My 15-minute daily optimization routine (same order every day)
Random dashboard-staring burns hours and finds nothing. Here's the fixed sequence I run each morning.
The setup
6-8 campaigns live, limited time, easy to fiddle aimlessly.
The move
Same five passes, in order:
— Pass 1: check spend vs cap, catch any runaway from overnight. (Caught a $200 overspend once from a bad rule.)
— Pass 2: kill anything past its kill-gate from yesterday.
— Pass 3: pull sub-ID/placement report, cut the bottom performers bleeding budget.
— Pass 4: check frequency, flag creatives over 2.5 for refresh.
— Pass 5: note winners eligible for a 20% scale, queue them.
No creative building, no new launches in this window. Optimization only.
The numbers
Separating "optimize" from "build" cut my screen time from ~90 min of fidgeting to 15 focused minutes, and ROI improved because I stopped over-tinkering with stable campaigns.
The lesson
Over-optimization is a real tax. A fixed routine stops you from "fixing" things that are fine.
What I'd do differently
Do the routine once a day, not five times. Touching stable campaigns resets learning. Illustrative numbers.
Arb Files
@ArbFiles