How to set up bol ads campaigns

Note: This article discusses how to promote existing bol listings for shopping ads. To create and update product listings for bol, you’ll need to create a bol channel.

Bol is one of the most popular marketplaces in the Netherlands and Belgium. This article explains how to create bol ads campaigns in Channable that align with your advertising budget and goals.

Before you start

You'll need

A bol seller account
A company in Channable
A project in your company in Channable
Items imported into your project in Channable to advertise on bol
Valid EANs for your products

Choose your use case

Set up an automatic campaign generator

Automatic campaigns automatically adjust your bidding and targeting based on bol’s algorithm suggestions. Bol assigns your products top-performing keywords and relevant categories. You only need to set a daily budget and ACoS Target.

1. Create a bol ads connection

In [your Project], go to Shopping ads > Bol ads and click + Add dynamic Bol Ads channel.
Click + Add a new connection and select Bol ads.
Provide a label (name) for your connection (e.g. “bol”). This name is only used within Channable to help you find your connections.
Click Connect with Bol ads. You’ll be redirected to log in to your bol account.

After you log in, bol will direct you back to Channable, and your connection will appear.

2. Create a bol ads channel

Select the Bol channel and click Next.
Click on the bol ads connection and fill in the following information:
- For Name, give your channel a name.
- For Unique ID per item, select the EAN field.
- For Use master rule group (if applicable): select a master rule to apply to your ads.
- For Status, ignore this for now, as we still need to set up the remaining parts of your shopping ads before we activate it.
Click Save.

3. Set up rules

You can create rules to apply across all your campaigns (for example, exclude products without stock).

Navigate to the Rules step.
Add rules you want to apply across all your campaigns.

4. Create a campaign

Important: You’ll need to repeat the campaign, ad group, and negative keyword steps for each automatic campaign generator you want to create.

Go to the Campaign step and click + add campaign generator.
Fill in the information:
- For Name, name your generator (used within Channable).
- For Targeting type, choose Automatic.
Go to the new Rules step in your campaign generator to set specific rules for this campaign (e.g., advertise only a specific brand).

5. Configure your campaign generator settings

Go to the Build step.
In Campaign settings, fill in:
- Campaign template — static value to create one campaign, or dynamic field to generate multiple campaigns (this also controls how campaigns appear on bol).
  - Example: add the brand field to generate campaigns per brand.
- Countries — select where to advertise.
- Targeting channels — select where you’d like to advertise.
- Daily budget — static number or dynamic field. Enter 0 for unlimited.
- Total budget — set the campaign’s full budget; enter 0 for unlimited.

It’s only possible to set an unlimited budget for one of your budgets (daily OR total), not both.

ACoS target percentage — set to guide bol’s algorithm to meet your ACoS target.
Click Save.

6. Set up your ad group generator

In the Ad groups heading, complete:
- Ad group template — static value to create one ad group, or dynamic field to create many (e.g., brand-level ad groups).
- Targeting pages — select where ads should appear on bol:
  - Search — on the search page
  - Product — on the product details page
  - Category — on category pages
Click Save.

7. Set up negative keywords

Fine-tune your campaign with negative keywords to prevent ads from showing for irrelevant search terms.

Go to the Campaigns step. In the Edit column, click the Build step for your automatic campaign; open the Negative keywords tab.
Click + New negative keyword and build your keyword via:
- Use dynamic fields — click the + icon to select a dynamic field (or use a dynamic keyword list).
- Manually enter keywords.
- Copy keywords — duplicate keywords from another campaign.
In the Type column, choose:
- Phrase — triggers if the keyword is part of a longer search phrase
- Exact — triggers only if the search exactly matches the keyword
Click Save.

Reminder: Repeat campaign creation, ad group, and negative keyword setup for each automatic campaign generator you create.

8. Preview your results before launch

Go to the Preview step.
Review your ads.

9. Create automation rules (recommended)

You can create automation rules to optimize keyword performance using bol performance data. Channable supports specific automation rule types.

Go to the Automate step and click + Create rule group.
Configure the rule group:
- Name — give the rule a clear name.
- Campaign selection — choose the campaign to apply the rule to.
- Date range — set the performance data range the rule reads from.
Click Add automation rule.
Define the If, Filter, and Then parts of your rule (see automation rule types).
Click Save to activate the rule.

You can review actions your rules will trigger in the Action log tab.

Note: Changes from automation rules apply in the next run; only the last action for a specific keyword is considered.

10. Launch your campaign

Click the Settings step of [your bol ads channel].
At ‘Status’ click Activate API, and Save.
Go to the Campaigns step.
In the Settings step (in Campaigns), at ‘Status’, click Activate and Save. Repeat for each campaign you want active.
Return to the Settings step of [your bol ads channel] and click Run now.

Set up a manual campaign generator

Manual campaigns give you full control of bidding and targeting. You assign positive and negative keywords and set the maximum bid per click.