Google’s DoubleClick ad platform is looking to teach digital marketers how to use DoubleClick more effectively to help their businesses generate more clicks and more revenue through a series of free webinars being offered through June.
The webinars will range from the fundamentals of DoubleClick Campaign Manager (DCM) for rookies, presentations on platform changes from previous versions, and advanced sessions on reporting, using in-stream video and more, according to a March 26 post by Sarah Payne, the DoubleClick Campaign Manager product trainer, on the DoubleClick Advertisers Blog.
Digital marketers with existing DoubleClick accounts can sign up for the events through the training pages on the latest DCM or earlier DoubleClick for Advertisers platforms, wrote Payne. “Whether you’re starting to upgrade to DCM or you’ve already made the move, attend these webinars to better understand and use the product.”
Sessions covering DCM Fundamentals will be held on April 29 and June 10 through a 2.5 hour webinar that will teach everything from “how third-party ad serving works to the steps needed to set up Floodlight tags and traffic for your first campaign,” wrote Payne. The session also touches on remarketing and stresses an introduction to the fundamentals and best practices of DCM.
Sessions on what’s changed from the previous DoubleClick for Advertisers 6 (DFA6) platform as users move to the new DCM version will be offered April 2, 16 and 30, as well as on May 14, 28 and June 11 and 25, according to Payne. “Learn what’s changed in DoubleClick Campaign Manager. Get a demo of the key differences compared to DFA6. Attend this webinar if you’ve been using DFA6 and want to know about functionality and workflow differences between DFA and DoubleClick Campaign Manager before you upgrade.”
A “campaign trafficking demo” will be offered April 9, May 7 and June 4 to provide a live walk-through of how to create a campaign and assign campaign elements.
Advanced DCM webinars, which are aimed at users familiar with basic reporting and DFA6/DoubleClick Campaign Manager concepts, will include detailed sessions on understanding in-stream video on April 17; using report builder on April 3, May 1 and June 5; and using report attribution on May 15, according to the post.
Webinars will also be offered for digital marketers who are still using DFA6, wrote Payne. The DFA6 webinar offerings include sessions on DFA fundamentals on April 23 and June 4, which will mainly focus on the basics of ad trafficking, as well as sessions on MediaVisor fundamentals on April 22 and June 17.
“Learn the most common uses of MediaVisor, including how to plan and create campaigns, advertisers, and site placements,” Payne wrote. “You’ll also learn how to send RFPs and IOs, as well as how to traffic placements from MediaVisor to DFA.”
Some sessions for both DCM and DFA6 require prerequisite training with the platforms.
Digital marketers who are starting with DoubleClick from scratch can begin with Google’s DCM Academy, which provides easy-to-use learning paths that guide them through core online training materials to help get users up to speed on the platform, wrote Payne.
Webinar participants who complete their training sessions and pass exams on the subject materials can get a printable certificate of completion, demonstrating their knowledge of DoubleClick Campaign Manager, she added.
Google Offers Free DoubleClick Webinars for Digital Marketing
Google often updates its ad platforms and services to help improve them for digital marketers.
In June 2013, Google bolstered its DoubleClick digital advertising and marketing platform with some key upgrades, including a new ad campaign manager and social media integration with Wildfire. The new features were aimed at helping online advertisers use digital media more effectively and successfully, according to Google.
The first part of the improvements was the replacement of the former DoubleClick for Advertisers interface with a new DoubleClick Campaign Manager, which Google called the biggest upgrade to the platform’s core ad server in the 15 years since it was begun. The new social media features have been added to the DoubleClick platform through integration that’s being built using Wildfire’s social media platform, which Google acquired in 2012.
In September 2013, Google launched a new DoubleClick for Advertisers (DFA) Academy to provide more advice and self-paced training for its DoubleClick advertising service customers to reap even better results from their online ads in Google Search and elsewhere. The online academy provides help for general questions as well as more detailed, specific inquiries. The online DFA Academy is a self-paced learning path designed to guide users through core help articles and online training courses. It is designed around “checklists” that participants can use to mark their progress and new competencies before moving on to the next lessons and skills.
The lessons cover the basic core curriculum, including DFA Fundamentals eLearning and certification, as well as details on how to implement a new DFA account or advertiser, wrote Payne. Also detailed are topics such as using and troubleshooting tags, creatives and more, as well as information for expert users through the DFA Personal Trainer for Advanced Users.
The advanced topics include details on integrations with DoubleClick Bid Manager and Google Tag Manager, as well as other features. Lessons on tips and best practices for trafficking DoubleClick Rich Media in your DFA account are also included to help users get as much from their DoubleClick investments as possible, wrote Payne.
Google acquired DoubleClick after making a $3.1 billion bid for the company back in 2007. DoubleClick provided digital ad and search leader Google with plenty of new firepower, including the ability to serve graphical display ads in addition to the company’s text-based links.
DoubleClick’s technology lets advertisers and publishers deliver ads once they have agreed to terms, and provides statistics relating to those ads. Privacy and Internet advocates were not happy about the acquisition of DoubleClick and its approval by the Federal Trade Commission at the time; they cited concerns that it would give Google too much power over the data around search.