The 3-touch kill rule that saved my account
I used to let ads die slow. Now I run a fixed kill protocol on every new creative, and it stopped me from torching budgets on hope.
The setup
New offer, push traffic, $7 target CPA. I launch 12 creatives at $15/day each = $180/day live.
The move
Three hard gates, checked in order:
— Gate 1, at 1x payout spend ($7): zero clicks to LP? Kill. No data needed, the angle is dead.
— Gate 2, at 2x payout ($14): traffic but zero conversions and CTR under 0.4%? Kill.
— Gate 3, at 3x payout ($21): one conversion but CPA over $11 (1.5x target)? Pause, don't scale.
The numbers
Of 12 creatives, 7 died at Gate 1-2 having spent ~$95 total. Survivors got the remaining budget. Day-7 blended CPA landed at $6.40, ROI +9%.
The lesson
Most losers reveal themselves by 2x payout spend. Waiting for "statistical significance" on a dead angle is just paying tuition twice.
What I'd do differently
I'd write the gates into a saved automated rule instead of checking manually at 2am. I missed a Gate-2 kill once and that one creative ate $40 alone. Numbers here are illustrative, the discipline is the point.
Arb Files
@ArbFiles