By Kristians, Founder, AutoAdy. Six years buying Meta ads — first for agency clients, then for his own ecommerce and lead-gen brands.
Last updated:
What changed: Made the H2s question-form, linked the citations, and added the free drop diagnostic.
Kill a Facebook ad when it spent $20 or 2x target CPA with zero conversions. The 3-day rule: never kill before 72 hours as Meta needs time to exit the learning phase.
Key Takeaways
Spent $20 or 2x target CPA with zero conversions = kill. For $30 CPA target, kill at $60 with no results. Catches 92% of ads that never convert.
Never judge before 72 hours — learning phase needs 50 events to stabilize. Exception: spend exceeds 3x target CPA before day 3, kill immediately.
Kill: zero conversions after 2x CPA, CTR below 0.3% after 72h, relevance below 3. Pause: CPA risen 50%+ but previously converted, frequency above 3.0 with good early results, seasonal downturn.
Figures below come from Meta ad accounts AutoAdy has audited or monitors. They are directional, not a controlled study.
FAQ
Minimum 72 hours unless spend exceeds 3x target CPA. Early kills have 35% false negative rate.
Pause if it previously converted — may recover with creative refresh. Kill if it never converted after 2x CPA spend.
You waste learning phase investment. Ads killed before 72 hours have 35% chance of being false negatives.
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