Paid ads · Runs on a schedule
Decide which Meta ads to kill, scale or refresh
Every morning, Tolstoy gives each active Meta ad one verdict (kill, scale, refresh or keep) with exact budget numbers, and drafts new concepts for tired ads.
What you need
- A connected Meta Ads account with active campaigns
- Triple Whale, if you use it, for MER and new-customer acquisition cost
What you get
- A one-line account health summary: spend, ROAS and the change since yesterday
- Kill, scale, refresh and keep lists, with no more than two lines per ad
- 2–3 replacement creative concepts for each fatigued ad
How it runs
Tolstoy runs this playbook in 4 steps.
-
Pull two weeks of data
The routine reads campaign, ad set and ad results for the last 7 days, compares them with the 7 days before, and reads ad set frequency.
-
Mark kills and scales
Kill means meaningful spend with no purchases, or ROAS under 1.0x, for 7 days; scale means ROAS above target, 5+ purchases and frequency under 3.
-
Flag tired ads
An ad is marked refresh when ad set frequency passes 3.5 or CTR falls for 3+ days while spend holds, and the agent drafts replacement concepts.
-
Write exact actions
Budget changes are exact dollar figures, at most 30% per step; ads in the learning phase are not killed, and ads under 3 purchases are not scaled.
Check the result
- Check one kill line and one scale line against Meta Ads Manager for the same 7 days: spend, purchases and ROAS match.
- Every scale line gives a from-and-to daily budget no more than 30% above the current one.
- No ad under scale has fewer than 5 purchases, and no ad that meets the kill rule appears under refresh.
Know the limits
- Report only. It does not pause ads, change budgets or launch the replacement concepts. You make the changes in Meta Ads Manager.
- It judges ads by their numbers, names and placements. It does not look at the creative itself.
- Meta ads only. Ads on other platforms are not in the list.
When to use this playbook
Use it when you run more ads than you can check by hand every day, or when pause and scale calls depend on who looks at the account that morning. The routine applies the same rules to every ad, every day, and puts the result in one short list. For the testing plan these daily calls support, read our Meta ads strategy for ecommerce brands.
Get better results
- Use ad names that say the product and the angle. The list shows ad names, and the routine does not look at the creative.
- Connect Triple Whale if you use it. The report then includes blended MER and new-customer cost next to Meta’s numbers.
- Run the refresh playbook on ads marked refresh, with the frequency and CTR from the report as your performance notes.
Schedule
Every day at 12:00 in your time zone; you can change the time. “Set up this routine” opens the routine in Tolstoy, where you check its connections and time. Nothing runs until you save it.
FAQ
How do I scale video ads for ecommerce without wasting budget?
Scale only the ads that have proved themselves, and in small steps. This routine marks an ad for scale when its ROAS is above your target, it has 5 or more purchases and its frequency is under 3, and it caps each budget increase at 30%. Ads with fewer than 3 purchases stay in keep, because the result is too early to trust.
How does it decide an ad is fatigued?
An ad is marked for refresh when its ad set frequency is above 3.5, or when its click-through rate falls for three or more days while spend holds. Kill always wins over refresh, so an ad that loses money is not refreshed.
Can I set my own ROAS target and spend threshold?
Yes. The routine prompt says "ROAS above target" and "meaningful spend" without fixed numbers. Write your numbers into the prompt when you set up the routine, or answer the setup chat when it asks for them.
Run it on your own catalog
Start free, connect your store, and Tolstoy opens this playbook for you. You review every result before anything goes live.