Understanding GO Campaign Goals
When you create a GO campaign, the first thing you choose is your goal. This determines who your ads reach, how Criteo AI optimizes your campaign, what formats your ads run in, and how you measure success.
Each goal is built around a specific stage of the customer journey. Together, they cover the full funnel: from introducing your brand to new shoppers, to converting interested prospects, to driving more revenue from the customers you already have.
The three GO campaign goals
GO campaigns offer three goals. You can select the one that matches your current business objective. You can also run multiple goals simultaneously to cover different stages of the funnel.
Drive discovery
Reach shoppers who've never visited your site and build awareness before they even search for you.
Drive discovery is designed for the top of the funnel. It identifies highly relevant new-to-brand shoppers, who are individuals who've never interacted with your brand, using Criteo's commerce data and introduces your brand to them across web, app, and social before they start searching.
Acquire new customers
Convert website visitors and prospects into first-time buyers.
Acquire new customers targets high-intent shoppers who have already shown interest in your category. These are the shoppers who've visited your site or browsed relevant products but have never purchased anything from you. It optimizes for that first conversion.
Maximize conversions
Drive more revenue from new and returning customers.
Maximize conversions re-engages shoppers who already know your brand and brings them back to purchase. These are past visitors and previous buyers. It focuses on driving the highest possible return from your loyal, most conversion-ready audiences.
How do the three goals work together?
Each goal targets a different audience and serves a different purpose. When used together, they form a complete, full-funnel strategy:
Goal | Who you reach | What it achieves | Key metrics |
Drive discovery | Highly relevant shoppers who've never interacted with your brand | Builds awareness and fills the top of the funnel | Reach, Exposed users |
Acquire new customers | Shoppers who've visited your site but never bought | Converts interested prospects into first-time buyers | First-time buyers, Customer acquisition cost |
Maximize conversions | Past visitors and buyers | Drives repeat purchases and maximizes revenue | ROAS, Revenue, Sales |
Which goal to start with?
If you're not sure where to begin, consider your most pressing business need:
Growing your audience or entering a new market? Start with Drive discovery.
Converting site visitors who haven't bought yet? Start with Acquire new customers.
Maximizing return from your existing customer base? Start with Maximize conversions.
The GO flywheel: Why running all three goals pays off
Each goal targets a different audience, but together, they form a cycle that drives compounding growth over time.
Drive discovery reaches new-to-brand shoppers and sets the stage for long-term ROAS.
Acquire new customers converts those shoppers into first-time buyers.
Maximize conversions re-engages your buyers, and turns them into loyal, repeat customers, who then refer and attract new audiences back into the top of the funnel.
How do the goals differ from each other?
| Drive discovery | Acquire new customers | Maximize conversions |
Who you reach | Highly relevant shoppers who've never interacted with your brand | Shoppers who've visited your site but never bought | Past visitors and buyers |
Optimizes for | Reach | First-time purchases | Sales or revenue |
Funnel position | Upper funnel | Mid-funnel | Lower funnel |
Key metrics | Reach, exposed users | First-time buyers, Customer acquisition cost | ROAS, revenue, sales |
Let's learn more about each of the GO Campaign goals in detail: