Demand Generation campaigns are designed to build interest and influence purchasing decisions before potential customers begin actively searching. They are particularly effective for increasing brand awareness, driving product discovery, and supporting long-funnel storytelling strategies. This guide walks you through the steps to create a Google Demand Gen Ads campaign so you can convert audiences more efficiently across Google's ecosystem.
Campaign Setup
From the Ad Manager home screen, click on the 'Create Campaign' button.
A pop-up will appear, allowing you to select Google as the platform to publish your campaign.
📌Note: If you have not yet connected your Google Ad account, it will appear greyed out.
Once you've selected Google, click 'Next' to choose whether to start from scratch or use Ad Manager templates.
Ad content creation follows a streamlined three-tier structure:
- Campaign Level
- Ad Group Level
- Ad Level
Each level includes a dedicated configuration process, allowing for more organised and targeted ad management.
Campaign Level Setup
Name
Begin by entering a unique and descriptive name for your campaign to help identify it easily.
Campaign Objective
Next, select "Demand Gen Ads" as the campaign objective, then define the campaign goal.
Budget
The campaign manager can set a daily budget for the campaign. This functions as a subscription and will be charged to the card linked to the connected Google Ads account.
Key features include:
- A clear breakdown of daily spend, along with the campaign's start and end dates.
- The ability to adjust the budget amount at any time by editing the campaign.
📌Note: The currency displayed will match the currency configured in your connected Google Ads account, and the campaign's start and end dates will follow the time zone you are in at the time of campaign creation.
Target cost per action
This setting allows you to cap the highest amount you're willing to pay for a single click.
EU Political Ads
This section allows you to specify whether your campaign contains political advertisements targeting the European Union. Declaring this ensures compliance with EU advertising regulations, protects advertisers from potential disapprovals or account restrictions, keeps your campaign setup in line with Google's latest requirements, and supports transparency in political advertising within the EU.
Ad Schedule
Here, you can set a schedule for when you want your ads to run. This allows you to restrict your campaigns to audiences who are typically available in certain windows.
Once you are satisfied, click the three dots associated with the campaign to create up to 10 ad groups.
Ad Group Level Setup
Geographic Location
Campaigns can be tailored to target specific locations or exclude certain areas within a country or state.
You can define geographic targeting in two ways:
- By Location: Search and select a country, city, place name, address, or coordinates.
- By Radius: Specify a radius around a chosen address to define the audience reach.
Use the radio buttons to select your preferred targeting method, then search and select the desired location.
📌Note: Google Ads does not support the ability to include or exclude locations by radius. When using radius-based targeting, you can adjust the radius to expand or narrow your audience reach.
Language
Enter the languages spoken by the users you wish to target. You can search for and select multiple languages to include in a single campaign.
Select Placements
Choose the channels where your ad will appear to ensure it reaches the right audience. Selecting the right channels maximises engagement and campaign effectiveness.
Audience Targeting
Create and refine your audiences directly within the campaign builder using dedicated sections, including Interest & Affinity Audiences, In-Market Audiences, Data Segments for remarketing, Lookalike Audiences, Demographic Targeting, and Audience Exclusions. This streamlined approach allows precise targeting to reach the most relevant users for your campaign.
Click the three dots associated with the ad group to create up to 3 ads.
Ad Level Setup
In this step, you will define the content for ads within your ad group.
Media Type & Website URL
Choose whether to include an image or video, or a carousel of media, then enter the exact website URL where users will land when they click your ad. This is a required field and must be entered manually.
Once the media type is chosen, you will have the option to upload the content as well as your business logo below.
Headline
You can add up to 5 headlines, each with a 40-character limit. Use the "Add New Headline" button to add more headlines up to the limit.
Description
You can add up to 5 descriptions, each with a 90-character limit. If your message exceeds 90 characters, you can continue it in Description 2, which also allows up to 90 characters. Use the "Add New Description" button to add more descriptions, up to the description limit.
Review and Publish
Before publishing your campaign, review all the details, including ad content, budget, and audience settings. If any adjustments need to be made, click "Edit". Once you're satisfied with the setup, click 'Publish' to launch your campaign. The payment will then be processed through the connected Google Ads account.
By following these steps, you can efficiently create a Google Ads campaign through the Ad Manager tool. This simplifies campaign setup and makes it easier to reach the right audience and track performance across platforms.
✍️Important Note
When creating an ad campaign, please ensure strict compliance with Google Ads policies to avoid ad disapprovals or rejections. For detailed guidelines, refer to the official Google Ads policies linked below: