Running ads, and Ads Watch
Soclo can build and run paid campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X, Google and more from one place. Every campaign it builds is created paused. Nothing spends until you answer a plain question with a number in it. Ads Watch is the separate switch that has Soclo keep an eye on live campaigns and tell you what it did.
How do I make an ad?
Open the Create tab and tap Create my advert, then Start my advert. Tell Soclo what you want the ad to do, in the sentence you would use to a person, or tap one of the quick starts. Then tap Build campaign plan.
What comes back is a plan, not a campaign. It shows you the platform breakdown, why it picked each platform, and the audience it means to reach. Read it. If it is wrong, tap Re-plan and say what to change.
Why does it say “Ready — not spending yet”?
Because that is exactly what it is. A campaign Soclo creates exists on your ad account and is paused. The status chip on the Campaigns screen reads Not spending, and the row offers Start spending rather than being already on.
This is deliberate and it is the whole safety model for money. A mis-typed number, a misread plan or a change of mind costs you nothing while the campaign is in this state.
What happens when I start it?
You are asked, in a sentence with the real number in it:
Start spending £X a day? — followed by which platform it runs on, the fact that the platform charges your own ad account directly, and the reminder that you can pause it any time.
The two buttons are Not yet and Start £X/day. There is no other route to spending.
If you build an advert through Soclo AI instead, the card in the chat is marked as a draft and says plainly that nothing is spent until you launch it in Ad Campaigns. Same rule, same place.
What is Ads Watch?
Ads Watch is a switch. With it on, Soclo watches your live campaigns and your spend and steps in when one needs attention — which in practice means pausing what is wasting money rather than letting a bad week run to the weekend.
It is not silent. Under the switch there is a list headed WHAT IT DID, and when there is nothing to report it says so: Nothing yet — Soclo is watching.
Ads Watch follows the mode you chose for ad money.
Rolling out this weekAds Watch covering every campaign Soclo manages, and running with Autopilot switched off, arrives in the days after launch. Today you switch it on for a campaign you built in Soclo.
How do I stop it costing more than I meant?
The spending question is the stop that matters: nothing runs until you answer Start spending £X a day? with the number in front of you, and you can pause a campaign from the Campaigns screen whenever you like.
You also choose whether Soclo asks first or acts for you on ad money: Approve first or Spend for me. On Approve first, the app is honest about the edge case — new ad actions need your approval, and campaigns that are already live may continue spending until you pause them.
Rolling out this weekOne monthly ad limit across everything Soclo manages — a hard stop Soclo can never raise, with a used-and-left bar — arrives in the days after launch.
Can I bring in ads I already run? Rolling out this week
This is the one part of Ads that is not switched on yet. Bringing in the campaigns already running on your connected ad accounts, and choosing which of them Soclo manages while the rest are only watched, arrives in the days after launch.
Until then, nothing on your ad accounts is touched by Soclo unless Soclo built it. Campaigns you already run keep running exactly as they are.
What Soclo will not do with your ads
- It will not start a campaign for you. Created paused, every time.
- It will not go past the number you approved. It can ask for more; it cannot help itself.
- It will not pretend a network can do something it cannot. If a platform will not take the goal you asked for, you are told plainly instead of getting a campaign that quietly does something else.
- It will not tell you a post caused a sale. See reading your Results for why that matters.
Where to go next
How Autopilot works covers the same approve-first choice for content. Reading your Results explains how to judge whether any of it worked. The Ads page is the shorter overview.
Common questions
Can Soclo start spending on ads without me?
No. Every campaign Soclo builds is created paused, and the screen says so: Ready — not spending yet. Starting it is a separate tap, and that tap raises a plain question — Start spending £X a day? — with Not yet beside the button that starts it.
Who is actually charged for the ads?
The platform charges your own ad account directly. Soclo builds and manages the campaigns; the media spend is between you and Facebook, Google or whoever it is running with. The app says this in the launch confirmation.
What is Ads Watch?
A switch that has Soclo watch your live campaigns and step in when one needs attention. It shows you a list of what it did under the heading WHAT IT DID, so it is never a silent process.
Does Ads Watch need Autopilot on?
Rolling out this week. Ads Watch covering every campaign Soclo manages, with Autopilot switched off, arrives in the days after launch. Today you turn Ads Watch on for a campaign you have built in Soclo.
Can I keep ads I already run elsewhere?
Rolling out this week. Bringing in campaigns that already run on your ad accounts, and choosing which of them Soclo manages, arrives in the days after launch. Today you build campaigns in Soclo, and everything already running on your ad accounts is left alone.
What stops a mistake becoming an expensive month?
The spending question. Nothing runs until you answer Start spending £X a day? with the number in front of you, and you can pause a campaign from the Campaigns screen at any time. A single monthly ad limit across everything Soclo manages is rolling out this week.
Can I pause a campaign once it is running?
Yes, at any time, from the Campaigns screen. The launch confirmation says so in as many words.
Still stuck? Tell us the screen or address, what you expected and what happened. Never send a password, verification code or full card details.
Email Soclo support →