| name | kill-scale-rules |
| description | Whether to kill or scale a campaign / ad set / creative. Covers kill thresholds with minimum-data guardrails and platform-specific scaling budget-step limits. |
Kill Criteria & Scaling Rules
Most teams kill too early (acting on noise) or scale too aggressively (the algorithm can't keep up). These thresholds are calibrated so you act on signal, not noise.
Kill Criteria — minimum data required BEFORE killing
| Timeframe | Kill if | Min data |
|---|
| 24 hours | Hook rate < 15% | 5K+ impressions |
| 48 hours | CTR < 0.5% | 2K+ impressions |
| 3 days | CPA > 2x target | $50+ spend or 1K+ clicks |
| 5 days | No conversions | 3x target CPA in spend |
| 7 days | CPA trending up 3 consecutive days | Statistically significant data |
| 14 days | CPA 1.5x above target with no improvement | Full test cycle complete |
Never kill before minimum data. Bad decisions from small samples cost more than the extra test spend. If a creative has 800 impressions and 2 clicks, you don't have enough signal to conclude anything — wait.
Scaling Rules
| Condition | Action | Frequency |
|---|
| CPA < target for 48h | Increase budget 20% | Every 2-3 days |
| CPA < 50% of target for 72h | Increase budget 30-50% | Every 2 days |
| Winner holds after 3 increases | Duplicate to new audience | Once per winner |
| Creative at 100K impressions | Commission 3 variations | Immediately |
| CPA rises after budget increase | Revert to previous budget, wait 48h | As needed |
Platform-specific budget step limits
- Meta: Max 30%/day budget increase. The algorithm needs recalibration time — bigger steps re-enter the learning phase and can wreck stable performance.
- Google PMax: Tolerates up to 50%/day.
- TikTok Smart+: Tolerates up to 50%/day.
- LinkedIn: Conservative — 20%/day is the safe ceiling.
When to revert
If CPA rises >25% within 48h of a budget increase, revert to the previous budget and wait 48h before trying again. The algorithm may need to re-stabilize. Repeated failed scaling attempts on the same creative usually mean the audience is saturated — duplicate to a new audience instead of pushing harder.
When to duplicate vs. when to scale in place
- Scale in place if the creative is still under its proven scaling ceiling and frequency is stable.
- Duplicate to a new audience if frequency is climbing or CPA rises after every budget step.
- Commission variations as soon as a creative crosses 100K impressions — fatigue is coming whether you can see it yet or not.
About this skill
Part of the Synter free skills collection — open-source agent skills for advertising, PPC, and marketing automation.
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