Demand Gen Campaigns in Google Ads: What They Are and When They Make Sense for B2B

Demand Gen campaigns are the ad type in Google Ads that runs on visual, image-driven placements: YouTube, Discover and Gmail. In short: they are the successor to the former Discovery campaigns, and they are built to create demand among people who are not yet actively searching for you. For B2B that means: handy for making decision-makers aware of your brand, but don’t expect a stream of purchase-ready leads from it the way you would with search ads. In this guide you’ll read what Demand Gen exactly is, where it runs, and when it does and doesn’t make sense.

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What are Demand Gen campaigns in Google Ads?

Demand Gen is a campaign type within Google Ads where you don’t respond to a search query, but to the attention of someone who is scrolling, watching or checking their mail. Instead of a text ad above the search results, you show imagery, video and short copy in places where people browse in a relaxed way.

Important to know: Google introduced Demand Gen in 2023 and fully upgraded the old Discovery campaigns to Demand Gen in early 2024, as Google describes in its own Demand Gen documentation. Discovery ads therefore no longer exist as a separate product; they have been upgraded to Demand Gen, with more placements (including YouTube) and more creative formats. If you still come across old articles about “Discovery ads”, read them with that caveat in mind.

The big difference with classic search ads (the foundation of SEA) is the moment. With search, you capture existing demand: someone types in what they are looking for themselves. With Demand Gen, you try to create demand: you interrupt someone with a relevant image or video, in the hope of sparking interest before that person ever types a query. That distinction determines everything about how you deploy and judge these campaigns.

Like other modern Google campaigns, Demand Gen leans heavily on automation. You supply multiple images, videos, headlines and descriptions, and the system combines and optimizes them toward your goal. So you set fewer things manually than before, but you do supply more and better creative input.

Where do Demand Gen ads appear?

Demand Gen runs on three large, image-driven Google placements:

• YouTube: the home feed, the Watch Next suggestions next to videos, and Shorts. Here you can use both image and video. If you want to dig deeper into video ads, read about YouTube ads in Google Ads.
• Discover: the personalized feed in the Google app and on the Chrome start page on mobile. People scroll there through articles and cards based on their interests.
• Gmail: the Promotions and Social tabs, where your ad appears between the messages.

The reach is huge. According to Google, these combined placements let you reach up to 3 billion monthly active users. That sounds impressive, and for brand awareness it is indeed valuable. But large reach is not a goal in itself: for a B2B company, only the slice of that reach made up of relevant decision-makers and influencers counts.

The ads themselves are visual: a strong image or a short video, with a catchy headline and a brief description. The format adapts to the placement, so the same campaign looks different on YouTube than it does in Gmail.

When do Demand Gen campaigns make sense for B2B?

Here we have to be honest, because this is where a lot of budget gets lost. Demand Gen is demand creation, not demand harvesting. It is built to let people discover something, not to bring in purchase-ready leads. Anyone who deploys it with the expectations of a search campaign ends up disappointed.

It helps to see where Demand Gen sits in your funnel relative to search ads: the priming work happens at the top, where people are still discovering, while you only harvest the demand at the bottom.

Demand Gen makes sense for B2B if you have one of these goals:

• Building brand awareness with your target audience. You sell something that decision-makers don’t yet know or don’t yet actively search for. With image and video you make your brand known, so you are later top of mind when the need arises.
• Introducing a new service or proposition. With something new, there is no search volume yet. You can’t harvest what no one searches for, so you first have to prime the demand.
• Strengthening your remarketing. People who visited your site or watched your videos, you can keep reminding of your brand on YouTube, Discover and Gmail. Repeated, visual exposure builds trust, and in B2B trust is half the work.

Demand Gen is precisely not your best choice if your goal is to get qualified inquiries on the table next month. For that direct lead generation, search ads are more suitable: there you catch people who are already actively searching. If you want to know how that direct approach works, read about setting up a Google Ads campaign or look at the broader context of online advertising.

Our stance at CustomerImpact is simple: a B2B company is not a webshop. Steer your campaigns on customers and revenue, not on clicks or impressions as goals in themselves. Demand Gen has a place in that picture, but as a primer at the top of the funnel, not as a direct lead machine. Would you like help steering your Google Ads in the right direction? Then we first look at whether demand creation is really your bottleneck, or whether you’d be better off harvesting existing demand first.

How do you judge the return of Demand Gen?

This is where B2B companies often go wrong. They measure Demand Gen by cost per lead, see a high number and switch the campaign off. But that’s comparing apples with oranges: demand creation rarely yields an inquiry right away.

The value of Demand Gen sits further down the chain. Someone sees your ad on YouTube, remembers your name, and searches for your company or service themselves two months later. That later, “free” harvested lead is partly thanks to Demand Gen, but the last-click model attributes it entirely to your search campaign.

So look at signals that fit demand creation:

• Rise in branded searches: are more people actively searching for your company name after you run Demand Gen?
• Increase in direct and organic traffic: are more people coming in directly or via your brand name?
• Contribution in your attribution: use an attribution model that also weighs earlier touchpoints, not just the last click.
• Ultimate pipeline and revenue: are the number of inquiries and their value moving in the right direction over a longer period?

In B2B with long sales cycles you therefore need patience. Judge Demand Gen over quarters, not over weeks. And always tie it back to real outcomes, qualified leads and revenue, because that is what it ultimately comes down to.

What do you need to get started with Demand Gen?

Because Demand Gen is visual and automated, the work shifts toward preparation. A few things that need to be in order:

• Strong imagery and video. Low quality or obvious stock photos don’t work on feeds where people scroll quickly. Imagery that stands out and sparks curiosity is half your success. Keep text in images limited: the image should intrigue, not give everything away.
• Multiple variants. Supply different headlines, descriptions, images and logos. The system tests which combinations perform best, so the more good input, the better.
• Conversion tracking. Make sure you measure conversions and visitor behavior correctly. Without proper measurement you don’t know what your campaign really delivers, and you can’t judge its effect on your PPC results and pipeline.
• Patience with the learning phase. The system needs time and data to find your ideal audience. Count on several weeks before drawing conclusions, and don’t intervene at the first disappointing day.

For a small B2B team, that last point is important: Demand Gen is not a channel you quickly set up and forget. It requires good creative input up front and the calm to let the data mature.

Frequently asked questions about Demand Gen campaigns

Are Demand Gen campaigns the same as the old Discovery campaigns?

Not entirely. Demand Gen replaced Discovery in 2024. It builds on the same idea (visual ads on feeds), but adds placements, particularly on YouTube, and offers more creative formats. Discovery campaigns no longer exist as a separate type.

Are Demand Gen campaigns suitable for direct lead generation in B2B?

Limited. They are built for demand creation and awareness, not for pulling in purchase-ready leads directly. For direct inquiries, search ads are more suitable, because they capture existing purchase intent. Demand Gen works mainly as a primer at the top of the funnel.

On which placements do Demand Gen ads run?

On YouTube (home feed, Watch Next and Shorts), in Discover (the personalized Google feed) and in Gmail (Promotions and Social tabs). The same campaign adapts its shape per placement.

How much budget do I need for Demand Gen?

There is no fixed minimum, but count on enough budget and time to let the system learn, usually several weeks. More important than the exact amount is that you judge the effect over a longer period and tie it to later inquiries and revenue, not to direct leads in the first days.

Want to know whether Demand Gen fits your B2B?

Demand Gen can be a strong channel for making decision-makers aware of your brand, but only if demand creation is really your bottleneck. Often there is still low-hanging fruit in harvesting existing demand before you start priming. We look along with you honestly: where is your growth really, and which channel brings customers instead of clicks?

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