How to run a weekly ad budget review
A weekly ad budget review is a short, fixed meeting where you rank campaigns by cost per paying customer, decide which to keep, cut or leave alone, and write down each change so it can be checked four weeks later. "No change this week" is a valid outcome.
What are the steps?
Refresh the numbers
Export spend for the last 28 days from each ad platform and payments from Stripe or HubSpot, including refunds.
Match and rank
Match each paying customer to the last ad click within 90 days, then rank campaigns by cost per paying customer.
Set aside campaigns below 30
Campaigns with fewer than 30 paying customers get no verdict. Note their counts and move on.
Decide and record changes
Keep, cut or move budget. Write down the date, the change, the reason and who approved it.
Re-check old changes
Look at changes made 28 days ago and compare paying customers before and after.
What does a review record look like?
| Campaign | Cost per paying customer | Decision | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search, brand terms | $40 | Keep | Lowest cost per paying customer |
| Reels, free trial offer | $86 | Keep | Within range of the best campaign |
| Lookalike, sign-ups | $116 | Cut 20% | 2.9 times the best campaign |
| Job title targeting | Not shown | No verdict | 4 paying customers |
How do you keep the review honest?
- Use paying customers, never platform conversions, for the ranking.
- Show unmatched customers as their own line.
- Change little at once, so the 28-day re-check can tell what worked.
- Allow "no change this week". Activity is not the goal.
Related pages
- How many customers you need before judging a campaignWhy Datarithms gives no verdict below 30 paying customers, with an example.
- For agenciesFor agencies running ads for clients: a dated record of each budget change and what happened next, in paying customers, for the monthly review.
- How it worksThe matching rules behind the weekly table: last ad click within 90 days, refunds within 14 days excluded, no verdict under 30 paying customers.
- How to calculate cost per paying customerSpend divided by customers who paid and stayed. How to count both sides honestly.
Want your own table?
Tell us which ad platforms you use and roughly what you spend. We reply by email within two working days.
Early access: we prepare your weekly table with you from your own exports while the direct connections are built.