Wevion publishes active by default. Turn on Launch as paused for the safety pattern — catch typos, wrong landing pages, creative issues before money burns.

Publish paused vs active

Publish paused first is the safety pattern. The campaign exists on the ad platform but doesn't spend until you toggle active. Catches typos, wrong landing pages, creative issues, missing pixel attribution before any budget burns. By default Wevion publishes with status ACTIVE — campaigns start spending immediately. To publish paused, turn ON the "Launch as paused" toggle in the launch screen (it starts OFF), or have a workspace admin enable the team-wide launch_paused_by_default setting. As a recommendation, publishing paused first is the safer pattern for a new campaign.

Who is this for

Every mediabuyer launching a new campaign. Especially first-time launches, new creative, or campaigns with significant budget at stake.

Why paused-first matters

Before money flows, you want to verify on the ad platform's preview / draft state:

A 5-minute pause-first check saves potentially hundreds of dollars in wasted spend.

How Wevion implements paused-first

Flow when you choose to launch paused:

1. You turn ON the "Launch as paused" toggle in the launch screen (it starts OFF)
2. You click Publish in Campaign Creator
3. Backend calls ad platform's launch endpoint with status: PAUSED
4. Platform creates campaign + ad sets + ads — all in paused state
5. You verify on platform (Meta Ads Manager / Google Ads / TikTok Ads Manager)
6. When confident: toggle to Active in either platform's UI OR Wevion's Ads Manager

If you leave the toggle OFF (the default), campaigns publish ACTIVE and start spending immediately — Wevion asks you to confirm before a live publish. A workspace admin can flip the team default to paused via the launch_paused_by_default setting.

Verification checklist (5-10 min)

Once paused on the platform, verify:

1. Campaign + ad sets visible

• Open native ad manager
• Confirm campaign + ad sets + ads exist
• Status shows Paused (not Active, not In Review)

2. Creative preview correct

• Per ad: open the ad preview
• Toggle per-placement (Feed / Stories / Reels) — check visual integrity at each
• Verify copy renders correctly
• Verify CTA button is the right CTA

3. Landing page works

• Click the destination URL
• Lands on the right page (no 404, no redirect to wrong page)
• Page is mobile-responsive (most ad views are mobile)

4. UTM parameters present

• Open destination URL in browser
• Inspect URL params: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content should all be present
• Verify values match your convention

5. Pixel fires on landing page

• With browser DevTools + pixel helper extension (Meta Pixel Helper, Google Tag Assistant)
• Confirm pixel events fire (PageView, ViewContent, etc.)
• For conversion-objective: confirm Purchase / Lead event configured

6. Audience size in line with expectation

• On platform: audience details show estimated reach
• Compare vs what you set in Wevion
• Surprises here = audience over-narrowed or wrong country

7. Budget + currency correct

• Per ad set (ABO) or campaign (CBO): budget in expected currency
• Daily / lifetime as configured

When to skip paused-first

Rare cases — proceed with caution:

For high-spend or new campaigns: ALWAYS pause-first.

How to activate

From Wevion Ads Manager

1. /ads-manager
2. Find paused campaign
3. Toggle status → Active
4. Save

From native ad manager (Meta / Google / TikTok)

1. Open native UI
2. Find paused campaign
3. Toggle status
4. Save

Both methods sync back to Wevion within minutes. Either works.

Pause-then-activate timing

Bulk Launch paused-first

For Bulk Launch (cc-104):

• Rows follow the same default as single launch (ACTIVE unless "Launch as paused" is ON or the team default is set to paused)
• After bulk publish, verify a sample of rows on platform
• Then bulk-activate via Ads Manager or platform UI
• Per-row activate possible if you find issues with specific rows

Active-first risks documented

If you publish as Active (the default):

• Wevion asks you to confirm the live publish before campaigns go active
• Audit log records the publish (action: campaign.publish, or campaign.multi_publish for multi-account)
• If catastrophic issue (wrong landing page, typos), wasted spend is yours to absorb

Use the safety net unless you have very good reason not to.

What you'll see

After Publish as Paused:

• Toast: "Campaign published to [platform] — Paused"
• Campaign in /ads-manager with Paused badge (green outline)
• Direct link to native ad manager for verification
• Audit log entry recorded

After Activate:

• Status flips to Active (green solid)
• First impressions within 15-30 min
• Dashboard KPI strip updates within 1-3 hours

Common issues

• "Published but campaign not visible on platform": 30-60 sec sync delay. Refresh native ad manager.
• "Activated but no impressions after 2h": ad in platform review OR audience too narrow OR budget too low. Check native ad manager.
• "Cannot activate from Wevion Ads Manager": permission issue. Use native platform UI.
• "Accidentally published active and ad has typo": pause immediately from native ad manager. Wevion's pause action propagates to platform within minutes.
• "Paused but Meta charged me": shouldn't happen. Check campaign was truly paused (not just an ad set within an active campaign). Contact platform billing if spend logged on paused campaign.

Best practices

Make pause-first your default habit

• Train teammates to always pause-first new launches
• Make active-first require additional approval (Wevion doesn't enforce, but your team's process can)

Use the verification checklist

• Print or save the 7-point checklist
• Walk through every time, even for "small" campaigns
• Catches issues you'd miss in a hurry

Set 24-hour delay for big campaigns

• Pause-first → wait 24 hours → activate
• Lets you catch second-guessing thoughts ("did we double-check the audience?")
• Use the 24h for stakeholder sign-off if needed

Schedule activation

• For time-sensitive launches (Black Friday at 00:00): use lifetime budget with start time, OR set rule to auto-activate at scheduled time (less reliable than manual)

FAQ

Does Wevion publish campaigns paused or active?

By default Wevion publishes campaigns ACTIVE — they start spending immediately, and Wevion asks you to confirm before a live publish. To publish paused instead, turn ON the "Launch as paused" toggle in the launch screen (it starts OFF), or ask a workspace admin to set the team-wide launch_paused_by_default default. When paused, the campaign exists on the ad platform but doesn't spend until you toggle it active. As a recommendation, publishing paused first is the safer pattern for a new campaign.

Why should I publish paused first?

Publishing paused first is the safety pattern that catches typos, wrong landing pages, creative crop-off, missing UTMs, wrong audience targeting, and pixel problems before any budget burns. A 5-minute pause-first check on the platform's preview can save potentially hundreds of dollars in wasted spend, especially on new or high-budget campaigns.

How do I activate a paused campaign?

You can activate from Wevion's Ads Manager (/ads-manager): find the paused campaign, toggle its status to Active, and save. Alternatively, toggle status in the native ad manager (Meta, Google, TikTok). Both methods sync back to Wevion within minutes, so either one works.

How long until a campaign spends after activating?

After you click Activate, the effect is immediate on the platform, learning starts within minutes, and first impressions usually appear in under 15 minutes for healthy ad accounts. First spend matches first impressions. If the ad shows In Review, review can take 4-24 hours before it delivers.

When is it OK to skip paused-first?

Only in rare cases: tiny budget tests ($5-10/day) where risk is capped, trusted template re-launches, or time-critical events like Black Friday at midnight. For high-spend or new campaigns, always pause-first (turn ON "Launch as paused"). Publishing active is the default; Wevion asks you to confirm the live publish and records the action as campaign.publish in the audit log.

Steps

1. You turn ON the "Launch as paused" toggle in the launch screen (it starts OFF)
2. You click Publish in Campaign Creator
3. Backend calls ad platform's launch endpoint with status: PAUSED
4. Platform creates campaign + ad sets + ads — all in paused state
5. You verify on platform (Meta Ads Manager / Google Ads / TikTok Ads Manager)
6. When confident: toggle to Active in either platform's UI OR Wevion's Ads Manager

Last updated: 2026-05-17

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