Create a campaign

Before you start

Prepare the campaign visual and decide which locations or devices should display it. If the target devices use different aspect ratios, prepare the corresponding visual variants.

Create a new campaign

1. Open Campaigns / My campaigns from the left menu.
2. Click the + button in the bottom-right corner to open the campaign wizard.
3. In General settings, enter the campaign name and display period. The first date selects the start and the second the end; select the same date twice for a one-day campaign.
4. Select the campaign type: Commercial, Non-commercial or Combination of both. See Campaign types and playback rules.
5. Set visual duration, repetitions per hour or occupied space. ScreenSoft calculates the third value from the other two. See Campaign capacity.
   We check. We explain. We do not create dead ends.
   This is a core ScreenSoft principle: the platform checks your setup without creating unnecessary dead ends. If it later detects a conflict between campaign settings, targeting or the content you add, it explains the reason and consequence, offers ways to continue and, wherever possible, applies the selected adjustment directly for you.
6. Continue to Location, select target locations/devices and check expected and maximum impressions. If the settings or targeting encounter a limitation, ScreenSoft flags the conflict, explains its consequence and offers the available ways to continue instead of turning the step into a dead end.
7. In Visual, assign a visual for every aspect ratio required by the selected devices. See Campaign visuals.
8. Use Campaign Separation when specific campaigns must not play immediately next to each other. See Campaign Separation.
9. Use Dynamic Visual when content should change automatically according to time or weather. See Dynamic Visuals.
10. Use Mini App when the campaign needs an additional interactive function. See Mini App in a campaign.
11. In Summary, verify the period, type, targeting, visuals, duration, repetitions, occupied space and expected impressions.
12. Choose Save to save without activation, or Save and activate to activate the campaign. Playback then follows its period, targeting and conditions.

Video length checks without unnecessary blocking

When a video is assigned, ScreenSoft checks whether its actual duration matches the configured Visual duration. If the video falls outside the permitted ±10% tolerance, ScreenSoft displays an Incorrect visual duration warning.

The video is longer than the configured duration

For example, with a configured duration of 3 s and a 32.667 s video, the permitted range is 2.7–3.3 s. ScreenSoft offers three paths:

• Choose another visual — use different media.
• Change the campaign duration to 33 s and verify manually — ScreenSoft adjusts the campaign duration to the actual video length and you confirm the result.
• Shorten the video to 3 s — ScreenSoft automatically trims the video to the configured duration; the end of the video is cut off.

The video is shorter than the configured duration

For example, with a configured duration of 1 min and a 32.667 s video, the permitted range is 54 s–1 min 6 s. ScreenSoft again offers solutions directly in the wizard:

• Choose another visual — use different media.
• Change the campaign duration to 33 s and verify manually — ScreenSoft adjusts the campaign duration to the video.
• Extend the duration to 1 min — ScreenSoft keeps the complete video and automatically fills the remaining time with its final frame.

The same check also applies if you skip the duration setting while creating the campaign: the video is compared with the currently applied default value.

Video in a campaign and automatic conversion

If you use a newly uploaded video as a campaign visual, ScreenSoft automatically prepares it for playback by converting it to the required format and codecs. The user does not need to convert or configure anything manually. Processing usually takes only a few minutes, depending on the video length and file size.

As soon as the automatic conversion is complete, the video is ready and the campaign can start using it. Until then, a campaign using that video will not start on the device. The current status can be checked at any time in Media → video detail → Conversion status.