Ads Scheduling

Ads Scheduling helps you control when your LinkedIn campaigns run by automatically managing campaign activity during selected days and hours. Instead of monitoring campaigns manually, you can schedule them to align with your audience, budget, and campaign strategy.

DemandSense supports two scheduling methods: traditional campaign pausing and Bid Reduce, an advanced scheduling option designed to help preserve LinkedIn campaign optimization during off-hours.

Benefits of Ads Scheduling #

Ads Scheduling gives you greater control over campaign delivery while helping reduce spend during non-performing hours.

Key benefits include the following:

• Flexible campaign timing
  Run campaigns only during the days and hours that match your marketing strategy.
• Time zone support
  Schedule campaigns using the most appropriate timezone for your audience or region.
• Bulk scheduling
  Apply schedules across multiple campaigns at once to save time.
• Optimization continuity with Bid Reduce
  Keep eligible campaigns active during off-hours by lowering bids instead of pausing delivery.
• Scheduling Insights
  Track scheduled campaigns and view estimated savings generated by scheduling.

How Ads Scheduling Works #

LinkedIn campaigns normally run continuously until paused or limited by budget. LinkedIn does not provide native controls for running campaigns only on selected days or hours.

DemandSense extends LinkedIn scheduling capabilities by allowing you to define custom schedules and automatically manage campaigns according to those rules.

DemandSense supports two scheduling methods.

Pause Campaign #

Pause Campaign is the default scheduling method. When a campaign reaches scheduled off-hours, DemandSense pauses the campaign and reactivates it once the scheduled timeframe resumes.

This method:

• Works with all LinkedIn campaign bidding types
• Prevents campaign delivery during off-hours
• Guarantees zero spend while paused

Pause scheduling is recommended when complete delivery control is required.

Bid Reduce #

Bid Reduce is an advanced scheduling method available for eligible campaigns.

Instead of pausing the campaign, DemandSense lowers the campaign bid during scheduled off-hours while keeping the campaign active. When scheduled delivery resumes, the original bid is automatically restored.

Keeping campaigns active may help preserve LinkedIn optimization history and reduce performance disruption that can occur after pausing and restarting campaigns.

Bid Reduce is intended for advertisers who want more scheduling control while maintaining campaign continuity.

Bid Reduce Eligibility #

Bid Reduce is available only for campaigns using Manual Bidding.

A campaign is eligible when:

• Manual Bidding is enabled
• Campaign status is Active or Paused

Bid Reduce is not currently available for:

• Maximum Delivery or auto-bidding campaigns
• Cost Cap campaigns
• Unsupported bidding strategies

If a campaign is not eligible, the Bid Reduce option will appear unavailable during scheduling.

Creating an Ad Schedule #

Follow these steps to schedule your LinkedIn ads:

1. Navigate to ‘Ads Scheduling’
   Go to the Ads Scheduling tab within the LinkedIn Ads Optimization module.
2. Connect Your LinkedIn Account
   If your LinkedIn account hasn’t been connected yet, follow the setup instructions in the article “Connecting LinkedIn to DemandSense” to connect it.
3. Select the Campaign
   Pick the LinkedIn ad campaign you want to schedule and click on the ‘Schedule’ button.
4. Choose Timezone
   Choose the appropriate time zone for your campaign. By default, the system uses your current time zone. If not available, the system defaults to EST. This step is especially useful for campaigns targeting multiple regions.
5. Set the Schedule
   Select the specific days and time ranges when you want your ad to run. If you have different schedules for various days, you can add multiple options.
6. Select Scheduling Method
   Choose the scheduling method that best fits your campaign strategy.
   Pause Campaign – Pauses campaigns during scheduled off-hours and works with all campaign types.
   Bid Reduce – Reduces bids during off-hours while keeping campaigns active. Available only for eligible Manual Bidding campaigns.
7. Save Schedule
   Click Save to apply the schedule. DemandSense will automatically begin managing campaign activity according to your selected schedule.

Once you’ve set your schedule, our system automatically adjusts your LinkedIn campaign status. This ensures your ad runs only during the specified time slots.

Important Note: When you schedule ads, it may take up to 24 hours for ad scheduling to fully synchronize and start performing as expected. This time is needed for the system to adjust the campaign’s status accordingly.

Bulk Scheduling #

Ads Scheduling supports bulk scheduling for managing multiple campaigns simultaneously. To create schedules in bulk:

1. Select multiple campaigns from the campaign table
2. Click Add Schedule
3. Configure timezone and schedule timing
4. Select a scheduling method
5. Save changes

Keep in mind: When scheduling in bulk, the same schedule will be applied to all selected campaigns. You cannot apply different schedules to individual campaigns in bulk.

Bulk Scheduling with Bid Reduce #

Pause scheduling works with all campaigns. When Bid Reduce is selected during bulk scheduling, DemandSense automatically checks campaign eligibility. Three outcomes are possible.

All campaigns eligible
Bid Reduce can be applied immediately.
Some campaigns eligible
DemandSense identifies unsupported campaigns and allows you to:

• Remove ineligible campaigns from the selection
• Or switch to Pause scheduling to include all campaigns

No campaigns eligible
Bid Reduce cannot be applied, and Pause scheduling must be used instead.

If campaigns already contain schedules, saving a new bulk schedule will overwrite existing scheduling settings.

Important Scheduling Behavior #

DemandSense manages campaign schedules automatically, but LinkedIn retains priority over certain campaign settings. Keep the following in mind:
Manual pauses in LinkedIn
If a campaign is manually paused in LinkedIn Campaign Manager, DemandSense will not override that change. Scheduling resumes only after the campaign becomes active again.
Schedule synchronization
After creating or updating a schedule, synchronization may take up to 24 hours before scheduling behavior fully reflects across campaigns.
Existing schedules
Saving a new schedule may overwrite an existing one.
Deleted schedules
If a Bid Reduce schedule is removed while a campaign is using reduced bids, DemandSense restores the original bid before removing the schedule.

Scheduling Insights #

Ads Scheduling now includes Scheduling Insights to help measure scheduling activity and estimated value. The insights section appears at the top of the Ads Scheduling page and may include the following:
Campaigns Scheduled
Shows how many campaigns currently use scheduling.
Active by Pause Method
Displays campaigns using Pause scheduling.
Active by Bid Reduce Method
Displays campaigns using Bid Reduce scheduling.
Approximate Budget Saved
Provides an estimated savings value generated through campaign scheduling.

Estimated savings are directional and calculated using campaign budgets and scheduled off-hours.

Estimated Campaign Savings #

Scheduled campaigns may display Saved (est.) values. This estimate reflects approximate monthly savings for an individual campaign based on:

• Campaign budget
• Scheduled off-hours
• Scheduling activity during the selected period

Savings estimates are intended to demonstrate scheduling impact and should not be interpreted as exact spend reporting.

Important Notes for Bid Reduce #

Before using Bid Reduce, keep the following considerations in mind.
Original bids are stored automatically
DemandSense stores the original campaign bid before reduction and restores it when scheduled delivery resumes.
Manual bid edits during reduction
If a bid is manually changed in LinkedIn while Bid Reduce is active, DemandSense restores the previously stored bid value.
Bid strategy changes
If campaign bidding strategy changes outside DemandSense, Bid Reduce may no longer be supported, and scheduling may revert to Pause behavior.
Budget cap behavior
Campaigns using Bid Reduce may appear paused if campaign or account budget limits are reached.
Unsupported strategies
Cost Cap bidding strategies are currently excluded from Bid Reduce processing.
Token or connection issues
If LinkedIn authorization expires or API communication fails, scheduled actions may be delayed until the connection is restored.

Bid Reduce Disclaimer #

Bid Reduce is an advanced scheduling method that keeps campaigns active by lowering bids during off-hours instead of pausing delivery. This approach may help preserve LinkedIn optimization history and improve performance continuity.

Because this method is not officially supported by LinkedIn, results may vary and minimal off-hours spend may still occur. DemandSense is not responsible for unintended spend during off-hours.

Frequently Asked Questions #