Checklist: Ramp a new offer without tanking blended EPC

Checklist: Ramp a new offer without tanking blended EPC

A new offer arrived claiming high payout. Dumping it in at 50% risked the smartlink if it flopped. We used a staged weight ramp.

What we did:
☐ Step 1: Insert new offer at 5% weight, freeze all other weights.
☐ Step 2: Hold until 2,000 clicks land on it — measured EPC $0.34 vs incumbent $0.27.
☐ Step 3: Bump to 20%, re-measure at 2,000 more clicks — held at $0.33.
☐ Step 4: Promote to 40% only after two clean reads.
☐ Step 5: Document each step's EPC in the smartlink log.

Outcome: blended EPC rose from $0.27 to $0.31 over 18 days with zero risk-of-ruin moment. A second "high payout" offer that tested at $0.14 at the 5% stage was rejected before it could do damage.

Repeat per new offer: 5% → 20% → 40%, two clean reads each, never skip the 5% gate.