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Editing Existing Campaigns

This workflow guide explains how to fetch campaigns from connected platforms and edit them in Whathead. This is useful when you want to modify campaigns you’ve already created, either in platform portals or in previous Whathead sessions.
When to use this workflow:
  • Editing campaigns created in platform portals
  • Modifying campaigns from previous Whathead sessions
  • Adding new ad sets or ads to existing campaigns
  • Bulk editing existing campaign structures
For creating new campaigns from scratch, see Creating Your First Campaign.

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Understanding Existing Campaigns

When you fetch campaigns from a platform, Whathead loads them with their existing IDs (platform-assigned identifiers). These IDs tell Whathead that entities already exist on the platform, so when you republish after making changes, Whathead updates the existing entities rather than creating new ones.
Key Difference:
  • Campaigns created from scratch → CREATE new entities when published
  • Campaigns fetched from platform → UPDATE existing entities when republished

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Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:
  • Connected platform with existing campaigns
  • Admin or advertiser access to your ad account
  • Understanding of which campaigns you want to edit

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Workflow Overview

Editing existing campaigns involves these steps:
  1. Fetch campaigns from the platform
  2. Expand campaign structure (load ad sets and ads)
  3. Make your edits
  4. Validate changes
  5. Republish to update the platform

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Step-by-Step Workflow

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1. Fetch Campaigns from Platform

1

Open Campaign Builder

Navigate to Campaign Builder from the sidebar.
2

Open Fetch Modal

Click Fetch Campaigns in the toolbar (or use the fetch button if your canvas is empty).
3

Select platform and ad account

Choose which platform and ad account you want to fetch campaigns from.
4

Select campaigns to fetch

Whathead displays all campaigns from the selected ad account. Select the campaigns you want to edit.
You can fetch multiple campaigns at once. They’ll all appear on your canvas.
5

Load campaigns

Click Fetch Selected. Campaign nodes appear on your canvas with their existing platform IDs.

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2. Expand Campaign Structure

When you first fetch campaigns, only the campaign nodes appear. You need to expand them to load ad sets and ads.
1

Expand campaign

Click the Expand button on a campaign node (or right-click and select Expand).
2

Load ad sets

Whathead fetches all ad sets under the campaign. Ad set nodes appear connected to the campaign.
3

Expand ad sets (optional)

Click Expand on an ad set node to load its ads. Ad nodes appear connected to the ad set.
You don’t need to expand ad sets if you only want to edit campaign or ad set settings.
4

Review structure

Your complete campaign structure is now visible on the canvas, ready for editing.

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3. Make Your Edits

Now you can edit any part of your campaign structure.
Click on a campaign node to edit:
  • Campaign name
  • Budget (if platform allows)
  • Schedule
  • Status (active, paused)
Most platforms lock the objective after campaign creation. You cannot change it.

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4. Validate Changes

1

Check validation status

Look for validation indicators on edited nodes:
  • Green checkmark: Changes are valid
  • Red warning icon: Validation errors need fixing
2

Fix validation errors

Common errors when editing:
  • Budget below platform minimum
  • Invalid targeting changes (narrowing too much)
  • Creative doesn’t meet specifications (if changed)
  • Platform-specific field restrictions
3

Review changes

Verify all your edits are correct before publishing.

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5. Republish to Update Platform

1

Click Publish

Click Publish in the top-right corner.
2

Review publish summary

Whathead shows what will happen:
  • UPDATE: Existing entities with changes
  • CREATE: New entities you added
  • SKIP: Existing entities with no changes
Whathead automatically detects which entities changed and only updates those, saving time and API calls.
3

Confirm and wait

Click Confirm. Whathead updates the platform with your changes.
Your changes are now live on the platform!

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What Happens When You Republish

When you republish campaigns fetched from the platform:
  1. Whathead compares current state to stored snapshot
  2. Whathead identifies which entities changed
  3. Whathead updates only changed entities (skips unchanged ones)
  4. Whathead creates any new entities you added
  5. Platform applies changes immediately (ads may need re-review)
Learn more about publishing behavior in Create vs Update and Publishing Decision Logic.

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Common Editing Scenarios

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Scenario 1: Update Ad Copy

  1. Fetch campaign
  2. Expand to load ad sets and ads
  3. Click ad node
  4. Edit primary text, headline, or description
  5. Save and republish
Result: Ad copy updates on the platform without creating a new ad.

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Scenario 2: Add New Ad to Existing Ad Set

  1. Fetch campaign
  2. Expand to load ad sets
  3. Click + Ad under the ad set
  4. Configure new ad
  5. Save and republish
Result: New ad is created under the existing ad set. Existing ads remain unchanged.

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Scenario 3: Expand Targeting

  1. Fetch campaign
  2. Expand to load ad sets
  3. Click ad set node
  4. Add more locations, interests, or age ranges
  5. Save and republish
Result: Ad set targeting expands on the platform. Existing ads continue running with broader audience.
Narrowing targeting may be restricted by some platforms to protect the learning phase. Expanding targeting is generally allowed.

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Scenario 4: Pause Campaign

  1. Fetch campaign
  2. Click campaign node
  3. Change status to “Paused”
  4. Save and republish
Result: Campaign pauses on the platform. All ad sets and ads under it stop running.

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Scenario 5: Bulk Edit Multiple Ad Sets

  1. Fetch campaign
  2. Expand to load ad sets
  3. Select multiple ad set nodes (Shift+click or drag to select)
  4. Right-click and choose Bulk Edit
  5. Make changes to all selected ad sets at once
  6. Save and republish
Result: All selected ad sets update with your changes.
Learn more about bulk operations in Bulk Edit.

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Platform-Specific Limitations

Different platforms have different restrictions on editing existing campaigns:
Can edit:
  • Campaign name, budget, schedule
  • Ad set targeting (expand only, narrowing restricted)
  • Ad copy, creative, destination URL
Cannot edit:
  • Campaign objective (locked after creation)
  • Special ad categories (locked after creation)
Notes:
  • Narrowing targeting may reset the learning phase
  • Significant changes may trigger ad re-review
See Platform Limitations for complete details on what can and cannot be edited per platform.

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Troubleshooting

Cause: Connection expired or no campaigns exist on the platform.Solution:
  • Verify your platform connection in Settings > Integrations
  • Reconnect if connection expired
  • Confirm campaigns exist in the platform portal
Cause: Network issue or platform API delay.Solution:
  • Wait a moment and try expanding again
  • Refresh your browser
  • Check your internet connection
Cause: Platform restricts narrowing targeting on existing ad sets.Solution:
  • Only expand targeting (add more locations, interests, age ranges)
  • Or create a new ad set with narrower targeting instead of editing the existing one
Cause: Existing IDs were cleared (happens with copy/paste or duplicate).Solution:
  • Don’t copy/paste fetched nodes if you want to update them
  • Fetch campaigns again to restore existing IDs
  • Use Expand Flow to load entities with their IDs intact
Cause: Platform API delay or caching.Solution:
  • Wait 1-2 minutes and check again
  • Refresh the platform portal
  • Verify changes were saved in Whathead before publishing
Cause: You changed the creative asset on an existing Snapchat ad.Solution:
  • This is expected Snapchat behavior (not a bug)
  • Snapchat does not allow updating creative on existing ads
  • Manually pause or delete the original ad in Snapchat portal
  • See Snapchat Limitations

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Best Practices

Tip 1: Fetch only the campaigns you need to edit. Fetching too many campaigns at once can clutter your canvas.
Tip 2: Expand only the levels you need. If you’re only editing campaign budgets, you don’t need to expand ad sets and ads.
Tip 3: Use bulk edit for making the same change across multiple entities. It’s much faster than editing one by one.
Tip 4: Before making major changes, consider duplicating the campaign and testing changes on the duplicate first.
Tip 5: Check platform-specific limitations before editing. Some changes may not be allowed or may have unintended consequences.

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Next Steps

Bulk Campaign Management

Edit multiple campaigns, ad sets, or ads simultaneously.

Platform Limitations

Understand what can and cannot be edited per platform.

Publishing Decision Logic

Learn how Whathead decides when to create, update, or skip entities.

Fetching Existing Campaigns

Detailed documentation on fetching and Expand Flow.