Decision rule: kill it or iterate

Decision rule: kill it or iterate
Campaigns get kept alive because stopping feels like an admission. Set the rule before you are emotionally invested.
Iterate if:
— One stage of the funnel is clearly the problem and you have a specific hypothesis about why.
— The economics work at a stage you have already observed, not one you are projecting.
— The fix is cheap relative to what you have already spent.
Kill it if:
— You have changed three things and the result barely moved. The problem is not in the layer you keep touching.
— The offer only works at volumes or rates you cannot actually get.
— You cannot explain in one sentence why anyone would take this action.
— Every remaining fix requires the partner to do something, and the partner is not doing it.
The option people forget: pause and write it up properly. A campaign you understand and stopped is worth more than one you are still feeding out of stubbornness.
Sunk cost is a feeling, not a line in the sheet.