Autopilot campaigns (also called performance campaigns) are Posted's performance-based way to work with creators. You set one daily Performance Budget, and Posted tests the most promising approved videos as paid ads and automatically scales the winners. This guide covers everything from setup and budgeting to results and best practices.
Basics
What is an Autopilot campaign? — A campaign where creators submit videos based on your brief, and Posted tests the most promising approved videos as paid ads on TikTok or Instagram. The best performers automatically get more budget. You pay for ad performance, not per video.
Why is it called Autopilot? — Because once it's live, it runs itself. Submissions are approved by AI against your brief, tested as ads, and scaled based on results. No manual approvals, bidding or ad setup.
How do creators get paid? — Creators earn a percentage of the ad spend behind their video. 10% of your daily Performance Budget goes to creator commission, plus a 5% marketplace fee. The more their video is scaled, the more they earn — so they're motivated to make content that performs.
Is there a flat rate or CPM rate? — No. Autopilot campaigns have no flat rate per video and no CPM rate. You only set a daily Performance Budget.
What's the difference between Autopilot and Deals? — With Deals, creators set a price and you approve each video manually. With Autopilot, you set a daily Performance Budget, AI approves content against your brief, and the most promising videos are tested and scaled as paid ads. With Deals you own the videos you approve; with Autopilot, the content stays with the creators.
When should I use Autopilot vs Deals vs Contests? —
Autopilot — Best for performance, testing at scale, and driving traffic or app installs.
Deals — Best for maximum price control and ad-ready UGC you approve yourself.
Contests — Best for big brand moments and working with larger creators.
Setup & Launch
How do I set up an Autopilot campaign? — Click Autopilot Campaigns → New Campaign → choose Instagram or TikTok → fill in Get Started → Additional Details (target URL, selling points, call to action) → Inspirational Content → Create Brief → Resources → Performance Budget → Launch.
Can I run one campaign on both TikTok and Instagram? — Each campaign runs on one platform. To run on both, duplicate your campaign and choose the other platform.
What is the target URL? — The link people go to when they interact with your ad. Make sure it's live and starts with https://.
Do I need to create a separate brief? — Yes, each campaign has its own brief, but you use the same AI Brief Builder.
Can I edit my campaign after launch? — Yes. You can edit your brief and change your daily Performance Budget at any time. Budget changes take effect the next day.
Budget & Spending
What's the minimum budget? — $70/day. (The $50 minimum you may have seen elsewhere on Posted is the general minimum for adding funds; Autopilot campaigns need a daily Performance Budget of at least $70.)
Where does my budget go? — Your daily Performance Budget is split between a testing campaign (new submissions), a winners campaign (your best performers) and creator commission, plus a marketplace fee. With a $100/day budget, that's $30 testing, $55 winners, $10 creator commission and a $5 marketplace fee. The split is fixed: the testing and winners budgets are separate, and you can't change how much goes to each. Within each budget, spend goes to the videos that perform best.
Can I change my budget? — Yes, anytime. Changes are reflected the next day.
What happens to budget that isn't spent? — Unused budget carries over to the next day.
Is there a maximum budget? — No fixed maximum. A bigger budget doesn't test more videos at the same time, but it shows real results earlier and helps you see what works faster.
How long until I see results? — You'll see spend and early metrics within the first day of testing. Winners usually need several days of data to become clear. Performance builds over time, so pausing after only a few days won't help your campaign — keep it running to see real results.
Payment & Billing
Do I need to add funds before launching? — Yes. No card required to start the free trial, but you do need to upload funds into your wallet to launch a campaign.
How am I charged? — When you launch, you fund the first day of your campaign. After that, Autopilot tops up automatically every day. You're only charged the difference between your daily Performance Budget and any unused budget carried over from the previous day. Your wallet funds are used first, and anything they don't cover is charged to your card.
Is the subscription included in my campaign budget? — No. Your Posted subscription is separate and is always charged to the card on file.
Where can I see charges and invoices? — Go to My Brand to see your payment and wallet activity, and download invoices.
Performance & Metrics
What can I track? — Impressions, total spend, views, clicks, CTR, CPC and number of videos and creators. Choose Today, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days or All Time.
What's CTR? — Click-through rate: the percentage of people who saw your ad and clicked it.
What's CPC? — Cost per click: your average spend for each click.
What's CPA and how do I turn it on? — Cost per action, for example per install. To turn on CPA tracking, book a call with our team and we'll set it up with you.
Where does the data come from? — Results come directly from the ad platforms (TikTok and Instagram) where your videos are boosted.
Can I see which videos perform best? — Yes. Top performing videos ranks your best videos with their views, likes, comments and shares.
Content & Approval
Do I approve content? — No. Submissions are automatically approved by AI as long as they follow your brief and meet basic quality standards. Your brief is your control system.
Can I see declined submissions? — Yes. Review them regularly. If too many are declined, your brief may be too complex or restrictive.
What if an approved video doesn't fit my brand? — Retire it (remove it from boosting) so it stops receiving ad spend. You can also block the creator.
Can I block a creator? — Yes. Blocked creators can no longer see or submit to your Autopilot campaigns. You can also remove a single video from boosting if you don't want it to run as an ad — it stops receiving ad spend and your budget goes to your other videos.
Can I invite specific creators? — Not yet. Invites aren't available for Autopilot campaigns. Creators find your campaign in the Posted app.
Are all submissions boosted? — Not necessarily. Every approved video enters a queue and is sorted by quality and the results of your previous submissions. The most promising videos are tested first.
Pausing & Stopping
Can I pause my campaign? — Yes. You can pause new submissions only, or pause the whole campaign.
What's the difference? — Pausing submissions stops new videos coming in, but keeps boosting the videos you already have. Pausing the whole campaign stops all ad spend and new submissions.
What happens to the queue when I pause? — It's frozen. When you resume, testing picks up exactly where it left off.
Can I restart a paused campaign? — Yes, click Resume at any time. Your settings stay the same.
Is there a minimum duration? — No. You can start, pause or resume at any time. That said, performance builds over time — pausing after only a few days stops your campaign before it can find and scale winners.
Ownership & Usage
Autopilot works differently from Deals and Contests when it comes to content rights.
Do I own the content from my Autopilot campaign? — No. Autopilot content stays with the creators. Your brand doesn't receive ownership or usage rights to the videos.
Can I reuse Autopilot videos on my own channels or in my own ads? — No. Because you don't have usage rights, Autopilot videos can't be used outside your Autopilot campaign.
What if I want content I can reuse? — Use Deals. Every video you approve in a Deal comes with full usage rights, the MP4 and an ad code (Spark Ads for TikTok, Instagram ad code for Instagram). A great approach: find what works with Autopilot, then run a Deal with the same creators or format.
Do Deals and Contests work the same as before? — Yes. You own all approved Deal content and all winning Contest content, including ad codes, exactly as before.
CPM Deals
What happened to CPM deals? — CPM deals have been replaced by Autopilot campaigns. New CPM deals can no longer be launched.
What happens to my existing CPM deals? — CPM deals that are already active stay active until you pause them. You can't launch new CPM deals. Once you pause a CPM deal, it can't be resumed.
How do I move from CPM to Autopilot? — Create a new Autopilot campaign. You can reuse your CPM brief: copy it into the Create Brief step, then add your target URL and call to action.
Optimization & Best Practices
How do I improve my results? — Start with your brief. Look at your top videos, then sharpen the hook, selling points and call to action. You can change your campaign, brief and daily Performance Budget at any time. A higher budget helps you see real results sooner.
Should I run separate campaigns for different angles? — Yes. One angle per campaign keeps your results clean and shows you what really drives clicks or installs.
What are common mistakes? —
Writing briefs that are too complex, so creators get auto-rejected
Judging results after a few hours instead of a few days
Mixing several angles into one campaign
Using the wrong target URL, or one that doesn't work on mobile
Changing the budget every day (changes only apply the next day)
Best practices for your first Autopilot campaign? —
Focus each campaign on one product and one call to action
Use proven inspiration content in your brief
Ask for a strong hook and one clear call to action
Give creators free access to your product, for example with a promo code or test account
Let it run long enough to find winners
Increase budget on what works, and pause submissions (not the whole campaign) once you have enough content