The Shift from YouTube Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen in DV360: A Guide to the Upcoming Changes

If you’re currently managing YouTube Video Action Campaigns within Display & Video 360 (DV360), there’s a significant update on the horizon that you’ll need to prepare for. Started in October 2024, Demand Gen campaigns will become a core feature of DV360. This transition will expand your campaign capabilities, offering enhanced reach, new creative formats, and advanced audience targeting 

In this article, we’ll break down what this shift means, how it impacts your current campaigns, and the steps you can take to get ready for the change. 

What is Demand Gen in DV360? 

Demand Gen is a versatile campaign format designed to drive conversions through dynamic multi-format creative storytelling. With Demand Gen, you can now run both video and image ads within the same campaign line item. This brings more flexibility to your advertising efforts, enabling you to streamline workflows and craft more cohesive brand narratives. 

Key Advantages of Demand Gen: 

1. Broader Reach:
   Engage with up to 3 billion monthly active users across Google’s vast ecosystem, including YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and other Google platforms. Unlike traditional YouTube Video Action Campaigns, you won’t be restricted to just YouTube for video placements. 
2. Multi-Format Creativity:
   Demand Gen allows you to combine video and image creatives in a single campaign, simplifying management while ensuring that all your assets work seamlessly together to convey a unified brand story. 
3. Advanced Audience Targeting:
   Leverage lookalike audiences to reach users who exhibit behaviors and interests similar to your existing customers. This feature is perfect for finding new potential customers who are most likely to engage with your brand. 

These capabilities make Demand Gen a powerful tool for marketers seeking to amplify their reach and drive higher conversion rates. In fact, according to internal Google data, campaigns that utilized both video and image assets experienced a 20% boost in conversions at the same cost per action when compared to campaigns that used video alone. 

The Transition from YouTube Video Action Campaigns 

Currently, many advertisers use YouTube Video Action Campaigns (VACs) to drive conversions within YouTube and its partner platforms. However, starting in 2025, YouTube Video Action Campaigns will transition into Demand Gen line items. Here’s what you need to know about the shift: 

Key Changes: 

• New Campaign Types:
  From March 2025 onwards, new YouTube Video Action Campaigns will no longer be supported in DV360. Instead, you will need to create Demand Gen campaigns. 

• Existing Campaigns:
  While your existing YouTube Video Action Campaigns will continue to run, transitioning to Demand Gen should be a priority. Familiarizing yourself with Demand Gen now will ensure a smooth transition and allow you to take full advantage of the new features before the change is mandatory. 

Though many of the functionalities from YouTube Video Action Campaigns, such as Floodlight optimization and third-party brand safety verification, will be preserved, it’s crucial to adapt to the new Demand Gen setup sooner rather than later. The earlier you start, the easier the transition will be. 

Maximizing the Impact of Demand Gen Campaigns in DV360: How mFilterIt can help advertisers 

The shift to Demand Gen campaigns within DV360 offers a significant opportunity for mFilterIt to enhance its pitch to advertisers, especially in terms of driving performance while ensuring brand safety and optimization. Here’s how mFilterIt can help brand capitalize on the new features of Demand Gen campaigns to offer valuable benefits to advertisers:

1. Enhanced Brand Safety & Ad Verification: With the expanded reach of Demand Gen campaigns, ensure that your ads are placed in safe, brand-compliant environments across YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and more, using mFilterIt’s robust ad verification and brand safety solution. 
2. Advanced Audience Targeting and Optimization: Leverage mFilterIt’s audience optimization features alongside Demand Gen’s lookalike audience capabilities, ensuring you’re reaching the most relevant customers with the highest likelihood of conversion. 
3. Cross-Platform and Multi-Format Campaigns: Simplify your cross-platform, multi-format campaigns with mFilterIt’s real-time reporting and optimization tools, ensuring both video and image creatives perform to their fullest potential. 
4. Conversion Tracking and Floodlight Integration : Use mFilterIt’s integration with Floodlight to gain deeper insights into your Demand Gen campaign performance, ensuring you’re driving more conversions and optimizing your ROI. 
5. Transparency & Reporting : Get complete transparency into the performance of your Demand Gen campaigns across all formats and platforms with mFilterIt’s comprehensive reporting tools, empowering you to make informed decisions. 
6. Improved Efficiency with Automated Brand Safety Checks : Streamline your workflow and ensure continuous brand safety across all your multi-format Demand Gen campaigns with mFilterIt’s automated monitoring and real-time protection.  

Conclusion: 

With the introduction of Demand Gen campaigns in DV360, advertisers have a unique opportunity to expand their reach and connect with the right target audience. Clubbing this new feature mFilterIt has a unique opportunity to position itself as a crucial partner for advertisers. By offering robust brand safety, performance optimization, advanced audience targeting, and transparent reporting, mFilterIt can help advertisers navigate the complexities of multi-format campaigns and make the most of their expanded reach across Google’s ecosystem. This comprehensive approach can boost both the effectiveness and security of Demand Gen campaigns, ultimately driving better results for advertisers.