Channels may be one of AdButler’s most underused features. They’re useful, flexible, and a great time saver, but they also can be daunting. Channel usage is going to be unique to your setup, so instead of telling you how to use channels, we’re going to talk about what channels are. So let’s start with the big picture: channels are a collection of zones and campaigns, or a way to connect zones and campaigns. Think of a channel as a vertical, or a connection between the two parts of your dashboard. A water channel (or a television channel, if you want).

Channels allow you to assign groups of campaigns to groups of zones. You start by adding a campaign to a channel and giving it its own unique placement details. You then assign the channel to zones which are treated like any other placement. When the channel shows up in a zone placement, it then pulls from eligible campaigns. What campaigns can be served is based on both their assignment and their size, as usual. Whatever campaign wins is then served on the page, as if the campaign itself was assigned directly to the zone. You can also set a channel’s priority inside the zones, allowing you to create a ‘House’ or ‘Backfill’ channel.

Channels also have a unique feature: they can include all sizes of campaigns and zones. Campaigns and zones still need to be the same size to work together, but channels allow you to manage all the sizes from one direct place.

When Do You Use Channels?

Anytime you have a category of campaigns or zones. If you’ve assigned the same campaign (with the same settings) to a bunch of zones, use a channel. Or if you have zones which display a specific vertical (a category, like sports or office supplies), use a channel. Maybe you have multiplies sizes of campaigns and zones that always go together. These are all specific situations, but like any tool within AdButler, once you know how channels work (and that they exist), you’re sure to come up with a whole slew of problems that channels can fix.

You can also spread one campaigns quota across multiple zones. This is especially helpful when an advertiser has a blanket quota that doesn’t specify any one placement. Using channels, you can give the campaign it’s limit and let AdButler spread the quota out across the different zones.

Properly set up, channels can save you time. If you’re managing and switching between groups regularly, a channel will reduce your repetition. The first time you set it up it will take a bit of time, but the savings down the road are massive.

If you’re new to AdButler, or still just getting started, you don’t need to worry about channels yet. Of all the organizational and tools available to you, it’s a more complicated one. Take your time and get to know your own process. Once you do, and you see how channels can help you, you’ll fall right in love.