Overview
Once you’ve integrated Klaviyo and Google Ads, determined your ad’s objective, and created an audience to target, you now need to decide which campaign “type” to use.
In Google Ads, there are 11 campaign types to choose from:
- Search campaigns
- Display campaigns
- Smart campaigns
- App campaigns
- Discovery campaigns
- Shopping campaigns
- Video campaigns
- Performance max campaigns
- Call campaigns
- Things to do campaigns
- Hotel campaigns
Let’s run through what these entail and when to use each so that you can identify the best campaign type for your ad.
Search campaigns
Search campaigns appear to users within Google’s search results. They are text-based ads that you pay for based on how many people click into them.
Use cases: to increase sales, leads, and website traffic. Learn more about search campaigns.
Display campaigns
Display campaigns are image-based ads that appear across Google websites and apps.
Use cases: to grow brand awareness, expand your reach, drive sales, etc. using a visual ad. Learn more about display campaigns.
Smart campaigns
Smart campaigns are automated ad campaigns that Google helps you manage. Essentially, you will write your ad copy, input key information (budget, keyword themes, location preferences, etc.), and upload any desired creative assets; then, Google will automatically determine the best placement and targeting efforts for your specific ad objective. Note that if your Google Ads account is set to Smart Mode, all of your campaigns will automatically be “smart campaigns.”
Use cases: to drive sales and gain leads with less effort on your part. Learn more about Google’s Smart Campaigns.
App campaigns
App campaigns appear across the Google ecosystem. They are optimized by Google to appear where a user is most likely to download or engage with your app.
Use cases: to encourage people to install or shop on your brand’s app. Learn more about app campaigns.
Discovery campaigns
Discovery campaigns appear in spots like the Gmail promotions tab, Google's Discover feed, and the Youtube homepage to people Google believes may be interested in what you offer, but are so far unaware of your brand (i.e., targeting those in the “discovery” phase of your marketing funnel). A standard discovery campaign can show off your brand, or use an added product feed to highlight specific items in your catalog.
Use cases: to build awareness, drive sales, and boost site traffic among those who may otherwise not know of your brand, but who are interested in similar brands, items, or topics. Learn more about discovery campaigns.
Shopping campaigns
Shopping campaigns allow you to advertise specific products, and they appear in 2 specific locations: above search results and within the Google Shopping tab.
Use cases: to drive sales to your online store or to a local brick-and-mortar store. Learn more about shopping campaigns.
Video campaigns
Video campaigns allow you to display video ads on Youtube or other apps/websites that use Google video partners.
Use cases: to increase brand awareness and consideration, and to spur first-time purchases from new customers. Learn more about video campaigns.
Performance max campaigns
Performance max campaigns allow you to promote your ads across all of Google’s channels from one single campaign. Google will optimize the targeting, placement, and make-up of your campaigns in real-time. The benefit of this campaign type is that Google uses machine learning to automate and optimize; the drawback is that you have less control and visibility into how you manage this kind of campaign.
Use cases: Use this ad type when you have a set conversion goal you need to hit (e.g., drive sales or gain leads) and want to access all of Google's channels for this one campaign. This campaign type is particularly useful when you don’t have the bandwidth or resources to optimize for all channels, and need Google to automate this for you. Learn more about performance max campaigns.
Call campaigns
Call campaigns are mobile-only ad campaigns. They appear within search results, but specifically encourage a user to call your business; when someone clicks the ad, it will immediately call the phone number that you’ve added to the ad.
Use cases: to drive phone calls to your business. Learn more about call campaigns.
Things to do campaigns
Things to do campaigns will appear in travel-related search results. They are specific to brands that focus on events, travel, and hospitality, as they promote “things to do” based on what the user is looking for and where they are located.
Use cases: to promote attractions, activities, and excursions led by your brand to those most likely to sign up and attend. Learn more about things to do campaigns.
Hotel campaigns
Hotel campaigns are specific to the hospitality industry; they allow you to bid for your hotel’s ads to appear within a standard search or in Google Maps. They will specifically show images of your hotel, key booking information, and a link to reserve a room. You can tailor your ad to show the price of a room based on availability and dates selected.
Use cases: to drive sales and gain leads (specifically for hotels). Learn more about hotel campaigns.