Launching a campaign
1
Follow the process
Launching a Google campaign covers every campaign type, from Search to Performance Max, and lists every input that has to exist first.
2
Fill in the brief
The Google campaign brief fixes campaign type, conversion goal, budget, bid strategy, and structure.
3
Check before you spend
The Google pre-launch checklist is the last pass with the campaign built and paused.
Start with your campaign type
Campaign type is the largest decision in the brief: it sets which assets you need, which copy template applies, and how the campaign is structured. Find your type, then work across the row.
Every type uses the same three documents: the process, the brief, and the pre-launch checklist. The type changes which assets and template you need, not the order of the work.
Search themes
On Search, a campaign is organized around themes rather than around individual keywords. A theme is one search intent held together as a single unit: the queries that express it, the customer profile behind them, the landing page they go to, and the ads written to match. It becomes one ad group.Creative specifications
The table above routes you to the right page per campaign type. The full set:- Performance Max Asset groups and the full required asset set.
- YouTube Video formats, lengths, and placements.
- Display Banner sizes and responsive display assets.
- Search, Demand Gen and uploaded display The formats not covered by the two pages above.
- Image and video specs The cross-platform master asset pack, for producing once and exporting to every platform.
Copy templates
Each template holds the character limits and field structure for one campaign type. The strategy comes from the copy brief; every platform’s templates are indexed in copy templates. Every Google template, including the feeds below, is listed in the template directory.Audiences and feeds
- Customer profile CSV Export a profile from the library into a Google audience file.
- Page feed The pages Dynamic Search Ads and Performance Max are allowed to use as landing pages.
- Merchant Center Product, vehicle, local inventory, and promotions feeds.
- Hotel Center Hotel property feed.
Shared standards that apply here
Related resources
- Template directory Every Google template in one list.
- Naming conventions overview
- UTM standards
- Search theme brief
- Customer profile CSV template (Google)
- Search copy template
- Performance Max copy template
- Display copy template
- Demand Gen copy template
- YouTube ad copy template
- App campaign copy template