Google’s Discovery Campaigns are among the relatively new innovations of the tech giant when it comes to advertising. Using Artificial Intelligence, Google is able to serve users with ads at exactly the right time–that is, when they’re most receptive to finding or discovering something new.

How does this work?

Well, we need to compare it first with Search. As Google discusses, Search responds to a particular query of a user. No query = no ads, simple as that. For example, when a user searches project management online courses, they will receive ads from companies that provide said courses.

On the other hand, Discovery showcases topics that the AI deems as interesting based on previous interactions of the user or customer intent signals. Zoominfo outlines a number of actions that hint at the intent of users, among them include:

• Product or service reviews
• Infographics
• Blog visits
• Product Comparisons
• Case Studies

Uses of Discovery Campaigns

The launch of Discovery campaigns marks an overturn of Google’s priorities as well as the whole online experience–from “answers to journeys, from queries to the queryless, and from the text-based to the visually-inspiring.”

As such, companies can benefit from having Discovery campaigns in their repertoire with advantages such as these:

Driving conversions at scale:

Through Discovery ads, you can improve different aspects of your marketing plans–whether that’s raising your sales, increasing your newsletter subscriptions, or driving more people to your website. This flexibility allows you to focus on what you want to improve and achieve in any particular part of the marketing funnel.

Visually rich ads:

The importance of eye-catching visuals is all the more important in today’s world. Since Discovery campaigns make use of AI, Google’s platform can figure out the best performing creative collateral among your channels and display that result in higher interest and consequently, conversions.

Proactively finding and reaching out to new customers:

People are constantly taking in online content more than ever, whether it’s through watching a How To Make A Cake video, deep-diving into the world of automobiles, or finding out the latest gadgets in the tech world. Through discovery campaigns, you can tap these individuals through YouTube Home, Watch Next feeds, Discover feed, and Gmail.

Reconnect with most valuable customers:

As mentioned before, discovery ads are shown at the most optimal time for users, based on their customer intent. This way, you’ll stick out in their minds, whether they make a purchase today or months from now.

Setting up your campaigns

Upon creating a new campaign, Google’s platform allows you to assign different marketing objectives such as ‘Sales’, ‘Leads’, ‘Website traffic’, or ‘No goal’. After that, you would need to choose a discovery campaign type as well as input your target’s geographic and language preferences. This allows for further personalization of your ads.

There are a few ways to optimize your discovery campaigns. One of the simplest and most effective ways is to tweak your custom intent audiences. Besides that, find the most optimal bidding strategy and set your average daily budget.

To learn more about other channels for online advertising, head over to our Education Center where we have articles on topics like SEM, CRO, YouTube ads to social media display ads, remarketing, and many more.