Understanding AutoPilot Status & Modes

The AutoPilot column will alert you which Budgets and campaigns have AutoPilot enabled and the current AutoPilot Mode. Our AutoPilot legend provides a helpful guide to inform you of the Budget- or campaign-level status and mode.

Legend 

Budget-Level

AutoPilot (Budget-Level)

The budget level AutoPilot column will tell you if AutoPilot is enabled or disabled, and the mode applied at the budget level. The budget-level mode will be the default mode applied to all new campaigns added to the budget.

 AutoPilot Disabled: Campaigns in this budget cannot be put on AutoPilot. This applies to all campaigns in the budget.

 AutoPilot Enabled: Campaigns in this budget can now be put into AutoPilot. If AutoPilot is enabled, you must utilize one of the modes below: 

  AutoPilot Pause Only Enabled: AutoPilot is enabled at the budget level in Pause Only mode. 

  AutoPilot Pause/Enabled: AutoPilot is enabled at the budget level in Pause/Enable mode

  AutoPilot Daily Pause/Enable: AutoPilot is enabled at the budget level in Daily Pause/Enable mode

*The mode applied at the budget level will be the default mode applied to all new campaigns added to that budget. However, the modes can be altered at the campaign level and multiple modes can exist in one budget.

AutoPilot (Campaign-Level)

The campaign level AutoPilot column will tell you if AutoPilot is enabled or disabled, and the mode applied at the campaign level. Campaigns can have different statuses (enabled/disabled/standby) and modes per campaign.

How are AutoPilot Modes and Status Different?

When you enable AutoPilot, you must select an AutoPilot status and a mode.

An AutoPilot Mode tells Shape exactly how much control you want AutoPilot to have to change your campaign statuses.

An AutoPilot status tells Shape which budgets and campaigns Shape has permission to change statuses for.

Budget-Level AutoPilot

If you enable AutoPilot at the budget level, you will first be asked to select a mode. If you apply a mode at the budget level, it will initially apply to all budget campaigns. The mode tells AutoPilot when and how you want AP to change your campaign statuses (see "What are AutoPilot Modes")

 Campaign-Level AutoPilot

After you select an AutoPilot mode, you’ll be prompted to select an AutoPilot status. The status tells Shape, "Yes, you can make automated changes for this campaign" or “No, do not make any changes to this campaign’s status.”

You’ll be asked to choose “off” or “active.” Set the AutoPilot status to off for any campaigns you wish to remain paused indefinitely. Otherwise, Shape will reactivate those campaigns automatically. *Note when you edit campaign settings (instead of setting up AutoPilot anew), you can also set campaign status to standby.

If you set a campaign to standby, it means that AutoPilot will not make any additional campaign status changes to that campaign for the rest of the budget cycle. At the start of the next budget cycle, campaigns in standby status will revert to an “on” status and act accordingly.

Can I have campaigns with different modes in the same budget?

Yes, for power users who wish to implement complex budget models, you can set campaigns with different modes.

 For example, let’s say you have 5 campaigns in a budget with a budget target of $3000. 4 are standard search or display campaigns, and 1 is a branded campaign. You want the 4 campaigns to spend consistently across the month, but you don’t want your branded campaign limited by a daily cap. You set the 4 campaigns to “AutoPilot Daily” and the branded campaign to “AutoPilot Pause/Enable.”

What is Standby Status?

Standby is a status that is applied to campaigns with AutoPilot enabled.

A campaign will be placed on standby when a user manually enables or pauses a campaign during a budget cycle. A user can also choose to put a campaign on "Standby" by editing the campaign's AutoPilot status at any time after the Budget has been created.

Shape will not change campaign statuses for the rest of the budget cycle when a campaign is in standby mode. At the start of a new budget cycle, AutoPilot will default to enabled for that campaign.

A campaign is denoted as on "standby" under the AutoPilot column on the decision grid. The plane icon and corresponding mode will be orange.

NOTE: If you don't want AutoPilot to change campaign status moving forward, you must turn AutoPilot off. Toggle the plane icon, and it will turn red when it is disabled. 

Can I change the status of a campaign on AutoPilot manually?

Yes, the ultimate power is still in your hands. Let’s say AutoPilot paused campaigns because only 1% of the budget was left. If you want to activate a few campaigns to spend the remaining dollars, you can. 

WARNING: Manually enabled/paused campaigns will be placed into Standby mode. AutoPilot will not change campaign statuses on standby for the rest of the Budget cycle.