Campaign Setup
Programmatic audience targeting
Define a programmatic audience, check usable signals and exclusions, assess scale and cost, and review delivery against the campaign goal.
Programmatic audience targeting applies an audience rule to decide which impressions a campaign may buy. Define the people the message is for, then check whether a usable signal represents them in the intended Australian market and inventory. Assess whether the full set of targeting rules can support the budget; a segment name or list size alone cannot answer that.
Define the audience
Describe the intended group in plain language. A prospecting brief might target people in selected Australian markets who are considering a product but have not bought it. State which conditions are essential. A purchaser exclusion may be a firm rule; an inferred interest is a signal, not proof of intent.
Name the campaign outcome separately. A prospecting campaign and a customer campaign may use related lists, but they need different messages, exclusions and measures of success.
Choose a usable signal
| Signal | What it can represent | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| First-party list | People associated with your recorded interactions | Membership rule, recency and availability in the intended inventory |
| Platform or third-party audience | People grouped by a platform or provider signal | Definition, coverage, permitted use and any data charge |
| Contextual targeting | Content associated with a topic | Classification method and coverage; context does not establish who sees the ad |
Choose a signal whose definition and membership rule match the brief. For a list, check its recency and availability in the intended inventory; for a platform or third-party audience, check its coverage, permitted use and any data charge.
Contextual targeting can be an alternative or refinement to an audience rule, but it does not establish that a particular reader belongs to an audience. Check how the chosen contextual signals are defined and applied in the intended platform.
Availability can vary by format and market. Check the intended Australian setup rather than assuming a feature is available there.
Check the buying rules
Record the exact list or segment ID, its provider and membership rule, and any supported recency setting. Check how included lists are combined in the platform and confirm that the resulting logic matches the brief.
Google Display & Video 360 has audience list targeting. If you use it, check the audience-list rule in the campaign setup against the exact list or segment and brief.
Review audience rules alongside geography, device, environment, inventory and exclusions on the affected line items. Their combination determines the opportunity to buy.
For Australian personal information, check whether the Privacy Act 1988 applies. It covers Australian Government agencies, organisations with an annual turnover of more than $3 million and some other organisations; it includes 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
The OAIC publishes APP guidance, including APP 5 on notification of collection, APP 6 on use or disclosure and APP 7 on direct marketing. Check the collection notice and whether the intended advertising use or disclosure is permitted; having access to a list does not by itself establish that its use is permitted.
Confirm that the audience rule is permitted for the advertised product. Check the relevant platform policies and applicable requirements before using audience lists.
Assess scale and cost
A raw list count is not a forecast of impressions available to buy. Use available planning estimates and delivery data to assess the opportunity; estimates may not reflect all delivery conditions.
Interpret scale estimates in the context of the inventory and configuration being assessed. Treat a blank or small estimate as a reason to investigate the list and full configuration, not as a diagnosis by itself.
Compare the estimated opportunity with the budget and flight, allowing for bids that do not win and other delivery limits. Check any applicable third-party data costs with the relevant provider. If scale appears weak, change one discretionary condition at a time. Keep required exclusions and policy limits intact.
Australian Programmatic Audience Targeting Metrics
- Raw list count ≠ available impressions
- Use planning estimates and delivery data instead
- Availability varies by format and market
- Check Australian setup specifically
- Third-party data costs apply
- Confirm with provider before use
- Blank/small estimate = investigation needed
- Not a diagnosis of poor performance
Review delivery
After launch, compare bought impressions, spend and the chosen outcome with the plan. Where available, inspect targeting and auction diagnostics before changing the audience. Check whether the rules and signal used in delivery match the intended setup.
Delivery under a segment rule shows how the platform applied that rule; it does not prove every recipient had the intended need.
In this guide
- Comparing contextual and audience-based segmentsCompare contextual and audience-based targeting by signal, inventory coverage, uncertainty and fit with the campaign message.
- Setting exclusions before a campaign launchesDefine excluded audiences, check list IDs and recency, and verify the saved rules before a programmatic campaign starts.
- Checking audience scale against a campaign budgetCalculate the impressions a budget needs, compare them with estimated audience opportunity and account for forecast limits.
