Campaign

A campaign is a coordinated set of ideas or a common theme used to market a specific brand or product. In a general marketing context, it encompasses the creative concept, messaging, and channels that work together toward a defined promotional goal.

In online advertising specifically, the term takes on a more technical meaning: a campaign defines the buying strategy used to purchase ad inventory. This includes parameters such as targeting criteria (audience segments, demographics, contextual signals), placement settings (which sites, apps, or ad formats to appear on), and cost parameters (bidding strategy, budget caps, and pricing models). Ad servers, DSPs, and campaign management platforms all use the campaign as the primary organizational unit for planning, trafficking, and measuring ad activity.