Which ads to pause, scale or refresh. And what to test next.

Ad results to the next test is a DFIRST skill that turns an ads export into clear decisions. Firsty, the DFIRST agent, works out CTR, CPC, CPA and ROAS for every ad, marks each one pause, scale, refresh or hold with the number behind it, and writes your next test: one change, three variants. Your ad account is never changed.

Every decision shows its number and the bar it crossed
Small samples are flagged as too early to call
Reasons are offered as ideas to test, not as facts

Works with

Ad results to the next test

Know which ads to pause, scale or refresh, with the number behind each call, and get a brief for your next test.

What should Firsty work on?

Here's last month's Meta export. Our CPA is too high. What do we pause?
Our Google Ads results for October, aiming for a 3x ROAS
What should we test next on our TikTok ads? Export attached.

Open in DFIRST

Join the waitlist to open it. Firsty starts the skill as soon as your access starts.

Examples. What you ask, what you get back.

Here's October's Meta export for ZESTA. Our CPA is too high, the target is $12. What do we pause?

Five ads, each with its CPA against the $12 target and the bar it crossed. The newest ad has only four purchases, so it is marked too early instead of paused.

TableZESTA Meta ads, October

Spend	CTR	CPC	Purchases	CPA	Call
$1,284	1.60%	$0.84	142	$9.04	Scale $9.04, under the $9.60 bar
$1,120	0.70%	$1.43	52	$21.54	Pause $21.54, over the $18 bar
$960	1.30%	$0.92	84	$11.43	Hold $11.43, inside the target
$840	1.44%	$0.83	64	$13.13	Refresh CTR fell from 2.1% to 0.9% in four weeks
$96	0.90%	$1.12	4	$24.00	Too early 4 purchases, 20 needed

Target CPA $12. All five together: $12.43 on $4,300. Bars: pause over $18 (1.5x target), scale under $9.60 (0.8x) with 30 or more purchases, too early under 20 purchases.

Our KINETRA Google Ads results for October. We're aiming for a 3x ROAS. Where should the money go?

Five campaigns measured against a 3x ROAS, each decision with its number and its bar, then a short list of changes for you to make in Google Ads yourself.

DocumentKINETRA Google Ads, October

Decisions

Search, brand terms: Scale 6.2x on $1,850, 85 sales
Shopping, all shoes: Refresh 3.3x for the month, 2.4x in the last week
Search, trail shoes: Hold 2.9x, within 10% of the target
Display, past visitors: Pause 1.1x on $2,480, under the 1.5x floor
Performance Max test: Too early 8 sales, 15 needed

The bars

Target 3.0x ROAS. All campaigns together: 3.17x on $10,240. Scale above 4.5x with 30 or more sales, pause under 1.5x, too early under 15 sales.

Changes to make in Google Ads

Pause the Display campaign for past visitors.
Raise Search, brand terms from $60 to $75 a day.
In Shopping, test new main images for the three best sellers.

Possible reason, to test

Shopping's click rate fell from 1.9% to 1.1% on the same images. People may have seen them too often. This is an idea to test, not a finding. Nothing was changed in your Google Ads account.

kinetra-google-ads-october.csv

What should we test next on our SOL CLUB ads? June's Meta export is attached.

One change to test, picked from June's numbers: a face in the picture or not. Three variants with the same headline, and the reason written as an idea, not a fact.

DocumentSOL CLUB: the next test

What June points to

Your two ads with a face in the picture cost $14.20 and $15.10 per purchase. The two with only a hand and the tube cost $22.80 and $24.50. Four ads is a small sample, so treat this as an idea to test.

The one change

The main picture. The headline Stay out longer., the line under it and the button stay exactly the same.

Three variants

A: a hand and the tube, no face. Today's ad, kept as the control.
B: a woman in a pool ring, smiling, the tube in her hand.
C: a man on the beach holding out the tube.

How to read it

Budget: $40 a day per variant
Run until: 50 purchases each, or 10 days
Winner: The lowest CPA, if it leads by 20% or more

solclub-meta-june.xlsx

How it goes. The same steps every time.

Firsty follows the skill’s steps in order and stops where the choice is yours. Nothing paid starts without your yes.

1
Firsty works out CTR, CPC, CPA and ROAS for every ad
2
Firsty marks each ad pause, scale, refresh or hold, with its number
3
You choose which decision to act on
You pick the decision. Your ad account is never changed
4
Firsty lists the exact change for you to make in your ad account
5
Firsty writes your next test: one change, three variants

Done when

Every decision shows its number and the bar it crossed
Small samples are flagged as too early to call
Reasons are offered as ideas to test, not as facts
Nothing in your ad account is changed

At a glance.

What Ad results to the next test needs from you and what it hands back.

You bring: A results export from your ad platform as CSV or XLSX, and your target CPA or ROAS if you have one.
No target?: Each ad is measured against the blended value of your own file.
You get: A Document with every pause, scale and refresh decision, its number, the bar it crossed, a warning on small samples and the next test brief.
Also: A Table with CTR, CPC, CPA and ROAS worked out for each ad, so you can check every sum.
The next test: One change and three variants. Unless you say what may change, it follows what the decisions point to.
Your ad account: Never touched. Firsty writes the exact change, and you make it yourself.

Questions people ask.

About Ad results to the next test and how it fits the rest of DFIRST.

How do I know which Facebook ads to pause?

Share your Meta ads export and your target CPA. Firsty works out the cost per purchase of every ad and marks the ones far above the target as pause, each with its number and the bar it crossed. Ads with very few results are marked too early, so a slow start is not cut by mistake.

Does it change anything in my ad account?

No. Firsty only reads the export you share. Once you pick the decision to act on, it writes the exact change, such as which ad to pause or which daily budget to raise, and your account stays as it was until you make that change yourself.

Which ad platforms does it work with?

Any results export saved as CSV or XLSX, such as reports from Meta, Google Ads or TikTok. Firsty works out each figure from the columns in the file. A number that needs a column your export does not have, for example revenue for ROAS, cannot be worked out, so include it when you export.

Why is an ad marked too early to call?

A handful of purchases can swing either way. When an ad has too few results to judge, Firsty marks it too early instead of pause or scale, and shows the count it is based on. Let the ad run longer and share the next export for a firmer call.

Are the reasons behind each result proven?

No, and the document says so. Firsty can see that an ad got more expensive, but not for certain why. Possible causes, such as a tired picture or a weak first line, are written as ideas to test, and the next test brief turns the strongest one into a single change with three variants.

See all 27 skills