| name | 21-ads-audit-global |
| description | Use when an ad account needs a systematic CONFIGURATION audit — 84 checkpoints across account, campaign, ad set, ad, tracking, and optimization, scored into a Health Score out of 100, quick wins ranked by impact, regional benchmarks, and a dropshipping checklist, covering Meta, Google, and TikTok. Trigger on 'ads audit', 'audit my ad account', 'is my Meta setup correct', 'health score for the account', 'review my Google Ads', 'we inherited this account and it is a mess'. Not for — diagnosing why the numbers moved this week, see `03-performance-eval-global`; planning fresh budget, see `54-media-plan-global`; rebuilding the campaign hierarchy, see `52-account-structure-global`. |
| metadata | {"version":"1.0.1","category":"performance"} |
| license | MIT |
| triggers | ["ads audit","ad account audit","Meta audit","Google Ads audit","TikTok audit","dropshipping ads audit"] |
| related | ["product-marketing-context-global","03-performance-eval-global","13-data-analysis-global","29-dropshipping-mastery-global","references/global-platforms-comparison"] |
Ads Audit (Global) — Health Score & Action Plan
Difference from 03-performance-eval-global:
03 evaluates current performance (CPM, ROAS, funnel) — diagnoses symptoms.21 audits account configuration (setup, structure, tracking, creative) — scores 0-100 and finds systemic issues.
Insight before numbers. Lead with judgment; illustrate with metrics.
For Newbies — Start Here
What is an ads audit?
A structured review of your ad accounts (Meta, Google, TikTok) to find leaks, misconfigurations, and missed opportunities. The output is a Health Score (0-100), a list of Quick Wins, and a 7-day Action Plan.
When do you need one?
- ROAS dropped suddenly (>20% week-over-week).
- New account inherited from another agency or in-house team.
- Spending >$5K/month with no clear performance review process.
- Pixel/CAPI showed errors or duplicate events.
- About to scale spend by 2-3x and want to verify foundation.
- Dropshipping store with attribution confusion (Shopify vs Meta vs Triple Whale numbers don't match).
What you'll need before starting:
- Read access to ad accounts (or screen-share / data export).
- Last 30 days of spend, impressions, clicks, conversions, ROAS.
- Pixel/CAPI status (Events Manager, GA4, TikTok Events).
- Region context (US, EU, SEA, LATAM) — benchmarks differ widely.
- Business model (DTC e-com, B2B SaaS, lead gen, dropshipping) — optimization rules differ.
How long does it take?
- Quick audit: 2-3 hours (Health Score + Quick Wins).
- Full audit: 6-10 hours (Health Score + 84 checkpoints + 7-day plan + creative review).
Step 0 — Read Context + Select Region Variant
Before audit, pull two contexts:
- Product context — call
product-marketing-context-global if not already in conversation. This gives the auditor: pricing, target CAC, business model, current channels.
- Region variant — load the appropriate file:
| Region | File | Currency | Key benchmarks |
|---|
| US / North America | variants/01-us.md | USD | Meta CPM $7-12, Google CPC $1-3, ROAS 3-5x |
| EU / UK | variants/02-eu.md | EUR / GBP | Meta CPM €5-10, Google CPC €1-3, ROAS 3-4x |
| SEA (VN, TH, ID, PH, SG, MY) | variants/03-sea.md | USD-equivalent | Meta CPM $1-2, Google CPC $0.30-1, ROAS 2-3x |
| LATAM (BR, MX, AR, CO, CL) | variants/04-latam.md | USD-equivalent | Meta CPM $0.50-1.5, Google CPC $0.20-0.80, ROAS 2-3x |
Why region matters: A $5 CPM is excellent in US but terrible in Vietnam. Audit grading without regional context produces false positives or false negatives.
Information Gathering
Ask up to 4 questions:
- Which platforms? Meta / Google / TikTok / multi-platform — and what % of total ad spend each represents.
- Industry + business model? (DTC e-com, dropshipping, B2B SaaS, lead-gen, local service, course/info-product.)
- Monthly ad spend + region? (e.g. "$15K/month, 70% US, 30% Canada".)
- Can you share data? Either paste tables, share a Looker Studio link, or grant view access to the ad account.
Auto-pull via MCP (if connected)
If user has connected an MCP server, pull data directly:
| Platform | MCP recommended | Key tools used |
|---|
| Meta Ads | Meta Official MCP (mcp.facebook.com/ads) | ads_insights_anomaly_signal, ads_insights_auction_ranking_benchmarks, ads_get_dataset_quality, ads_get_opportunity_score |
| Google Ads | Google Official MCP | GAQL: campaign performance, search terms, quality score |
| TikTok Ads | AdsMCP / tiktok-ads-mcp-server | Performance reports, creative library |
| Cross-platform | Adspirer ads-mcp | Unified analytics across 175+ tools |
Sample Meta Insights fields when MCP unavailable:
fields=spend,impressions,clicks,ctr,cpc,cpm,actions,cost_per_action_type,
purchase_roas,frequency,reach
date_preset=last_30d
level=adset
breakdowns=age,gender
Sample GAQL query for Google audit:
SELECT campaign.name, campaign.status, campaign.bidding_strategy_type,
metrics.impressions, metrics.clicks, metrics.cost_micros,
metrics.conversions, metrics.cost_per_conversion,
metrics.search_impression_share
FROM campaign
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
AND campaign.status != 'REMOVED'
ORDER BY metrics.cost_micros DESC
Health Score Framework (0-100)
Formula
Health Score = Σ(Check_pass × Severity_weight × Dimension_weight)
/ Σ(Check_total × Severity_weight × Dimension_weight) × 100
Severity weights
| Severity | Multiplier | Meaning |
|---|
| Critical | 5.0× | Active money/data loss — fix today |
| High | 3.0× | Major impact — fix within 7 days |
| Medium | 1.5× | Best practice gap — fix within 30 days |
| Low | 0.5× | Optimization — fix when possible |
Grade scale
| Score | Grade | Meaning |
|---|
| 90-100 | A | Excellent — maintain & scale |
| 75-89 | B | Good — a few improvements needed |
| 60-74 | C | Average — needs serious investment |
| 40-59 | D | Poor — significant performance leaks |
| <40 | F | Critical — likely losing money in real time |
6 Dimensions
1. Account (10%) — billing, permissions, BM/MCC structure, account warnings
2. Campaign (15%) — objectives, separation (cold/warm/retarget), budget allocation
3. AdSet/AdGroup (20%) — audience, budget, scheduling, exclusions, learning phase
4. Ad/Creative (25%) — diversity, freshness, hook quality, format mix
5. Tracking (20%) — pixel/CAPI/server-side, event quality, attribution model
6. Optimization (10%) — bid strategy, ML signals, budget pacing, automation rules
84 Checkpoints (Universal Core)
Region-specific benchmark numbers live in the variant files. The checkpoint logic is identical worldwide.
Dimension 1 — ACCOUNT (12 checks, weight 10%)
| # | Check | Severity |
|---|
| A01 | Business Manager / MCC structured (single source of truth) | High |
| A02 | Account billing healthy (no failed charges in 30d) | Critical |
| A03 | No active account warnings or restrictions | Critical |
| A04 | Domain verified (Meta) or website verified (Google/TikTok) | High |
| A05 | iOS 14.5+ Aggregated Event Measurement configured (Meta) | High |
| A06 | Brand safety / suitability set (Meta + Google) | Medium |
| A07 | User access roles minimized (no over-permissioned users) | Medium |
| A08 | Spending limit set per account (prevents runaway charges) | Medium |
| A09 | 2FA enabled on all admin accounts | High |
| A10 | Conversion API token rotated within 12 months | Low |
| A11 | Account currency matches market currency | Low |
| A12 | Tax/VAT configuration correct for region | Low |
Dimension 2 — CAMPAIGN (14 checks, weight 15%)
| # | Check | Severity |
|---|
| C01 | Cold / warm / retarget campaigns separated | High |
| C02 | Campaign objectives match real business outcome | Critical |
| C03 | No more than 3-5 active "core" campaigns | Medium |
| C04 | Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) used appropriately | Medium |
| C05 | No overlapping audiences across active campaigns | High |
| C06 | Brand vs non-brand campaigns separated (Google) | High |
| C07 | Search vs Performance Max separated (Google) | High |
| C08 | iOS / Android segregation when economics differ | Low |
| C09 | Budget allocated proportionally to ROAS-by-funnel-stage | High |
| C10 | Naming convention consistent (Brand_Funnel_Geo_Date) | Low |
| C11 | Campaign-level frequency caps set (where supported) | Medium |
| C12 | Holiday/promo campaigns tagged & sunset-dated | Low |
| C13 | Negative geo / language exclusions set | Medium |
| C14 | Brand keywords campaign exists with good QS (Google) | High |
Dimension 3 — AD SET / AD GROUP (16 checks, weight 20%)
| # | Check | Severity |
|---|
| S01 | Daily budget ≥ 5× target CPA per ad set | Critical |
| S02 | Not editing ad sets currently in Learning Phase | High |
| S03 | Audience size 1M-50M for cold prospecting (Meta) | High |
| S04 | Audience overlap between ad sets <25% | High |
| S05 | Lookalikes built from quality seeds (purchasers, not clickers) | High |
| S06 | Negative keywords list maintained (Google) | High |
| S07 | Match types appropriate (Broad+Smart Bidding, or Phrase/Exact) | High |
| S08 | Search term report reviewed within 14 days | High |
| S09 | Exclusion of past purchasers from acquisition campaigns | Critical |
| S10 | Placement: Advantage+/automatic where appropriate | Medium |
| S11 | Ad scheduling matches actual peak-conversion hours | Medium |
| S12 | Bid strategy matches account stage (Lowest Cost early, Cost Cap mature) | High |
| S13 | Demographic restrictions justified by data (not prejudice) | Medium |
| S14 | TikTok-specific: SmartTargeting tested vs manual | Medium |
| S15 | Quality score average ≥6/10 (Google) | High |
| S16 | Ad set count per campaign ≤5 (Meta) for ML efficiency | Medium |
Dimension 4 — AD / CREATIVE (18 checks, weight 25%)
| # | Check | Severity |
|---|
| AD01 | At least 10 truly different creatives per active ad set | High |
| AD02 | No single creative running >21 days continuously | High |
| AD03 | Frequency <3.5 on cold audience | High |
| AD04 | All 3 formats present (video / image / carousel) | Medium |
| AD05 | Videos have sound/music (TikTok-critical) | Critical |
| AD06 | First 3 seconds hook tested (Hook Rate >25%) | High |
| AD07 | Captions / on-screen text present (sound-off viewing) | High |
| AD08 | UGC / review-style creative present (≥1) | Medium |
| AD09 | CTA explicit in creative (voice or text) | High |
| AD10 | Vertical 9:16 used for Stories/Reels/TikTok | High |
| AD11 | Resolution ≥720p (1080p preferred) | Medium |
| AD12 | RSA: ≥8/15 headlines, ≥4/4 descriptions filled (Google) | High |
| AD13 | Asset strength "Good" or higher on RSA (Google) | Medium |
| AD14 | Sitelink / callout / call extensions present (Google) | Medium |
| AD15 | Landing page load time <3s on 4G | High |
| AD16 | Landing page mobile-first design verified | Critical |
| AD17 | Creative-to-LP message match (no bait-and-switch) | High |
| AD18 | Compliance: no policy violations (alcohol, health, financial) | Critical |
Dimension 5 — TRACKING (16 checks, weight 20%)
| # | Check | Severity |
|---|
| T01 | Pixel/Tag installed on all relevant pages | Critical |
| T02 | Purchase / Lead / KeyEvent firing accurately | Critical |
| T03 | Conversion API (CAPI / Enhanced Conversions) deployed | High |
| T04 | Event Match Quality ≥6.0 (Meta) | High |
| T05 | No duplicate events (deduplication ID set) | Critical |
| T06 | UTM parameters present on all paid links | Medium |
| T07 | GA4 linked to Google Ads + GA4 linked to BigQuery | High |
| T08 | Conversion windows aligned across platforms | High |
| T09 | Server-side tracking layer (GTM SS, Stape) considered | Medium |
| T10 | Triple Whale / Hyros / Northbeam reconciled vs platform (DTC) | High |
| T11 | TikTok Pixel + Events API both firing | High |
| T12 | View-through and click-through windows documented | Medium |
| T13 | Cross-domain tracking working (multi-domain checkout) | High |
| T14 | First-party data collection (email/phone) for CAPI matching | High |
| T15 | Cookie consent compliant (GDPR / CCPA / LGPD) | Critical |
| T16 | Bot/spam traffic filtered from conversion data | Medium |
Dimension 6 — OPTIMIZATION (8 checks, weight 10%)
| # | Check | Severity |
|---|
| O01 | Automated rules in place (pause low ROAS, scale winners) | Medium |
| O02 | Budget pacing reviewed weekly | Medium |
| O03 | Creative refresh cadence set (≥30% new every 14 days) | High |
| O04 | A/B testing framework defined (one variable at a time) | Medium |
| O05 | Reporting cadence: daily skim, weekly deep-dive | Low |
| O06 | Diagnostics tab reviewed (Quality, Engagement, Conversion) | Medium |
| O07 | Performance reviewed by funnel stage (TOFU/MOFU/BOFU) | High |
| O08 | Stop-loss thresholds defined per campaign | High |
Quick Wins Decision Tree
After scoring, surface the top 5-10 actions a user can do today (<15 minutes each).
START → Is any Critical check failing?
├─ YES → Fix in next 24 hours (account-level issues first)
│ ├─ A02/A03 (billing/warning) → fix immediately
│ ├─ T01/T02/T05 (tracking broken) → fix before any more spend
│ ├─ S01 (budget < 5× CPA) → increase budget or pause
│ └─ AD18 (policy violation) → revise creative
│
└─ NO → Score Critical/High Quick Wins by impact:
├─ Pause "wasted spend" keywords / ad sets (>$200 spend, 0 conv)
├─ Add exclusion of past purchasers from cold campaigns
├─ Refresh top-frequency creative (>3.5 freq)
├─ Enable CAPI / Enhanced Conversions
├─ Add UTM parameters to untagged ads
└─ Connect GA4 ↔ Google Ads if not linked
Each Quick Win must include: action, expected impact, time required, owner.
Dropshipping Audit Checklist (Special Section)
Dropshipping has unique audit needs: high creative volume, thin margins, attribution opacity, and compressed test cycles. This section augments — not replaces — the 84 universal checkpoints.
1. Creative Testing Velocity (the #1 dropshipping killer)
| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|---|
| New creatives launched per week | ≥10 (winning store benchmark) | Critical |
| Creative-to-spend ratio | 1 winning ad funds 4-5 tests | High |
| Hook variations tested | ≥3 hooks per product | High |
| UGC creator pipeline active | ≥2 UGC creators delivering weekly | High |
| Cycle time from brief to launch | <72 hours | High |
Failure mode: A store running 2-3 creatives "until they die" instead of testing 10+/week is starving Meta's algorithm and ad fatigue compounds. Fix: build a creative ops calendar (see 06-ugc-egc-brief-global).
2. CBO vs ABO Setup
| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|---|
| Testing layer uses ABO (Ad Set Budget) | ≥3 ad sets, $20-50/day each | High |
| Scaling layer uses CBO (Campaign Budget) | Top winners only, single CBO | High |
| Budget reallocates within 3-7 days of clear winner | Document rule + execute | Medium |
| No mixed CBO with non-comparable ad sets | Audit campaign structure | High |
3. Pixel + CAPI Dual Tracking (post-iOS 14.5 critical)
| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|---|
| Pixel + CAPI both firing on Purchase event | Verified in Test Events | Critical |
| EMQ ≥7.0 (dropshipping should beat 6.0 floor) | Events Manager | High |
| Email + phone + first-name + last-name passed via CAPI | Backend integration | Critical |
| Server-side tracking via Stape/GTM SS for AOV>$50 stores | Verified deployment | High |
| iOS attribution gap reconciled with Triple Whale or Hyros | Compare last 30 days | High |
4. Landing Page CRO Signals
| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|---|
| Mobile load time <2.5s (LCP) | PageSpeed Insights | Critical |
| Add-to-Cart rate ≥6% (sessions → ATC) | GA4 / Shopify | High |
| Checkout conversion ≥40% (ATC → Purchase) | GA4 / Shopify | High |
| Hero matches winning ad (creative-LP message match) | Manual review | Critical |
| Trust badges, reviews, return policy visible above fold | Manual review | High |
| Exit-intent + abandoned cart sequence active | Klaviyo / equivalent | High |
5. Attribution Accuracy
| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|---|
| UTMs use consistent schema (utm_source/medium/campaign/content) | URL builder doc | High |
| Triple Whale / Hyros / Northbeam connected | At least one MMP active | High |
| Platform-reported revenue vs Shopify revenue gap <15% | Reconciliation report | High |
| Post-purchase survey ("How did you hear about us?") active | Order form / KnoCommerce | Medium |
| Customer LTV tracked, not just first-order revenue | Cohort report quarterly | High |
6. Profit Margin Tracking
| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|---|
| Net margin per order calculated (after COGS, ad spend, fees) | Spreadsheet or Lifetimely | Critical |
| MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio = total revenue / total ad spend) tracked daily | Dashboard | High |
| Break-even ROAS documented and visible | Operations dashboard | Critical |
| Refund/chargeback rate <5% | Shopify reports | High |
| Profit-per-customer rising or flat (not declining) | 90-day cohort | High |
Dropshipping cross-reference: When auditing dropshipping accounts, also call 29-dropshipping-mastery-global for product-fit and supply-chain audit beyond ad-account scope.
Output Structure
# Ads Audit: [Brand / Product]
Audit date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
Region: [US / EU / SEA / LATAM]
Auditor: [Agency / In-house]
Spend audited: [$ — last 30d]
## Executive Summary
| Platform | Score | Grade | Top issue |
|----------|-------|-------|-----------|
| Meta Ads | [n]/100 | [A-F] | [1-line] |
| Google Ads | [n]/100 | | |
| TikTok Ads | [n]/100 | | |
| **Aggregate** | **[n]/100** | **[Grade]** | |
## Critical Issues (fix in 24 hours)
[List failed Critical checks with remediation steps]
## Quick Wins (today, <15 min each)
[Top 5-10 actions, sorted by impact]
## By Dimension
### 1. Account — [score]/10
[Pass/fail per check, with screenshots if MCP-pulled]
### 2. Campaign — [score]/10
[...]
[Continue for all 6 dimensions]
## By Platform
### Meta Ads — [score]/100
[Breakdown by dimension]
### Google Ads — [score]/100
[...]
### TikTok Ads — [score]/100
[...]
## Dropshipping Audit (if applicable)
[6 sub-sections from Dropshipping Checklist]
## 7-Day Action Plan
| Day | Action | Platform | Owner | Expected outcome |
|-----|--------|----------|-------|------------------|
| Day 1 | [Quick wins + Critical fixes] | | | |
| Day 2-3 | [High priority] | | | |
| Day 4-5 | [Tracking + creative] | | | |
| Day 6-7 | [Setup + test deploy] | | | |
## 30-Day Forecast
[Realistic improvement estimate if all Critical/High fixed]
## Appendix
- Raw data exports
- Screenshots
- MCP query logs (if used)
Cross-references
| When you need | Call skill |
|---|
| Diagnose current KPIs and funnel | 03-performance-eval-global |
| Deep data analysis (descriptive→prescriptive) | 13-data-analysis-global |
| Refresh creative after audit finds fatigue | 05-ad-copy-global + 06-ugc-egc-brief-global |
| Reverse-calc budget after fixing tracking | 10-reverse-kpi-calc-global |
| Dropshipping product/supply audit | 29-dropshipping-mastery-global |
| Set up A/B test for fixes | 19-ab-test-setup-global |
Quality Checklist (before delivery)
Region Variant References
Load the appropriate file before scoring:
variants/01-us.md — United States, Canadavariants/02-eu.md — European Union, UKvariants/03-sea.md — Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysiavariants/04-latam.md — Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile
Each variant contains: healthy CPM/CPC ranges, ROAS targets per business model, common red flags, region-specific compliance gates, and tracking platform peculiarities.
