Operational playbook for 7-figure ad accounts

Quick Answer

Running a £1M+/year Facebook ad account requires three operational rhythms working simultaneously: a daily check-in for tactical issues, a weekly review for creative and budget decisions, and a monthly review for strategic shifts. Each cadence has its own decision rights and metrics. Skipping any one (most often weekly) is how 7-figure accounts drift into quiet decline before the operator notices.

The Framework

1. Daily (15-30 minutes): tactical health check

Every morning at the same time. Pull yesterday's spend vs target, check active winning ads count, review automated rule activations, scan for any technical issues (rejected ads, account warnings). Decisions: pause or revive specific ads, adjust pacing if needed.

2. Weekly (60-90 minutes): creative and campaign review

Every Monday. Review last week's ROAS against baseline, frequency by ad set, creative test win rate, new winners to graduate, fatiguing creatives to retire. Decisions: budget shifts between campaigns, new creative briefs, audience adjustments.

3. Monthly (3-4 hours): strategic review

First Monday of the month. Review month-over-month performance, channel mix decisions, hold-out test results, competitive landscape, hiring or tool changes. Decisions: significant budget reallocations, restructures, channel diversification moves.

4. Quarterly: deep audit and reset

Every 3 months. Audit account structure top to bottom, review long-term trends, run incrementality tests, refresh lookalike seeds, evaluate vendor and team performance. Decisions: structural changes that would be too disruptive to make monthly.

5. Document the playbook

Write down your daily/weekly/monthly checklists. New team members can follow them. You stop forgetting steps. The account becomes resilient to people leaving.

6. Distribute decision rights clearly

Junior buyer: daily tactical decisions within rules. Lead buyer: weekly campaign and creative decisions. Owner/CMO: monthly strategic decisions. Anyone making decisions outside their level is a sign the structure is broken.

Real Numbers from the Field

A subscription brand spending £1.4M/year had no documented operational rhythm. Decisions were ad-hoc, often emotional. We installed daily/weekly/monthly cadences with clear checklists. Decisions per week dropped from 40+ to 12 (focused, intentional ones). ROAS variance halved. The lead buyer's stress levels noticeably dropped because the rhythm gave them permission to ignore the account between scheduled check-ins. Account spend grew 22% year-on-year with stable ROAS.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I skip the weekly cadence and just do daily and monthly?

No. Daily is too tactical for creative decisions, monthly is too slow. Weekly is the most important cadence for creative refresh and budget rebalancing.

Who owns each cadence?

Daily: the most senior available buyer that day. Weekly: the lead buyer. Monthly: the buyer + CMO/owner. Quarterly: the full team.

How long does each meeting actually take?

Daily: 15-30 mins solo. Weekly: 60-90 mins (often async). Monthly: 3-4 hours including data prep. Quarterly: half a day.

Do I need a meeting or can it be async?

Async is fine for daily and most weeklies. Monthly should be a real conversation — strategic decisions benefit from discussion.

What's the biggest playbook mistake?

Skipping cadences when things look fine. The playbook exists to catch problems early. Skipping it means you only check in when something's broken — too late.

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