How to make your Google Ads Display campaign a success?

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Display Google Ads allows you to distribute your banners and visuals on millions of sites. Well configured, Display reinforces your reputation, generates qualified traffic and boosts your conversions at a lower cost. In this article, you will learn:

• What is a display campaign and why should you use it
• How to launch your campaign step by step
• Tools and tips to optimize it
• Mistakes to avoid
• The essential KPIs to follow
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What is a display campaign?

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A Display campaign delivers your visual ads, banners, images, and videos on the Google Display Network, which includes more than 2,000,000 sites, apps, and YouTube channels.

Here is how a Display campaign works in concrete terms:

• First, you upload your visuals (banners, images, videos) and your texts (titles, tags, descriptions) into Google Ads.
• Then you set a daily budget for your Google Ads campaign and choose your bidding strategy (optimized CPC, target CPA, or target ROAS) to control your expenses. Thanks to machine learning, Google analyzes the profiles and behaviors of Internet users, then automatically selects the locations, sites, applications or videos, where your audience is the most receptive.
• Finally, your ads are displayed at the right times, outside the search context: while browsing a blog, watching a video or reading an article, thus creating a visual and memory impact on prospects who would not necessarily have searched for your brand.

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Why do Display?

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Display is a complementary tool to Search that allows you to reach your prospects while browsing, before they type your request. It meets three essential needs: broaden your visibility, re-engage your visitors and optimize your advertising budget.

• Reinforcing reputation: your banners are displayed on millions of sites and applications. Each exposure increases the recognition of your brand among a varied audience, even when the Internet user is not actively looking for your product.
• Retargeting visitors: thanks to remarketing, you are relaunching users who have already visited your site without converting. A simple visual reminder — a special offer or a personalized message — is often enough to trigger their interest and bring them back to your offer.
• More competitive CPC: The cost per click on the Display network is generally lower than that of Search. You thus obtain a larger volume of impressions for the same budget, while maintaining a controlled acquisition cost.
• Ultra-precise targeting: you segment your audience by age, gender, interests, browsing behavior, or your CRM lists. This level of granularity ensures that your ads are only shown to users who are most likely to become customers.
• Varied and adaptable formats: static, responsive or interactive HTML5 banners: you choose the right format for each location. This flexibility allows you to optimize visual impact and engagement regardless of the screen or broadcast context.

Thanks to these levers, a well-configured Display campaign maximizes your impact and boosts your conversions.

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Display on Google Ads: how to launch your campaign?

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Follow these six practical steps to get your Display campaign off to a good start:

1. Set a specific goal

👉 Notoriety : Aim for at least 100,000 impressions per week by selecting “Maximize Reach.”

👉 Traffic : Target a minimum of 500 clicks to your product page by setting “Maximize clicks”.

👉 Conversions : set a target CPA (e.g. €20 per lead) or an ROAS (e.g. 400%) to generate sales and forms.

1. Choose budget and auctions

👉 Daily budget: start around €20 to €50 depending on the size of your market.

👉 Bidding strategy: CPC optimized to attract a regular volume of clicks, target CPA if you need to control your acquisition cost and target ROAS to maximize the value of each conversion.

1. Select your ad formats

👉 Responsive banners : import 1200×628 px visuals and let Google adjust the size.

👉Static images : provide JPG/PNG files in 300×250, 728×90, 300×600.

👉HTML5 : Use Google Web Designer for animated creations that are perfect for YouTube and Discover.

1. Set up targeting

👉 Hearings : add “in-market” (ready to buy) and “affinity” (interests) groups.

👉 CRM lists : import your customers and prospects for remarketing.

👉 Locations : check “automatic placements” to start, then switch to manual to exclude non-performing sites.

👉Geography & language : limit distribution to the regions and languages where you deliver or support.

1. Import your visuals and texts

👉 Titles and descriptions : suggest 5 short titles (30 cars.) and 5 descriptions (90 cars.).

👉Visuals : check that each file weighs less than 150 KB and is clearly displayed on mobile.

1. Start the campaign and refine

👉 Starting : activate the campaign by checking for the absence of validation errors.

👉Immediate follow-up : record impressions, clicks and CPC within the first 24 hours.

👉Adjustments : if the CPC exceeds €0.50, reduce the budget or switch to target CPA; exclude underperforming locations after 3 days.

With these concrete benchmarks, your Display campaign will be operational and optimized from the start.

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Tools and tips to boost your Display

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To take things to the next level, our Google Ads agency has concocted a selection of concrete tools and methods for you. Put them in place quickly to save time, improve the quality of your ads, and refine your targeting.

1. Google Web Designer for HTML5 banners

Create animated ads without coding: transitions, clickable buttons, countdown timers... Consider adding an animated call to action to catch the eye. Export your creations to HTML5 and then import them directly into Google Ads. The rendering adapts to all screens and increases the engagement rate.

2. Customized audiences with Google Analytics

In Analytics, build ultra-targeted visitor segments: cart abandonments, product pages viewed 3 times or more, visitors who spent more than 2 minutes on the site. Export these segments to Google Ads in one click. You will thus be able to launch Display campaigns specifically dedicated to these hot profiles and see your CTR and your conversions increase.

3. Drafts & Experiments for risk-free testing

Duplicate your campaign in “Draft” to modify targeting, visuals or bids. Start an “Experiment” on 10 - 20% of the traffic, compare the performances (CTR, CPA) and apply the winning version to the rest of the campaign. You improve your performance without disrupting your main budget.

4. Ads scripts for intelligent automation

Program a script that automatically increases your bids by 20% during peak hours (9 am - 11 am and 6 pm - 8 pm) and lowers them by 30% at night. Another script can monitor the average CPC: if your cost per click exceeds $0.60, the script temporarily removes the worst performing locations until you readjust.

5. Location reports to clean up your network

Analyze the “Locations” report every week to identify sites where your CPA is 2 times higher than your average. Exclude them with a simple click. You focus your budget on locations that convert and reduce waste.

6. Ad Preview & Diagnosis for quality control

Before each launch, use this tool to check that your ads are displayed correctly on desktop and mobile, in the countries and languages chosen. You detect format blocks or policy issues (refused content) in a few minutes, and no longer waste days correcting delivery errors.

7. Shared library to centralize your resources

Create lists of audiences, exclusions, negative keywords, and approved placements in the shared library. When creating a new campaign, you import these lists in one click. You gain consistency between your campaigns and you limit oversights when setting up.

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Common mistakes to avoid

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To avoid wasting your budget and hurting your performance, pay attention to these common pitfalls and fix them quickly:

• Do not offer only one banner format: multiply the sizes (300×250, 728×90, 300×600...).
• Don't target too broad without exclusions: segment your audiences and block irrelevant sites and locations.
• Don't leave your goals vague: set a clear CPA or ROAS from the start.
• Don't overlook remarketing: always create an ad group to re-target your hot visitors.
• Don't test at random: set up A/B tests to compare visuals, hooks and targeting.

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The KPIs to follow

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To manage your Display campaign and adjust your actions, keep an eye on these key indicators:

• Impressions & reach : number of times and unique users exposed to your ads.
• CTR (click through rate) : clicks ÷ impressions. A good benchmark: 0.5% to 1%.
• Average CPC : total cost ÷ number of clicks. Control it to stay within your budget.
• Conversion rate : conversions ÷ clicks. It reveals the quality of the traffic generated.
• CPA (cost per acquisition) : budget ÷ conversions. Allows you to measure the effectiveness of your budget.
• ROAS (return on advertising expenses) : total income ÷ budget spent. Your profitability barometer.

Monitor these KPIs every week and adjust your bids, visuals, and targeting to maintain peak performance.

Would you like to take your SEA strategy to the next level? The best is to call on a consultant from our Growth Ads division, with real expertise.

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Our answers to your questions

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What is a Google Ads Display Campaign?

It's a campaign that displays your visual ads (banners, images, HTML5 videos) on the Google Display Network, which is more than 2,000,000 sites, apps, and YouTube channels. You upload your creatives, set a budget and Google displays your visuals where your audience is most receptive.

How does Display Targeting work?

You can combine several options:

• Hearings : in-market, affinities, CRM lists, site visitors.
• locations : manual selection of sites/apps or automatic placements.
• Demographics : age, gender, interests.

Google crosses these criteria in real time to precisely reach the Internet users who are most likely to convert.

What budget should you plan for a Display campaign?

Start with a daily budget of €20 to €50 per campaign, then adjust based on performance. For an effective launch, plan at least €500 per month and per campaign so that the algorithm can quickly exit the learning phase.

How to measure the performance of a Display campaign?

Follow these key KPIs:

• Impressions & reach (visibility)
• CTR (0.5% — 1% is a good benchmark)
• Average CPC (cost per click control)
• Conversion rate (conversions ÷ clicks)‍
• CPA & ROAS (cost per acquisition and return on expenses). Analyze them every week and adjust your bids, exclusions, and visuals accordingly.

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