You set a group budget and a date range, and Metadata's automation manages the rest. You don't hand-tune per-campaign budgets — the Budget Optimizer paces and reallocates for you.
How budgets work
From your group budget and date range, the platform automatically (a) paces spend so the group total is spent evenly across its run, and (b) redistributes that budget across the campaigns in the group toward the best performers for your goal (CPL or CTR). This runs on an ongoing cadence — by default the optimizer re-evaluates each group about every 48 hours — and applies its changes automatically (Auto-apply is on by default for new groups; you can switch a group to suggest-only if you'd rather review first). Per-campaign daily budgets are recomputed from the group total (remaining group budget ÷ remaining days), so you don't hand-tune them.
New campaigns are handled for you
A fresh campaign isn't sat out: for roughly its first 10 days the optimizer gives it a budget boost so it can gather enough delivery data to be judged fairly, and seeds it at the average performance of your established campaigns so it competes from day one. As soon as it has real delivery data, it's scored on its own results and budget shifts accordingly. (There is no "wait 30 days" period and no "set budgets yourself while it warms up.")
Pacing & Booster
Baseline pacing is always on (spend the group total evenly across remaining days). Booster is an optional add-on that front-loads under-spent budget to catch a group back up when it falls behind pace, within a safety cap. Booster is off by default; pacing is not.
Bidding (LinkedIn)
Three choices:
- Metadata Bid Agent (recommended) — AI-driven bidding toward maximum ROI, the automated counterpart to the Budget Optimizer.
- Channel's Auto Bid — LinkedIn sets the bid.
- Manual Bid — you set it.
For most customers the Bid Agent is the right default.
FAQ
Should I change the budget before the first optimizer run?
No — you don't need to hand-manage budgets at launch or during any "warm-up." Set the group's total budget and let it run; the optimizer paces that total across your date range, reallocates across campaigns automatically, and already gives brand-new campaigns extra budget to learn. Manually changing campaign budgets just competes with the automation — the next pass (≈ every 48h) recomputes from the group total anyway.
Do I have to turn anything on for the optimizer to act?
No. For new budget groups, Auto-apply is on by default, so the optimizer applies its allocation for you. Switch the group to suggest-only if you prefer to review changes first.
Will a new campaign get starved while older ones have more data?
No. New campaigns get a budget boost for roughly their first 10 days and are seeded at your established campaigns' average performance, then scored on their own data once it exists.
What's the difference between pacing and Booster?
Pacing (always on) spreads the group total evenly across remaining days. Booster (optional) accelerates spend to catch up a group that's fallen behind pace, within a safety cap.
Which bid strategy should I use on LinkedIn?
Metadata Bid Agent for hands-off, ROI-optimized bidding. Choose Manual Bid only if you specifically want to control the bid. (Video Views campaigns run on auto-bid — a manual bid amount isn't used for that goal.)
Tips
- Set the group budget and date range correctly — that's the lever the optimizer manages. Per-campaign daily budgets are recomputed from the group total, so you don't need to tune them.
- Leave Auto-apply on unless you specifically want to review suggestions first.
- Pair the Budget Optimizer with the Metadata Bid Agent for fully automated budget + bid management.
- Turn on Booster if you want the optimizer to fully spend a group's budget on time by catching up underspend automatically.
- Avoid manually adjusting budgets between runs — it works against the automation and is recomputed on the next pass.