Quick answer: In Google Ads, go to Campaigns, click the + button, select New campaign, choose Leads as your objective, confirm your conversion goals, and pick a campaign type. That's the full flow.
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What Is the Leads Objective in Google Ads?
Definition and primary use case
The Leads objective tells Google to show your ads to people likely to take action, not just browse. Per Google's Ads Help Center, the Leads objective is designed to "encourage relevant customers to express interest in your products or services." Google then tunes bidding and targeting toward users who are likely to fill out a form, call your business, or share contact details.
What counts as a lead in Google Ads
A lead is any conversion action that signals intent without a purchase. Common examples include contact form submissions, newsletter sign-ups, phone call clicks, and quote requests. You define which actions count when you configure conversion tracking.
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When to Choose the Leads Objective
Leads vs. Sales vs. Website traffic
Choose Leads when your goal is to collect contact information before a transaction. Choose Sales when you want direct purchases or revenue events. Choose Website traffic when you just want visits. Per Google Ads documentation, each campaign gets one objective. Keep them separate.
Best practices for multi-goal campaigns
If you want both leads and sales, build two campaigns. One objective each. This keeps bidding strategies clean and prevents Google's algorithm from receiving mixed signals. Each campaign learns faster from its own conversion data.
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How to Set the Leads Objective: Step-by-Step
Start a new campaign in Google Ads
- Sign in to your Google Ads account.
- Click Campaigns in the left navigation.
- Click the blue + button and select New campaign.
Select Leads as your campaign objective
- On the objective screen, click Leads.
- Google immediately suggests conversion goals pulled from your account defaults.
Confirm conversion goals
- Review the suggested goals. Add or remove them as needed.
- If conversion tracking is not yet set up, Google will prompt you to add it here. Do not skip this. Without tracking, Google cannot optimize for leads.
Choose your campaign type
- After confirming goals, select your campaign type: Search, Display, Performance Max, or Demand Gen.
- Click Continue to proceed to campaign settings.
Important: Per Google Ads documentation, Performance Max campaigns lock their objective at creation. You cannot change it after the campaign goes live. Set it correctly the first time.
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Which Campaign Types Support the Leads Objective
Search campaigns
Search campaigns display text ads to users actively searching related queries. Strong choice for high-intent, bottom-of-funnel lead capture.
Display campaigns
Display campaigns place image ads across websites and apps in Google's network. Good for re-engaging visitors who did not convert and building brand recognition.
Performance Max campaigns
Performance Max runs across all Google channels from one campaign. It only appears as a campaign type option when you select the Leads, Sales, or Local store visits objective. Per Google's Ads Help Center, the objective must match one of those three for PMax to be available.
Demand Gen campaigns
Demand Gen reaches users on YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. Best for audiences earlier in the funnel who do not yet know your brand.
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After Setting Your Objective: Conversion Tracking
Why conversion goals matter
Google's bidding algorithms optimize toward the goals you define. No conversion goals means no real lead optimization. You get clicks. Not leads.
Account-default goals vs. custom goals
When you create a campaign, Google suggests account-default conversion goals from your existing tracking setup. You can keep them or replace them with custom goals specific to that campaign. Per Google Ads documentation, campaigns using account-default goals share cross-campaign learning. Campaigns using only custom goals do not benefit from that shared data pool. For most advertisers starting out, account-default goals are the right call.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change the campaign objective after the campaign is created?
For most campaign types, you cannot edit the objective after creation. Per Google Ads documentation, Performance Max campaigns lock the objective at creation with no option to change it later. If you need a different objective, create a new campaign.
What actions count as a lead conversion in Google Ads?
Any action that signals customer interest counts as a lead. Common examples include form submissions, newsletter sign-ups, phone call clicks, and quote requests. You define and track these through Google Ads conversion tracking.
Do I need conversion tracking set up before choosing the Leads objective?
Yes. Without conversion tracking, Google cannot optimize your campaign for leads. If tracking is not configured, Google will prompt you to set it up during the campaign creation flow before you can continue.
Can one campaign target both leads and sales?
No. Google Ads requires one objective per campaign. To optimize for both leads and sales, create two separate campaigns, one for each objective. This keeps bidding clean and helps each campaign learn faster.