Auto Templates

Auto Templates source make, model, trim, year, and many other data fields from site specific inventory feeds scraped daily. Auto Templates are by default processed daily, uploading new and/or edited structure directly to AdWords by Hoot.

Auto Template Breakdown

Template Information

Template Name	Template organizational naming within Hoot, does not effect campaign structure.
Account ID	The AdWords Customer ID for the dealer account the template is associated with. This field will be automatically populated when the dealer is selected.
Enable Email Notifications	Allows users to decide level of notifications received about changes made to the campaign by Hoot on a daily basis.
Active	Allows user to change the template status between active and inactive. Inactive templates will not be processed by default and therefore will not update the AdWords account. Users now have the option to choose what happens to an inactive campaign, No Action or Pause ALL associated Ads and Ad Groups.
Use custom source for vehicles	Enables user to use an alternate source for vehicle data feed rather than the default.

Filtering

Filter Groups allow the user to filter incoming feed data to match desired campaign output. The Preview button downloads a csv of the filtered feed for reference.

Most Common	Not Common	Not Recommended
Price	Doors	Make Count
Condition	Drivetrain	Model Count
Year	Color	Type Count
Make	Title	Year Count
Model	Image Type
Trim	Transmission
Mileage	URL
Model Count Condition	Vehicle Type
Type Count Condition	Fuel Type
Type	Description

Campaign Settings

Campaign Selection allows the user to choose the desired campaign “shell“ that they want the campaign structure built into daily by Hoot. As campaigns are added in the associated Adwords account, those campaigns will appear within the dropdown list. Negative keywords lists are able to be selected and applied to the campaign via the drop down.

Ad Group Naming

Ad Group Name	Dictates the name and structure at the Ad Group level for the template. Variables included in the Ad Group name dictate what ad groups will be built out for every record contained in the data feed that day.
Final URL	Final URLs dictate the SRP landing page structure that will be reviewed to determine inventory. Utilize the CMS Guide to help build yours.

Available Placeholders

The Available Placeholders icon provides a list of all available variables that can be utilized within the auto template structure. This list is based on the data in the feed, so if there is an addition data point you would like to utilize, please contact support to have it added.

Color	Condition	Description
Doors	Drivetrain	Fuel Type
Image Type	Make	Make Count
Mileage	Model	Model Count
Model Count Condition	Price	Price Alt.
Title	Transmission	Trim
Type	Type Count	Type Count Condition
URL	Vehicle Type	Year
Year Count

VDP Specific Landing Pages

Auto templates allow the use of both SRP and VDP campaigns. To create a VDP specific campaign, utilize a record specific variable within the Ad Group Name like [vin]. Within the Final URL, use [url] to create a unique ad group for every VDP record in the daily feed. See screenshot below for an example setup.

Ads

Campaign Builder supports Expanded Text Ads, Responsive Search Ads, and Call Only Ads. Any combination of the 3 can be utilized when building out the campaign by clicking the blue plus and choosing your ad types. To make multiple ads, simply click the blue plus again to select another ad/ad type.

Within each of the ad types you will have standard ad creation options. Within the headlines, descriptions, and paths of Auto templates you are able to utilize all of the available variables (see Available Placeholders section above in Ad Group Naming) as well as your ad customizers, if you have those configured. To avoid exceeding character limits with variables, use the “Show/Hide Alternate Fields“ button at the bottom of each ad. This gives you the option of providing an alternate that will be defaulted to if the character limit is exceeded when the campaign is built out.

Keywords

The Keyword section is your chance to ad bulk keywords across Ad Groups. Keywords within Auto templates utilize all of the available variables (see Available Placeholders section above in Ad Group Naming). Broad, Phrase, and Exact keywords are supported via the drop down. The blue and green buttons to import/export bulk keyword lists can be found in the top right of the section.

Processing Auto Templates

Auto Templates will be automatically processed nightly unless set to inactive. Users may also manually process an Auto Template to push updates to AdWords immediately by clicking “Save and Apply“.

Save	Save your progress without initiating the update process. Updates made will reflect in the campaign upon next system review over night.
Save and Apply	Saves current template settings AND triggers the update process in AdWords immediately. It typically takes 5 minutes for AdWords to be updated.