Scheduling your campaigns and themes lets you choose when and what ads are displayed. Read on to learn about the different types of schedules you can set.
Scheduling Campaigns
By default, campaigns start immediately when created and don’t have a scheduled end date. If you want a campaign to turn on or off on a certain date then you can change the schedule settings.
For a schedule to take effect, the campaign must be turned on. You can adjust a campaign’s schedule in the campaign view at the bottom of the screen next to the on/off switch.
You can also adjust the scheduling of campaigns in the All Campaigns list.
With scheduled campaigns you can make campaigns turn on or off on specific dates. The campaign is turned on at the START of the scheduled start date and is turned off at the START of the scheduled end date.
IMPORTANT:
If you want your ads to run until the end of the day on a specific date and stop the campaign immediately, YOU MUST SCHEDULE THE CAMPAIGN END DATE TO BE THE DAY AFTER THE LAST DAY OF YOUR AD SERVING.
Example:
To stop the campaign immediately after running ads from the beginning of March 1, 2021 to the end of March 31, 2021
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In this example, if you set the end date to March 31, 2021 instead of April 1, 2021, the ads will run until the end of March 30, 2021, and the campaign will be turned off at the start of March 31, 2021.
Scheduling Themes
Did you know that a single campaign can have multiple themes within it? They can indeed, and when you have a campaign set up this way you will want to pay attention to the dates your themes are active for.
Here is an example of a campaign which is using scheduled themes.
In this example this campaign has two versions of the Weizen theme applied, each using different text and images. The first one is a Christmas promotion and it will end on December 25th (end of day), and the second will begin on December 26th.
IMPORTANT:
The theme end date works differently from the campaign end date and each theme will be used until the END of the scheduled end date.
Example:
| To use a Christmas theme from the start of December 1, 2021 to the end of December 25, 2021 and then use a New Year theme from the start of December 26, 2021 to the end of December 31, 2021 |
- Christmas Theme Start/End date: December 1, 2021 / December 25, 2021
- New Year Theme Start/End date: December 26, 2021 / December 31, 2021
In this example, if you set the Christmas theme end date to December 26 in the way that the campaign end date works, the system will use the Christmas theme to display ads until the end of December 26, 2021.
Don’t Worry If the Theme End Date Has Expired
As long as the campaign is active, ads will continue to run using the theme used in the campaign and no blank ads will be displayed.
When only one theme is used and expired
Ads will continue to run using the expired theme.
When multiple themes are used and expired
Ads will continue to run using the theme that has the latest end date among the expired themes.
Which Scheduling Method To Use
Not sure whether to schedule multiple themes within one campaign, or to instead schedule campaigns? With certain scheduling goals you could use either. Which method you use depends on your preference and what it is you are trying to achieve.
Desired Behaviors
Example
Suggested Method
Explanation
Your ads are static (no product data) and,
You want to schedule different creative to be shown on certain dates
You have a promotion which ends on a certain date and want to show special ad creative for that promotion. When the promotion ends you want to switch to showing your regular ads
Add/create multiple themes within a single campaign
Adjust the schedule per theme
We suggest this method because you can easily see both sets of creative within the campaign view
Your ads are dynamic (using product data) and,
You want to schedule different creative to be shown on certain dates
You have a promotion which ends on a certain date and want to show special ad creative for that promotion. When the promotion ends you want to switch to showing your regular ads
Add/create multiple themes within a single campaign
Adjust the schedule per theme
We suggest this method because you can easily see both sets of creative within the campaign view
Your ads are dynamic (using product data) and,
You want your different creative to be shown with different product data, and
You want to schedule these sets of ads to start and stop on certain dates
Shirts should be shown in a theme which uses a red button, and pants should be shown in a theme which uses a blue button. The red shirt ads should begin on June 1st and end on June 30th, the blue pants ads should begin on July 1st and continue indefinitely
Create a campaign per creative
Set up the product data for each campaign separately
Schedule each campaign with the desired dates
In order to use different sets of data for different creatives, you will need to create a separate campaign for each set
You want your ads to stop completely after a certain date
After May 1st you don’t want your ads to be shown at all
Schedule your campaign(s) to end on the desired date
A campaign which is on will still show ads even if the theme has “expired” so if you want the ads to stop completely you should schedule the campaign to turn off rather than the theme
