> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instantcampaign.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Manage ad campaigns

> Resume, pause, edit and archive published ad campaigns, finish a half-published campaign, read campaign statuses and track performance.

After you publish a campaign, its page in **Advertising → Ad campaigns** is where you control it and follow its results. The campaign list shows each campaign's **Platform**, **Objective**, **Status**, **Budget**, **Spend**, **Impressions**, **Clicks**, **CTR** and **Last synced**. Actions are in each row's menu.

## Statuses

| Status         | What it means                                                                                                                              |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Draft**      | The campaign exists only in InstantCampaign. Everything can be edited, and **Delete** removes it.                                          |
| **Publishing** | InstantCampaign is creating the objects on the platform.                                                                                   |
| **Paused**     | The campaign exists on the platform but isn't delivering. Every newly published campaign starts here.                                      |
| **Active**     | You resumed it, and the platform may deliver it.                                                                                           |
| **Completed**  | The end date has passed.                                                                                                                   |
| **Archived**   | The campaign was archived on Meta or removed in Google Ads. It can't be resumed, but its spend and results stay on record.                 |
| **Error**      | A publish or status change failed. The platform's message is shown in a banner on the campaign page, and in a tooltip on the status badge. |

Hover over the status badge to see "Platform reports: …", what Meta or Google says is actually happening, such as `IN_PROCESS` or `WITH_ISSUES` on Meta, or `ELIGIBLE`, `PENDING`, `LIMITED` or `NOT_ELIGIBLE` on Google. The status tells you what was asked for, and the platform report tells you whether the ad is really running.

## Start delivery

<Steps>
  <Step title="Review it on the platform">
    Click **Open in Ads Manager** (Meta) or **Open in Google Ads** to check the campaign where it runs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Resume">
    Click **Resume**. On Meta this activates the campaign, the ad set and the ad. On Google it enables the campaign, the ad group and the ad.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Watch for review">
    The platforms review new ads. If Meta rejects one, the platform report shows `WITH_ISSUES`, and the reason is only visible in Ads Manager.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Click **Pause** to stop delivery at any time. **Resume**, **Pause**, **Publish** and **Archive** need permission to send campaigns.

<Tip>
  The **Open in Google Ads** link opens the campaign under whichever Google Ads account your browser last used. If you have several accounts, switch to the right one in Google Ads first.
</Tip>

## Finish a half-published campaign

Publishing creates several objects one after another. For Meta these are the campaign, ad set, image, creative and ad. For Google they are the budget, campaign, targeting, images and ad. InstantCampaign records each object as soon as the platform creates it. If a step fails, the campaign goes to **Error** with the platform's message, and the objects already created are kept.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Read the error">
    Open the campaign. The error banner names what the platform refused.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fix the cause">
    If the campaign hasn't been created on the platform yet, edit the field it names on the **Setup** tab. Once the campaign exists on the platform, only the name, budget, end date and audiences can be edited. Otherwise fix the problem on the platform, for example add a pixel or conversion tracking, or reconnect the account, or create a new campaign.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Retry">
    Click **Retry publish**, or **Save & retry publish** in the editor. Publishing picks up at the first object that doesn't exist yet. Nothing is created twice.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Edit a published campaign

The **Setup** tab holds the campaign editor. After publishing, the editor says: "The campaign exists on the platform, so the objective, creative and start date are locked. Name, budget, end date and audiences can still change."

| You can change                  | Locked after publishing    |
| ------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| Campaign name                   | Platform and objective     |
| Budget amount                   | Budget type                |
| End date (or clear it)          | Start date                 |
| Included and excluded audiences | Countries, ages and gender |
|                                 | Every creative field       |

Click **Save changes** to push the changes to the platform. If the platform refuses them, you see its message. InstantCampaign keeps your new values, and **Refresh** doesn't restore the old ones. Fix the cause and click **Save changes** again, or set the values back to what the platform has. To change a locked field, create a new campaign.

## Performance

The **Performance** tab shows **Spend**, **Impressions**, **Clicks**, **CTR**, **CPC** and **Conversions**, with a daily breakdown you can view as a **Chart** or a **Table**. Money is shown in the ad account's currency.

* Results are fetched from the platform about every six hours. Click **Refresh** to fetch them now ("Performance refreshed").
* Each refresh re-reads the last three days, because the platforms revise recent figures.
* Platforms report a day after delivery starts. Until then you see "No performance data yet. Platforms report a day after delivery starts."
* **Conversions** on Meta counts leads and purchases. On Google it is the conversions Google Ads reports.

A refresh also brings the status up to date. If someone paused or archived the campaign in Ads Manager or Google Ads, the status here follows. A campaign whose end date has passed becomes **Completed**.

## Archive or delete

* **Draft** campaigns, and campaigns that never reached the platform: **Delete** removes them.
* **Published** campaigns: **Archive** stops delivery for good. Meta archives the campaign and Google Ads removes it. Neither can be undone. The campaign stays in your list as **Archived** with its results, and can't be deleted, because the money it spent is part of your record.

## Troubleshooting

| Message or symptom                                                                     | What to do                                                                                                                                                                   |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| "Meta Ads is not connected" or "Select a Meta ad account"                              | Connect Meta Ads and choose an ad account on the Integrations page.                                                                                                          |
| The access token is no longer valid                                                    | Reconnect Meta. See [Connect your ad accounts](/guides/ads/connect-ad-accounts#when-the-meta-connection-needs-renewing).                                                     |
| "A Sales campaign needs a Meta pixel"                                                  | Create a pixel for the ad account in Meta Events Manager, then **Retry publish**.                                                                                            |
| "Leads campaigns need an instant form"                                                 | Pick an **Instant form** on the **Creative** step.                                                                                                                           |
| Google publish fails with a bidding or conversion-tracking error on Leads or Sales     | Set up conversion tracking in Google Ads, or use Traffic.                                                                                                                    |
| "Google does not allow this Google Ads account to target Customer Match audiences yet" | Remove the included audiences and retry. Exclusions still apply.                                                                                                             |
| Google publish fails with an error about the image                                     | Make sure the image URL is public and loads in a browser. Once the campaign exists on Google, the image URL can't be changed, so create a new campaign with a working image. |
| Spend and impressions stay at 0                                                        | The campaign is still **Paused**, or it hasn't been refreshed yet. Resume it, then click **Refresh** the next day.                                                           |
| **Active** here, but paused in Ads Manager                                             | Click **Refresh**. The status follows the platform.                                                                                                                          |