How to build Zombies-driven campaigns

Why so many brands use Zombie campaigns

Performance Max and other automated campaign types often prioritize only your top-performing products, leaving many in the dark. These “zero-click” items may never be tested — but that doesn’t mean they lack potential. By isolating and promoting zombie products, you give them the chance to generate impressions, sales, and data. Some may fail, but others can become unexpected winners that strengthen your catalog long term.

This strategy is well-suited for ecommerce brands with large catalogs, businesses managing seasonal or fast-moving inventory, marketers aiming to uncover hidden product potential, and advertisers frustrated by the “black box” nature of Google Ads automation.

Benefits

Revives products that would otherwise stay invisible
Uncovers hidden bestsellers and new revenue opportunities
Improves inventory turnover by selling slower products
Diversifies your product mix, reducing dependence on a few items
Can feed revived products back into your main campaigns

Downsides

Some products may remain unprofitable despite promotion
Requires careful budget control to avoid waste
Seasonal demand can skew results
Needs regular monitoring and testing to filter out weak performers

How structuring Zombie campaigns looks like

When setting up zombie campaigns, the goal is to separate untested products and give them focused visibility. Keep these principles in mind:

Define clear criteria for what counts as a “zombie” (e.g., 0 clicks or 0 impressions in the last 30 days).
Set a small but consistent budget — enough to generate data without draining resources.
Use broad targeting (Performance Max or Shopping) to maximize visibility.
Once zombies generate meaningful clicks or conversions, move them into your main ROAS campaigns.

Segmentation approaches:

Zombie-only campaign: A dedicated campaign with all zero-click products.
Seasonal zombies: Split seasonal products (like summer gear) into their own zombie campaign to ensure visibility during the right period.
Low-budget catch-all: A continuous, always-on campaign with minimal budget to keep testing for new breakout products.

Set up a graduation rule

Once a product reaches a meaningful volume (e.g., 20+ conversions with a positive ROAS), it should “graduate” out of the Zombie campaign and move into your main campaign structure.

In practice, this means your Zombie definition must clearly state that included products have fewer than 20 conversions within a given timeframe. When setting up your campaigns, make sure these products are added to the Zombie campaign and at the same time excluded from your main campaigns.

(Optional) Exclude new products

This decision depends largely on your available budget. Since new products start with no historical performance, they technically qualify as “zombies” and would be included in the campaign by default.

Some brands choose to handle them this way. However, a better practice is to exclude new products from your Zombie campaign and instead create a separate campaign dedicated to product launches. This allows you to give new items focused visibility and budget without diluting the purpose of your Zombie structure.

Dotidot automatically generates a timestamp whenever a new product appears in the feed, making it easy to identify and exclude these products. You’ll find more details in the setup section below.

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Google Ads setup

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Microsoft Ads setup

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Meta setup

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(Optional) Setup with GA4 metrics

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Pro tips from the field

We asked PPC and Social Media specialists who work with Zombies campaigns to share their top tips:

Define “zombie” clearly. Don’t just throw all low performers in. Focus on products with no clicks or impressions over a set time frame (e.g., 30–60 days). Low-ROAS products belong in another structure, not here.
Control your budget tightly. Keep daily spend small (€10–€50 depending on catalog size). These campaigns are for discovery, not scaling.
Use Smart Bidding carefully. For zombies, start with “Maximize Conversion Value” without a strict ROAS target. Setting high targets too early will block delivery.
Leverage seasonality. Move seasonal products into zombie campaigns ahead of their demand cycle (e.g., swimsuits in May) to give them runway before peak hits.
Test creative assets. Pair zombie campaigns with unique ad copy or images that highlight product features ignored in the main campaigns.

Watch impression share. If zombies aren’t getting served, expand targeting or loosen restrictions (e.g., location, device, audience).