Overview

Line items contain budget and bid price information, along with one creative and its targeting criteria. To activate your campaign, you need to create a line item first.

A line item must be then linked to a deal. You can associate a deal with a line item in the following ways:

• Retrieve pre-created deal: select a deal already created in Media Planning. 
• Set targeting and supply without selecting a deal: define targeting and supply criteria within the line item without directly selecting a deal. 
• Select a deal and targeting criteria: choose a deal from the available list and combine it with additional targeting and supply criteria in the line item.

Link deal to line item

Retrieve pre-created deal

Once you create a deal, either in the Maestro or EMP platform, it can be targeted in your line items. To retrieve a pre-created deal, follow these steps:

• For deals created in Maestro: during deal creation, select a buyer or partner seat that is linked to the Activation module in Maestro.
• For deals created in EMP: during deal creation, select a buyer seat that is linked to the Maestro company. ⓘ Note: this applies only to Direct deals and Private auctions; Programmatic guaranteed deals aren't concerned.

Selecting this seat ensures that the deal will appear in the Deals list. The list only displays deals explicitly declared for use in the Media Buying module. For more information, see Get started with deal management.

Set targeting and supply without selecting a deal

If you haven’t created a deal in Media Planning before starting a campaign, you can set it up directly from a line item. Simply select the relevant targeting and supply criteria. Technically, this creates a deal, but it isn't exposed as a deal to the end user.

Select a deal and targeting criteria

You can select a deal and combine it with targeting criteria directly within the line item. For more information, see Create line item: targeting.

Access

Click the campaign name under which you would like to create a line item. You will be taken to the Line Items page.

Create line items: general settings

To create a line item and configure its general settings, follow these steps:

1. Click the campaign name under which you would like to create a line item. You will be taken to the Line Items page.
2. Select + New line item.
3. In the Line item name field, enter the line item name.
4. In the Currency field, select the currency for your line item.
5. In the Start date field, select the start date of your line item. You can set the start date for a line item only if it is today or a future date. Dates in the past aren't allowed.
6. In the End date field, select the end date of your line item.  

   Line item dates must fall within the campaign’s start and end dates and cannot be set outside the campaign’s date range.

   By default, line items inherit the start and end dates of their campaign. However, if you manually set a line item’s start or end date to differ from the campaign’s dates, the line item will no longer inherit future updates. Inheritance resumes automatically when you realign the line item’s dates to match those of the campaign.

    
7. In the Timezone field, select a time zone.
8. From the Deals dropdown, select an existing deal your campaign will target at. ⚠️ Warning: for deals, you can select one or more of the following: Auction package deals, Direct deals, or Private deals.
9. In the Price field, select either the CPM (Cost Per Mille) or CPC (Cost Per Click) pricing model, then enter your bid amount. The bid price is the maximum amount you're willing to pay, and it will be displayed in the currency selected in the Currency field. Your bid amount depends on the selected pricing model: 

• If you select the CPM model, the bid represents the maximum amount you're willing to pay per one thousand impressions. 
• If you select the CPC model, the bid represents the maximum amount you are willing to pay per click. However, the system doesn’t bid directly on clicks. Instead, it bids on impressions with the goal of achieving your target click price. A prediction algorithm calculates a maximum CPM bid that focuses on impressions likely to result in clicks at or below your CPC bid. Additionally, the campaign is optimized to prioritize inventory where the expected cost per click aligns with your CPC target. 

  The CPC goal is a target, not a guarantee. Actual performance might vary depending on market conditions, competition, and audience behavior.

   

  The price mustn't exceed €50 or its equivalent in other currencies. For non-euro currencies, the system will convert the amount to Euro based on the current currency exchange rate and issue a warning if it exceeds €50.

   

  If CPC is selected as the pricing model, fixed price deals, that is, Auction packages or Private deals with fixed pricing, won't appear in the list of available deals. For more information, see Create deals.

   

10. In the Delivery Capping field, set an overall or daily limit for your budget or units (impressions). You can select up to four of the following criteria: 

• Overall budget: the maximum sum you are willing to spend throughout the duration of the campaign. 
• Overall units: the maximum number of impressions that you want to deliver. 
• Daily budget: the maximum sum to spend on your campaign per day. 
• Daily units: the maximum amount of impressions to be delivered per day. For more information, see Delivery capping scenarios.

11. In the Volume field, select the volume for your budget or units (impressions).
12. In the Delivery mode section, choose between Asap and Even. Select Even if you want to distribute your advertising budget and impressions evenly over the selected campaign duration, whether daily or overall. Choose Asap if you prefer to spend your daily budget quickly and meet your delivery goals as soon as possible. You can also combine delivery capping with delivery modes. For example, set the overall budget or units to Asap for quick delivery, while using Even for the daily budget or units to ensure consistent and optimal delivery throughout the day, provided inventory allows.
13. In the Frequency capping field, set the number of impressions per a given timespan. Frequency capping refers to the number of impressions displayed to a user within a specified time period, such as per hour, per calendar day (from 00:00 to 23:59), per week, or over the lifetime of the campaign.

Now, you can proceed to configuring targeting criteria.