Google Ads: What are Custom Dimensions?

If you’re an advertiser who manages large, complex accounts, or if you’re in charge of an elaborate naming system, chances are that you’re looking for a way to simplify the process. By using Google Ads custom dimensions, you’ll be able to do exactly this — streamline your campaign naming systems and reporting efforts.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to use Google custom dimensions and achieve this level of campaign management simplicity and efficiency.

What Are Custom Dimensions?

In Google Ads, custom dimensions add more information to your campaigns to help tailor business reports. As an alternative to labels, custom dimensions can hold multiple layers of information, allowing you to view summaries or deep-dive into details, including however many pivot points you define.

Don’t be confused with Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics. Custom Dimensions in Google Ads able you to append the annotations in your campaigns to report on categories and sub-categories aligned with your business structure and goal. And it is also slightly different from Labels in Google Ads

Let’s look at the difference between labels and custom dimensions:

Why Use Custom Dimensions?

Google Ads custom dimensions help advertisers create campaign categories and reporting data summaries for each of these categories.

Here’s an example to show you how you should do this properly.

Similar to a traditional department store, retailers organize their marketing strategies and efforts into separate product lines within larger departments. Within every product line, the retailer has a separate campaign for non-branded and branded marketing. They also have campaigns ready for certain promotions.

During the campaign reporting, keyword level and ad group are useful tools for decision making. The retailer will also need a way to view and compare overall performance at a product line-level. To accomplish this, the retailer will create a “Product line” custom dimension, then associate each campaign with a particular product line such as, “laptops,” “headphones,” “mobile phone chargers,” etc.

For example, reports are able to display the overall performance for every product line:

For a more in-depth and more detailed look, the retail can segment the “Product line” report by each campaign:

Adding a Secondary Custom Dimension

Secondary dimensions offer additional details. You’ll find them attached to the primary custom dimensions you’ve applied to your ad groups or campaign.

For instance, every retail product line is owned by a retail department. That means a retailer is able to expand its “Product line” dimension, simply by adding a secondary custom dimension called “Department.”

At this stage, the retailer can then enter a value such as “Accessories” and “Electronics” for all of their secondary dimensions.

While reports are able to display each product line’s overall performance, they’re also able to show the overall performance for every department.

What If Custom Dimensions Are Not Appearing In Your Account?

It appears to be in limited beta at the moment so your best bet is to ask your Google representative if you have one. If not then you see it pop up in your accounts! When it does appear, you can find it under ‘Tools & Settings’.

Wrap Up

When appropriately used, custom dimensions have the power to simplify your campaign management and data analysis processes. As such, they are a vitally important asset in the PPC manager’s toolkit.

Dissimilar to labels, Google Ads custom dimensions are specifically designed to be applied to and remain consistent for the long-haul. Your secondary dimensions provide you with the opportunity to include a hierarchical structure to your campaign reporting while allowing you to drill down from department, all the way to your product line.

When you get familiar with this feature, you’ll soon see that it can improve your campaigns, saving you a lot of time, money, and frustration along the way.