After a display campaign launch, they will often burst in an erratic serving pattern during the first 2 or 3 days after launch. This varies by ad platform and campaign design. Average-size display campaigns usually developing a consistent serving pattern within a few days of launch.
Once a display campaign stabilizes, we look for major issues such as a single targeting method or ad group consuming excessive ad spend. We monitor the audiences that pull the campaign into auctions.
Typically we make a series of corrective adjustments across our display campaign post-launch checklists, dialing the campaign into the type of serving pattern, or “orbit” that we’re looking for.
Before conversions have occurred in sufficient quantities to use for optimization, display ad click-thru-rates (CTR’s) can serve as proxies for more important conversion-related KPI’s.
Conversion tracking is checked for functionality and accuracy. Geo-targeting is monitored for any anomalies, CPC’s and Quality Scores are checked for any out of line behavior, and the entire campaign is scanned for any error or warning indicators.
This post-launch optimization phase usually lasts 3 to 6 weeks, for an average scale display ad campaign. Coming out of this phase, the campaign has moved onto some form of automated bidding, and is reaching its highest levels of performance since launch.
