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How To Use Creative Library
Updated over 2 weeks ago

What Is the Creative Library?

Creative Library is a management console within the Outbrain DSP dashboard.

Creative Library enables advertisers to add creatives once and use them across all of their ad groups.

Thanks to the Creatives review system, all the creatives are submitted and reviewed immediately after being uploaded to the library, which will allow you to prepare for campaign flights in advance.

Where Is the Creative Library located?

On any page, you can access the (hamburger) menu. One of the drop-down options is Creative Library, which is just below the Automation rules. Click on Creative Library, and voila - our creatives management console appears!

When To Use the Creative Library?

Use the Creative Library:

  • Whenever you need to add a new creative, use it either one by one or in a bulk workflow.

  • Whenever you want to change any of the creatives, use them to create new ones and download/export them.

This is the new way to manage your creatives.

Creative Library Assets and Workflows

Scope Selector

On the left-hand side, you will find the scope selector, where you can see your agency and pick a specific account. When we were migrating your creatives to the Creative Library for you, we did everything on the account level, but when you start using the Creative Library, you will also be able to upload creatives on the higher level - the agency level - which means that such creatives will be available to all accounts within the agency.

Search Option

One of the features is the Search option. You can look for a specific creative by typing in any word or part of the word (at least 3 characters) that is in the title, ID, URL, or description. The search keyword or part of it used in the search applies to all ads (also on the other pages).

Filtering

You can also filter the view by creative type (Native, Video, Display), ad group, or tags (which is not a compulsory element but only optional to help group the segments of creatives). Filtering is applied to all creatives within the view (not just that one page you currently see).

Grid View Options

You can choose between two grid display options - a data-detailed list and a more visually appealing gallery view.

In addition to all existing creative assets, we have also added the creative ID and Reviews column. ID comes in handy when you have a couple of very similar creatives with the same thumbnail, title, and description but different CTAs - so, in this case, the creative ID helps you find the right creative more easily. We show the creative ID in both the creative listing and gallery view. The Reviews column shows you if the creative has been approved and for which Reviewers (Media Sources).

Creatives Management

To use an individual creative for any new action, use the options on the right. You can edit the creative, use it to create a new creative, and download it as CSV or Excel.

IMPORTANT: If you edit an existing creative, all the edits will apply to all the ads in the Ad Groups using that creative.

If you want to create a new creative, leave the existing one as such, and have an additional creative saved, you should use action: Create from existing.

The select option enables you to do bulk actions. Just select your creatives, click on Actions, and choose the action you need: edit, create from existing (replaced the clone functionality), or download (as CSV or Excel).

Editing a Creative

When you click on the edit icon or you use the Actions drop-down menu and click on Edit you will see the Creative form (depending on the creative type the form differs). Any changes you make and save automatically apply to all the ads using that creative.

You can't change the ad title, image (visual), or brand logo because those are fundamental elements of a creative, and changing them you will get a new creative. So, if you want to change those creative assets, you need to choose the action Create from existing.

IMPORTANT: A brand logo is required when adding a new creative. The brand logo set up on the account level will be applied automatically to all creatives under this account. If you don’t set your logo, the default one will be applied. If you haven’t set up a brand logo on the account level, you will be required to set up a specific brand logo for each creative.

Tags

Tags are not mandatory creative assets. They can be used to easily segment creatives that, for example, need to be analyzed together or exported for further actions.

Tags do not matter when you are creating a new creative from an existing one - so just by adding or removing a tag, you won’t create a new creative even when using the Create from an existing action.

Create from Existing Workflow

Instead of cloning, there is a Create from existing functionality. Cloning is no longer an option, as you can’t create clones anymore. So, you can’t have two identical creatives within the Creative Library on the same level.

You can use an existing creative, change at least one creative asset, and save it - it will become a new creative ad. You can’t save an existing creative as a new one without changing at least one creative asset.

Adding New Creative Workflow

This workflow is the same as the one on the ad group level. You can add new creatives One by one or as a Bulk upload. You need to pick the type (Native, Video, or Display), and the Creative form appears - there are 3 types of edit forms as we have 3 different types of creatives (native, video, and display). These haven’t been changed. The CMS has remained the same.

Creative: Detailed View

In addition to all creative assets, there are also two other fields: Connections and Reviews.

The Connections feature shows to which ad groups the creative has already been added.

The Reviews tell you if the creative was approved (green) and for which Media Sources if it is still pending (grey) or if it is rejected (red).

In the Reviews section, you can see all the Reviewers, based on the Media Sources selected within your account settings, that need to approve your creative. When expanding the Reviews section, you can see all the Media Sources covered by this Review.

However, a particular media source can approve your creative work and later reject it for external reasons. When only some Media Sources reject your creative, a triangle warning sign will appear next to the review.

To get more information about why your creative is rejected on a particular Media Source, expand that particular section and hover over a Media Source to get more information.

There are several different types of reasons why your creative can be rejected:

  1. Agency - Your Agency is blocked on this Media Source.

  2. Account - Your Account is blocked on this Media Source.

  3. Image - The image ID is blocked on this Media Source.

  4. Creative - The Creative is blocked on this Media Source.

  5. Brand - The brand of the Creative is blocked on this Media Source.

  6. Description - The description of the Creative is blocked on this Media Source. Please re-check the description.

  7. Title - The title of the Creative is blocked on this Media Source. Please re-check the title.

  8. URL or Domain - The domain of the landing page or any subdomains of it are blocked on this Media Source.

  9. IAB Category - IAB Categories of the Creative are blocked on this Media Source.

  10. Blocked by third-party safeguards - Media Sources use external third-party safeguards that can block your Creative for several different reasons as determined by the third-party service provider (The Media Trust).

Important Note: TMT automatic review (external reasons) will run after the normal review (e.g., Outbrain DSP review) has been completed. This may result in your Creative being blocked after it has passed the normal review.

If you think that your creative was mistakenly blocked, please reach out to the Customer Success team and ask for the block to be reviewed.

The Reviews information is available within the Creative Library grid, in the Creatives dimension (on all levels), and the ad group grid, as well as when picking creatives to be added to the ad group.

Creatives Are Also a New Dimension on All Levels

On all the levels (except the ad group level) within the dimensions drop-down menu, you can choose Creatives.

This aspect of Creatives, as an additional dimension, tells you if the creatives work and how well. It goes through all the levels of Outbrain DSP, and it is the substitute for the Content Insights features (tab on the campaign level, which was removed).

So, since it is not only on the ad group level but also higher - you can see the more general analysis of the creatives by checking the stats and choosing the columns. You can also see the Reviews column on all the levels of the Creatives dimension.

Ad Group Workflows

Ads are now treated as connections between the creatives and the ad groups.

We now have two workflows for adding ads - Add existing creatives and Add new creatives. Option Add new creatives is the workflow we used to have, and it hasn’t been changed much. When adding new ads within a certain ad group, the creative is simultaneously saved within the Creative Library, so you can easily reuse it in other ad groups or campaigns.

The new additional workflow relates to the use of the Creative Library. It opens the Creative Library as a picker console, so you see which creatives have already been added (they can’t be selected) and which you can add. The right ad type (Native, Video, Display) is pre-selected according to the campaign type. Most recent creatives will appear at the top of the gallery or in the list view - again, you can choose whatever suits you best. The UI is the same as in the Creative Library - search by title or description and filtering by type and tags are available.

You can also see the Reviews - if the creative has been approved and for which Media Sources.

Within the ad group, when clicking on the title of the ad, you are now taken to the creative, detailed view and not to the ad’s landing URL/page, like before (that is now under the URL column). So, we have introduced two new columns within the ad group grid. These are the URL and the Redirector URL, so you can also check if all the parameters and macros are in place and tied to the ad.

In the Connections section within the Creative detail view, when clicking on the ad group name, you are taken to that ad group - so switching between ad group and creative is seamless.

IMPORTANT: We will also introduce the campaign information (the whole hierarchy) - so it will be clear to which campaign the ad group belongs.

You can easily add another ad within the ad group by applying the Create from existing shortcut (a small icon previously used for the clone function).

Reporting and Exporting

Now that Creatives are a new dimension on all levels in the dashboard (Account, Campaign, and Ad Group), you can also get a report with analytical data for your Creatives at any level.

If you need only creative assets, you can get that report from the Creatives grid by choosing creative asset columns. Alternatively, you can go to the Creative Library, select wanted creatives, click on the Actions drop-down menu, and pick to download them as either CSV or Excel.

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