Campaign Scheduling
Schedule campaigns ahead or show them only during a given time interval.
Campaign Scheduling is an OptiMonk feature that lets you define exactly when a campaign is active — setting a start date, an end date, specific days of the week, and a time window within each day — so that campaigns appear only during the intervals they are relevant for, without requiring manual activation or deactivation. Instead of turning a campaign on the morning of a flash sale and remembering to turn it off that evening, you configure the schedule once and OptiMonk handles the rest automatically: the campaign activates at the scheduled start time and stops at the scheduled end time with no further action needed. Scheduling supports three time scopes simultaneously: a date range (start date to end date), specific days of the week (e.g. Monday through Friday only, or weekends only), and a daily time window (e.g. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. only). And it lets you choose whether timing is based on a fixed time zone or relative to each visitor's local time zone. Campaigns using scheduling are given a dedicated "Scheduled" status in the campaign list, distinct from Active and Inactive, making it visually clear which campaigns are running on a timer.
Key benefits
- Set it up once and let it run — no manual on/off required. For time-sensitive campaigns tied to sales events, holidays, or promotions with a hard end date, scheduling eliminates the operational risk of forgetting to deactivate a campaign after its window closes. You configure the start and end times when building the campaign, and OptiMonk enforces them automatically — the campaign never runs outside its intended window regardless of whether you are watching it.
- Granular time control down to the hour and day of the week. Scheduling is not limited to a simple date range. You can restrict a campaign to specific days of the week — useful for promotions tied to business hours, weekend-only sales, or weekday email follow-up sequences — and set a daily time window so the campaign only fires during hours when it is relevant, such as showing a "call us now" popup only during phone support hours or an end-of-day urgency message only in the afternoon.
- Visitor-timezone scheduling for global audiences. Rather than scheduling campaigns in a single fixed time zone that may be inconvenient for international visitors, OptiMonk allows you to schedule relative to each visitor's local time zone. This means a "limited time today only" campaign fires at the same local time for a visitor in Berlin and a visitor in Tokyo — both seeing it at, for example, 6 p.m. their time — rather than the campaign being midnight-irrelevant for one of them.
How it works
In your OptiMonk dashboard, select the campaign you want to schedule. Under the Status and Schedule section, click Schedule. This opens the scheduling settings panel and changes the campaign's status from Active or Inactive to Scheduled — a dedicated status that tells OptiMonk to enforce the time rules you are about to configure.
Choose whether the schedule is based on a fixed time zone or the visitor's local time zone. Set a start date and time for when the campaign should begin displaying. Optionally set an end date and time — if you leave the end date set to "Never," the campaign will run from the start date onward until you manually remove the schedule. Select which days of the week the campaign should be active, and if needed, set a From/To time range within each active day.
Once saved, the campaign is in Scheduled status and will activate and deactivate precisely according to your configuration. Before the start date, or outside the configured days and time window, the campaign is silently suppressed — visitors see no popup. Within the schedule, the campaign fires normally for any visitor who meets its targeting and trigger conditions. You can edit or delete the schedule at any time without affecting the campaign's design or targeting settings.
Frequently asked questions
What is Campaign Scheduling in OptiMonk?+
Campaign Scheduling is an OptiMonk feature that lets you define a precise time window during which a campaign is active — including a start date, an optional end date, specific days of the week, and a daily time range. Campaigns in Scheduled status activate and deactivate automatically according to their configured schedule, with no manual action required. Scheduling supports both fixed time zones and visitor-local time zone modes.
What is the difference between Active, Inactive, and Scheduled campaign statuses?+
Active campaigns display to visitors at all times according to their targeting and trigger settings — there is no time restriction. Inactive campaigns are completely suppressed and shown to no one. Scheduled campaigns are active only during the time windows defined in their schedule — outside those windows they are automatically suppressed, even though the campaign itself has not been deactivated. The Scheduled status is visually distinct in the campaign list so you can see at a glance which campaigns are running on a timer.
Can I schedule a campaign without an end date?+
Yes. The end date is optional. If you set a start date and leave the end date set to "Never," the campaign will begin displaying at the scheduled start time and continue running indefinitely until you either delete the schedule or change the campaign's status. This is useful for campaigns you want to launch at a specific future time but do not want to restrict to a finite window.
Can I show a campaign only during certain hours of the day, not just certain dates?+
Yes. Scheduling supports a daily time window — a From time and a To time — that restricts when within each active day the campaign can display. For example, you can configure a campaign to run Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. only, ensuring it only fires when your customer service team is available to handle responses. Outside those hours, the campaign is automatically suppressed even if a visitor qualifies for it under all other targeting conditions.
Can I change a scheduled campaign's time window without rebuilding the campaign?+
Yes. You can edit the schedule of a campaign at any time by opening the campaign, clicking the three-dot menu next to the displayed schedule dates, and selecting Edit schedule. This lets you adjust the start date, end date, days, or time window without touching the campaign design, targeting rules, or any other settings. You can also delete the schedule entirely from the same menu, which returns the campaign to Active or Inactive status.
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