Dynamic creatives with feeds
To preview and test dynamic creatives, you'll need:
- Access to the Dynamic Contenttab of Studio.
- Access to the Studio advertiser.
- Access to the feed.
If you're using scheduled feed uploads, please disable this feature during QA. Previews can't be accessed while the feed is being updated.
Review the checklist below, which is organized by dynamic strategy. If your creative doesn't use a certain strategy, skip that section and move to the next. After each question, common creative problems are listed. Click a problem to see the solution.
Open the feed to review what elements and content should appear in the creative. To make quick adjustments to the profile as you test, test your dynamic creative in Draft mode instead of Published mode. Learn how to test dynamic feeds
Are the dynamic elements in the feed displaying correctly in the creative?
If dynamic elements are empty, check your feed setup , then check the creative code to make sure the dynamic code for that element was inserted correctly. If the creative has a different problem, use the dynamic troubleshooting guide to find a solution.
Is any of the feed content displaying poorly in the creative?
Increase the size of the text field in the creative, or add custom code to scale down the font size based on the length of the dynamic text content.
If the creative includes geo-targeting , test with at least three different locations from the feed to see how the creative reacts. You should also check the default content to make sure the creative works properly when the viewer's location doesn't match a location in the feed.
Is the creative showing the correct content for each location?
The default column values are shown if you're testing a location that's not in the feed or isn’t available in the API.
For geo-targeted previews, you can test with an accurate location available in the feed or an abbreviated version. For example, for the canonical name London,England,United Kingdom
you can test with London
or London, United Kingdom
. Studio automatically resolves the abbreviation to a known location.
If the location is correct, make sure you're using the correct location format. Learn more from the Geographical Targeting API documentation .
If the creative includes Campaign Manager 360 ID filtering , test at least 3 different IDs from the feed, and make sure you have a default content column set.
Campaign Manager 360 ID filtering may include:
- Ad ID
- Advertiser ID
- Placement ID
- Site ID
- Campaign ID
- Creative ID
- Keyword
Is the creative showing the correct content for each Campaign Manager 360 ID?
If the creative is showing the default value when testing an ID that's in the feed, someone may have changed the IDs in the feed without retransforming the feed in the profile.
When using test IDs
It is possible to use test IDs for Campaign Manager 360 ID filtering that are not real IDs in Campaign Manager 360. These may work in the Dynamic Preview, however they won't work when the creative is live. Make sure that before setting the creative live that these test IDs are replaced with real IDs from the media agency's or client's Campaign Manager 360 account. Make sure to retransform the feed and republish the profile. Verify with the media agency or your client.
If the creative includes data passing , test at least 3 different values from the feed, and make sure you have a default content column set.
Data pass campaigns include all campaigns using the "Custom value" filtering option in Studio. The media agency should also test the behavior via the tag. Learn how to test live data pass tags
Is the creative showing the correct content for each data pass value?
The default value is shown if you are testing a data pass value that isn’t available in the feed. Make sure to have a default column set in your feed.
If your creative includes date or time-based elements (also known as start/end date flighting ), test at least three dates: beginning, middle, and end.
Is the creative showing the correct content for each date and time?
The default value is shown if the date and time used is not within the set range in the feed. If you didn't set a "Default" content column in the feed, it's a good idea to set one.
If the date is correct, make sure you're using the proper date format .
Dynamic remarketing campaigns include all campaigns using the "Remarketing value" filtering option in Studio that don't use Google Merchant Center feeds. For example, feeds that use spreadsheets, CSV files, or XML files as the content source.
If the creative includes Dynamic Remarketing with non-Google Merchant Center feeds, test at least three different values from the feed. When you input the sample value for the custom variable (from the feed) into the dynamic remarketing key value in Step 5: Previewand click Launch/update preview, the dynamic content from the feed for that row should appear on the creative.
If you're filtering on multiple custom variables and you're using "Prioritized Rules", make sure to input a value for each custom variable in Step 5: Preview.
The media agency should also test the behavior via the advertiser’s Floodlight tag on the live page using the Campaign Manager 360 serving tag. Learn how to test live remarketing tags
Is the creative showing the correct content for each custom variable set up in Studio?
The two most common problems are:
- The default is shown in the creative
Check if the value you're checking is in the feed and that Studio has the latest feed information. If you don’t have a default content column set in the feed, add one. - No row from the feed could be selected
If you have a creative gallery with multiple products and the quantity is set to to more than 1 in Step 2: Manage data:- Test with as many values in the preview you have set up the gallery.
OR - If you have prioritized rules set, test at least the last rule, if it's a rule that requires input.
- Test with as many values in the preview you have set up the gallery.
Dynamic remarketing with Google Merchant Center |
|---|
| If the creative includes dynamic remarketing with Google Merchant Center feeds, you won’t be able to test different values from the feed. Instead, test the creative using the live tag (see below) and use the dynamic preview in Studio to see if products populate in the creative. It's not possible to test Merchant Center creatives with actual values from the feed via the dynamic preview in Studio. Dynamic remarketing campaigns with Merchant Center feeds include all campaigns using the "Remarketing value" filtering option in Studio and using Merchant Center feed IDs as the content source. The media agency should also test the behavior via the advertiser’s Floodlight tag on the live page using the Campaign Manager 360 serving tag. Learn how to test live remarketing tags Is the creative showing the correct content for the custom variables set up in Studio? No content is showing for the Google Merchant Center remarketing creative.
Make sure the Merchant Center ID you connect to Studio contains valid product data and you have implemented the dynamic content code correctly. |
Echo remarketing |
|---|
| If the creative includes echo remarketing , test at least three different values that are available via the Floodlight cookie. Creative agencies should ask the Media Agency or client for sample values to test, or test with random values. Echo remarketing campaigns include all campaigns using the "Remarketing value" as the data type in the "Profile Fields" section in Studio. The media agency should also test the behavior via their Floodlight implementation and the Campaign Manager 360 tag. Learn how to test live remarketing tags Is the creative showing the correct content for each value you're testing with? The wrong content is showing for the remarketing creative.
The default content is shown if forbidden or invalid values are used. Test with both valid and invalid values to make sure the creative works correctly. |
Check if any reporting dimensions are set in the Reporting Dimensionsstep in Studio.
Are reporting dimensions set up correctly?
Not all campaigns use additional reporting dimensions. If you wish to use them and they aren't showing up, make sure the additional reporting dimensions have been added in Studio. It is best to speak with the media agency if additional reporting is required.
