Activation: Creating Custom Campaign in Digital Advertising

Campaign name

Enter a name for the campaign. This name is used internally and also appears in some reporting inside the Google and Facebook ad platforms.

Schedule & budget

• Start date — the date the campaign begins. A start date next month is available only if a budget schedule is already in place for the account. Once the campaign has started, its start date can't be changed.
• End date (optional) — turn on Set end date to choose one. With no end date, the campaign runs until it's manually paused.
• Current month budget — the campaign's budget for the current calendar month. The budget amount recurs monthly.
• Next month budget — appears when the account already has a budget schedule for next month. Either enter a next-month budget or set an end date within the current month.

• Minimum — $200.
• Maximum — the remaining, unallocated budget on the Digital Advertising account. The allowed range is displayed under the budget fields.
• If the remaining Digital Advertising budget is below $200, a message explains that the budget must be increased before the campaign can be created.
• When editing a running campaign, the budget can't be set below the amount the campaign has already spent, and the step displays an ACTIVE CAMPAIGN tag.

The campaign budget comes out of the main Digital Advertising budget, separate from any specific Objective or Channel allocations on the account. Custom Campaigns has its own dedicated Objective, visible as Custom Campaigns in the Objective list on the Budget Settings page. A Channel allocation that doesn't specify an Objective does not include Custom Campaigns spend.

Campaign goal

The goal determines how the campaign is optimized:

Learn more about optimization strategy:

• Digital Advertising Optimization Strategy Settings
• DigAd Strategic Account Setup: Conversion Optimization Strategy Explained

This step sets who sees the campaign, where, and on which channels. It also sets whether the campaign's inventory is held off the regular budget.

Audience

Select one of the account's saved Fullpath audiences from the Audience dropdown. An audience is required. The dropdown shows each audience's shopper count, and Show Audience Details displays the selected audience's size and filters.

When the campaign is started from the Audiences tab, the audience is already selected and can't be changed. The audience also can't be changed after the campaign is saved.

Locations

• Use account default locations — the campaign uses the account's existing location targeting.
• Custom locations — enter ZIP codes (separated by commas) and/or a radius around the dealership between 15 and 50 miles. ZIP codes are automatically converted into lat/long points to comply with Google's and Meta's specifications.

Channels

Select one or more of the following channels:

• Google Search
• Google Display
• Google Performance Max – Non-VLAs
• Social – Facebook & Instagram — Meta ad placements on Facebook and Instagram.

Alternatively, select Google Performance Max – VLAs only on its own.

Google modes

For each Google channel selected, choose how the audience is used in the campaign:

• Observation Mode (Recommended) — ads are shown to the targeted audience while also including a broader audience. Use case: when the goal is to understand how different audience segments perform, even without strictly targeting them.
• Targeting Mode — ads are shown exclusively to the targeted audience. Use case: when the target audience is well understood and the goal is to maximize ad effectiveness for that group.

Social modes

When Social is selected, choose Conquest Mode, Targeting Mode, or Additional Social Targeting Options:

• Conquest Mode (Recommended) — shows ads to the wider Facebook audience without targeting a specific segment, reaching a more general audience, including those outside the typical customer base. Use case: when the goal is to increase brand visibility, explore new markets, or test new audiences.
• Targeting Mode — shows ads exclusively to the targeted audience. Use case: when there is a clear understanding of the ideal customer and the goal is to maximize campaign effectiveness.
• Additional Social Targeting Options — Look-a-Likes and/or Interests targeting:
  • Look-a-Likes find new users similar to the best existing customers (by behavior, interests, demographics), using machine learning from the dealership's data for broader reach. Best for: scaling campaigns, finding new customers, expanding reach efficiently, leveraging existing data.
  • Interests reach people based on specific interests, liked pages, or activities they have engaged with. Search the interests list and click Add for each interest to target, or click Download list of all interests to review the full list. It is more manual. Best for: niche audiences, testing new audience hypotheses, early-stage campaigns.

The key distinction is data vs. declaration: Look-a-Likes use the dealership's data (what people do); Interests use declared interests (what people say they like). Look-a-Likes often outperform Interests for scale and relevance, though a mix can be effective.

Destination URL verification

The Destination URL is the landing page of the ad. In accordance with Facebook requirements, landing pages used in Look-a-Likes and Interests campaigns may not contain any financing-related information or content. Enter the URL and click Verify URL. The verification returns one of the following results:

This evaluation is AI-based and may occasionally produce errors. If a URL without financing-related content is mistakenly rejected, contact AOT to request an override.

Inventory Exclusion

• This setting determines whether the inventory the campaign focuses on is held off the dealership's regular advertising budget while the Custom Campaign runs.
• Excluding the inventory prevents the same vehicles from being advertised by both the regular budget and the Custom Campaign at the same time (it essentially pauses the relevant regular ads from within Digital Advertising).
• It identifies inventory to set aside — it does not promote the inventory on the regular budget.
• Inventory Exclusion is not shown when Google Performance Max – VLAs only is selected.

Would you like to exclude the inventory this campaign focuses on?

• No, run simultaneously — regular-budget system ads for the selected inventory continue to run in parallel with the Custom Campaign.
• Yes, exclude — while this Custom Campaign is active, the selected inventory is held off every other campaign on the account — including the System-generated New Inventory and Used Inventory objective campaigns, Boosted campaigns, Shared Audience campaigns, and vehicle-set custom campaigns. There are currently no exceptions to this exclusion. Regular-budget promotion of that inventory resumes automatically when the Custom Campaign deactivates or passes its end date.

Which inventory should be excluded?

Be as specific as possible — broad exclusions may reduce campaign performance. Define the inventory segment using the following fields:

Create the ads for the campaign. Headlines and descriptions are A/B tested within the relevant platforms and channels. The fields shown depend on the channels selected.

• Generate ad copy and keywords with OMNI — describe what's being advertised, the main goal, key selling points, and preferred tone, then click Generate to fill in the fields. To keep the generated content compliant, avoid specific prices or claims, as they're highly regulated by FTC and state laws.
• Headlines and descriptions — expand each section (for example, Medium Headline, Long Headline, Short Headline, Medium Description, Short Description) to add or edit entries. Each section shows how many entries to add and the character limit. Short headlines and descriptions can't repeat the medium ones.
• Link — the destination users are directed to when they click the ad. URLs should start with https://.
• Keywords — shown when Google Search is selected. Enter keywords separated by commas; a minimum of at least three is recommended.

Keyword strategy — Broad Match: ads may show on searches related to the keyword, which can include searches that do not contain the direct meaning of the keywords.

FTC Compliance Checker

• Whether ad copy is AI-generated or written from scratch, Dealers can run it through an FTC compliance check by clicking Review Compliance at the bottom of the Creatives step.
• The checker flags language that may raise Section 5 concerns (for example, pricing or offer claims that aren't fully disclosed).
• The checker also shows the relevant severity for each flag.

Running the check is optional — Dealers can review the results and continue to the next step whether or not any flags are resolved.

The Media step appears when the campaign includes any channel other than Google Search. The top of the step shows the channels the media will run on.

• Images and logos — drop JPG or PNG files into the upload area or click Browse Files.
• Requirements panel — lists the image and logo formats for the selected channels, with the recommended pixel dimensions, how many of each have been added, and whether each format is Required or Recommended.
• Add video by link — paste a YouTube video URL and click Add.

• Carefully review all inputs to ensure accuracy before launching the campaign live. Use Back to return to any step and make changes.
• After launch, the flow returns to the Custom Campaigns page, where the new campaign appears in the list.
• The Dealer is responsible for ensuring that a Custom Campaign's spelling, syntax, verbiage, offers, and formatting are correct and OEM compliant.