Create video variants and assign rules offline

When you're working on a large number of video variants, you might find it easier to work offline. You can download a project sheet and fill it in. Then, upload up to 250 variants at once.

Choose which sheet to use

To give you more flexibility, there are three sheet types available to create and edit video variants and rule assignments offline. Choose the project sheet that best suits your workflow.

Option 1: Single sheet with rules and variants

For most video projects, we recommend downloading and filling in only the rule sheet. It combines rules and variants in one sheet. This will help you choose the right assets for the right audience as you fill in each variant row. The rule sheet is similar to a spreadsheet version of the Rules tab in Ads Creative Studio.

When you use the rule sheet, you'll upload everything with a single spreadsheet, and you don't need the variant sheet or rule assignment sheet.

Option 2: Separate sheets for variant edits and rule assignments

• Variant sheet – If your rules aren't ready yet or you're working with a different team to create rules, you can create variants using the variant sheet.

• Rule assignment sheet – If you're working with a different team to create variants, you can assign variants to rules offline using the rule assignment sheet. To do this, you'll need to know the variant names or IDs.

If you fill in the variant sheet and rule assignment sheet separately, you can upload both sheets at the same time or separately.

Example sheets

Step 1: Upload your assets

The assets you use in bulk sheets must be uploaded to the asset library. Asset URLs from other websites aren't currently supported.

After you upload your assets, copy the asset paths to use them in your sheet. The easiest way to do this is to put all of the assets in a folder, then upload the folder to the asset library. Or, upload assets one at a time.

Step 2: Create your video template

Before you download a variant sheet, you need to create a project and customise a template. As you create your template, keep these tips in mind:

• Give swappable elements clear names. The element name is used as the column header in the variant sheet. A clear name will make it easier to match the column name with the template element it refers to.
• Static elements can't be edited offline. If your template has elements that are the same across variants, you can choose the content for these elements as you set up your template. Or, edit them later. Static elements can only be edited in the template in Ads Creative Studio. They don't appear in variant sheets.
• Variants in the project might be replaced. If you create variants in your project first, they will be replaced with the variants in your sheet. Make sure all the variants you need are in the sheet before you upload.

Step 3: Create rules

Create rules to define the content needed for each variant. After you create the rules, download a rule sheet.

If you're not ready to create rules yet and just want to create variants, you can skip this step. Download a variant sheet instead.

1. In the project where you created the template, click Variants.
2. Click MoreDownload sheet.
3. Click Rule sheet. A rule sheet unique to your project is downloaded to your computer.

Step 4: Add variant details for each rule in the sheet

Open the rule sheet and add or edit your variants and the content you want to use for each swappable element.

1. Open the rule sheet you downloaded in your favourite spreadsheet editor.
2. For each row:
   1. To avoid upload problems, don't edit the rule information. The rules are for your reference and can only be edited in the project in Ads Creative Studio.
   2. If you're creating a new variant, leave the 'Variant ID' column blank. This value is set by Ads Creative Studio.
   3. Enter a unique name in the 'Variant Name' column. This name will also be the title of the video on YouTube.
   4. Add or edit the content for each of the swappable element columns that matches the rule information for that row.
      • For buttons or text elements, enter the text content to use for that variant. For example, you might enter 'Buy now' for a call to action button. To add a line break, press Alt + Enter.
      • For images, videos or audio files, enter the asset path from the asset library. For example, you might enter 'ASSET:cBalm/cBALM_spring.mp4' for a video named cBALM_spring.mp4 that you uploaded to a folder named cBalm in the asset library.
      • For colours, enter the hexadecimal colour code for the colour you want to use. For example, you might enter #4285F4 for blue.
3. (Optional) You can add more than one variant to a rule. To assign another variant to a rule:
   1. Copy the row with the rule you want to assign another variant to.
   2. Don't edit the rule information in the copied row.
   3. To create a new variant, delete the variant ID in the copied row.
   4. Edit the rest of the variant content to create the new variant.
   5. When you upload the sheet, Ads Creative Studio will create empty variant IDs and assign all variants with the same rule ID to the matching rule.
4. (Optional) If the project has variants that aren't assigned to rules, you'll find them in the rows after the rule rows. To assign them to rules, copy them to the row with the matching rule.
5. When you're done, save the sheet.
   • If you're using Google Sheets, share view access with the service email provided so that Ads Creative Studio can copy the variants. The email address is unique to your Ads Creative Studio account, but will end with @partnercontent.gserviceaccount.com.
   • If you used another spreadsheet editor, save it as a .csv file.

Show me how

Edit a project with unassigned variants

If your project already has variants that aren't assigned to rules, you can copy the variant content into a row with rule information to assign it to that rule.

Add another variant to the same rule

You can add several variants to the same rule. The easiest way to do this is to fill in one variant row, then copy it and edit the row to create a new variant.

Tips:

• Use the same rule ID
• Leave the variant ID blank to make a new variant

Step 5: Upload your finished rule sheet

1. Sign in to Ads Creative Studio.
2. Open the project you want to add variants to.
3. Go to the Variants tab.
4. Click MoreUpload sheet.
5. Click Variant sheet and Rule assignment sheet. (You'll upload the rule sheet twice. First to edit variants, then to assign variants to rules.)
6. Click Start upload.
7. For 'Step 1: Upload variant sheet', select your finished rule sheet. This step creates any new variants and edits existing variants. Keep in mind that any variants in the project that aren't in the rule sheet will be replaced with the variants in sheet.
   • If you're using a .csv file, click Select a file from your computer, then select the file.
   • If you're using Google Sheets, click Link an existing Google Sheet, then select the sheet.
8. For 'Step 2: Upload rule assignment sheet', select your finished rule sheet. This step assigns variants to rules.
9. Click Apply to review the changes. If you have trouble uploading your sheet, learn how to troubleshoot bulk variant upload errors.
10. Preview the variants and rules to make sure everything was added correctly. If everything is correct, click Save to save your project. If you made a mistake, you can close the project without saving to remove all changes to both variants and rules.

Next steps

• Review your video project