If your search ads have hit a ceiling and your cost per conversion keeps creeping up, chances are your keywords are fine and the real problem is how many people still do not know your business exists. This is where Demand Gen comes in. This Google Ads campaign format is designed to create new demand, where Search harvests the demand that already exists. In 2026, Demand Gen has become one of the fastest-growing campaign types among Indonesian advertisers.
This article explains what Demand Gen campaigns are, why the format matters for small businesses, and seven concrete strategies you can put into action this week.
What are Demand Gen campaigns and why do they matter in 2026?
Demand Gen is a Google Ads campaign type that shows visual ads on YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Discover and Gmail. Search waits for people to type a query; this campaign type goes out and finds potential customers based on their interests and behaviour. It replaces the old Discovery Ads, with far more mature creative controls and reporting.
The market context supports it, too. According to an APJII survey released in May 2026, Indonesia has 235.26 million internet users, a penetration rate of 81.72 percent, and 84.31 percent of them go online through a smartphone for 4-6 hours a day. Your audience is scrolling every day, and Demand Gen is a way to be there.
The performance figures are also interesting. Research from Google Ads & Commerce (February 2026) states that advertisers who apply at least three of the four best practices gain on average more than 40 percent additional conversions.
How it differs from Performance Max and Search
Search captures intent that is already mature. Performance Max sweeps across all of Google's inventory at once. Demand Gen sits in between: it focuses on the awareness and consideration stages, with strong visual creative. Many agencies suggest allocating 10-20 percent of your initial budget to this format, then increasing it once the ROI is proven.
7 Demand Gen strategies proven to lift conversions
1. Build your data foundations first
Without clean conversion signals, Google's machine learning is left guessing. Install the Google Tag, turn on enhanced conversions, and make sure every purchase or form submission is tracked. Businesses with tidy data almost always win the same auctions at a lower cost. If you are still unsure where to start, learn the basics of measuring digital performance before you raise your budget.
2. Start with high-quality lookalike audiences
Upload a list of your best customers, meaning the ones with the highest spend rather than every buyer. Build lookalike segments from there. Demand Gen works best when you give it examples of your ideal customer; targeting that is too broad holds it back.
3. Prioritise short vertical video
Shorts is the growth engine of this format. Prepare videos of 6-15 seconds in a 9:16 ratio, with the main message in the first three seconds. Include static image versions in 1:1 and 1.91:1 as well, so your ads can still serve on Discover and Gmail.
4. Provide at least 5 creative variations
A single ad quickly bores your audience. Rotating five or more variations gives the algorithm room to experiment. Replace any creative whose performance drops every two to three weeks.
5. Choose a bidding strategy that matches your goal
In the early phase, use Maximize Clicks so the system can gather data quickly. Once you have at least 30-50 conversions a month, switch to Maximize Conversions or target ROAS. Do not change your bidding every few days: allow a learning period of around two weeks.
6. Send traffic to a landing page that is ready for it
Traffic from this campaign type is generally colder than Search traffic, so the destination page needs to be convincing and lightweight at the same time. A slow page wastes your ad budget. Before you raise your budget, make sure your page structure is tidy and it loads in under three seconds.
7. Measure incrementality as well as last click
Visual ads like these often influence purchases that happen later through other channels, so those sales never show up in last-click reports. So judge performance with brand lift studies or geo tests, and do not rely on last-click reports alone.
A simple Demand Gen campaign structure for small businesses
Many business owners set up ten ad groups at once and then struggle to read the results. The easiest structure to manage is a very simple one. Start with one campaign containing at most three ad groups: one for lookalike audiences built from your customer list, one for interest audiences relevant to your product, and one for website visitors who have not yet bought.
Then give each ad group creative in a genuinely different style, for example one product demo video, one customer testimonial and one promotional offer. That way you can see which message really lands, rather than just which button colour wins. Every two weeks, pause the worst-performing group and move its budget to the winner.
Also remember to split your reporting by device. In Indonesia, most impressions come from mobile phones, so it is normal for desktop performance to look different. What matters is that your decisions rest on enough data, never on a passing hunch. As a rule of thumb, wait for at least 1,000 impressions per ad group before drawing any conclusions about your creative.
Finally, document every change you make in a simple log: the date, what changed and why. This small habit helps a great deal when you want to repeat a success three months later, or when you hand ad management over to another team.
Common mistakes that drain your budget
The first mistake is using the same cost targets as your Search campaigns. It is normal for this campaign type to have a higher cost per conversion at first, because the audience does not know your brand yet. The second is a daily budget that is too small: below Rp 150,000 a day, the system struggles to get out of the learning phase. The third is switching the campaign off after five days; give it at least three to four weeks before you judge it.
One last frequent mistake is neglecting brand assets. A blurry logo, tiny text or video without captions means people scroll straight past your ad. In a visual format like this, the quality of your creative carries a lot of weight in the results.
When should you start?
If your Search campaigns are stable but conversion volume has plateaued, that is a clear signal to try Demand Gen. The same applies if you are launching a new product that does not yet have any search volume. If your conversion tracking is still a mess, on the other hand, fix those foundations first.
Putting together the right campaign structure, vertical creative and measurement does take time. The Webzoo team helps businesses in Bekasi and Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) design Demand Gen campaigns from scratch, from a tracking audit and creative production to monthly optimisation. Let's start with an informal chat about your goals and budget, then map out the plan together. With the right preparation, Demand Gen can become a new source of growth for your business in 2026.
