Workflow: Pause campaigns when an account has spent more than the target account monthly spend

This article will walk you through creating a campaign process that pauses campaigns if you have already spent more than the target monthly account spend. 

NOTE: Make sure that you have defined the monthly target spend for this client or it will default to $0. 

1. On the PPC Samurai dashboard, select the client you want to build a process for

2. From within the Client Account section, click on Campaign. 

3. On the Campaign Processes section, click on the + button.

4. On the New Process modal, enter a title for the process. Then, click on Save.

5. Select which campaigns you wish to run this process on.

6. In the Automate section, click the Enable automatic run checkbox to run this process automatically. Select how often you want to repeat this process, the start date, end date and run time.

First, we want to check if the target account monthly spend is greater than zero. If it's not, we ignore this process.

7. In the Metrics Group section, select Custom in the Other submenu.

8. Change the settings to the following and click Save.

  • Enter [TAccSpend] > 0 in the formula field.
  • Enter Target Spend >0? in the Nickname field

9. Click and hold the dark square in the Start element, then drag it down and drop onto Target Spend >0? element.

10. In the Actions section, click on Ignore Cpg.

11. Click and hold the N button in the Target Spend >0? element, then drag it down and drop onto Ignore element.

Next, we want to check if it's the first day of the month. If it's not, we check if the account spend is greater than the target account monthly spend. For those accounts that have spent more than their monthly target, we add "Budget Paused" to the label and pause the campaign. 

12. In the Metrics Group section, select Custom in the Other submenu.

13. Change the settings to the following and click Save.

  • Enter [MthDaysLeft] == 0 in the formula field.
  • Enter 1st DOM? in the Nickname field

14. Click and hold the Y button in the Target Spend >0? element, then drag it down and drop onto 1st DOM? element.

15. In the Metrics Group section, select Custom in the Other submenu.

16. Change the settings to the following and click Save.

  • Enter [ACC Cost (this month)] > [TAccSpend] * 0.99 in the formula field. This formula checks if the account level cost for this month is greater than 99% of the target monthly account spend.
  • Enter Acc Cost > Target? in the Nickname field

17. Click and hold the N button in the 1st DOM? element, then drag it down and drop onto Acc Cost > Target? element.

Next let's check if this campaign is active. 

18. In the Metrics Group section, click on Cpg Status.

19. Change the settings to the following and click Done.

20. Click and hold the Y button in the Acc Cost > Target? element, then drag it down and drop onto Cpg Status element.

21. Click and hold the N button in the Cpg Status element, then drag it down and drop onto Ignore Cpg element.

22. In the Actions section, click on Pause CPG.

23. In the Action: Pause Campaign modal, change the settings to the following and click save.

24. In the Actions section, click on Add Label.

25. Enter Budget Pause in the text field and click Save.

26. Click and hold the Y button in the Cpg Status element, then drag it down and drop onto the Pause and Add Label elements.

Next for paused campaigns, if it is the first day of the month or the account cost is not greater than the target, we want enable the campaign and remove "Budget Paused" from the label.

27. In the Metrics Group section, click on CPG Label is under the Attributes submenu.

28. Change the settings to the following in the Condition: Label is modal and click Done.

  • Select Campaign Label
  • Select Is
  • Enter Budget Pause in the field

29. Click and hold the Y button in the 1st DOM? element, then drag it down and drop onto the Label is element.

30. In the Actions section, click on Remove Label.

31. In the Remove Label modal, change the settings to the following and click Save.

  • Select Is in the Condition field
  • Enter Budget Pause in the text field

32. In the Actions section, click on Enable CPG.

33. In the Actions section, click on Ignore Cpg.

34. Click and hold the Y button in the Label is element, then drag it down and drop onto the Remove Label and Enable CPG elements.

35. Click and hold the N button in the Label is element, then drag it down and drop onto the Ignore Cpg element.

Congratulations - this process is complete.