Google Demand Gen Campaigns in Sparkforge Ad Manager

Google Demand Gen campaigns reach potential customers with visually rich ads across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Google partner inventory. In Sparkforge Ad Manager, the full setup — campaign, audience, creative, and publish — runs from one connected workflow.

What it does

Demand Gen targets people earlier in the buying journey using image- and video-led placements. Sparkforge handles campaign creation while Google Ads runs delivery and optimization behind the scenes.

Why use Demand Gen

• Visual reach — image and video ads across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and partner surfaces.
• Flexible optimization — pick Conversions, Clicks, or YouTube Engagements.
• Centralized setup — build the campaign inside Ad Manager instead of jumping tools.
• Audience control — Customer Match, Website Visitors, Interest Segments, and Lookalike Segments.
• Creative flexibility — single image, single video, or carousel ads depending on the goal.

Campaign goals

• Conversions — optimize toward tracked outcomes like leads or appointments. Requires a Google Ads conversion action ready before launch.
• Clicks — drive traffic to a page, offer, or funnel.
• YouTube Engagements — focus on video interaction. Tied to video creative.

Audience targeting

• Customer Match — first-party customer lists for remarketing or expansion.
• Website Visitors — retarget warm traffic that already knows your brand.
• Interest Segments — Affinity and In-Market audiences.
• Lookalike Segments — find prospects who resemble an existing source audience.

Location, language, and placement settings live in the ad group flow. Google Demand Gen rules govern how eligible placements are used.

Ad formats

• Single Image Ads
• Single Video Ads
• Carousel Ads

Match the format to the goal — YouTube Engagements requires video creative. Prepare assets before starting.

Set up a Demand Gen campaign

1. Confirm Ad Manager is enabled for the sub-account and visible to the right user.
2. Connect your Google account and Google Ads account inside Ad Manager.
3. Prepare any needed Google Ads conversion actions (especially for the Conversions goal).
4. From the Ad Manager home, click Create Campaign and choose Google.
5. Pick Demand Gen Ads as the campaign objective.
6. Choose your goal: Conversions, Clicks, or YouTube Engagements.
7. Enter campaign budget and schedule.
8. Configure ad group settings — location, language, placements (All Google channels or manual).
9. Define the audience: Customer Match, Website Visitors, Interest Segments, or Lookalike Segments.
10. Build the ad with the supported creative format for your goal.
11. Review the summary and publish.

Goal-specific settings

Conversions

• Pick an existing conversion goal from the connected Google Ads account.
• Optionally enable Target CPA.

Clicks

• Optimizes for traffic.
• Optionally enable Target CPC.
• No conversion goal required.

YouTube Engagements

• Optimizes for video engagement.
• Uses an engagement-based conversion goal automatically.
• Video ads only.
• Optional Target CPA.

Placements

• All Google channels (automatic placement).
• Manual placement: YouTube (In-stream, In-feed, Shorts), Google Discover, Gmail, Google Display Network.

Creative requirements by format

Single Image Ads

• Up to 20 images.
• Up to 5 business logos (required).
• Up to 5 headlines and 5 descriptions.
• CTA and business name.

Single Video Ads

• Up to 5 YouTube video URLs.
• Videos at least 10 seconds.
• Multiple aspect ratios recommended (16:9, 9:16, 1:1).
• Business logos.
• Headlines, long headlines, descriptions, CTA, business name.
• Sitelinks supported at the campaign level.

Carousel Ads

• Minimum 2 cards, up to 10.
• Per card: up to 3 images, headline, final URL, CTA.
• Keep branding and image ratios consistent across cards.

Important notes

• Google must be connected before publishing campaigns from Ad Manager.
• Conversion-based optimization needs the right conversion actions in place.
• Creative must match the chosen goal — especially for YouTube Engagements.
• Campaign-level assets (logos, image assets, call extensions, sitelinks) help completeness during review.