Guide 7 of 17 in Level 4: Run it as an ad

Approve a campaign proposal and start it

A campaign drafted in New Campaign arrives in Blackbox (blackbox.plus) as a Campaign proposal on Plan's calendar, on the day it starts. Under If you approve, it lists each channel with its ad account, what it makes and its share of the budget. Click Approve & create: Blackbox creates the campaign, ad sets and ads on Meta, paused, one channel at a time, and a channel that fails is undone, with the reason on the card. The card then reads Start the campaign. Click Start ads, which shows your amount and days; that is the only click that spends, and Meta reviews new ads first, most within 24 hours. While it runs, check-in cards arrive on their days in Plan: Day 3 · delivery, a diagnosis halfway, and Campaign ended · decision, where you stop it, revise its angles or continue it. To change the plan before approving, click Change something.

You'll need
Time
About 3 minutes 6 steps Updated
You'll end with
Your campaign created paused, then running on your budget, with check-ins on its days in Plan
Do it in Blackbox Open Plan, after you sign in
Example
One proposal: created paused, started when you say

How to approve a campaign proposal and start it in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Open the proposal

    Click Plan in the left menu, then the campaign on the day it starts.

    You'll see: The Campaign proposal card beside the calendar, with the days it runs.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Check what it makes

    Read If you approve: each channel’s ad account, what it makes and its amount.

    You'll see: The total, and a line saying everything is created paused.

  3. Step 3:Approve it

    Click Approve & create.

    You'll see: Start the campaign, marked Created paused.

  4. Step 4:Start it

    Click Start ads. The button shows your budget, like Start ads — $700 for 14 days.

    You'll see: The card marked Running, with the day it is on.

  5. Step 5:Read the Day 3 check-in

    In Plan, click Check-in · day 3 on the campaign’s third day.

    You'll see: How spending is pacing, and any ad set that isn’t delivering.

  6. Step 6:Decide at the end

    On Campaign ended · decision, click Stop campaign, Revise: new angles or Continue, which names the days it adds.

    You'll see: The card marked Decided, saying what happens next.

Good to know

  • Approve & create makes the campaign, ad sets and ads paused, one channel at a time. A channel that fails is undone; if a part couldn’t be removed, the card links to that channel’s ads manager.
  • Only Start ads spends. Meta reviews new ads before they show, most within 24 hours.
  • Halfway through, a diagnosis card names the creative in the lead and how the budget could move between ad sets. With named ad sets, the day 3 and halfway check-ins show every ad set and creative side by side and the moves to approve — see How to read your ad set test and act on the check-in.
  • Revise pauses the weakest angle and has Studio’s AI draft two new ones, which uses AI credits. Continue runs it for as many days again.
  • Change something reopens the draft, until you approve it. Not now puts the card away.
  • Delete draft removes the draft and its cards from Plan, and touches nothing on the ad accounts. Once it’s created, click Delete campaign first.
  • A picked campaign plan makes one campaign, and so one proposal, per audience. Reach each from its row on the Campaign plans card: Open the proposal once it’s drafted — see How to plan a Facebook ad campaign.
  • Campaigns from an older suggestion or the full brief are approved card by card instead — see Approve and start a campaign card by card.

Official docs

If something doesn't work

I’m worried Approve & create spends money

It doesn’t. It creates everything paused. Only Start ads spends, up to the budget and days you set.

The card says Not created

No channel could be created, and nothing was left running. Each channel says why: fix that, click Change something, and draft it again.

The card says Partly on

Some parts didn’t turn on. Click Retry. What is still paused spends nothing.

I started it but the ad isn’t showing

Meta reviews new ads before they show, most within 24 hours. If Meta rejects one, it tells the ad account why.

I want to stop it before it ends

Pause it in Meta Ads Manager. Otherwise it stops on its own after its last day, and the decision card asks what happens next.

I want to change the budget or the ads

Click Change something on the proposal. It is there until you approve; after that, the campaign is on Meta.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 4: Run it as an ad