Campaign Setup
Running a programmatic advertising campaign
Plan, launch and review a programmatic campaign with clear objectives, buying routes, measurement checks and a record of changes.
Run a programmatic campaign in stages: define the outcome, choose suitable inventory and a buying route, prepare measurement and creative, then review delivery against the brief. Spending the budget does not, by itself, mean the campaign succeeded.
Define the outcome and limits
Write the business goal before selecting a platform KPI. An awareness campaign might assess reach in the intended market; a response campaign might assess qualified enquiries. Name one primary outcome, how it will be measured and when results will be reviewed. Use supporting measures such as spend and landing-page activity to explain the result, not replace it.
Set the budget, flight dates and a named reporting time zone. Australia has multiple time zones, so ‘Australian time’ is too vague for a handoff. State whether the budget covers media alone or also platform, data, verification and service costs.
Identify who can authorise changes. Pacing controls guide delivery but cannot promise exact daily spend.
In Display & Video 360, campaign goals and KPIs can inform optimisation recommendations, performance visualisation and automatic budget allocation when that feature is enabled. Targets work best when they are realistic and closely reflect the business objective, so treat a platform recommendation as guidance rather than a substitute for the agreed outcome.
Choose a buying route
An open auction can provide flexible access to eligible supply. In Google Ad Manager, a private auction invites selected buyers to bid against a floor; a preferred deal offers a fixed-price opportunity without reserving inventory. Programmatic Guaranteed reserves inventory under negotiated terms.
These are transaction arrangements, not quality grades. Check the publisher, placements, price rule and restrictions in the actual offer.
A non-guaranteed deal may deliver little if suitable requests do not arrive, the creative is ineligible or bids fail to clear the floor. Record what the team will do if the chosen route cannot meet the brief.
Programmatic Buying Routes: Features and Use Cases
- Open AuctionFlexible access to eligible supply; bids compete in real-time. Best for broad reach and performance testing.
- Private AuctionSelected buyers bid against a floor price. Offers better control and exclusivity over inventory.
- Preferred DealFixed-price opportunity without inventory reservation. Suitable for predictable volume at agreed rates.
- Programmatic GuaranteedInventory reserved under negotiated terms. Ideal for premium placements and guaranteed delivery.
Make the plan executable
Give the trader the outcome and KPI, flight, time zone, spend limits, geography, formats, approved creative and landing pages, measurement events, inventory rules, exclusions and reporting cadence. Mark which choices are fixed and which the trader may adjust.
Ask where budgets, targeting and frequency controls will sit in the proposed setup. In Display & Video 360, an insertion order can share a budget and pacing settings across its line items. Its campaign-level planned spend can help track the budget, while planned dates do not affect serving. Check the controls at the levels that actually govern delivery; other platforms may use a different structure.
Review readiness before activation
- Goal and measurement:Confirm the KPI, conversion event, counting method and attribution window. An attributed conversion does not prove the ad caused the action.
- Eligibility:Check serving dates, geography, inventory, audience rules, exclusions, budgets and bids where they apply.
- Creative and destination:Check each asset’s approval and placement eligibility, and test its intended landing page.
- Reporting:Agree on the fields and review dates needed to distinguish spend, delivery, outcomes and changes.
A forecast can inform the plan but cannot guarantee auction wins. Display & Video 360’s Inventory Availability data may be delayed by a few days and may omit targeting combinations matching fewer than 3,000 unique cookies for privacy reasons. A blank report does not necessarily mean an audience is unreachable, so treat availability as a scale estimate rather than a delivery commitment and interpret it in context.
Pre-Activation Readiness Checklist
- Goal and measurement confirmedKPI, conversion event, counting method, and attribution window defined.
- Eligibility verifiedServing dates, geography, audience rules, exclusions, budgets, and bids checked.
- Creative and destination testedAll assets approved and landing pages functional.
- Reporting agreement in placeFields and review dates agreed to track spend, delivery, outcomes, and changes.
Use campaign-level controls as lifecycle gates
In Display & Video 360, a campaign groups related insertion orders around a common business goal. It can support campaign-level goal tracking, reporting across those insertion orders, default targeting and a frequency cap that applies across them.
Check campaign status as part of the activation and close-out gates. Active campaigns are eligible to serve, while paused campaigns are not; archived campaigns are automatically paused. A completed campaign has reached its end date, but its flight dates do not stop serving if its insertion orders and line items remain active.
A campaign-level frequency cap works across insertion orders and line items. Serving stops when the first cap reached at the campaign, insertion-order or line-item level applies, so confirm the intended control before activation.
Review the flight and record changes
Compare actual spend and the primary outcome with the agreed plan. If delivery is low, check eligible supply, targeting, creative, frequency, budget and pacing limits, bid floors and auction losses before changing bids. Display & Video 360 reports several of these as separate diagnostic reasons; available detail varies by platform.
Record material changes with their date, reason, owner and expected effect. After each change, review both delivery and the outcome: broader targeting may increase spend without improving the result. At close-out, reconcile spend and results against the agreed definitions, state measurement limits and identify the next decision.
Key Metrics to Track in a Programmatic Campaign
- Primary Outcome
- e.g., number of qualified leads or conversions
- Actual Spend
- Total media cost incurred during the flight
- Delivery Rate
- Percentage of planned impressions served
- Auction Loss Reasons
- Common causes include low bid, floor price exceeded, or ineligible creative
In this guide
- Choosing a programmatic objective and buying methodChoose a measurable programmatic objective and a buying method that fits the inventory, budget and delivery requirement.
- Open auction versus private marketplace buyingCompare open auctions, private auctions and preferred deals by access, price rule, delivery commitment and campaign fit.
- Preparing a campaign brief for a programmatic traderBuild a trader brief that defines the campaign outcome, budget, supply, creative, measurement and authority for changes.
