Challenge
You are planning to use the ADvendio Creative Upload features to manage your creatives in ADvendio and upload them directly to your Xandr network. Now you are wondering:
Which creative types and features are already supported?
Which steps are needed to set up and configure the creative upload feature for Xandr
Can ADvendio handle custom templates and custom macros? And how to configure this?
Solution
In order to setup the Creative Upload in ADvendio, there are so called Ad Creative Templates required. Those templates control, which fields and settings will be available in the Creative Upload UI and thus which information your Sales Reps will be able to see. Additionally you can determine for which Campaign Items, which Creative Template are available. This helps you for example to make sure to only use video creatives for your video Campaign Items and similar.
Also the templates will help to define which information is sent to which fields in Xandr. Each template in ADvendio will refer to a Creative Template in Xandr.
Underneath the each Ad Creative Template in ADvendio there are Template Variables, those can configure which fields are visible in the Creative Upload Screen, but also which settings or custom macros to use in Xandr.
Here is an overview about the data model and what it means:
ADvendio Object | Xandr |
|---|---|
Ad Creative | The actual creative that will be uploaded to an advertiser in Xandr and will later be assigned to a line item |
Campaign Item | represents the Line Item in Xandr |
Creative Assignments | ADvendio assigns Creatives to Line Items in Xandr based on the Creative Assignment object in ADvendio. |
Ad Creative Template | The Xandr Creative Template to use |
Ad Creative Template Variable | The fixed settings and fields required for Xandr Creatives, more information can be seen below |
Ad Creative Template Variable | Xandr Custom Macros from your template |
To start configuring your ADvendio Org for the creative upload to Xandr, you need to follow these steps:
Create Ad Creative Templates in ADvendio
Configure your Ad Creative Template Variables for each template based on your Xandr Settings
Connect Ad Creative Templates to Ad Types in ADvendio, to make them available to your Users
Which Features and Creative formats are currently supported for Xandr?
The following Creative formats are currently supported by ADvendio:
All image related formats
Banners
Interstitials
High Impact
Expendable
For the first version ADvendio only supports uploading actual image files to Xandr, the support of URLs to externally stored images as well as other formats will be supported soon.
The following features are currently supported:
Custom Creative Templates (as long as they are using the supported formats)
Custom Macros
Create an Ad Creative Templates in ADvendio
You start of by creating your Ad Creative Template in ADvendio, this will help you to configure the types of creatives you want to manage from ADvendio.
To use this for Xandr, you need to know the Xandr template IDs, so you can enter this information in ADvendio. To view the templates in Xandr, go to network → tools → Creative Templates
You see a list of all default templates from Xandr and your own custom templates. Relevant for ADvendio is the first column ID.
Let’s say we want to use the Standard Banner image template, which is default from Xandr. So we take the ID 4. Now we proceed to create an Ad Creative Template record in ADvendio, which could look like this:
Creative Template Name: You can pick any name that you like. This name will be shown to the user when uploading a new creative to ADvendio, so we recommend using something which is relatable for your users
Connection: Please link to the connection record, which represents your Xandr network
Creative Type: You can use this field to further classify
Template ID: please enter the Creative Template ID from Xandr, which you are planning to use. In our example it is '4'
External Status: Currently not used
Active: Please set your template to active, otherwise it will not be available during the creative upload process
Configure your Ad Creative Template Variables
Once the template is there, you will need to define which fields you want or need to use. In our example there are a few fixed variables we always need for the Xandr banner. Additionally you can add Custom Macros as Variables to ADvendio, so that they will be used during the Creative Upload.
To manage the variables of a template, you need to switch to the related tab in your Ad Creative Template record and view the related list ‘Ad Creative Template Variables’
Click the button new to create a new Variable. Depending on your creative format there are certain Variables which are always required. See also the section on the mapping below. Also you will need a Variable record for each Custom Macro of your template. Each Variable record you create will then be an own field in the Creative Upload window your user sees, so they can fill in the required information.
The fields mean the following:
Name: A general name for your variable. This will also be shown as Field Name to the user during creative upload process, so we recommend picking something your users can recognize.
Variable Type: Which data type is this variable? The selection will also reflect how your field will be shown for the users. Possible types are:
attachment: This type should be used for files.
boolean: This type represents a checkbox with true or false.
date: This type represents a date with a calendar selection.
integer: This type represents a whole number.
picklist: This type represents a list of multiple values.
string: This type represents a text.
textarea: This type represents a longer text.
attachmentURL: This type should be used for URLs to externally stored images.
Required: Check this if the field is required for the user.
Possible Values: Only applicable for picklist Variable Types to enter the possible values to be selected separated by a semicolon.
Variable ID: The Id to target the value to the external system (case-sensitive). Please check the table below for more information.
Default: A possible the default value to support the user in the selection.
Help Text: A possible help text which will soon be shown in the UI.
Mapping ADvendio Variables to Xandr
ADvendio Variable ID | Field to target | Relevant Variable Type | Possible Values | Max Length (characters) | Required | Relevant for Creative Formats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
File | The actual image file to upload | attachment |
|
|
| Banner - Image |
DestinationURL | Click URL where the ad leads | string |
|
|
| Banner - Image |
Width | the creative width | integer |
|
| Banner - Image | |
Height | the creative height | integer |
|
| Banner - Image | |
API Name of a Custom Macro | The Custom Macro | depending on the macro |
|
| All formats |
Connect your Template to Ad Types
Once the template is created with all its Ad Creative variables, you will need to define for which Ad Types you would like to assign this template. Without assigning the Templates to Ad Types you won’t be able to create new Creatives in the UI as described in: 4.12.3 How to manage Ad Materials (Creatives) for my campaigns? (BETA)
To connect the template to one or multiple Ad Types please go to the related lists of the Ad Creative Template record. For the related list “Assigned Ad Types“ you just need to hit the new button in order to select the relevant Ad Type for which this template and its variables should be usable. After you selected the Ad Type you can either hit the save button if you just want to assign one Ad Type. If you would like to assign multiple Ad Types you can also hit the Save & New button.
