How to use your Custom Creative Templates and Native formats for Google Ad Manager?

Challenge

Do you want to use the ADvendio Creative Upload feature and are planning to use your own Custom Templates Formats, which you have configured in Google AdManager? Or do you want to use Native Creatives and are wondering how to set them up in ADvendio?

Solution

In order to set up 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, and which Creative Templates 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 GAM. Some of the templates in ADvendio will refer to a Creative Template in GAM.

Underneath each Ad Creative Template in ADvendio, there are Template Variables, which can configure which fields are visible in the Creative Upload Screen.

1. Import your Custom Creative Templates and Natives into ADvendio

2. Enhance your Templates in ADvendio for detailed configuration and to cover specific cases (*see list of limitations below)

3. Connect Ad Creative Templates to Ad Types in ADvendio, to make them available to your Users

Import your templates from your Google AdManager Network

You can now import templates from your Google AdManager network into ADvendio. With this enhancement, you have ready-to-use templates already created at the click of a button.

In order to access this feature, you will need to go to your Google AdManager Connection record in ADvendio and select ‘Transfer to ADvendio’.

Open

Within the window that opens, you will need to select Creative Templates and then select the option ‘Creative Custom Template’ to import your Custom Creative Templates and Native Templates from Google AdManager!

Open

Once the import is done, you receive ready-to-use templates, which contain all the required technical information for ADvendio. You can then proceed to further customize them to your needs, for example by adding additional help texts to the variables (see mapping section below).

What happens if there is an error during the import?

After the import process from the AdServer finished, you will receive a result email. This will also provide you an overview of problems during the import process. Some of the more common issues can be:

• Non working / invalid credentials for your connection

• Missing Permissions on your Third Party Platform User

• Salesforce Problems, when uploading data, such as no editing permissions on the required fields and objects, storage limitations or custom validations

• If a Creative Template can not be created by the ADvendio import process, all related variables will also fail, with an error message that ‘ADvendio__UniqueKeyExt__c was not specified’

Manually create Templates or modify imported templates

Instead of importing you can also manually create the templates for yourself. Also, you can modify each of the imported templates to cover your specific needs. This might be especially relevant when looking at the template variables.

This is how an example of a Custom Template format from Google AdManager looks:

1. 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

2. Connection: Please link to the connection record, which represents your GAM network

3. Creative Type: Please set this to ‘Google Custom Template’

4. Template ID: Please enter the ID that this template has in your Google AdManager network

5. External Status: Currently not used

6. Active: Please set your template to “Active” (tick the box), otherwise it will not be available during the creative upload process

Manually 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 GAM banner.

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. Each Variable record you create will then be its 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 to 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 default value to support the user in the selection.

• Help Text: A possible help text which will soon be shown in the UI.

Important Variables for the Creative Upload

The AdCreativeVariables are depending on what is configured in your Google AdManager, so those are automatically generated by the import process. However, there are some Variables for specific settings, which are always generated:

*Please note, that ADvendio currently requires exactly the values as listed here to be set, otherwise the creative upload will end in an error message.

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: https://advendio.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SO/pages/2829713409

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 select the Ad Type you can either press the “Save” button if you just want to assign one Ad Type. If you would like to assign multiple Ad Types you can also press the “Save & New” button.

*What are the current limits for Custom Creative Templates & Natives for Google AdManager?

The template status is not saved to ADvendio

Right now we’re not saving status information on Custom Creative Templates. That means if you have inactive templates in your Google AdManager Network, they will be imported as well, so we recommend checking which templates you are planning to use.

List Type Variables

In Google AdManager, there are “List” type variables, these usually have a fixed set of values to choose from, and users are not able to enter whatever they want.

With the current import, this is not yet supported, meaning we will import those fields from Google AdManager as regular string variables, so users can enter any text. You have however the possibility to modify these Variables in ADvendio. To do so, simply change the field ‘Variable Type’ to ‘picklist’ and enter the list of choices into the field ‘Possible Values’ as a ‘;' separated list. For Example: 'top;middle;bottom’

Out-Of-Page and Native format settings

Native formats or out-of-page creatives require some specific settings. You can see in the Google AdManager UI if your template is used for out-of-page creatives. When using such templates, please make sure that you set the ‘TargetSize’ Variable to 1x1, regardless of the actual size of your creative file. This setting is required by Google AdManager. We recommend using this as a default value, to be set up in your AdCreativeTemplate Variables.

Customer Creative Templates Require Unique File Names for each Advertiser

Creative Upload Error: An error has occurred when sending Creative to GAM: [AssetError.NON_UNIQUE_NAME @ [0].variable.ImageFile; trigger:'640x480.png']

In such a case, usually, it is enough to rename the image file used and upload it again via the ADvendio Creative Upload. Once the change is done, you can click ‘Submit to External System’ to update your booking in Google AdManager.