YouTube campaigns run primarily on YouTube placements and are designed for brand awareness, reach, and engagement. YouTube ad groups define your target audiences, while engaging creatives capture their attention, driving stronger video ad engagements. You can set up YouTube ad groups and creatives in both Blueprint Editor and Manage > Accounts in Fluency.
Setting up YouTube ad groups
In Blueprints
Go to Automate (rocket icon) in the left menu.
Select Blueprint Editor.
Click on a Blueprint in the list and then a YouTube campaign.
Click + New Ad Group toward the bottom-right—you may need to scroll down.
Enter a Name, and configure the additional settings.
Click Save Changes.
Notes:
Toggle on Optimized Targeting/Audience Expansion under Basic settings to allow Google to find similar audiences and extend your reach.
To see additional settings, such as Tracking & Remarketing, toggle on Show Advanced Fields under Save Changes.
You can also add YouTube videos to Performance Max and Discovery (Demand Gen) Blueprint campaigns.
In Manage
Go to Manage (globe icon) in the left menu.
Select Accounts.
Click on an account in the list and then a YouTube campaign.
Click the + in the upper-right to create a new ad group.
Enter an Ad Group Name, and configure the additional settings.
Click Save.
💡 Learn about the Skippable-in-stream format available in the Video Ad Format field.
Configuring YouTube creatives
In Blueprints
Go to Automate (rocket icon) in the left menu.
Select Blueprint Editor.
Click on a Blueprint in the list—then a YouTube campaign and ad group.
Open the Creatives dropdown.
Click + New Creative toward the bottom—you may need to scroll down—and then select YouTube Ad.
After configuring the basic settings, scroll down to Creative Assets.
Enter in the details for the creative, using tags to support scalability.
Click Save Changes.
In Manage
Go to Manage (globe icon) in the left menu.
Select Accounts.
Click on an account in the list and then a YouTube campaign and ad group.
If needed, go to the Ads tab, and then click the + in the top-right.
Select YouTube Ad as the Creative Type.
Enter the details for the creative:
Click Save.
YouTube creative specifications
Note: Video action campaigns were replaced by Demand Gen in July 2025.
Field | Required | Specifications/Notes |
Long Headline | Yes | Max 90 characters |
Description | Yes | Max 90 characters |
Yes | Max 255 characters | |
No | Max 10 characters (Optional) Max 30-character headline that accompanies the CTA | |
No | Max 90 characters Used when CTA is added | |
Video URL | Yes | Select from Media Sources Use a YouTube link or the direct link to a video file (must be a public) |
Long Headline | Yes | Max 90 characters |
No | Used for UTM or 3rd-party tracking |
Troubleshooting: YouTube ads require both a long headline and at least one description. If either is missing, the ad may fail to publish or return a server error. To fix the issue, add valid long headlines and descriptions, and then republish the ad.