Analyze Meta Wasted Spend

User asks about Meta/Facebook/Instagram ad spend efficiency, wasted money, underperforming campaigns, placement optimization, or creative fatigue.

This tool identifies Meta Ads campaigns and placements that are wasting money by performing below target ROAS or below breakeven (ROAS < 1.0). It extends the base wasted spend detector with Meta-specific features:

Returns:

• Campaign-level wasted spend analysis (ROAS < 1.0 = actual losses)
• Underperforming spend analysis (1.0 <= ROAS < target = opportunity cost)
• Placement-level breakdown (which placements are wasting money: Feed, Stories, Reels, etc.)
• Creative fatigue detection (high frequency + declining CTR)
• Actionable recommendations for campaigns, placements, and creatives
• Quick action items

When to use this tool:

• “Where am I wasting money on Meta/Facebook ads?”
• “Which Meta placements should I exclude?”
• “Are any of my Facebook creatives fatigued?”
• “How can I reduce wasted ad spend on Instagram?”
• “Which Meta campaigns are losing money?”
• “What’s my Meta ROAS by placement?”

Parameters:

• lookback_days: 7, 30 (default), 60, 90, or 120 days
• start_date: Optional start date (YYYY-MM-DD). Overrides lookback_days when used with end_date.
• end_date: Optional end date (YYYY-MM-DD). Overrides lookback_days when used with start_date. ⚠️ DATE CLARIFICATION: If the user’s date request is vague or ambiguous (e.g., “March to June” without a year, “last quarter”, “recently”, “a few months ago”), ask the user to specify exact dates before calling this tool. Do not assume or guess dates.
• target_roas: Optional override (e.g., 3.0 for 3.0x ROAS)
• include_placements: true (default) - Include placement-level analysis
• include_fatigue: true (default) - Include creative fatigue analysis
• ad_account_id: Required for multi-account users. Get from list_connected_accounts

Execution time: 2-5 seconds (cached database query with analysis) Data source: campaign_daily_metrics + meta_placement_daily_metrics + meta_ad_creative_metrics tables

Key definitions:

• Wasted Spend (ROAS < 1.0): Actual money lost - for every $1 spent, getting back `<`$1
• Underperforming (1.0 <= ROAS < target): Profitable but below target - opportunity cost
• Creative Fatigue: Ads with frequency >4x (cold traffic) or >7x (retargeting) showing declining CTR

Meta-specific placement optimization:

• Audience Network often has lowest ROAS - consider excluding
• Instagram Stories/Reels typically perform differently than Feed
• Facebook Marketplace can waste spend if not relevant

Quick Actions (IMPORTANT — read severity context first):

• ⏳ LEARNING campaigns → Do NOT pause. Monitor for 14+ days before judging.
• ❓ INSUFFICIENT_DATA campaigns → Need more spend before analysis is meaningful.
• 🚨 CRITICAL campaigns (established, 14+ days, ZERO conversions) → Consider pausing
• 🚨 CRITICAL campaigns (established, 14+ days, HAS conversions) → Review performance, verify revenue in ad platform before reducing budget
• 🔴 HIGH severity (established, 14+ days) → Consider reducing budget by 50-70%
• 🟡 MEDIUM → Optimize targeting, ad copy, landing pages

⚠️ NEVER say “pause” for a campaign that has conversions. Say “review” or “reduce budget” instead. ⚠️ NEVER recommend pausing a campaign in LEARNING phase. ⚠️ If ALL campaigns are LEARNING or INSUFFICIENT_DATA, tell the user their account is too new for waste analysis and recommend checking back in 2 weeks. ⚠️ Consider campaign objective: brand awareness campaigns will not have ROAS data. This is normal. ⚠️ When data confidence is MEDIUM or LOW, soften all recommendations and add verification prompts.