Creating a Campaign

Applies to: Advertisers

The create wizard walks you through a campaign one step at a time, showing only the options that apply to the campaign type and ad type you pick. You can start from scratch, from a saved template, or let the AI fill helper draft the basics for you and then edit.

The create wizard — pick an ad type on the Basic step, then work through budget, geo, targeting and review.

What this is#

A guided, multi-step form that ends with a live campaign. The steps, in order, are:

1. Basic — the ad format and how you pay.
2. Budget — how much and how fast you spend.
3. Geo — where your ads run.
4. Traffic — device, OS, browser, connection, language and IP pool.
5. Advanced — schedule, day parting, frequency capping and keywords.
6. Filters — domain and ad zone filters, a SubID list and IP white/blacklists.
7. Ad Zones — specific placements (where offered).
8. Review — a summary and warnings before you go live.

The Ads step only appears after the first save — a new campaign has to exist before ads can be attached to it — so save first, then add the ads that will run. RTB campaigns have no Ads step at all: the ad comes from your bidder's response. See Ads & Creatives.

When you'll use this#

Every time you launch something new, or when you clone an existing campaign and adjust it. The same wizard opens when you Edit a campaign from the campaigns list.

Step by step#

Getting started#

1. Open Campaigns → Create Campaign.
2. Choose how to begin:
   • From scratch — walk every step yourself.
   • From a template — pick a saved template to pre-fill the form, then adjust.
   • AI-assisted — describe your campaign in plain words and let the assistant suggest a starting configuration you can edit.

Step 1 — Basic#

1. Enter a Campaign name for your own reference.
2. Choose the Campaign type (RON, CPM/Targeted, RTB — flat deals are usually network-created). See Campaign Types.
3. Pick the Ad type from the format cards (banner, video, native, push, text, skin, footer/redirect, offer). This drives every later step and the creative options.
4. Select the Pay type (CPM, CPC, or a CPA-family option). The available choices depend on the type and ad type.
5. Fill in any type-specific fields the wizard reveals (see the RTB and offer notes below).
6. Optionally set Main category, sub-categories, ad sizes, and tags/group.
7. Click Next.

Step 2 — Budget#

1. Turn on Use Daily Budget and enter a Daily Budget amount. When reached, your ads stop for the day and resume the next day.
2. Optionally enable Budget Spreading to pace spend evenly through the day instead of spending as fast as possible.
3. Set your default bid — the base amount used when no per-geo or rule bid overrides it.
4. Optionally set daily caps (Limit Daily Impressions/Clicks) or a percentage of traffic.
5. Optionally turn on Use Campaign Budget and enter a lifetime total (must be greater than zero). The campaign stops when this is spent.
6. Optionally set a CPA goal (for optimised campaigns), conversion capping, and email me when budget is reached.
7. Click Next.

Step 3 — Geo#

1. Use a Tier button to quick-select a common country group, or expand the continent → country → region → city tree to target precisely.
2. Tick the countries (or regions/cities) you want. Selecting a country includes all its regions and cities unless you drill deeper.
3. Leave everything empty for worldwide reach.
4. If you target several countries, you can later set a separate bid per country on the creatives.
5. Click Next. See Targeting & Filters for the full include/exclude model.

Step 4 — Traffic#

1. Choose Device types (desktop, mobile, tablet).
2. Include or exclude Operating systems and Browsers.
3. Optionally restrict by Connection type (Wi-Fi, cellular) and Carrier.
4. Optionally restrict by Browser language and Site language.
5. Where your network offers IP pools, pick an IP pool to serve only to those IP ranges.
6. Click Next. Leave a dimension empty to mean "any".

Step 5 — Advanced#

1. Set Dayparting / scheduling — the hours and days your campaign may serve.
2. Optionally add keywords (where supported) or limit the campaign to tagged zones.
3. Set frequency capping to limit how often the same user sees your ad.
4. Click Next.

Step 6 — Filters#

1. Attach a saved Domain Filter or Adzone Filter you built — saved filters can be reused across campaigns. See Targeting & Filters.
2. Type a SubID Filter directly here, one SubID per line, and set SubID Filter Mode to Whitelist (serve only on these) or Blacklist (never serve on them).
3. Optionally enter an IP Whitelist or IP Blacklist (one address, CIDR block or range per line).
4. Click Next.

Step 7 — Ad Zones#

1. Where your network offers it, pick the specific ad zones (placements) this campaign may run on.
2. Leave it open to run across all eligible placements.
3. Click Next.

Step 8 — Review#

1. Read the summary of every setting. The review flags anything missing or likely to limit delivery (for example, no ads, a very low bid, or extremely narrow targeting).
2. Fix anything flagged by clicking back to that step.
3. Click Save. On networks that require it, the campaign may enter Pending approval until reviewed.
4. The Ads step now appears (except for RTB): add the ads that will run, then pause/clone/edit from the campaign list.

Options reference#

Step 1 — Basic#

Option	What it does
Campaign name	A label for your own reference.
Campaign type	RON, CPM/Targeted, RTB, or a flat deal.
Ad type	Banner, video, native, push, text, skin, footer/redirect, offer — drives the rest of the form.
Pay type	The pricing model: CPM, CPC, or CPA/CPL/CPI/CPS.
Selling type	How inventory is sold to the campaign, where offered.
Main category & sub-categories	Classify the campaign so it matches appropriate inventory.
Ad sizes / banner sizes	Which creative dimensions this campaign uses.
Tags / group	Organise the campaign for the list view.
Ad sorting	(RON) How ads inside the campaign are ordered/chosen.
Instant impression	(RON video) Count the impression immediately.

RTB campaigns additionally ask for: RTB network, RTB type (OpenRTB/JSON/XML), use type, request/endpoint URL, ad size, auction type (first- or second-price), optional QPS limit, and RTB categories.

Offer / CPA campaigns additionally ask for: the fixed CPA amount, which conversion types count, a preview URL, and referral percentages.

Step 2 — Budget#

Option	What it does
Use Daily Budget / Daily Budget	Maximum spend per day; delivery pauses for the day once reached. The minimum depends on ad type.
Budget Spreading	Spread the daily budget evenly through the day instead of spending as fast as possible.
Default bid	The base bid used when no per-geo or rule bid overrides it.
Limit Daily Impressions / Clicks	Hard daily volume cap, independent of budget.
Use Percentage	Allocate a percentage (0–100%) of available traffic.
Use Campaign Budget / Max. Campaign Budget	Optional lifetime total; the campaign stops when spent. Must be > 0 when enabled.
Email when budget reached	Notify you when the campaign budget runs out.
CPA goal	For optimised campaigns, the target cost per action.
Conversion capping	Limit conversions counted per day or in total.
Use as Failover	Serve this campaign only when no other campaign matches an impression.

Steps 3–7 — Targeting#

All of geo, device/OS/browser, language, domains, adzones, sub-IDs, categories, retargeting, IP pools, scheduling and frequency capping are covered in depth in Targeting & Filters.

Example#

A cautious mobile push launch. You want app installs from US and Canada mobile users, but you don't want to burn budget before you know what works:

1. Step 1: name it "Push — US/CA — App installs", type RON, ad type Push, pay type CPI, and pick your app-install conversion type.
2. Step 2: turn on Use Daily Budget at $20 (a deliberate test budget), enable Budget Spreading, and set a modest bid.
3. Step 3: target United States and Canada only.
4. Step 4: device Mobile only; leave OS/browser open.
5. Step 5: schedule 08:00–23:00 local, and set frequency cap to 1 per user per day.
6. Step 8: the review warns you have no ads yet — you add three push creatives, then save.

After a few days you check stats, cut the domains that spent with no installs via an exclude filter, raise the daily budget to $80, and let it run.

Reusing a winner as a template. Once that campaign performs, open it and Save as template. Next launch, start From a template, pick it, change only the geo, and you're live in a minute.

Tips#

• Start broad, then narrow. Over-targeting on day one starves the campaign of data. Widen first, cut later using your stats.
• Use a small test budget first; scale up once you see what performs.
• The Review step is your safety net — never skip its warnings.
• Save proven configurations as templates to launch similar campaigns in seconds.
• Leaving a targeting dimension empty means "any" — you don't have to fill in every field.

Troubleshooting#

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
"Campaign budget must be greater than zero"	You enabled Use Campaign Budget but left the amount at 0.	Enter a positive lifetime budget, or turn the campaign budget off.
Save is blocked with a validation message	A required field is empty or a value is out of range (e.g. daily budget below the ad-type minimum).	Follow the highlighted field back through the steps and correct it.
You can't switch the pay type on edit	Switching between the CPM/CPC family and the CPA family is blocked after creation.	Clone into a new campaign with the correct pay type.
RTB or offer fields don't appear	The campaign type/ad type doesn't include them, or the feature isn't enabled.	Set the right type in Step 1, or contact your account manager.
The review warns "no ads"	You haven't added creatives yet.	Add ads in the creatives step or from the campaign's ads page after saving.
New campaign stuck at Pending approval	Your network reviews new campaigns before they run.	Wait for review; the status updates to Active or Rejected.

Related#

• Campaign Types & Pricing
• Ads & Creatives
• Targeting & Filters
• Bid Rules
• Campaigns Overview
• Adding Funds
• Creative & URL Pools
• Campaign Groups
• How to create your first campaign — step-by-step guide
• How to create a video campaign — step-by-step guide
• XML Feeds — native items from a product feed
• Pricing & Volumes — minimum bids and available traffic