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Running campaigns on DV360 can be an exciting experience for any marketer because of its advanced targeting, inventory, and optimization features. But one challenge that almost every advertiser faces is how to scale campaigns effectively without hurting the return on ad spend (ROAS). Scaling is necessary for growth, but if it is done incorrectly, it can lead to wasted budgets and poor performance. The key is to grow your campaigns while maintaining or even improving efficiency.
So how can you scale DV360 campaigns without losing ROAS? It requires a structured approach where you gradually increase investment in areas that are already performing well, while avoiding the mistakes that lead to diminishing returns. In this blog, we will discuss practical strategies that can help you scale your DV360 campaigns efficiently and sustainably.
What Does Scaling Mean in DV360?
Scaling a campaign means increasing its reach, impressions, and budget in order to get more conversions, sales, or leads. However, scaling is not just about adding more money to the budget. If you simply double your budget without a proper strategy, you may see a decline in ROAS because the system might start buying impressions that are less likely to convert. The right way to scale is to identify what is working and then expand on that in a controlled way.
Why Does ROAS Drop When Scaling?
ROAS, or return on ad spend, is the revenue you generate for every dollar you spend on advertising. When you scale campaigns too fast or without planning, you often end up spending on less relevant audiences, lower-quality inventory, or impressions that do not convert as efficiently as your original set. This is why ROAS tends to drop during scaling if the process is not carefully managed.
Steps to Scale DV360 Campaigns Without Losing ROAS
Here are the key strategies you can implement to scale your DV360 campaigns successfully:
1. Strengthen Your Foundation First
Before you start scaling, ensure that your campaign has a strong foundation. This means:
If you do not have these basics in place, scaling will only amplify inefficiencies and increase your CPA, which will hurt your ROAS.
2. Scale Gradually, Not Aggressively
One of the biggest mistakes marketers make is doubling or tripling their budgets overnight. DV360’s algorithms need time to learn and optimize when there is a change in spend. A sudden increase in budget can confuse the algorithm and lead to suboptimal bidding. Instead, increase your budget gradually by 10 to 20 percent at a time. Monitor performance after each increase and only scale further when results remain consistent.
3. Expand High-Performing Audiences
Audience targeting plays a major role in ROAS. If you want to scale without losing efficiency, start by expanding the audiences that are already performing well. For example:
This ensures that your additional spend goes towards users who are likely to convert, keeping your ROAS healthy.
4. Use Automated Bidding for ROAS Optimization
DV360 offers automated bidding strategies such as Target CPA and Target ROAS that use machine learning to bid on impressions that are most likely to meet your goals. If you are using manual bidding, scaling becomes difficult because you cannot manually adjust bids for thousands of impressions. Automated bidding adapts as you scale, which helps maintain ROAS even as the campaign grows.
When setting up a Target ROAS bidding strategy, make sure your goal is realistic based on historical data. If your target is too aggressive, you may limit scale and reduce delivery. Start with a slightly conservative target and optimize over time.
5. Optimize Creative for Engagement and Conversions
Scaling is not just about increasing budget and reach. Your creatives also need to be strong enough to engage new audiences. As you scale, you will likely reach users who are less familiar with your brand, so your creatives need to clearly communicate value and build trust. To do this:
Better creative performance leads to higher click-through rates and conversion rates, which improves ROAS even as you scale.
6. Expand Inventory Smartly
As you increase your budget, you will need more impressions to deliver your ads. This means expanding your inventory sources. However, not all inventory is equal. If you scale by adding low-quality placements, your ROAS will drop. Instead:
If you are running on open exchange inventory, apply strict brand safety and viewability filters to ensure you are paying for quality impressions.
7. Apply Frequency Capping and Viewability Filters
When scaling, there is a risk of overexposing your ads to the same users, which leads to wasted impressions and lower engagement. Set frequency caps to limit the number of times a user sees your ad in a day or week. A good range is 3 to 5 impressions per user per day. Also, use viewability filters to ensure that your ads appear in placements where they are likely to be seen. This keeps engagement high and prevents wasted spend.
8. Use Budget Allocation Smartly
Scaling does not mean you increase the budget equally across all line items. Analyze performance reports and identify the best-performing campaigns, ad groups, and targeting options. Allocate more budget to these high-ROAS segments and keep testing new ones with smaller budgets. This approach ensures that you are scaling in a controlled and efficient manner.
9. Expand to New Formats and Channels
One way to scale without hurting ROAS is to add new ad formats and channels that complement your existing strategy. For example:
Diversifying formats often helps capture new audiences while maintaining efficiency.
10. Monitor and Optimize Continuously
Scaling is not a one-time activity. You need to monitor performance daily and make adjustments based on data. Keep an eye on metrics like ROAS, CPA, conversion rate, and impression quality. If you notice that a new audience or placement is not performing, pause it and reallocate the budget to high-performing areas. Continuous optimization is key to sustaining ROAS during scaling.
Role of Performance Marketing in Scaling
Scaling DV360 campaigns is a critical part of performance marketing because the entire objective of performance marketing is to achieve measurable results while maximizing efficiency. Performance marketers focus on metrics like ROAS, CPA, and conversion rate rather than just impressions or clicks. When you apply performance marketing principles to scaling, you make data-driven decisions, test constantly, and optimize based on outcomes rather than assumptions. This is what separates successful scaling from random budget increases.
Example of Successful Scaling in DV360
Let us take an example of a fashion e-commerce brand that wanted to scale its DV360 campaigns to increase sales during the festive season without losing ROAS. Initially, they were running campaigns targeting remarketing audiences and some in-market segments, with a daily budget of $500. The ROAS was excellent, but they wanted to increase revenue.
Here is what they did:
As a result, the brand scaled its campaigns to a daily budget of $2,500 over three weeks while maintaining a ROAS of 4.2, which was almost the same as before scaling. Their total revenue from DV360 campaigns increased by over 350 percent during the festive season without hurting profitability.
Scaling DV360 campaigns without losing ROAS is not impossible, but it requires careful planning and execution. It is about finding a balance between growth and efficiency. By following the strategies discussed—such as gradual scaling, smart audience expansion, automated bidding, creative optimization, and continuous monitoring—you can achieve sustainable growth without compromising profitability. Always remember that scaling is a process, not a one-time task. Take small steps, learn from the data, and optimize as you go. This way, you can grow your campaigns, increase conversions, and maintain a healthy ROAS in the long term.