Why Your DV360 Campaigns Aren’t Spending and How to Fix It

If you’ve ever launched a campaign in DV360 only to find that it isn’t spending, you’re not alone. This is a common issue that many advertisers face, often leaving them puzzled about what went wrong. Fortunately, there are specific reasons why this might happen, and understanding these can help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue effectively.

Understanding the Problem

Imagine this scenario: you’ve set up a campaign with carefully chosen Line Items (LIs) and a well-defined audience. Everything seems perfect, but when you check back, the campaign isn’t spending as expected. This situation can be frustrating, especially when you have high expectations for your campaign’s performance.

The main reasons why a DV360 campaign might not spend typically revolve around targeting settings, audience size, and inventory availability. Let’s delve into these areas to understand how they can impact your campaign.

1. Targeting Restrictions

One of the most common culprits behind a non-spending campaign is overly restrictive targeting. If your Line Items are targeting a very narrow audience or if there are strict viewability filters applied, the system might struggle to find users who match all your criteria.

Solution:

• Broaden Your Targeting: Review the targeting parameters you’ve set. If you’re using a high viewability filter, consider lowering it to the minimum acceptable level or removing it altogether. This will increase the pool of users who may see your ads.
• Enable Optimized Targeting: This feature allows DV360 to automatically expand your targeting based on where your ads are most likely to perform well, increasing the chances of your campaign spending.

2. Small Audience Size

Another issue that can cause a campaign to underperform is a small audience size. If the audience size is too small, DV360 may have difficulty finding enough users who meet your criteria, which can significantly reduce ad impressions.

Solution:

• Increase Audience Size: Try to expand your audience by including more segments or broader demographic criteria. You can also consider adding similar audiences or using first-party data to target a larger pool of users.

3. Creative Rejections

Sometimes, even if your targeting is broad enough, your campaign might still not spend due to creative rejections. Certain ad exchanges may reject your creatives based on their policies, which can limit the inventory available for your ads.

Solution:

• Appeal or Adjust Creatives: If you notice that your creatives are being rejected, reach out to the ad exchange for clarification and, if possible, appeal the decision. Alternatively, consider adjusting your creatives to meet the exchange’s requirements.

How to Prevent This in the Future

To avoid running into these issues in future campaigns, consider these best practices:

1. Regularly Review Targeting Settings: Ensure your targeting settings are not too restrictive. A balanced approach can prevent your campaign from being too niche, which often leads to limited spending.
2. Test with Broader Audiences: Before narrowing down your audience, run initial tests with broader targeting to identify what works best. This approach can help you understand your potential reach before you refine your audience.
3. Monitor Creative Approvals: Keep an eye on the approval status of your creatives across different ad exchanges. Address any rejections promptly to ensure your campaign can access all available inventory.

If you want to boost your productivity and have a marketing ad copilot, we recommend checking out our Chrome Extension, AdsCopilot. It provides a digital ads assistant 24/7 to help you with tasks like this and much more.