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Create a Google Demand Gen Campaign

Demand Gen campaigns put image and video ads in front of people before they search, across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, Maps and the Google Display Network. They suit awareness and consideration goals as well as conversions.

Before you start

  • Connect Google Ads in Ad Manager.
  • If you plan to optimize for conversions, make sure a conversion action exists (you can create offline ones in Ad Manager).
  • Gather your creative: images, logos, videos or carousel cards.

Build the campaign

  1. Go to Marketing > Ad Manager > Create Campaign, choose Google, then the Demand Gen objective.
  2. Pick a goal:
    • Conversions: choose an existing conversion goal, with an optional target cost per conversion.
    • Clicks: optimize for traffic, with an optional target CPC. No conversion goal needed.
    • YouTube Engagements: serves only on YouTube and requires video creative. The Google Ads account and YouTube channel must be linked.
  3. Set the budget and schedule.
  4. In the ad group, set locations, languages and placements. Choose All Google channels or select channels yourself, such as YouTube in-stream, in-feed and Shorts, Discover, Gmail or Display.
  5. Choose audience segments: Customer Match, Website Visitors, Interest segments or Lookalikes. Google is moving lookalikes toward suggestions, so treat them as signals rather than hard limits.
  6. Build the ad in one of three formats.

Ad formats

  • Single image: up to 20 images, up to 5 required business logos, up to 5 headlines and 5 descriptions, a call to action and a business name.
  • Single video: up to 5 YouTube URLs of at least 10 seconds each, ideally in 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1, plus logos, headlines, long headlines, descriptions and a call to action.
  • Carousel: 2 to 10 cards, each with one image, a headline and a final URL. Keep image ratios consistent.

Review and publish

Check the goal, audience, budget and creative, then publish. If you see missing-asset errors, the publishing checks list exactly what to add.

Good to know: Demand Gen is for discovery, not keyword intent, so judge it on engagement and assisted conversions rather than expecting search-level conversion rates.

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