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  8. Standard Display Campaign Setup Checklist

Standard Display Campaign Setup Checklist

1. Objective 

To provide a structured guide for setting up a Standard Display campaign, focusing on precise audience and context targeting to effectively build brand awareness, drive consideration, or execute remarketing strategies.

2. When to Use this SOP

  • Top-funnel: To build brand awareness and reach a large number of users within a target demographic.
  • Mid-funnel: To drive product/service consideration, educate customers, or remarket to previous website visitors.
  • Budget-conscious: To achieve a lower cost-per-impression (CPM) or cost-per-click (CPC) compared to Search campaigns.

3. Prerequisites & Inputs

  • [ ] Creative Assets: A set of visual assets (various sizes or components for responsive ads), logos, videos (optional), headlines, and descriptions.
  • [ ] Landing Page URL: A destination page that aligns with the ad’s message.
  • [ ] Audience Ideas: A clear concept of the audiences to target (remarketing lists, interests, topics, demographics).

4. The Step-by-Step Setup Checklist

  • [ ] 4.1. Objective & Campaign Type:
    • Action: Click + New Campaign > Select an objective (Brand awareness, Website traffic, Leads, Sales) > Select Display as the campaign type.
    • Subtype: Choose Standard Display campaign.
  • [ ] 4.2. Naming & Basic Settings:
    • Action: Apply the naming convention (SOP 2.1), and set the Location, Language, and Budget.
  • [ ] 4.3. Bidding:
    • Action: Select a bid strategy that aligns with your campaign goal.
    • Best Practice/Setting:
      • Awareness: Viewable CPM (Cost-per-thousand viewable impressions).
      • Traffic/Consideration: Maximize Clicks.
      • Conversions: Maximize Conversions (optionally, set a Target CPA).
  • [ ] 4.4. Targeting (The Most Critical Step):
    • Action: In the Ad Group settings, configure your targeting layers.
    • Best Practice/Setting:
      • Audience segments: Add relevant audiences:
        • Your data: Remarketing lists, Customer Match.
        • Interests & detailed demographics: Affinity and In-market audiences.
        • Custom segments: Create audiences based on search terms or visited websites.
      • Content targeting (Optional): Limit where ads can appear:
        • Keywords: Ads appear on pages containing these keywords.
        • Topics: Ads appear on pages related to these topics.
        • Placements: Specify exact websites, YouTube channels, or apps for ad placement.
      • “Targeting” vs. “Observation” Setting:
        • Mandatory: Ensure the setting is Targeting. This restricts your reach to the selections you’ve made. (Observation only reports on the selections without restricting reach).
  • [ ] 4.5. Ad Creation:
    • Action: Create the ads within the Ad Group.
    • Best Practice/Setting:
      • Responsive Display Ad (RDA): This is the preferred format. Upload a variety of assets: multiple images (1.91:1 and 1:1), logos, videos, headlines, and descriptions for Google to optimize.
      • Uploaded ads: Upload static image banners (GIF, JPG, PNG) in standard ad sizes.
  • [ ] 4.6. Final Review:
    • [ ] Verify that the targeting setting is “Targeting,” not “Observation.”
    • [ ] Ensure Responsive Display Ads have a full and high-quality set of assets.
    • [ ] Confirm that the bid strategy matches the campaign objective.

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