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Get Started with Your First Campaign

Welcome to Whathead! This guide will take you from account setup to your first published campaign in under 10 minutes. You’ll learn the essential workflow that you’ll use for all your campaigns.
Prerequisites:
  • Active Whathead account
  • Business account on Meta, TikTok, or Snapchat
  • Admin access to your advertising account
  • Creative assets ready (images or videos for your ad)

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Your First Campaign Workflow

Follow these steps to create and publish your first campaign. Each step includes estimated time and links to detailed documentation if you need more information.

Sign in to Whathead

Time: 30 secondsNavigate to whathead.com and log in with your credentials. If you don’t have an account yet, click Sign Up to create one.Once logged in, you’ll see the Whathead dashboard with your workspace.

Connect your advertising platform

Time: 1-2 minutes
  1. Click Settings in the sidebar, then select Integrations
  2. Choose your platform: Meta (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok, or Snapchat
  3. Click Connect next to your chosen platform
  4. Follow the OAuth authentication flow to authorize Whathead
  5. Select the ad account you want to work with
Your platform is now connected and ready to use.
You can connect multiple platforms and switch between them anytime. Learn more in Portal System documentation.

Open the Campaign Builder

Time: 10 secondsClick New Campaign from the dashboard or select Campaign Builder from the sidebar. You’ll see a blank canvas with a + Campaign button in the center.The Campaign Builder is your visual workspace where you’ll create and manage all your campaigns.
Learn more about canvas operations in Campaign Builder Overview.

Create your campaign node

Time: 1 minute
  1. Click the + Campaign button on the canvas
  2. Select your connected platform from the dropdown
  3. Configure your campaign:
    • Campaign Name: Give it a descriptive name (e.g., “Summer Sale 2024”)
    • Objective: Choose what you want to achieve (Sales, Traffic, Awareness, etc.)
    • Daily Budget: Set your daily spending limit (minimum varies by platform)
  4. Click Save
A campaign node appears on the canvas representing your campaign.
Different platforms have different objectives and budget minimums. See Platform Comparison for details.

Add an ad set (or ad group)

Time: 2-3 minutes
  1. Click + Ad Set below your campaign node (TikTok calls this “Ad Group”, Snapchat calls it “Ad Squad”)
  2. Configure your ad set:
    • Ad Set Name: Descriptive name for this audience group
    • Targeting: Define your audience (location, age, interests, etc.)
    • Placements: Choose where your ads will appear (automatic or manual)
    • Schedule: Set start date and optional end date
    • Budget: Set ad set budget if using ad set-level budgeting
  3. Click Save
An ad set node appears connected to your campaign node.
Targeting options vary by platform. Learn more in Targeting Overview.

Create your ad

Time: 2-3 minutes
  1. Click + Ad below your ad set node
  2. Configure your ad:
    • Ad Name: Descriptive name for this creative
    • Format: Choose single image, video, carousel, etc.
    • Creative: Upload your image or video from your computer or select from media library
    • Primary Text: Write your ad copy (the main message)
    • Headline: Add a compelling headline
    • Description: Optional additional text
    • Call-to-Action: Choose a button (Shop Now, Learn More, Sign Up, etc.)
    • Destination URL: Where users go when they click your ad
  3. Click Save
An ad node appears connected to your ad set node. Your campaign structure is complete!
Make sure your creative meets platform requirements for dimensions and file size. See Upload Requirements.

Review and validate

Time: 30 secondsBefore publishing, Whathead automatically validates your campaign:
  1. Look for any red warning icons on your nodes
  2. Click on nodes with warnings to see what needs to be fixed
  3. Common issues include:
    • Budget below platform minimum
    • Missing required fields
    • Creative doesn’t meet specifications
  4. Fix any validation errors
When all nodes show green checkmarks, you’re ready to publish.
Learn about validation rules in Publishing Validation.

Publish your campaign

Time: 30 seconds
  1. Click the Publish button in the top-right corner
  2. Review the publish summary showing what will be created
  3. Verify your campaign details one final time
  4. Click Confirm to publish
Whathead sends your campaign to the platform. You’ll see a success message when it’s live!
Congratulations! Your first campaign is now live and running on your chosen platform. You can monitor performance in your platform’s dashboard.

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Understanding What Just Happened

You’ve just completed the core Whathead workflow:
  1. Connected a platform - Linked your advertising account to Whathead
  2. Built campaign structure - Created the hierarchy: Campaign → Ad Set → Ad
  3. Configured targeting - Defined who sees your ads
  4. Added creative - Uploaded your ad content
  5. Published - Sent everything live to the platform
This same workflow applies whether you’re creating one campaign or managing hundreds across multiple platforms.
Pro tip: You can save your work at any time without publishing. Your canvas auto-saves, so you can come back later to finish.

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What to Do Next

Now that you’ve created your first campaign, explore these capabilities to get more from Whathead:

Connect More Platforms

Add Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, or Google to run campaigns across multiple platforms from one place.

Master the Campaign Builder

Learn advanced canvas operations like bulk editing, copy/paste, and managing complex campaign structures.

Import Existing Campaigns

Fetch campaigns you’ve already created in platform portals and edit them in Whathead.

Explore Platform Guides

Deep dive into platform-specific features, objectives, and best practices for Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and Google.

Learn Publishing Scenarios

Understand when campaigns are created new vs updated, and how different workflows affect publishing behavior.

Set Up Bulk Operations

Edit multiple campaigns at once, upload media to all platforms, and manage campaigns at scale.

Transfer Campaigns Cross-Platform

Copy campaign structures between platforms or between different ad accounts.

Troubleshooting Guide

Get help with common issues like connection problems, validation errors, and publishing failures.

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Common Questions

After you click Publish, Whathead sends your campaign to the platform immediately. Most platforms activate campaigns within 1-2 minutes. However, the platform may take additional time to review your ads (typically 15 minutes to 24 hours depending on the platform).
Yes! You can edit published campaigns in Whathead. Changes you make will update the existing campaign on the platform when you republish. Some fields may be locked by the platform after publishing. Learn more in Editing Existing Campaigns.
Don’t worry! You can pause campaigns from your platform dashboard immediately. Then come back to Whathead, make your changes, and republish. Whathead validates everything before publishing to catch common mistakes.
Absolutely! You can add multiple campaign nodes to your canvas and build out complete campaign structures before publishing. You can also publish multiple campaigns simultaneously. Learn more in Bulk Operations.
Both! You can create new campaigns from scratch in Whathead (like you just did), or you can fetch existing campaigns from your connected platforms and edit them in Whathead. See Fetching Existing Campaigns.
Use Whathead’s cross-platform transfer feature! Create your campaign on one platform, then copy it to another platform. Whathead handles field mapping and compatibility. Learn more in Cross-Platform Transfer.

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Need Help?

If you run into any issues or have questions: Happy campaigning! 🚀