360 Ad Formats: How to Set Up & Run a DV360 Campaign 2025
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, Display & Video 360 (DV360) has emerged as a powerful platform for managing complex programmatic ad campaigns. As advertisers prepare for 2025, mastering the assortment of 360 Ad Formats within DV360 is critical for maximizing reach, engagement, and ROI. Whether you’re new to DV360 or aiming to refine your strategy, this guide will walk you through how to set up and run an effective campaign using the array of ad formats available in the platform.
What is DV360?
Display & Video 360, part of Google Marketing Platform, is an integrated tool that allows advertisers to plan, buy, and measure media across various channels, including display, video, audio, and native. It combines functionality from old-school DSPs with the tracking and audience insights of Google’s ecosystem, making it a go-to for enterprise marketers.
Understanding 360 Ad Formats
DV360 supports a wide variety of ad formats designed to cater to different marketing objectives and user behaviors. These formats include:
- Display Ads: Standard banner ads that appear across websites and mobile apps.
- Native Ads: Ads that blend in seamlessly with site content, increasing chances of engagement.
- Video Ads: Skippable or non-skippable ads shown within streaming content platforms like YouTube.
- Connected TV (CTV) Ads: Video ads streamed directly to internet-connected TVs.
- Audio Ads: Ads that stream on platforms like Spotify and podcasts.
- Rich Media Ads: Interactive ad units that support animations and engagements.
Choosing the right mix of ad formats depends on your advertising goals, creative assets, and your target audience’s behavior.
Setting Up a DV360 Campaign in 2025
DV360 campaigns are structured around 4 major levels: Partner, Advertiser, Campaign, and Insertion Order (IO)/Line Items. Here’s a breakdown of how to set things up efficiently:
1. Create a Partner and Advertiser
Start by establishing your Partner, which represents your organization. From there, create an Advertiser account under this umbrella for each distinct brand or product you manage.
2. Define Your Campaign Goals
Clearly identify whether your goal is awareness, consideration, or conversion. Your goals will influence everything from budget allocation to ad format selection.
3. Set Up Insertion Orders and Line Items
The Insertion Order (IO) controls your campaign budget, flight dates, and pacing, while Line Items define where, to whom, and how your ads are served. Make sure to:
- Choose your inventory sources (Google, curated, or private marketplace deals)
- Select targeting options (demographics, interests, geo, device types)
- Adjust bid strategies (fixed bid, CPA, or automated bidding)
4. Add Creative Assets
Upload your creatives in the appropriate formats. DV360 also provides access to the Creatives module, including dynamic ad creation tools that use feeds to personalize content based on user data.
5. Launch and Monitor
Once your campaign structure is in place, you can activate your IOs and line items. Use real-time reporting dashboards to monitor performance, optimize targeting, and make creative adjustments.
Pro Tips for Maximizing 360 Ad Performance
- Leverage Audience Insights: Use DV360’s audience demographic reports to refine your targeting strategy over time.
- A/B Test Creatives: Run multiple versions of your ads to determine what resonates best with each segment.
- Use Frequency Caps: Limit how often your ad is shown to the same user to avoid burnout and wasted spend.
- Integrate with Google Analytics 4: Combine campaign data with web analytics for end-to-end tracking.
- Try Out CTV and Audio: These emerging formats are gaining popularity and can offer less saturated advertising opportunities.
What’s New in DV360 for 2025?
Looking ahead, DV360 is introducing even more automation and AI to optimize bidding and targeting. Expect tighter integration with first-party data solutions in response to the decline of third-party cookies. In addition, DV360’s creative suite continues to evolve, allowing advertisers to build interactive, engaging creative assets directly within the platform.
If you haven’t yet explored new 360 ad formats like AR-enabled display ads or interactive shoppable video ads, 2025 is the year to experiment. These are immersive formats that provide high engagement and can be tracked through conversion APIs and custom pixels within DV360.
Final Thoughts
Setting up and managing a DV360 campaign requires a strategic blend of creative, data, and technology. By understanding the wide array of 360 Ad Formats and following a clear, results-driven setup process, you can harness the full power of DV360 to meet your marketing goals in 2025 and beyond.
