Campaign Strategies

The campaign strategy determines how and when your ads are played on target screens. CS Play offers four main strategies, each suited to different advertising goals.

Strategy Overview

Strategy Best For License

Auto by Frequency

Most campaigns — even distribution across screens

Any

Manual (Fixed)

Precise control over playlist position

Any

Auto by Triggers

Event-driven, real-time ad activation

Enterprise

Programmatic by Frequency

Automated buying from external DSPs via RTB

Any

The full capability-by-tier matrix is on the License Tiers page.

Auto by Frequency (Standard)

The default strategy for most campaigns. The system distributes ad plays uniformly across all target screens based on the frequency you configure.

How it works

  1. You assign screens to the campaign.

  2. For each screen, you set a playback frequency (e.g., 1 ad play every 5 minutes).

  3. The system inserts your ads into each screen’s loop at the specified interval.

Key settings

Repetitions

Number of consecutive ad plays per loop cycle.

Loop duration

Time interval between ad plays (in minutes or seconds).

Fixed frequency

When enabled, the system maintains exact timing rather than best-effort distribution.

Use the seconds mode for short loops (under 60 seconds) on screens with few advertisers. Switch to minutes for standard installations.

Ad play distribution

All ads within the campaign share the configured frequency. If a campaign has 3 ads with frequency "1 play every 5 minutes", each ad plays once every 15 minutes (rotating evenly).

Manual (Fixed Playlist)

Gives you full control over the exact position of your ads within the screen’s playlist.

How it works

  1. You specify a starting block number and the number of slots per block.

  2. Your ads are placed in fixed positions within the playlist loop.

  3. The ad always plays at the same point in the rotation cycle.

Key settings

Starting block

The block position where your ad slot begins.

Slots per block

How many ad slots your campaign occupies in each block.

When to use

  • Premium placements that require a guaranteed first or last position in the loop.

  • Synchronized multi-screen playback where ad timing must be predictable.

With the Fixed strategy, the ad plays whenever the loop reaches its assigned slot.

Auto by Triggers (Event-Driven)

Trigger campaigns play ads in response to external events rather than on a fixed schedule. An ad plays only when a matching trigger event fires.

How it works

  1. You create a trigger campaign and add ads, each with a unique trigger name.

  2. External systems send trigger events to the platform (via API or scheduled).

  3. When a trigger fires, the associated ad plays immediately on the designated screens.

Key settings

Trigger name

A unique identifier for each ad that external systems reference.

Screens

Which screens respond to each trigger event.

Schedule

Optional time constraints for when triggers are accepted.

When to use

  • Weather-based advertising (play sunscreen ads when temperature exceeds 30C).

  • Sports event reactions (show a goal celebration ad when a team scores).

  • Retail triggers (advertise a product when stock is high).

For details, see Event Triggers.

Programmatic by Frequency (RTB)

Programmatic campaigns make your screen inventory available for real-time bidding from external demand-side platforms (DSPs).

How it works

  1. You create a programmatic campaign assigned to specific screens.

  2. The platform acts as a supply-side platform (SSP), offering available ad play slots to connected DSPs.

  3. External buyers bid on impressions in real time.

  4. The winning creative is delivered and played on the screen.

Key settings

Programmatic provider

The RTB integration — CS Context acts as the SSP.

Programmatic rules

Weight-based rules that control bid source priority.

When to use

  • Monetizing unsold inventory by opening it to programmatic demand.

  • Allowing agencies to buy your screens through their DSP of choice.

  • Maximizing fill rate by combining direct campaigns with programmatic backfill.

Programmatic campaigns require screen-level configuration — GID, metadata and SSP connection. See Programmatic advertising for preparing screens and Integrations for CS Context setup.

Choosing the Right Strategy

  • Need even distribution across many screens? Use Auto by Frequency.

  • Need a guaranteed slot position in the loop? Use Manual.

  • Need to react to real-time external events? Use Auto by Triggers.

  • Need to sell inventory to external programmatic buyers? Use Programmatic by Frequency.

See also

  • CS Play Planning — how the media planner turns campaign settings into per-screen playlists.