One of the most challenging tasks of media buying isn't scaling, but descaling 📉
"But Suril, why would you descale?" 🤔
Welcome to the real world, my friend, there are phases in every business when descaling is important, be it issues with the vendor/supplier, a major shift in consumer intent, a sudden cash flow issue, and whatnot.
We’ve all read multiple stories around scaling, but, descaling is very real and should be talked about more.
Let’s get the most dumb/generic approach out of the way first 🚫
DO NOT sort your ads by ROAS and shut the ones which have low ROAS. This isn’t descaling the ad account, this is murdering the ad account.
Let me take you through the exact steps & pointers I use and keep in mind while descaling an ad account:
1. The 2 most important metrics or parameters you should monitor:
a. Cost per Purchase (CPP)
b. Purchase volume/No. of orders the ad/adset has generated in the last 30 days time frame.
Why?
a. ROAS, as you know, is a very vanity metric, it never gives you the real picture of how things are working IRL. It’s something which can easily get inflated by a few high-value orders. CPP is what gives you a real picture as it does not get inflated or deflated by once in a blue moon or random events.
b. Looking at the longevity of an ad/adset is more important, it has given you volumes in the past and has more data than any of the newbie ads/adsets.
2. First descale your unstable campaigns - Bid caps & cost caps.
These are campaigns which might be your best friends while scaling 🚀, but it’s important to know, they are highly unstable and have a tendency to overspend at times ⚖️.
3. Now we come to the stable campaigns.
Instead of hastily shutting down campaigns or adsets, focus on account-wide descaling. Lower budgets on an adset level. Over-optimizing or just retaining top-performing ads can hamper your account. Gradually phase out non-performers after budget cuts 📉.
4. If you are running retargeting campaigns (under 30% of total ad account budget), don’t touch them.
There is a strong possibility, they start performing better than before as the TOF budgets have been slashed and they might not have the same frequency as before 🎯.
Golden Rules 🏆
1. Don’t make the entire budget cut at once, spend at least 3-5 days if not more during the process, late attribution is something which might make you change certain decisions.
2. Don't be emotionally attached with a creative or a campaign, if it’s not performing, trim the fat.
Have you ever descaled an account? If yes, do share your experiences or tips in the comments below! 💬👇
"But Suril, why would you descale?" 🤔
Welcome to the real world, my friend, there are phases in every business when descaling is important, be it issues with the vendor/supplier, a major shift in consumer intent, a sudden cash flow issue, and whatnot.
We’ve all read multiple stories around scaling, but, descaling is very real and should be talked about more.
Let’s get the most dumb/generic approach out of the way first 🚫
DO NOT sort your ads by ROAS and shut the ones which have low ROAS. This isn’t descaling the ad account, this is murdering the ad account.
Let me take you through the exact steps & pointers I use and keep in mind while descaling an ad account:
1. The 2 most important metrics or parameters you should monitor:
a. Cost per Purchase (CPP)
b. Purchase volume/No. of orders the ad/adset has generated in the last 30 days time frame.
Why?
a. ROAS, as you know, is a very vanity metric, it never gives you the real picture of how things are working IRL. It’s something which can easily get inflated by a few high-value orders. CPP is what gives you a real picture as it does not get inflated or deflated by once in a blue moon or random events.
b. Looking at the longevity of an ad/adset is more important, it has given you volumes in the past and has more data than any of the newbie ads/adsets.
2. First descale your unstable campaigns - Bid caps & cost caps.
These are campaigns which might be your best friends while scaling 🚀, but it’s important to know, they are highly unstable and have a tendency to overspend at times ⚖️.
3. Now we come to the stable campaigns.
Instead of hastily shutting down campaigns or adsets, focus on account-wide descaling. Lower budgets on an adset level. Over-optimizing or just retaining top-performing ads can hamper your account. Gradually phase out non-performers after budget cuts 📉.
4. If you are running retargeting campaigns (under 30% of total ad account budget), don’t touch them.
There is a strong possibility, they start performing better than before as the TOF budgets have been slashed and they might not have the same frequency as before 🎯.
Golden Rules 🏆
1. Don’t make the entire budget cut at once, spend at least 3-5 days if not more during the process, late attribution is something which might make you change certain decisions.
2. Don't be emotionally attached with a creative or a campaign, if it’s not performing, trim the fat.
Have you ever descaled an account? If yes, do share your experiences or tips in the comments below! 💬👇
