Where Does Ad Spend Leak? A Summary of The Leak List

Part 1: Are your numbers right?

You cannot plug a leak you cannot measure. Every other fix is judged against these four.

1. 1. No break even ROASWithout your own floor you scale losers and cut winners.The fixBreak even ROAS is 1 divided by your margin before ads. Set it as the floor for every target.
2. 2. Trusting platform ROAS aloneEach platform claims the same sale, so their reports add up to more revenue than you made.The fixTrack one blended number each week: total revenue divided by total ad spend.
3. 3. No ceiling on cost per saleA rising cost per sale looks like bad luck until the month is lost.The fixYour ceiling is what is left from one order after product, shipping and fees. Alert at 80% of it.
4. 4. Ignoring the second orderYou underbid for good customers if buyers come back within 90 days.The fixUse real 90 day repeat data to decide what a first order is worth.

Part 2: Can the platforms see your sales?

The ad platforms bid with the data you send them.

1. 5. Pixel only trackingBrowsers and ad blockers drop pixel events, so the algorithm learns from a partial picture.The fixAdd the Conversions API alongside the pixel, with the same event ID from both.
2. 6. Purchase events that fire twiceInflated numbers make a weak campaign look strong.The fixFire the purchase event once per order ID, on the confirmed order page only.
3. 7. Comparing different attribution windowsLonger windows always show more sales.The fixPick one window and note it on every report.
4. 8. No way to reconcile with the storeWhen numbers disagree there is no tie breaker.The fixTag every ad with consistent UTMs and reconcile spend against store revenue weekly.

Part 3: Is your account structure working against you?

Most accounts are not too small. They are too crowded.

1. 9. Too many ad sets, too little dataThe book notes Meta needs roughly 50 optimisation events per ad set per week to leave learning.The fixMerge similar ad sets and fund each to reach about 50 events a week.
2. 10. Bidding against yourselfOverlapping ad sets enter the same auctions.The fixExclude buyers and warm audiences from cold campaigns.
3. 11. Optimising for the wrong eventAsk for clicks and you get people who click and leave.The fixOptimise for purchase whenever you have enough purchases to learn from.
4. 12. Budgets set once and forgottenMoney left on a fading campaign is not spent on the one now working.The fixReview the split weekly and move budget in steps of about 20%.
5. 13. Google spend hiding in brand searchBuyers already searching your name can make Google look stronger than it is.The fixSplit brand and non brand search and add brand exclusions to Performance Max.

Part 4: Is your creative doing the targeting?

Targeting used to be the skill. Now the creative does the targeting.

1. 14. Not testing enough creativeFew ads means few chances to find a winner.The fixSet a weekly quota of new ads and log every test.
2. 15. Running ads past their bestPeople who have seen an ad five times and not bought rarely buy on the sixth.The fixWatch frequency and click through rate together and have the replacement ready.
3. 16. One format, one angleOne format reaches one kind of buyer and misses the rest.The fixSpread tests across video, static and carousel, and rotate angles.
4. 17. The ad and the page disagreeIf the page does not repeat the ad's promise, visitors think they are in the wrong place.The fixMatch the page headline to the ad that sent the visitor.

Part 5: What happens after the click?

You have paid for the visit. Everything after it decides whether the money comes back.

1. 18. A slow mobile pageEvery extra second loses buyers you already paid to reach.The fixTest on a mid range phone over mobile data and load the buy button first.
2. 19. Friction and surprises at checkoutSurprise shipping costs and forced accounts end sales at the last step.The fixShow shipping early, allow guest checkout and cut every field you do not need.
3. 20. No email or SMS safety netMost visitors do not buy on the first visit, and without follow up you pay again to bring each one back.The fixThe book suggests three flows first: welcome, abandoned cart and post purchase.
4. 21. Paying to reach people who already boughtThat spend cannot produce the sale it is aimed at.The fixExclude recent buyers from acquisition campaigns.

How do you use The Leak List?

1. Read chapters 1 to 5 once: how marketing works, Meta ads, Google ads, SEO and making the three work together.
2. Go through the 21 leaks with your ad account open and mark each 0, 1 or 2.
3. Pick the worst five and fix them over 30 days with the plan in chapter 7.

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