance Max campaign? This experiment puts the nail in the coffin. Zombie SKU campaigns not only don’t improve results. The results in our test showed that the Zombie SKU campaign performed worse than leaving these products in their original campaign. Zombie SKU campaigns actually reduce results!