Once your GA4 audiences are built and have sufficient user volume, you are ready to launch a campaign. This article covers choosing the right campaign type, preparing your creative assets, configuring the campaign in Google Ads, and importing conversions so Google can optimize toward bookings.

Prerequisites

Audiences created and sized. Your GA4 audiences must exist and have at least 100 active users in the 30 days prior to Display ads serving. Build retargeting audiences →
GA4 linked to Google Ads. The link must be active with Personalized Advertising enabled.
Creative assets ready. Prepare images, headlines, and descriptions before starting campaign setup. You cannot save a campaign without at least 1 ad.

Step 1: Choose your campaign type

For a first retargeting campaign, use Google Display with Responsive Display Ads. Google assembles ad combinations from your uploaded images, logos, headlines, and descriptions and shows them across millions of websites and apps.

Campaign type	What it does	When to use it
Google Display	Visual banner ads across the Google Display Network	Start here. Easiest to set up and fastest to prove message fit.
Demand Gen	Visual and video ads across YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Display	Expand to this once Display is working, and you have more creative assets.

Recommended order: Start with Display to prove your message works and get your first conversions. Expand to Demand Gen once you have more audience volume and a wider creative set.

Step 2: Prepare your assets

Prepare these assets before going into Google Ads. Having everything ready avoids interrupting campaign setup to find files. Keep in mind that the maximum file size per image is 5120 KB.

Asset type	Quantity	Recommended size
Horizontal image	3	1200 x 628 px (min 600 x 314)
Square image	3	1200 x 1200 px (min 300 x 300)
Logo	1	Square format recommended
Short headlines	5	Max 30 characters each
Long headline	1	Max 90 characters
Descriptions	3 to 5	Max 90 characters each
Final URL	1 per offer / landing page	Your booking page with UTM parameters. Generate UTM campaign links here: https://ga-dev-tools.google/campaign-url-builder.

Always use UTM parameters on your final URL. Without UTMs, you cannot see campaign traffic in GA4 separately from other sources. Use the Google Campaign URL Builder to generate tagged links before setting up your campaign.

If you later expand to Demand Gen, Google also supports:

Horizontal 1.91:1, recommended 1200 × 628
Square 1:1, recommended 1200 × 1200
Vertical 4:5, recommended 960 × 1200
Vertical 9:16, recommended 1080 × 1920 for Shorts-style placements

Messaging by audience

Match your ad copy to each audience's level of intent.

Audience	Example headlines and descriptions
`view_item` (no purchase)	"Still exploring coworking?" "See available spaces and book online" "Flexible workspace for teams and individuals"
`begin_checkout` (no purchase)	"Your workspace is still waiting" "Finish your booking in minutes" "Complete your booking today"
`generate_lead` (no purchase)	"Still interested in our space?" "Book a tour or check availability" "Let us help you find the right workspace"

Step 3: Create the campaign in Google Ads

Set up a new Display campaign targeting your retargeting audience.

Create the campaign

Go to Google Ads.
Click + New Campaign.
Choose a goal:
- Sales (if you track purchases)
- Leads (if you track form submissions)
- or Create a campaign without a goal (simplest option for a first campaign)
Select Display as the campaign type.
Click Continue.

Configure campaign settings

Enter a clear Campaign Name. Use a clear format so you can identify it later.
- "Retargeting - View Item - No Purchase"
- "Retargeting - Checkout - No Purchase"
Set Location to your city or region.
Set Language to your primary language plus any local languages your customers use.

Set bidding strategy

If you already have conversion data in Google Ads, select Maximize Conversions.
If this is a new account with no conversion history, select Maximize Clicks and switch to Maximize Conversions after your first 20 to 30 conversions.

Set your daily budget

Market size	Suggested daily budget	Notes
Small market	€5–€15/day	Single city, lower traffic volume
Medium market	€15–€30/day	Multiple locations or higher traffic

Do not split the budget across multiple campaigns at launch. Running 1 campaign with a focused budget gives Google's algorithm more data to learn from. Multiple small campaigns learn more slowly and produce weaker results.

Add your retargeting audience

This is the most important step:

In the Targeting section, find Audience Segments.
Click Browse > Your Data Segments.
Select your GA4 audience (for example, 'begin_checkout - no purchase').
Do not add any additional broad targeting. Target this audience only.

Do not add broad targeting alongside your retargeting audience. Adding interest-based or demographic targeting alongside your retargeting audience widens the reach beyond your intended audience. Keep it focused only on your GA4 segment.

Create your responsive display ad

Google will ask you to create an ad. You should:

Upload your images:
- 3 horizontal (1200x628)
- 3 square (1200x1200)
Upload your logo.
Add up to 5 short headlines, 1 long headline, and 3–5 descriptions.
Enter your final URL with UTM parameters.
Click Publish Campaign.

Step 4: Import GA4 Conversions into Google Ads

Importing conversions from GA4 tells Google Ads which actions to optimize toward. Without this, Google cannot learn which clicks lead to bookings.

Mark events as key events in GA4 first

In GA4, go to Admin > Data Display > Events.
Find purchase and generate_lead. Turn on Mark as Key Event for each.

Import conversions into Google Ads

In Google Ads, go to Tools and Settings > Measurement > Conversions.
Select + New Conversion Action > Import > Google Analytics 4 Properties.
Click Continue.
You’ll see a list of events from GA4. Select purchase and/or generate_lead.
Click Import and Continue.
Click Done.
Open each imported conversion and set Action Optimization to Primary Action Used for Bidding. This tells Google: “Optimize my campaigns for this action”.
Click Save.

Step 5: Launch the campaign

Once you are ready with the outlined steps, click Publish Campaign.

Best practices

Create 1 campaign per audience at launch. Do not mix view_item and begin_checkout audiences in the same campaign. Different audiences need different messages and budgets.
Use begin_checkout as your first campaign audience if it has enough users. It is your highest-intent audience. If it is too small, start with view_item and move to begin_checkout when it reaches the minimum size.
Let the campaign run for at least 7 days before making changes. Google's algorithm needs time to learn. Pausing or adjusting a campaign in the first 2 to 3 days resets the learning phase.
Do not use the same final URL for all audiences. A visitor who started checkout needs a different landing page message than someone who just viewed a resource. Match the URL and content to the audience's intent.

Frequently asked questions

My campaign is running, but I see zero impressions. What is wrong?

The most likely cause is that your audience is too small. Go to Google Ads > Tools and Settings > Audience Manager > Your Data Segments and check the audience size. If it shows fewer than 100 active users over the last 30 days, ads cannot be served yet. Switch to the view_item audience, which builds faster, while you wait for begin_checkout to reach minimum size.

Should I run both audiences in the same campaign or separate campaigns?

Separate campaigns. This gives you independent budget control, separate reporting, and the ability to pause one without affecting the other. It also lets you use different ad copy matched to each audience's intent level.

How much should I spend on a first campaign?

Start with the minimum amount of data that gives Google enough to learn. For most small markets, 5 to 15 euros per day is enough to generate impressions and early clicks within the first week. Increase the budget once you see consistent conversions.

Launch a Google Ads Retargeting Campaign for Your Storefront (Step 2)

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