How to read a sub-ID report and cut the dead weight

How to read a sub-ID report and cut the dead weight

Most campaigns are profitable on average and bleeding underneath. The sub-ID report is where you find the leak.

The setup
Campaign at break-even, $300 spent, $300 back. Looks dead. It wasn't.

The move
— Step 1: pull conversions by sub-ID (placement, site, widget, whatever your source exposes).
— Step 2: sort by spend, then look at ROI per source, not the blended average.
— Step 3: find the "whales of waste", the 3-4 sources eating big budget with zero or terrible conversions.
— Step 4: blacklist them. Then re-evaluate, don't kill the campaign on the blended number.
— Step 5: find the hidden gems, low-spend sources with great ROI, and bid them up.

The numbers
Four placements had eaten $90 with ONE conversion between them. Blacklisted. The remaining traffic was running at +35%. The "dead" campaign was a winner with four parasites attached.

The lesson
Blended averages hide both your winners and your leaks. The money is in the breakdown.

What I'd do differently
Check sub-IDs at $150 spend, not $300. Figures illustrative.