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When exactly should I kill a product vs. kill a creative vs. kill an adset?

Asked at every stage from beginner to intermediate, constant source of expensive mistakes

These are three different decisions with different thresholds. Operators who conflate them burn money on dead products and kill viable ones prematurely.

  • Kill a creative: After 4× your target CPA in spend with no purchase AND ATC below 3%. If ATC is above 3% but no purchase, keep the creative and fix the page/offer first.
  • Kill an adset: After 7 days, spend is above 2× target CPA, ROAS is below break-even, and multiple creatives inside have already been evaluated. Don't kill a single adset in isolation on day 2.
  • Kill a product: After testing 4–6 truly different angles (not just visual variations, different desires, different personas, different pain points) with a total of 15–20 creatives, and no angle has hit ATC above 8% or ROAS above break-even with real spend. This takes at least $500–$300 minimum to diagnose honestly.

The correct kill sequence: first optimize creatives, then fix the page/offer, then kill the product. Most operators jump straight to "the product is dead" after testing one angle with three ads.

Tactical FixBefore killing anything, ask: have I tested at least 4 different angles? Have I verified my pixel is tracking correctly? Have I run a test order to confirm checkout works? If any of those is "no," the kill decision is premature.

See this in practice: Pick Your Ad Angles

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