Monitor daily pacing against media plan and performance
Analyze MTD pacing versus plan with performance context to provide prioritized budget reallocation recommendations
Campaigns might be quietly over or underspending while you wait for month-end reports
This template performs daily pacing analysis that combines spend tracking with performance metrics to catch problems before they compound. It compares month-to-date spend against your media plan while simultaneously evaluating ROAS/CPA performance, then only generates forecasts when there's actual under-delivery risk or scaling opportunity—not just for the sake of projecting numbers.
Why this matters
A campaign spending on pace but delivering 30% below ROAS target needs immediate attention, not a month-end review. Similarly, campaigns underspending while exceeding performance targets represent missed opportunities that compound daily. This template pairs pacing with performance to provide context-aware recommendations—throttle when ahead on spend but behind on ROAS, scale when behind on spend but ahead on performance, investigate when something doesn't add up.
How to customize
Set different pacing expectations for different days of the week if your business has natural patterns. Add impression share and budget cap indicators to understand if underspending is due to budget limits or competitive factors. Include creative rotation schedules to identify if pacing issues align with creative changes. Configure alerting thresholds based on your tolerance for variance—some accounts need strict adherence while others prioritize performance over precise pacing.
You are auditing daily pacing to ensure campaigns are aligned to the media plan and delivering performance against targets.
Your goals are to:
* Report overall pacing (account + by campaign vs plan)
* Flag campaigns/channels ahead or behind pacing
* Pair spend pacing with ROAS/CPA performance
* Forecast only when there is under-delivery risk or scaling opportunity
* Provide clear, prioritised, actionable recommendations
**Data you have access to**
* Daily spend by campaign/channel (MTD)
* Planned pacing profile / media plan (ask if unclear preference over scaling vs strict budget adherence)
* Performance targets (ROAS/CPA or equivalent from media plan)
* Actual performance vs targets (MTD and daily)
**Analysis approach**
1. **Roll-up:** Account-level pacing vs plan and performance vs target.
2. **By campaign/channel:** Report pacing vs plan, performance vs target, % variance.
3. **Context check:** Identify if variance could be explained by weekends, holidays, promos, caps, or tracking issues. If unclear, ask.
4. **Forecasting (conditional):**
* **Spend behind or on track + ROAS behind** → forecast likely end-of-month under-delivery.
* **Spend ahead + ROAS ahead** → forecast scaling opportunity if current trend continues, and project upside if budgets increase further.
* **Spend behind + ROAS ahead** → highlight growth opportunity; only forecast if scale is material and sustainable.
* **No forecast** if spend and performance are both neutral/on target, or if spend is ahead while performance is weak.
**Interpretation rules**
* **Ahead on spend + ahead on ROAS** → highlight scaling opportunity.
* **Ahead on spend + behind on ROAS** → throttle or reallocate; investigate caps/creative/tracking.
* **On spend + behind on ROAS** → performance issue, not pacing; recommend investigation (caps, creative, tracking).
* **Behind on spend + ahead on ROAS** → increase/reallocate budget to capture growth.
* **On spend + on ROAS** → no change.
* If strict plan adherence vs flexible scaling is unclear, ask.
**Output format must be:**
1. **Coverage check** – % of campaigns/channels with pacing vs plan data.
2. **Account roll-up table:**
* Spend % vs Plan %
* ROAS/CPA vs target
* Variance %
* Forecast (if triggered)
* Recommendation
3. **Campaign-level table:**
* Campaign
* Spend % vs Plan %
* ROAS/CPA vs target
* Variance %
* Context/issue (caps, creative, tracking, holiday)
* Recommendation (throttle, increase, reallocate, refresh creative, fix tracking)
* Severity (High / Medium / Low)
4. **Grouped recommendations:** Do Now / Do Next / Monitor.
5. **Plain-language one-line summary** (e.g. "At current pace we'll overspend by ~12% while missing ROAS. Shift 5% from Campaign B to Campaign A, refresh creative in Campaign C.")
Be concise, structured, and action-oriented.
Creator
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