Primary Advertiser Set-up

Please ensure the following items are included in the advertiser profile settings:

• Ensure inventory URL is identified containing all Inventory you wish to collect

• Ensure the profile setting includes the following values:

  • Advertiser DBA

  • Actual City Name in the address field

Auto Template Set-up

Please note the system uses values called place holders to dynamically insert values into the auto templates. This allows you to simplify the template set-up process and allow for easily scalable operations.

1 Template Per Ad Group Intent/Structure  

• Condition / Make / Model

• Condition / Year / Make / Model

Final URL structure should match ad group intent

• For Example if the ad group is a make / model the final URL pattern should include values similar to this:https://yoursebsite.com/inventory?make=[make]&model=[model]

• If you need help with the URL structure please reference the CMS guide found inside the Hoot Support Documentation. A direct link is also available inside an auto template.

• Also feel free to reach out to support for assistance

• To reduce template edits during the onboard process you can use the following placeholder [advertiser_website]?make=[make]&model=[model] When using the website placeholder the onboarding team will only need to update the URI portion of the URL when copying templates within the system. 

Ad Copy:

General guidelines: 

Use placeholders as much as possible to reduce editing templates when onboarding or creating new templates. Utilizing the advertiser dba allows the clients name to be placed inside the ad copy without the onboarding team having to manually update the ad copy for every new client.

Do not use singular related value placeholders like price, color, trim in ad copy unless it is also used in the ad group breakdown. This will generally lead to issues during the content build process for exceeding Google's ad limit per ad group. Rule of thumb: “Ad copy should match/align with ad group structure, if vehicle details are not noted in the ad group name do not include it inside the ad copy.” 

We recommend only building one ad per template and utilize the multiple headline and description options. Depending on the dynamic content you use, the system could automatically generate more than one ad, which can then hit the 3 ad limit per ad group within Google.

Do not use templates to build brand/regional campaigns and land them on the homepage. Our system is designed to look for inventory landing pages and the brand regional campaigns are not inventory specific which can cause errors/issues when we are reviewing ad landing pages each night.

“ALWAYS” use alternate text values when using placeholders in a headline. This will ensure your ads are not exceeding the character limit when some ads are created. Some trimming may be required depending on the inventory specifics so please refer to template error messaging to refine as needed.

If you wish to include values for minimum price and vehicle count for the related ad groups, ad customizers are not needed. You can utilize Hoot Attributes predefined in the system:

Make/Model

[model count condition]

[min_price_condition_model]

Year/Make/model

[min_price_condition_year]

For Example:

Headline: [year] [make] [model]

Headline Alternate: [year] [model]

Or 

Headline: [advertiser_dba]

Headline Alternate: [make] Dealership

***Some vehicles related to RV and Motorsports can have very high character count model names so using a plan text alternative is recommended in those situations

For Example:

Headline: [year] [make] [model]

Headline Alternate: [year] Model’s Available or New and Used Model’s Available

Below are specific examples for each type of ad group most commonly used:

Make / Model Examples

• Headline: [advertiser_dba]

• Headline: [condition] [make] [model]

• Headline: [model] As Low As [min_price_condition_model]

• Headline: [make] Dealer in [advertiser_city] (Character Limit can be tricky)

• Description: See Why [advertiser_city] Car Buyers Are Choosing  [advertiser_dba]

• Description: [condition] [make] [model] Deals. Financing Available. Stop By for a Test Drive!

• Description: [model count condition] [condition] [make] [model] Available, Starting From [min_price_condition_model]

MM Keyword Examples

• Phrase: [condition] [make] [model]

• Phrase: [make] [model]

• Phrase: [make] [model] dealer

• Phrase: [condition] [make] [model] for sale

• Phrase: [condition] [make] [model] dealer

• Exact: [condition] [make] [model]

• Exact: [make] [model] dealer

• Exact: new [make] [model] for sale

• Exact: new [make] [model] dealer

Year / Make / Model Examples

• Headline: [advertiser_dba]

• Headline: [year] [make] [model]

• Headline: [condition] [make] [model]

• Headline: As Low As [min_price_condition_year]

• Description: See Why [advertiser_city] Car Buyers Are Choosing  [advertiser_dba]

• Description: [year] [make] [model] Deals. Financing Available. Stop By for a Test Drive!

• Description: [condition] [year] [make] [model] Available, Starting From [min_price_condition_year]

YMM Keyword Examples

• Phrase: [condition] [year] [make] [model]

• Phrase: [year] [make] [model]

• Phrase: [year] [make] [model] dealer

• Phrase: [condition] [year] [make] [model] for sale

• Phrase: [condition] [year] [make] [model] dealer

• Exact: [condition] [year] [make] [model]

• Exact: [year] [make] [model]

• Exact: [year] [make] [model] dealer

• Exact: [condition] [year] [make] [model] for sale

• Exact: [condition] [year] [make] [model] dealer

Final Steps

To verify template accuracy we recommend always pushing to Google by selecting “Save and Apply”. This will push the current version of your ads to Google. Please allow 5-15 minutes for the ads to push through the Google API. This sometimes can take a few minutes.

Things to check inside Google

Ad Groups Created

Ad Created, Do they look accurate? Are Ads Missing?

Keywords Created, Do they Look Accurate, Are there any Missing?

Things to Review in Hoot

View Template Errors

Download Template Preview To identify issues, missing Inventory, Etc.