Choosing a marketing objective

This article applies to the previous AdWords experience. Determine which AdWords experience you’re using. If you’re using the new AdWords experience, read About goals in the new AdWords experience.

When you create a Display Network campaign, you have many features to choose from and it's natural to feel overwhelmed by the options. Marketing objectives ease your decision-making by guiding you to the specific features designed to work best for a particular goal. Think of them as guideposts that help you create your campaign more efficiently and effectively.

There are three types of marketing objectives:

  • Build awareness
  • Influence consideration
  • Drive action

To get started, identify your marketing objective for the campaign you're building and then select one or more sub-options. For example, you might identify the objective "Drive action" and then select "Call your business." As you set up your campaign, you'll see features like call extensions that are suited to this objective.

What's changing?

How you set up your campaign. Instead of seeing all features, you'll see features designed for your marketing objective.

What's not changing?

How your campaign works. In particular, these areas aren't changing:

  • Feature availability. Don't see a favorite feature? Find it by clicking "Show additional options."
  • Performance. Features perform the same way as before.
  • Reporting. Charts and tables remain the same.
  • Your control. You can change your marketing objective at any time.

Compare marketing objectives

Marketing objective When to use it Types of features
Build awareness
  • Starting a new business or product
  • Expanding your business into a new area
  • Introducing customers to what you offer
Features that help you reach a broad consumer audience and maximize your exposure, such as demographic targeting, affinity audience targeting, and viewable CPM bidding.
Influence consideration
  • Selling a product that requires that you educate your customer
  • Selling a product you want to differentiate from what similar advertisers offer
  • Encouraging customers to explore what you offer
Features that help researching customers find potential product options, such as in-market audience targeting and engagement ads.
Drive action
  • Finding customers very close to making a purchase decision, for example those who have completed a contact form or downloaded a whitepaper
  • Selling an established product or service
  • Closing a sale or conversion with customers who are ready to act
Features that start the purchasing or conversion process, such as remarketing and Conversion Optimizer bidding.

Select a marketing objective

  1. Sign in to your AdWords account at
  2. Click the + Campaign button on the Campaigns tab.
  3. From the drop-down menu, select Display Network only.
  5. Select the campaign subtype Marketing objectives.
  6. Choose a marketing objective and pick one or more sub-options. You'll see features specific to the marketing objective you chose.

Use remarketing with any marketing objective

  1. Choose your campaign settings.
  2. Select the Interest & Remarketing option when you create your first ad group.
  3. Click the Select category drop-down menu and select Remarketing lists.
  4. (Optional) Check the box next to "Use dynamic remarketing ads."
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