Google Ads Campaign Types Explained: Search vs. Performance Max for Coworking Spaces

You’re ready to invest in Google Ads for your coworking space, but there’s a critical decision you need to make before you launch your first campaign: 

Which campaign type should you use?

If you’ve done any preliminary research, you’ve probably come across terms like “Search campaigns” and “Performance Max campaigns.”

And if you’re like most people (who don’t spend their days learning about Google Ads), you might be wondering what the difference between these terms is and which campaign type is right for your coworking space.

Here’s what you need to know: 

Choosing the wrong campaign type can waste your advertising budget and fail to reach the right audience at the right time. But picking the right one? That’s where the magic happens.

The Basics: What Are Search and Performance Max Campaigns?

Before we talk about which campaign type is right for your coworking space, let’s start with the fundamentals.

Search Campaigns: Keyword-Focused and Bottom of Funnel

Search campaigns are heavily focused on keywords. They get triggered when someone types a query into the Google search bar.

For example, if someone searches “office space for rent” and you have “office space for rent” as a keyword in your search campaign, your ad will appear in their search results. 

The searcher can click on it, visit your website, and take action, whether that’s booking a tour, filling out a contact form, or calling your space.

Search campaigns are very specific. 

They’re keyword-driven, content-focused, and designed to capture people who are actively looking for what you offer. 

When someone is searching for office space, they’re usually in-market and ready to make a decision sooner rather than later. 

That’s why search campaigns are considered bottom-of-funnel advertising.

Performance Max Campaigns: Visual, Broad, and Top of Funnel

Performance Max (or “PMAX” for short) is a different animal. It’s more visual and works off of audience signals rather than keywords alone.

If that felt like reading hieroglyphs, don’t worry. We’ll break it down.

While Performance Max does include a search component, it also spans five other Google networks:

• Display: Banner ads that appear on websites across Google’s network (think news sites, blogs, and other content platforms your potential members visit)
• Discover: Visual content that shows up in personalized feeds on Google’s homepage and the Google app, catching people while they’re browsing
• Gmail: Ads that appear at the top of Gmail inboxes, reaching professionals right where they check their email
• YouTube: Video ads that play before, during, or alongside YouTube content your audience is watching
• Shopping: Product listings that appear in Google Shopping results (less relevant for coworking, but part of the network)

All of these work together to put your coworking space in front of potential members across multiple touchpoints.

Here’s the key difference: 

Your search campaign won’t have a video attached to it, but your Performance Max campaign can. 

If you’re advertising office spaces and want to show people what your space actually looks like—the lighting, the amenities, the vibe—you can attach video content that shows up on YouTube right before someone watches a video. 

Or your ads can appear in Google Discover feeds with compelling images that stop the scroll.

Performance Max is broader in reach and typically targets audiences at the top of the funnel. It’s less about capturing immediate intent and more about creating awareness, sparking interest, and giving potential members a glimpse into what makes your space special.

Why Your Campaign Type Choice Matters for Coworking Spaces

Choosing the wrong campaign type can be really detrimental to your advertising results.

What do we mean? 

Google has run countless experiments over the years with different campaign types, including Display, Smart, and now Performance Max. 

The platform continuously evolves, testing new formats and features. Some campaign types get beta access that others don’t see for months. 

Performance Max itself isn’t even that old, and it’s already changing rapidly.

Here’s the reality: 

Google has a lot of inventory to sell. They have YouTube, Display networks across millions of websites, Gmail ad placements, and, of course, Search.

They’re constantly figuring out how to package and sell that inventory to advertisers.

And that is exactly how their business model can help you fill desks, offices, and meeting rooms at your coworking space.

Because at the end of the day, Google Search is where people go when they want to solve an immediate need.

When coworking operators start working with us, they usually need to fill offices quickly. They need to get members through the door and tours on the calendar. And there’s no better place to meet potential members than exactly where they’re already searching for you.

What’s at Stake If You Pick the Wrong Campaign Type? 

If your campaigns aren’t set up properly or if you’re using the wrong campaign type for the stage of the buying journey your audience is in, you’re going to waste money reaching the wrong people at the wrong time.

Here’s what we mean by that: 

As we mentioned earlier, Performance Max is typically middle-of-funnel or top-of-funnel advertising. 

That means you need to reframe what you’re asking potential members to do:

• Is it the right time to ask them to book a tour? Maybe not if they’re just discovering what coworking even is.
• Is it the right time to ask them to sign up for a virtual office? Probably not if they haven’t even decided they need office space yet.
• Is it the right time to ask them to buy a coworking membership? Definitely not if they’re still in the awareness stage.

You need to consider where people are in their buying journey and align your messaging (and your campaign type) accordingly. 

Get this wrong, and you’ll burn through your budget with very little to show for it.

Search Campaigns: The Nucleus of Google Ads

If there’s one rule of thumb for deciding which campaign type to start with, it’s this: 

Search is king.

Search campaigns are the nucleus of Google Ads. They’re the foundation, the core, the starting point that everything else builds from.

Here’s why search campaigns should be your starting point.

Search Puts You in Front of Active Buyers

Search differentiates Google from platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram). 

When someone uses Google, they’re actively looking for something. You’re leveraging one of the most powerful search engines in the world to get in front of people who are actively searching for what you offer.

That’s a fundamentally different dynamic than interruption-based advertising on social media, where you’re hoping to catch someone’s attention while they scroll through their feed.

Search Gives You More Control

When you run a search-specific campaign, you get a lot more control over your advertising. You get to decide:

• What your ad headlines say
• Which keywords trigger your ads
• Which search terms to exclude using negative keywords (so you don’t waste money on irrelevant searches)
• How your ad copy positions your space

This level of control is critical when you’re trying to reach the right audience efficiently. Performance Max, by design, hands over more control to Google’s algorithm to “find your customers.” And while that automation can be powerful in the right circumstances, it’s not where most coworking spaces should start.

Search Gives You Data and Projections

With search campaigns, you can do thorough keyword research before you even launch. You can see search volume estimates, understand what people are actually searching for, and build your strategy accordingly.

Once your campaigns are running, you can A-B test your ad copy, experiment with different callouts and structured snippets, and continuously optimize based on real performance data.

Search is the Foundation

If you understand search campaigns, everything else in Google Ads becomes easier to pick up. Starting with Performance Max and then trying to shift to Search? That’s like learning calculus before you learn basic math.

Search is the foundation. Master it first, and you’ll be in a much stronger position to expand into other campaign types when the time is right.

Performance Max: The Visual Companion to Search

So if Search is king, where does Performance Max fit in?

Think of Performance Max as a complement to search, not a replacement for it.

When Performance Max Adds Value

Performance Max shines when you have strong visual assets to showcase your coworking space. If you’ve invested in professional photography or video tours of your space, Performance Max allows you to put those assets to work across multiple Google networks.

Here’s where it can make a real difference:

You’re selling people on an experience. A single image really is worth a thousand words, and if you can show potential members what your space looks like, from the natural lighting to the modern furniture, the collaborative atmosphere, and the well-equipped meeting rooms, you’re helping them envision themselves working there.

Performance Max lets you include multiple images (up to 20) in a single campaign. 

If your images are consistently high-quality, someone who comes across your ads will quickly understand what your space offers. They’ll see the amenities, get a feel for the vibe, and start to imagine themselves as a member, all before they ever set foot in your space.

“The Bridesmaid, Never the Bride”

As our teammate Abdullah once joked, Performance Max is “always the bridesmaid, never the bride.”

At least for now.

In our experience working with coworking spaces, we’ve never led with Performance Max. 

We’ve settled for it in certain situations, like when a space has reached a waitlist, and we’re focused more on brand awareness than immediate lead generation, but it’s never the primary campaign we recommend starting with.

That could change as Google continues to improve Performance Max and push it further down the funnel. 

But for now, if you’re looking to fill office spaces quickly and generate qualified leads on a timeline, Search is going to deliver results more consistently.

How Performance Max Complements Search

Performance Max works best when it runs alongside search campaigns, not instead of them. Here’s how they work together:

• Search captures high-intent traffic: people actively looking for office space right now
• Performance Max builds awareness and nurtures prospects: people who might not be searching yet but fit your ideal member profile

If you have the budget for both, this combination can be powerful. Search drives immediate leads and tour bookings, while Performance Max keeps your space top-of-mind for people who aren’t quite ready to commit but might be in three to six months.

The Exception to the Rule: When Performance Max Can Stand Alone

We’ve made a pretty strong case for leading with search campaigns. But here’s where things get interesting: 

There are specific situations where Performance Max can actually stand on its own as your primary campaign type.

This might sound counterintuitive, but hear us out. 

When There’s an Educational Component

Imagine you’re operating a coworking space in a rural or suburban area where coworking simply isn’t prevalent. 

Maybe your market has a population under 500,000, and the closest thing to a coworking space is the local library or a coffee shop.

In markets like this, search campaigns often fail, not because you’re doing something wrong, but because nobody is searching. Your potential members don’t know what a coworking space is because they’ve never encountered one before.

This scenario can apply to:

• Small towns or rural cities where coworking is virtually unknown
• International markets where the coworking concept hasn’t taken hold yet
• Suburban areas where remote workers haven’t considered alternatives to working from home

When there’s an educational process required, visuals become incredibly powerful. 

You’re not waiting for people to search. You’re showing them. You’re giving them a glimpse into your space so they can actually visualize why it might be better than working from home or camping out at Starbucks all day.

Performance Max lets you tell that story visually through images and video. 

And since Performance Max also includes search placements, you’re not missing out on the few people who might be searching. You’re just approaching the market from a different angle.

The Added Benefit: Lower Competition, Lower Costs

In these less competitive markets, you’ll probably see much lower cost-per-click and cost-per-lead numbers. There’s simply no competition bidding on the same audiences you’re targeting.

If you’re running your Google Ads on your own and you’re in one of these unique markets, Performance Max might actually simplify your campaign management. 

You can get your space in front of people across multiple placements, including search, without having to build out complex keyword strategies for search terms that barely anyone is using.

Why There’s No One-Size-Fits-All Approach

This is exactly why we always emphasize that there’s no universal formula for Google Ads success. What works for a coworking space in downtown Chicago won’t be the same strategy that works for a space in rural Montana.

Your market, your competition, your goals, your timeline, and your audience awareness all factor into which campaign type makes the most sense for your specific situation.

That’s why working with someone who understands the coworking industry and takes the time to understand your unique circumstances can make all the difference in your advertising results.

Budget Guidance: Where to Start If Resources Are Limited

If you’re a coworking operator working with a limited budget, the question becomes: where should you put your money?

Start with Search

For most coworking spaces, the answer is clear: start with Search.

Search campaigns should be your foundation because they target people who are actively looking for office space. These are bottom-of-funnel prospects who are ready to take action. They just need to find the right space.

When you’re working with a tight budget, you can’t afford to waste money on broad awareness campaigns that might pay off six months from now. 

You need leads today, tours this week, and new members signed up by the end of the month. Search delivers on those immediate needs more effectively than any other campaign type.

When to Add Performance Max to Your Plans

Once your search campaigns are running smoothly and generating consistent results, that’s when you can consider layering in Performance Max.

But here’s the key: 

Don’t split a limited budget between both campaign types right from the start. That’s spreading yourself too thin.

If you’re putting $1 into Google Ads and getting $2 back out in membership revenue, why would you divert half of that dollar to an experimental Performance Max campaign? Instead, put $5 into what’s working and get $10 back out.

Scale what’s working until you hit a ceiling. Then—and only then—start exploring additional campaign types to expand your reach.

Balancing Timing, Budget, and Goals

Think about your goals from a timeline perspective:

• Bottom of funnel (Search): 0-3 months out, ready to sign up now
• Middle of funnel (Performance Max): 3-6 months out, exploring options
• Top of funnel (Performance Max): 6-12 months out, just becoming aware

If your goal is to fill office spaces this quarter, you need to focus your budget on bottom-of-funnel campaigns that reach people ready to make decisions now. 

That’s Search.

If you’ve already filled your spaces and you’re thinking about building a waitlist for next quarter, that’s when middle-of-funnel and top-of-funnel campaigns through Performance Max start to make more sense.

It all comes back to this: cost-per-lead will vary dramatically between campaign types: 

• Bottom-of-funnel leads cost more, but they close faster
• Top-of-funnel leads cost less, but they require nurturing

You need to balance your budget based on your immediate needs and your long-term goals.

Choosing between Search and Performance Max campaigns doesn’t have to be complicated.

For most coworking operators, the path forward is straightforward: start with Search, master the fundamentals, and expand from there when it makes strategic sense.

Want to learn how we can build a Google Ads strategy tailored specifically to your space? Book a free introductory call to learn how Google Ads can bring new members into your space starting today.