Demand Gen Campaigns

Example

A direct-to-consumer skincare brand (average order $65) wants to scale beyond Search and Meta ads. They launch Demand Gen campaigns to reach new audiences on Google's premium visual surfaces.

Demand Gen Campaign Strategy:

Campaign 1: "Demand Gen - Cold Prospecting"
Objective: Brand awareness and product consideration
Target Audience:
- In-Market "Beauty & Personal Care > Skincare"
- Affinity "Beauty Mavens"
- Age 25-45, Female
Creative Assets:
- 18 images (product shots, lifestyle, before/after, ingredients)
- 4 videos (15s tutorials, testimonials, ingredient stories)
- 5 headlines + 5 descriptions (benefits, clean ingredients, dermatologist-tested)
Bidding: Target CPA at $85 (higher than Search, mid-funnel consideration)
Daily Budget: $200

Campaign 2: "Demand Gen - Website Remarketing"
Objective: Convert warm website visitors
Target Audience:
- Visited website (past 30 days), didn't purchase
- Visited product pages or cart abandoners (higher intent)
Creative Assets:
- Limited-time offer creative (20% off first order)
- Social proof (customer reviews, testimonials)
- Product-focused (show what they viewed)
Bidding: Target CPA at $55 (lower than cold, warm audience)
Daily Budget: $150

Month 1 Results:

Campaign 1 (Cold Prospecting):
- Spend: $6,000
- Impressions: 3,200,000
- Clicks: 28,800 (0.90% CTR)
- Conversions: 78 purchases
- CPA: $76.92 (better than $85 target!)
- Revenue: $5,070 ($65 AOV × 78)
- ROAS: 0.85x (low ROAS expected for cold awareness)

Placement Breakdown:
- YouTube: 45% of impressions, 38% of conversions (strong performer)
- Discover: 30% of impressions, 42% of conversions (BEST converter!)
- Gmail: 15% of impressions, 12% of conversions
- Display: 10% of impressions, 8% of conversions

Campaign 2 (Remarketing):
- Spend: $4,500
- Impressions: 950,000
- Clicks: 19,000 (2.0% CTR) ← Higher (warm audience)
- Conversions: 92 purchases
- CPA: $48.91 (better than $55 target!)
- Revenue: $5,980
- ROAS: 1.33x

Total Demand Gen Performance:
- Total Spend: $10,500
- Total Conversions: 170
- Average CPA: $61.76
- Total Revenue: $11,050
- Blended ROAS: 1.05x

Asset Performance Insights (Month 1):

Top Performing Creative Assets:
1. "Before/After Results Image" → 18% of conversions, 2.4% CTR
2. "Customer Testimonial Video (15s)" → 22% of conversions
3. "Clean Ingredients Lifestyle Image" → 14% of conversions

Underperforming Assets (paused):
- Generic product shot on white background → 0.3% CTR, 2% of conversions
- 60-second ingredient video → 12% view rate, low engagement

Sequential Targeting Strategy (Month 2):

Created remarketing Search campaign targeting:
- Users who engaged with Demand Gen ads (clicked or watched 10+ seconds of video)
- Didn't convert yet

Results: "Search Remarketing - Demand Gen Engagers"
- Spend: $2,800
- Conversions: 68
- CPA: $41.18 ← 35% lower than cold Search CPA
- ROAS: 1.58x

Combined Demand Gen + Search Sequential Performance:
- Demand Gen: $10,500 spend → 170 direct conversions
- Search Remarketing (DG Engagers): $2,800 spend → 68 conversions
- Total: $13,300 spend, 238 conversions, $55.88 blended CPA
- Insight: Demand Gen warmed audiences, making Search remarketing 35% more efficient

Month 2 Optimization:

Actions Taken:
1. Increased remarketing budget from $150 → $220/day (lower CPA, higher ROAS)
2. Decreased prospecting budget from $200 → $180/day (higher CPA, awareness focus)
3. Paused 4 low-performing image assets, uploaded 6 new seasonal creative
4. Created product feed integration for dynamic remarketing (show viewed products)
5. Excluded Gmail placement from prospecting (low performance), kept for remarketing

Month 2 Results (with optimization):
- Demand Gen Spend: $11,200
- Direct Conversions: 208 (+22%)
- Demand Gen CPA: $53.85 (-13%)
- Search Remarketing (DG Engagers): 85 conversions (+25%)
- Combined Strategy: 293 conversions, $49.14 blended CPA (-12%)