Five minutes to read; the prerequisites can take days.
Madder picks the type from your brief. Leads: Search first, Performance Max once a conversion action has real counts. Sales: Performance Max with your product feed if Merchant Center is linked, otherwise Search. Installs: an App campaign, only after app conversion tracking exists. Every draft waits paused in Needs your call. Madder never drafts Smart campaigns.
Before you start#
- A Google Ads account registered in Madder.
- The Google tag installed and one primary conversion action for leads or sales (Conversion actions).
- For sales: a Google Merchant Center account with your products. For installs: the app live on Google Play or the App Store.
1. Smart campaigns — skip them#
Smart campaigns are Google's "efficient, easy solution for small businesses", built in Smart Mode with one landing page and a simplified dashboard. They hide keywords, bids and search terms — exactly what the agent needs to see. If you have one, pause it or leave it; Madder does not touch it.
2. Search — leads and sales#
Text ads on Google results for people already searching what you sell. Needs: the Google tag, one primary conversion action, a fast mobile landing page. Madder drafts it first for a lead goal because it converts from day one and its search terms teach the agent your customers' words.
3. Performance Max — sales, then leads#
One campaign across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps, driven by Google's bidding, allowed for the objectives Sales, Leads, Website traffic and Local store visits and promotions. Needs: conversion goals to bid on, plus text, images and videos. A Merchant Center feed is optional but turns it into a Shopping engine; a linked Business Profile enables store-visit goals. Madder adds it after your primary action has counted leads for two weeks — without history it spends on guesses.
4. Demand Gen — awareness with a lead follow-up#
Image and video ads across YouTube (including Shorts), Discover, Gmail, Maps and Display. Needs: landscape, portrait and square images or videos, and per Google, "set up conversion tracking on your website and make sure that the Google tag is working properly". Google recommends a budget at least 10× your target cost per lead. Madder proposes Demand Gen only when you supply video and the lead campaigns already pay off.
5. App campaigns — installs#
Promote an app across Search, Google Play, YouTube, Discover and Display. Needs: the app live on Google Play or the App Store, and app conversion tracking set up in Tools → App advertising hub → Conversion tracking setup (as of September 2026) through Firebase, Google Play, or an app attribution partner (AppsFlyer, Adjust and similar); Android also needs Google Play Console ownership. Subtypes: installs, engagement, pre-registration. Madder drafts installs only.
If it doesn't work#
- Madder drafted Search, you wanted Performance Max — the conversion action has no counts yet; approve Search, wait for leads, ask again.
- Performance Max shows no products — Merchant Center is not linked under Tools → Data manager → Connected products, or the feed is disapproved.
- App campaign refuses to save — no app conversion action exists; finish the App advertising hub setup first.
- Demand Gen rejects your assets — wrong ratios; Google needs 1.91:1, 4:5 and 1:1 images.
- Everything stays "Paused" — Madder's default; approve in Needs your call.