Edit a campaign by spreadsheet

Using a spreadsheet for bulk creation and assignment in Campaign Manager 360

You can use a spreadsheet to create new campaigns and make changes to existing campaigns in bulk more quickly than using the Campaign Manager 360 user interface. You can use a spreadsheet for:

• Editing (placements, ads, and tracking creatives)
• Creation (placements, ads and tracking creatives)
• Assignment (placements, ads and creatives)
• Unassignment (placements, ads and creatives)

Generating a spreadsheet

You begin the process of generating a spreadsheet by clicking the Export button within a Campaign. This opens the Export Sheet dialog from where you can select from a list of templates including:

• Summary
• Placements
• Ads
• Creatives
• Placements and Ads
• Ads and Creatives

Default spreadsheet templates include predefined columns whose appearance you can customize (reorder, remove or add new columns to) as required . You can also choose how filters should be applied to rows (active, inactive, all) in the exported spreadsheet. If you intend to reuse your spreadsheet, you can save it to create a custom template by assigning it a unique name. 

After you open the exported spreadsheet, place your mouse over a column heading to view an explanation of its purpose. Each row in the spreadsheet represents a placement or ad-creative or a combination of each, depending on the columns selected.

Managing saved templates

You can't rename or delete default templates but you can for custom templates. Note: If you delete a save template, it can't be restored.

Editing entities

You can make changes to campaigns already in Campaign Manager 360 (e.g. change the name of a placement or an ad) by editing the relevant fields in the spreadsheet.You can also edit assignments between entities in existing campaigns by including the relevant fields at the time of export.

Note: Where an ad entity is assigned to multiple placements, or where a creative is assigned to multiple ads, Campaign Manager 360 processes the data in the first row containing the instance of that entity (after the spreadsheet is imported). For this reason, it is recommended that you make edits to an entity in all rows where that entity appears in the spreadsheet.

Entity creation

The recommended way to create a new entity is to copy the data fields from the most recent row in the spreadsheet which contains that entity instance and then paste this data into an empty row (the creation row). You must then clear the id field from the creation row and then enter a new entity name. Campaign Manager interprets empty id fields in the spreadsheet as an instruction to create a new entity. If you do not change the entity name, then Campaign Manager will create a duplicate entity with the same name in your campaign.

The following examples show how to create different types of entities. Only the id and name fields for the entity being created are shown in these examples but you should copy all data fields from the most recent instance of these entities in the spreadsheet (e.g. copy placement data into the placement section of the creation row and copy ad data into the ad section of the creation row).

You can create:

• Placements
• Ads
• Tracking creatives

Entity assignment

This section covers:

• Assignment of existing entities
• Simultaneously creating and assigning new entities

Assigning existing entities

When evaluating a row of the spreadsheet, Campaign Manager 360 automatically assigns an ad to a placement in a row if the ad has not already been assigned to that placement. The same rule applies when assigning creatives to ads.

The following examples show how to perform different types of assignments. Only the id and name fields in the assignment row are shown in these examples but you should copy all data fields from the most recent instance of the entities you are assigning, into a new row (the assignment row), then make changes there. 

Requirements for identifiers

If you are assigning previously created placements, ads and creatives, you must use the 9-digit numeric id assigned to them by Campaign Manager 360. When simultaneously creating and assigning placements, ads and creatives, you must use a  placeholder id in order for Campaign Manager 360 to create an association between different rows in the spreadsheet. Placeholder ids must have at least one letter or punctuation mark but they cannot contain a solely numerical  value. E.g., "1044A'' and "Placement 1044" and "-1044" are all valid entries, but "1044" is not.  Once new placements, ads and tracking creatives are uploaded,  Campaign Manager 360 assigns them a 9-digit numeric id which must be used if subsequently referencing these entities. 

Importing your completed spreadsheet 

Once you have finished making changes you can upload them to Campaign Manager 360 by clicking Import then the Import Spreadsheet button. You can check the progress of ongoing uploads by clicking Sheet status. Once processed, you will receive an email notification and your new placements, ads and creatives will appear in the Campaign Manager 360 user interface. It is important to be aware that If you upload the same spreadsheet again without first deleting the information it contains, these will be duplicated in the user interface. To make further changes to the same campaign, you must first export a new spreadsheet then make your edits in the new file.

Tracking ads

You can now also use the spreadsheet set up trackers using a combination of tracking ads, tracking creatives, and placements. Campaign manager supports a variety of configurations ranging from simple to more advanced. The following  examples show how you can do this using  similar techniques to those shown previously.