What are smart campaigns?
Smart campaigns are a way to let DoorDash customize your discount setup in real-time using data and AI.
Through smart campaigns, DoorDash will automatically adjust the discount amount and subtotal minimum per customer, based on customer type and value. Through dynamic discounts and automated targeting, you’ll make the most of your campaigns and reach customers with offers that are likely to convert.
Smart campaigns create personalized promos customized for every customer. DoorDash will create the most effective discount for each potential customer, based on customer type, value, and behavior.
Smart campaigns drive loyal and repeat customers to spend more.
For example, for a store with a $30 average ticket size, we may require a higher spend for power users before providing a discount to encourage them to add more items to their cart (e.g. Spend $40, get $5 off.)Smart campaigns attract new customers and re-engage past ones. For example, for a store with a $30 average ticket size, we may offer higher discounts to new users or customers who haven’t ordered from you within the last six months (e.g. Spend $30, get $7 off).
As a merchant, you pay only when your campaign leads to an order. DoorDash builds smart campaigns based on your business needs.
Why are smart campaigns recommended?
Merchants that used smart campaigns saw up to a 15% boost in sales and 20% cost savings compared to standard campaigns based on DoorDash study of over 50 thousand merchants over four weeks in Q2 2025.*
Smart campaigns are designed to make promotions easy and successful for merchants by prioritizing the following:
Performance: DoorDash will automatically create the most effective discount based on customer type and value.
Simplicity: Let our data and AI optimize your campaign setup in real time, so you can spend more time running your business
Flexibility: Track your performance and opt out at any time. Traditional promos will remain an option for all merchants.
Smart campaigns, like smart targeting, are designed to help your restaurant boost your promotion performance by putting custom offers in front of the right customers.
*Based on internal A/B testing comparing performance of campaigns using Smart Targeting and/or Smart Discounts against traditional promotions during March 2025.
How do I create a smart campaign in the Merchant Portal?
For merchants creating a new smart campaign, follow these steps:
Log into the Merchant Portal.
Tap on Marketing.
Select Run a Campaign.
Here, you’ll see the new smart campaign option “Boost sales with a smart campaign.” Tap Get Started.
Customize your campaign under Settings:
Stores: If you have multiple stores, select the stores you’d like to run the smart campaign for.
Campaign length: This is the length of time you wish for your campaign to run. If you select “Keep it going”, your campaign will run until you pause or cancel it. By letting it run, you can choose to extend the campaign if you see it’s successful. If you “Choose End Date”, your campaign will end the day you set. We recommend running campaigns for at least 30 days.
Scheduling: Decide whether you run your campaign all day or during certain store hours.
Average weekly budget: This is the amount you’re comfortable spending, on average, for orders each day across all the stores selected in the campaign. You can either set “No cap on average weekly budget”, which allows every eligible customer to redeem the promotion, or can “Set your average weekly budget” to limit the number of customers who can redeem the promotion based on average budget.
Campaign name: Name your campaign.
6. Once you’ve established your campaign settings, tap Create campaign to launch your campaign.
7. Success! Your campaign is live and you can check on its performance in the Reporting page.
For merchants with existing campaigns, follow these steps:
Merchants with existing campaigns will be asked to review our updated Marketing Services Agreement.
In order to be eligible for smart campaigns, you will need to accept these new terms and conditions.
If you would like to opt out of smart campaigns, you can do so within the Merchant Portal by clicking the banner under Campaign Reporting on the Marketing tab.
If you choose not to opt out of smart campaigns, your existing campaigns will be migrated to smart campaigns.
Your existing campaign settings will stay the same for the following settings: store selection, campaign dates, scheduling, and weekly budget.
Once you join smart campaigns, a number of settings will be automated, including your targeting, discount amount and subtotal minimum, and redemption limits per customer.
How do I view smart campaign reporting in the Merchant Portal?
You can monitor your campaign performance under the Marketing tab in the Merchant Portal.
Click on Campaign Reporting. Adjust your strategy based on its ongoing results.
Smart campaigns FAQ
Who is eligible for a smart campaign?
Smart campaigns are available to US small and medium-sized restaurant businesses.
How do I review my smart campaign performance?
Smart campaigns will be available in the campaign reporting page.
Which of my current campaigns can be migrated to smart campaigns?
Most discount promotions can be migrated to smart campaigns.
Which of my current campaigns are excluded from smart campaigns?
Happy Hour, Lunch Specials, and item promotions are currently excluded.
Can I still use traditional promotions?
All traditional promotions will remain available for Merchants.
How do smart campaigns work with traditional discount promotions?
All traditional promos will remain available for Merchants. In order to optimize your campaign performance, we recommend running smart campaigns only.
How do smart campaigns work with Sponsored Listings?
Similar to traditional promos, smart campaigns can complement a Sponsored Listing campaign by driving additional impressions and conversion to sales.
How do smart campaigns work with buy 1, get one free (BOGO) promotions?
Smart campaigns and BOGO promotions offer different incentive types to consumers. Smart campaigns will typically offer smaller subtotal discounts (mostly 15%-25% off), while BOGO can help drive additional sales by offering stronger incentives on specific items.
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