CPA fell by half with daily pacing tracking at a B2B SaaS for SMBs

B2B SMB SaaS · Pre-seed

The numbers were seen too late. Days went by between a deviation happening and anyone reacting, and the correction came as a jolt: a sharp cut, then an acceleration to make up for it.

Cut the time between event and reaction to a minimum: see every day how much was spent, how much should have been spent and at what cost.

• We automated the account's performance report.
• We built a pacing view: spend consumed versus forecast.
• We calculated KPIs from daily spend, with a projection to the end of the period.

-50% account CPA after daily tracking was put in place.

• In paid media, the problem is rarely a lack of data. It's data that arrives late.
• Jolts destroy value. Sharp budget cuts and accelerations reset the platforms' algorithm learning and make every conversion more expensive.
• The shorter the time between deviation and reaction, the smaller the adjustment needed.

1. Build a spreadsheet with one row per campaign per day, with these columns:

   • monthly budget and spend to date;
   • expected spend to date (budget × current day ÷ days in the month);
   • pacing (spend to date ÷ expected spend);
   • conversions and CPA (spend ÷ conversions).

   The ad platforms' native connectors feed this sheet with no development.

2. Flag anything outside the agreed range, for example pacing outside 90% to 110% or CPA above target. React the same day with small adjustments, never with sharp cuts.

3. If you prefer, ask an LLM:

   Build a paid media pacing spreadsheet with one row per campaign per day, with monthly budget, spend to date, expected spend to date, % pacing, conversions, CPA and projected spend to the end of the month. Include the formulas and conditional formatting for pacing outside 90% to 110%.

   Copy