What is a zombie campaign?
A "zombie campaign" in the context of SEA (Search Engine Advertising) refers to an ad campaign that is active, but is actually hardly producing anything. Like a zombie in a movie, the campaign seems to be alive, but is not bringing the results you would like to see, such as clicks or sales. These campaigns can unwittingly eat up a lot of your ad budget without really giving anything back. Often they are left running without being properly looked at, simply because they were set up once and then not updated or optimized.
Zombie campaigns often arise because certain products or ads within a campaign are not performing well. Perhaps they are related to a product that is no longer popular, or the ad itself does not appeal to people. Instead of pausing or discontinuing these poorly performing products or ads, they remain in the campaign. This causes them to continue to cost money, but provide little to no return. This can become a big problem, especially if you don't regularly monitor and optimize your campaigns.
However, the use of a zombie campaign can also be deliberate and strategic. Sometimes organizations choose to house poorly performing products in one separate campaign. This way, they can experiment with other techniques to try to give these products another push without negatively impacting the performance of other, well-run campaigns. This differs from a villain campaign, which focuses on products that produce no results at all and often have to be stopped completely. Zombie campaigns, on the other hand, still have potential, but are not yet performing as hoped. By setting these products aside, you can make targeted attempts to improve results. This also helps control the budget so you don't unknowingly overspend on products that don't deliver much. While a hero campaign focuses on the top products and a sidekick campaign on products with a supporting role, a zombie campaign provides a last chance for products that have some potential but are not yet achieving the desired results.
