Guide 15 of 17 in Level 4: Run it as an ad

How to read your ad set test and act on the check-in

To read your ad set test in Blackbox (blackbox.plus), open Plan and click the campaign’s Check-in on the calendar. Its card opens beside the calendar with a grid: one row per ad set, one column per creative, and in each cell the cost per result, coloured against that ad set’s target. Green is 15% or more under the target, red is over 1.5 times it, and Best here marks each row’s winner. Under If you approve, the check-in lists the moves worked out from those numbers: move budget to the ad sets under target that spend their share, pause an ad set over 1.5 times its target, pause a creative that costs over 1.5 times the best one in its ad set, or make one more ad when fewer than three are left. Click Change something and untick what you don’t want, check Shares after approve, and click Approve. The changes are made on Meta right away, and each one can be undone.

You'll need
Time
About 5 minutes 7 steps Updated
You'll end with
Your budget moved to the ad sets that work, and the losing ad sets and creatives paused, on the platforms
Do it in Blackbox Open Plan, after you sign in
Example
A week of five ad sets and three creatives, read cell by cell, then the moves approved on Meta

How to read your ad set test and act on the check-in in Blackbox

  1. Step 1:Open the check-in

    In Plan, click the campaign’s Check-in · day 7 on the calendar.

    You'll see: Its card on the right, with what the week showed in one line.

    Open this in Blackbox

  2. Step 2:Read the grid

    Under Cost per purchase · ad set × creative, find Best here in each row.

    You'll see: Each ad set’s cost per result by creative, green under its target and red over 1.5×.

  3. Step 3:Read the moves

    Under If you approve, read each move and the reason under it.

    You'll see: Moves such as Pause Students, Queens and Move $22 a day, each ticked.

  4. Step 4:Untick what you don’t want

    Click Change something, then untick a move, such as Make one more ad.

    You'll see: The move crossed out, and the shares worked out again.

  5. Step 5:Check the shares

    Read Shares after approve under the moves.

    You'll see: Each ad set’s share and amount a day, the paused one marked paused.

  6. Step 6:Approve the moves

    Click Approve.

    You'll see: What changed, a tick on each move, and Done on Meta.

  7. Step 7:Follow the ad sets

    Click Campaign at the top of Plan.

    You'll see: The campaign’s progress and the same grid, side by side for each ad set.

    Open this in Blackbox

Good to know

  • Check-ins come on day 3, halfway through and on the last day. The last one is the decision card: it shows the grid for the whole run, then Stop, Revise and Continue.
  • Nothing is called on too little: an ad set or creative needs at least one result, or twice its target spent with none, before a move names it. Until then it is listed under Left as they are, Too early to call.
  • Retargeting is judged against its own target, half the campaign’s unless you typed one, and its money only moves between retargeting ad sets: people who know you are always cheaper.
  • A move never leaves an ad set under its daily floor (target × 50 ÷ 7, rule 4). When a cut would, the ad set is paused instead and the move says so.
  • Money moves at most the platform’s step a change: 20% of an ad set’s budget on Meta, 30% on TikTok once every 2 days. What a pause frees beyond that isn’t spent, and the next check-in moves more.
  • A creative is paused only in the ad set where it loses; it keeps running where it does well. Keep a creative running everywhere changes nothing; it says which one works.
  • Make one more ad sends Studio a draft like the ad set’s best creative for you to check; nothing new goes live until you launch it.
  • What check-ins do is set on the Budget step under While it runs: Suggest moves sends this card, Move automatically applies the moves and reports them on the card when autonomy allows budget changes and pauses for the brand, and Off shows the numbers only.
  • Each change is its own step on the platform. If one fails, the card shows it with Report, and the steps after it on the same platform aren’t tried, so a raise never goes out without the cut that pays for it.
  • Every change can be undone from the check-in’s card, which stays on its day in Plan: a pause turns back on, a budget goes back to what it was.
  • The numbers are summed across every platform an ad set runs on; point at a cell to see each platform’s part. On LinkedIn, where an ad set is a campaign, the check-in doesn’t read ad sets yet.
  • On Meta the check-in also reads each ad set by age and gender, and can offer a new ad set for a group that does far better inside one: see How to give your best audience its own Facebook ad set.

If something doesn't work

Is this the same as a Facebook A/B test?

No. Meta’s A/B test splits people so no one sees two versions. Here your ad sets run side by side in one campaign, each with its own audience, and the check-in compares their cost per result. It is quicker, and it is how most ad set testing is done.

When should I turn off a Facebook ad?

When it has had enough spend to judge and still costs too much: the check-in pauses an ad set over 1.5 times its target, and a creative over 1.5 times the best one in its ad set. Until an ad set has a result or has spent twice its target, the check-in says Too early to call and moves nothing.

Approve is greyed out

Every move is unticked. Tick at least one, or click Not now to keep everything as it is.

A move says it failed

The platform refused that change, and the reason is under it. Click Report to send it to us; the moves that landed stay, and the next check-in works from where things are.

Money a pause freed isn’t moved

The ad sets under target take at most the platform’s step a change. The rest stays unspent until the next check-in.

There are no moves, only numbers

While it runs is set to Off on the Budget step, or nothing was worth moving. Change it before you start the next campaign.

Stuck at any step? Send us a message and we'll do it with you on a call. All of Level 4: Run it as an ad