SOP: Killing a losing campaign cleanly

SOP: Killing a losing campaign cleanly

Run this whenever a campaign trips your stop-loss rule.

Stage 1 — Confirm the call
☐ Verify spend has hit 1.5x the target CPA with no conversion (Owner: buyer)
☐ Check the tracker and ad platform agree on spend, not just one source
☐ Rule out a broken postback before blaming the offer

Stage 2 — Shut down
☐ Pause the campaign, do not delete it
☐ Export the placement and creative report before it ages out
☐ Note the kill reason in one sentence in the campaign log

Stage 3 — Salvage
☐ Flag any winning placement or creative for reuse
☐ Add the losing audience to a global exclusion list
☐ Move the budget line to the next test in the queue

Owner: media buyer. Trigger: stop-loss threshold hit. Done-when: campaign is paused, reports are exported, and the kill reason is logged.

Save this. Run it every time.