Inside Google Ads podcast: Episode 32 - Demand Gen

“Connect with potential customers and drive demand with immersive relevant creatives that grab attention and spur action in the moments that matter.”

Wow, that is really how Google describes Demand Gen campaigns. 

I describe them much more simply: Facebook ads on Google.

So what is Demand Gen in Google Ads? What do you need to know about the newest campaign type? 

I'm your host, Jyll Saskin Gales. I spent six years working for big brands at Google, and now I work for you. 

This is Inside Google Ads Episode 32, Demand Gen. 

Our first question comes from Just-mi-n-u on TikTok. And they ask, which type of business can take advantage of this campaign type? And they were asking about a video that discussed Custom Segments in Demand Gen. 

So let's back up a step. Demand Gen campaigns, what are they? 

Well, in typical Google fashion, the name Demand Gen is misleading because Demand Gen campaigns are not just for generating demand. They can be used at any point throughout the funnel and are often actually used for mid- to lower-funnel consideration, purchase, or remarketing objectives. 

Think of it like Facebook ads for Google, because the key thing that sets Demand Gen campaigns apart is where the ads show. Demand Gen ads only show on Google-owned properties. That means they only show on YouTube, in Gmail, and on the Discover feed. 

So, because of that, it's much more similar to a Facebook ad where someone is scrolling or consuming content. It's lean-back behavior and you can use your visual creative to introduce a problem rather than only providing a solution, like you would with a Search ad. 

Now, Custom Segments are a kind of audience targeting that can be used in most Google Ads campaigns, but it works especially well with Demand Gen, and here's why. 

Custom Segments let you show ads to people who've previously searched for certain things on Google and/or who've visited certain types of websites and/or who have certain types of apps downloaded to their phone. And by the way, Episode 9 of this podcast was all about Custom Segments, and you've heard me talk about them in other episodes as well. 

Now, the part of Custom Segments that lets you show ads to people who previously searched for things on Google only works when the ads are being served on Google-owned properties like YouTube or Gmail or Discover. It doesn't work the same on the Display Network, for example, where you're showing ads on millions of websites and apps across the internet that are not owned by Google. 

Demand Gen is really the best place to make use of those Custom Segments, whether for ecommerce or lead gen, whether you're a small or large business, or whatever industry you work in. 

So, if you want to test visual-based ads, I'll always recommend testing Demand Gen before Display or even before YouTube. 

Before we get to our next question, I'm excited to share that Inside Google Ads is now exclusively sponsored by Optymzr, the ultimate platform for managing Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and paid social ads through automation layering. 

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Optmyzr studies contain valuable insights sourced from a diverse pool of international advertisers and some of these results will change the way you manage your ad campaigns. If you want to learn more, sign up to be notified as each study goes live. The link is in the episode description. 

And if you want to test Optmyzr for yourself, just like I have, they offer a free full functionality trial. You can find the link for the study signup and a free trial of Optmyzr in the episode description. 

Our next question today comes from Azhar Iqbal on LinkedIn, and they ask, great points on Demand Gen, Jyll. Do you find targeting gets too specific at times with signed-in users? 

My answer is absolutely not. The limit does not exist.

One of the many benefits of Demand Gen, and one of the reasons I like it so much, is because it only shows on Google-owned properties. And so what that means is that these are really high-quality placements on YouTube, Gmail, and Discover feed. And you're mostly showing your ads to signed-in users because if someone's on Gmail, they have to be signed into Gmail, so Google knows exactly who that person is. If they're on YouTube, they are likely signed in. And if they're seeing the Discover feed on their phone, again, they are logged in to Google or to Chrome on their phone.

Because these are signed-in users and Google knows who most of them are, your audience quality is going to be very, very high, which usually means the quality of your results will be very, very high. This is in contrast to something like a Display campaign, where because these ads are showing in millions of different places, Google doesn't always know exactly who those users are, so the audience quality is generally much lower. 

Even though we're only showing ads with Demand Gen, well, not only showing ads, but mostly showing ads to signed-in users, that doesn't mean the targeting gets too specific, at least in my experience. If you were to try to create some kind of super specific Combined Segment, maybe your ad wouldn't be able to show, but then that wouldn't be a Demand Gen problem, that would be a problem with your audience setup. 

When you're testing Demand Gen, one of the best places to start is with a Custom Segment. So I do recommend trying that out if that's not something you've tested before. 

And then, of course, one of the features that only exists in Demand Gen now is the ability to create a Lookalike Segment in Google Ads. There used to be something called Similar Segments in Google Ads. We haven't had those for a while now, but only in a Demand Gen campaign, you can create a Lookalike of one of your remarketing lists. So one more reason to test Demand Gen if you haven't tested it before. 

Now, if you want to learn how to set up and optimize a Demand Gen campaign, I've got fresh tutorials on everything you need to know, like all the differences between Demand Gen and Display, how to use Custom Segments, and more. Check out my course, also called Inside Google Ads, at learn.jyll.ca. That's J-Y-L-L dot C-A. Or simply follow the link in the episode description to learn everything you need to know about Demand Gen. 

Our final question today is actually a question someone asked on the Paid Search Association Slack. So I'm withholding their name because they didn't explicitly ask me, but I did answer it for them and they told me my answer was helpful. So their question was, I've never seen Gmail ads for any of my clients running Demand Gen, let alone anything else. And so I don't know if it's even serving. Is there a way to tell? 

So basically, they wanted to know if Demand Gen campaigns can serve on YouTube, can serve on Gmail, and can serve on Discover… is there a placement report? How do I know if I'm serving on Gmail or not? 

So while there isn't a placement report, there is a workaround you can use to know if your ads are serving on Gmail. The best way to get this data is to go to your asset details. Within the ad itself, click on View Asset Details. And then within the Demand Gen campaign, you want to make sure you have the Engagements column turned on. 

There are a few different columns there. There are interactions, clicks, and engagements. An engagement on an image asset in a Demand Gen campaign is when someone clicks on your Gmail ad to open the email. While it's possible to engage with image assets that show on the Discover feed, it’s very rare user behavior. So if you look at that engagements column and you're looking at engagement specifically on image assets, pretty much the only way that could have happened is if someone was opening your Gmail ad, and therefore, that should give you a good indication of your Gmail ads volume. 

If you look at engagements on video assets, for example, that could have to do with people interacting with your content on YouTube. Video assets actually don't show in Gmail, only image does, which is why this is a really good trick. And then an interaction could be something like a click or a view. Remember, a view counts as viewing at least 30 seconds of a video and a click means a click to your website. 

So in the Gmail portion of Demand Gen, click is a bit of a strange word because yes, they click to open the ad, meaning they click to open the email. But then within the email, they would have to actually click again to visit your website. So for the Gmail placement, a click would mean a click to your website and then an engagement would be opening the email. 

If you want to nerd out on more of these details, of course, the Google Ads Help Center has everything you need to know. 

So if you've never tested Demand Gen before and you're looking to grow your Google Ads account through audiences, or through image- or video-based ads, or both, give Demand Gen a try and let me know how it works for you. 

All right, the Insider Challenge is back now, and today your challenge is this. Your client has been a search-only advertiser for years, and they want to start testing audience-based advertising for the first time. Because you listen to this podcast, you recommend a Demand Gen campaign. What kind of audience targeting will you use? 

I'm purposely leaving this one open-ended so you can think it through for your actual business or one of your actual clients. What kind of audience targeting would you use to first test a Demand Gen campaign? 

You can participate by sending me your response to this challenge or any episode’s challenge. The beauty of the Insider Challenge is there's no right or wrong answer, just an opportunity to stretch your brain on real-life Google Ads problem solving.

And a shout out to one of our listeners, Michael Crane, who shared an answer in my Instagram DMs to Episode 25's challenge. That was, “Which attribution model you choose for a fast-growing startup?” Michael said, “Since Data Driven Attribution (DDA) is out, I would say Time Decay. Since this client is scaling fast, they would want to know what channels are contributing and what ones are more directly involved in the time of conversion. This would help distribute budget and channel focus. I still would go with DDA, but if that's not available, then I say Time Decay.”

Thanks so much for sharing your answer, Michael!

If you want a chance to have your answer included in the podcast, shoot me an email at thegooglepro@jyll.ca, that's J-Y-L-L dot C-A, or send me a voice note in my Instagram DMs. I'm @the_google_pro on Instagram. 

Our last challenge was back in episode 26, and there I challenged you with this. Come up with a scenario in which you would choose a Manual bid strategy rather than a Smart bidding strategy. Why would that be the right choice?

As you know, if you've listened to this podcast at all, I'm a Smart Bidding girlie. I rarely use Manual bidding, but there are still scenarios where Manual bidding could make sense. So here's just one. 

If I'm launching a Standard Shopping campaign and I'm really concerned about high CPCs, maybe we're working in a limited budget or I know it's a very competitive industry, I might choose Manual CPC instead of Maximize Clicks as my starting point because when you launch Standard Shopping, Maximize Conversions, my favorite bid strategy, is not available. You can do Manual CPC, Maximize Clicks, or Target ROAS. 

So, that's one scenario where I might choose Manual CPC over Maximize Clicks, depending on the scenario. 

What do you think? When might you opt for a Manual bidding strategy?

Shoot me an email at thegooglepro@jyll.ca, that's J-Y-L-L dot C-A, or send me a voice note in my Instagram DMs. I'm @the_google_pro on Instagram. 

I'm Jyll Saskin Gales and I'll see you next time Inside Google Ads.

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