To create a display campaign, you’ll follow the same process that you would for a search campaign: identify your audience and create your ads (or upload existing ones). The main difference is where these ads will be shown. For search, you’re targeting people who are searching for something.
For display ads, you’re targeting people on websites that have agreed to show Google Ads. Display networks include sites such as YouTube and thousands of other partner sites across the web. When your ad appears on one of these sites, it’s known as a display ad.
Display ads often boast superior impressions and CPCs to search ads but they come at the cost of lower intent and traffic quality, due to the users clicking on them not necessarily being interested in the product at the time they see the ad.
Let’s dive in and explain how to set up your first Google Ads display campaign.
Step by step guide
1. Click on the Campaigns tab and then the blue + button.
2. Select the most relevant goal for your campaign. If you’re not sure then click Create a campaign without a goal’s guidance.
3. Select Smart display campaign if you absolutely don’t know what you’re doing and need some hand-holding. More confident advertisers should select Standard display campaign because it gives you more control over your placements, targeting and spending.
4. Enter your desired campaign name, select what location(s) and language(s) you want to target, and choose your bidding strategy.
If you’re a less confident advertiser, you should use automated bidding and assign it to an objective closely aligned with what you’re trying to achieve (i.e. conversions) and set a target CPA. If you’re a more confident advertiser, you can click ‘select a bid strategy’ but we’ll continue the setup with the Smart mode selected for this guide.
5. Enter a name for your ad group.
Note that the targeting is already prefilled and disabled due to selecting Smart campaign earlier. If you selected a manual campaign then you would have more freedom to edit and customise the targeting.
6. Upload images, logos and videos that you want to include in your ad from either your hard drive or website.
Try to include the maximum number of images and logos possible for each size. You don’t need a video but it’s worth testing if you have one ready or plan to make one in the future.
7. Fill out your ad’s headlines and body copy.
Try to write the maximum number for each line.
8. Pay attention to the ad strength gauge and try to max it out if possible by including as many and try and max it out if possible by including as many variations as you can for each.
9. Finally click Create campaign at the bottom.
As long as you filled out the mandatory and minimum fields then you’re good to go. Congratulations on launching your first Google Ads display campaign!
