Performance Max for Festive Sales: Set Up Seasonal Assets

1. What Are Seasonal Assets in Performance Max?

Quick Answer: Seasonal assets are the festive pieces you add to a Performance Max campaign for a set period. The main one is a festive asset group with its own headlines, images, videos and landing page. Add a promotion asset, festive search themes and, for short sales, a seasonality adjustment. One campaign then switches from evergreen to festive and back.

Performance Max builds ads from your assets and shows them across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Gmail and Maps (new to it? see our Performance Max explainer). For a festive push, four parts matter:

• Festive asset group. Text, images and video for one festival, pointing to one festive landing page.
• Promotion asset. An offer with an occasion label such as Singles Day or Eid al-Fitr.
• Search themes and audience signals. Festive phrases and past-buyer lists.
• Seasonality adjustment. A short-term warning to Smart Bidding about a sudden jump in conversion rate.

File sizes and minimum asset counts are in our Performance Max asset group creative specs guide; this article covers what changes for each festival.

2. New Asset Group or New Campaign for a Festive Sale?

Quick Answer: For most SMEs, add a Performance Max festive asset group inside the campaign that is already converting. It keeps the campaign’s learning and gives you a separate report. Launch a separate festive campaign only for a large seasonal product range with its own budget, and only if it can run six weeks before the peak.

Timing decides this. Google advises you to run new Performance Max campaigns for at least 6 weeks and to allow 1–2 weeks after significant changes. As of 9 October 2026, 11.11 is only about a month away, so a new campaign would still be learning on sale day.

Swapping evergreen assets looks quicker, but you cannot see what the festive message did, and someone must remember to swap back. We have seen “Raya sale ends Sunday” still running in April. New to campaigns? Start with how to set up Google Ads.

3. When Should You Set Up Performance Max Festive Assets?

Quick Answer: Build and get each festive asset group approved about two to three weeks before you switch it on, then run it only while the offer is live. In 2027, Chinese New Year (6–7 February) and the expected start of Ramadan (around 8 February) are two days apart, so prepare both asset groups together in January.

Work backwards from these dates. Ramadan and Hari Raya dates depend on the official moon sighting, so treat them as expected.

Pause dates follow your courier cut-off, not the festival; see festive delivery cut-off messages. February 2027 is also crowded, with CNY, Ramadan and Valentine’s Day (Sunday, 14 February) inside one week. Plan them together using the pre-Ramadan marketing checklist.

4. How to Set Up a Festive Asset Group, Step by Step

Quick Answer: Create the festive asset group inside your best-performing Performance Max campaign, point it to one festive landing page, limit it to festive products, write offer-led text, add images and video in all three shapes, add festive search themes and past-buyer signals, attach a promotion asset, then schedule who switches it on and off.

We use these eight steps for every Performance Max festive asset group we build:

1. Pick the right campaign. Choose the one with steady conversions; our Performance Max AI guide explains why stable data matters.
2. Set one festive final URL. Use a page you reuse at the same URL every year. Consider switching off final URL expansion for this group.
3. Limit products. Filter the listing group to festive items with custom labels in your Google Merchant Center feed. Selling hampers? Build a CNY pre-order page first.
4. Write festive text. Put the offer and end date in headlines, such as “11.11: 30% Off Till Midnight”. You get up to 15 headlines and 5 descriptions.
5. Add images and video. Landscape, square and portrait images, plus one vertical video for Shorts. Our festive creative pipeline guide sets how many to make.
6. Add search themes and signals. Use seasonal phrases such as “kuih raya delivery”, plus a Customer Match list of past festive buyers.
7. Attach a promotion asset. Choose the offer, dates and occasion label.
8. Schedule the switch. Put the on and off dates in a shared calendar with one named owner.

Install new tracking tags before your website code freeze starts. Google’s asset group best practices advise waiting 2–3 weeks before replacing weak assets, another reason to launch early. To avoid a missed pause, a Google Ads script can pause an asset group for you.

5. What Festive Assets Work for Each Malaysian Festival?

Quick Answer: Sale days such as 11.11 and Black Friday need urgency: the discount, the end time and stock limits. Cultural festivals such as Chinese New Year, Ramadan and Hari Raya need warmth and accuracy: correct greetings, family and giving themes, and visuals that respect the community celebrating. Match the promotion asset occasion to the event where Google offers one.

Google’s promotion asset occasion list includes Singles Day, Black Friday, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Diwali. There is no 12.12 occasion, so write “12.12” in the offer text.

Ask someone who celebrates the festival to check your copy before launch; a wrong greeting or mixed symbols gets noticed fast. Then match your site with a festive website theme.

6. How Much Budget Does Performance Max Need for Festive Sales?

Quick Answer: Plan your Performance Max festive budget for higher costs on peak days. In ZenWeb-managed accounts, CPCs on the biggest festive days often run 30–60% above a normal week (estimates; they vary by niche). Raise the campaign budget a few days before the peak so the festive group is not starved, and use a seasonality adjustment only for short sales of 1–7 days.

The festive asset group shares the campaign budget with your evergreen group, so without extra budget Performance Max just splits the same money.

Practical budget rules we use with clients:

• Raise budget 3–5 days early. A 30–100% lift for the festive window is a common planning range (estimate); our 11.11 Google Ads budget guide shows how to size it.
• Use seasonality adjustments sparingly. Google calls them ideal for short events of 1–7 days, so skip them for month-long Ramadan. Setup is in our seasonality adjustments guide.
• Watch stock. Pause festive products that sell out; see pausing ads automatically when sold out.

For event-level costs, see festive CPC inflation and our Chinese New Year 2027 Google Ads budget guide.

7. How Does Performance Max Work With Your Other Festive Channels?

Quick Answer: Performance Max catches people already searching or browsing on Google. Meta and TikTok create demand earlier, SEO keeps your festive page findable every year, and WhatsApp and email bring back past buyers. Use the same offer, dates and landing page everywhere.

Send festive WhatsApp greetings linking to the same page, update your Google Business Profile holiday hours, plan festive B2B greetings and run festive remarketing to past buyers.

Service businesses get leads, not orders, often from the pre-festive booking rush. Those leads cool fast before a long holiday. Set a reply target with our guide on how fast to follow up with new leads, and use follow-ups that aren’t pushy when buyers go quiet.

8. How to Measure Your Performance Max Festive Results

Quick Answer: Judge the festive asset group on conversions, conversion value and return on ad spend during its live window, compared with the same event last year. Check the asset report for weak headlines and images, the search terms insights for new festive phrases, and whether evergreen results held steady while the festive group ran.

First confirm your Google Ads conversion tracking setup works. Then review:

• Asset group report. Festive conversions, value and cost per conversion against the evergreen group.
• Year-on-year comparison. 11.11 2026 against 11.11 2025, not a normal October week.
• Asset performance. Replace “Low” assets before the next festival, not mid-sale.
• Search terms insights. Save new festive phrases as next year’s search themes.

Quick festive Performance Max checklist:

• Festive asset group built in an existing, converting campaign
• Festive landing page live, tested and set as the final URL
• Festive products filtered; stock checked
• Promotion asset with dates and occasion added
• Budget increase and pause date in the calendar with one owner
• Copy checked by someone who celebrates the festival

9. Conclusion

A strong Performance Max festive setup is mostly planning. Build a festive asset group inside a campaign that already works, get it approved two to three weeks ahead, and run it only while the offer is live. Add budget for the window, respect each festival in your creative and compare results year on year. Start with 11.11 now, and have CNY and Ramadan assets ready in January 2027.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Should I create a new Performance Max campaign for 11.11?

Usually not. Google advises running new Performance Max campaigns for at least six weeks, and 11.11 is closer than that. Add a festive asset group to an existing campaign instead.

2. Can I schedule a Performance Max asset group to start and stop?

Campaigns have start and end dates, but asset groups are enabled or paused. Put the switch dates in a shared calendar with one owner, or use a Google Ads script to pause the group automatically.

3. Should I pause my evergreen asset group during a festive sale?

Not always. If your whole range is on sale, pausing it can push spend to the festive group. If only some products are on offer, keep the evergreen group running for the rest.

4. When should I use a seasonality adjustment in Performance Max?

Only for short sales of 1–7 days where you expect a sharp jump in conversion rate, such as 11.11 or a weekend flash sale. Smart Bidding already handles longer seasons like Ramadan.