Creating Custom Automation Rules
Learn how to build powerful custom automation rules that optimize your campaigns automatically. Create triggers, define conditions, set actions, and control exactly when and how Zaplane optimizes your advertising.
Build Your Perfect Optimization Strategy
While Zaplane's AI provides intelligent recommendations automatically, custom automation rules let you codify your own expertise and business logic. Think of rules as "if-then" statements that execute automatically when specific conditions are met - like having a team of experts monitoring your campaigns 24/7.
What You Can Automate
Bidding:
- • Increase bids on high-performers
- • Decrease bids on low-converters
- • Pause keywords with QS below X
- • Adjust by device, location, time
Budget:
- • Reallocate between campaigns
- • Increase budget on winning days
- • Cap daily spend at thresholds
- • Scale budgets with ROAS
Campaign Control:
- • Pause underperforming campaigns
- • Enable campaigns at certain hours
- • Duplicate successful campaigns
- • Archive zero-conversion campaigns
Alerts:
- • Email when ROAS drops below X
- • Slack when spend exceeds budget
- • SMS for critical issues
- • Dashboard notifications
Anatomy of an Automation Rule
Every automation rule has three core components that work together:
1. Trigger (When)
What event starts the rule evaluation
Available Triggers:
Run on schedule (hourly, daily, weekly)
When metric crosses threshold
When budget reaches X% spent
When campaign enabled/paused
Example Triggers:
- • "Every day at 9:00 AM"
- • "When ROAS drops below 2.0x"
- • "When daily budget reaches 80% spent"
- • "When Quality Score changes"
2. Conditions (If)
What criteria must be met to execute
Condition Types:
Metric Comparisons
Time Conditions
Campaign Properties
Combining Conditions:
3. Actions (Then)
What happens when conditions are met
Available Actions:
Bid Actions:
Budget Actions:
Status Actions:
Notification Actions:
Multiple Actions:
You can chain multiple actions together:
Real-World Rule Examples
Here are proven automation rules that successful advertisers use:
Scale Winning Campaigns
Automatically increase budget on high-performing campaigns
- • ROAS is greater than 3.0
- • AND Conversions in last 7 days is greater than 20
- • AND Campaign has been active for at least 14 days
- • Increase daily budget by 20% (max $500/day)
- • Send email notification with performance summary
Why This Works:
Compounds success by giving more budget to proven winners. The 14-day minimum ensures campaign has enough data, and the max cap prevents runaway spending.
Stop Budget Waste
Pause campaigns that aren't converting profitably
- • ROAS is less than 1.5
- • AND Campaign has spent at least $500 in last 30 days
- • AND Campaign name does not contain "Brand" or "Test"
- • Pause campaign
- • Send Slack notification to #marketing-alerts channel
- • Add "Paused: Low ROAS" label
Why This Works:
Prevents wasting money on underperformers. The $500 minimum spend ensures you have enough data before making the decision. Brand campaigns are excluded since they often have lower ROAS but are strategically important.
Optimize by Quality Score
Lower bids on keywords with poor Quality Scores
- • Quality Score is less than 5
- • AND Impressions in last 7 days is greater than 100
- • AND Platform is Google Ads
- • Decrease keyword bid by 30%
- • Add "Low QS - Review" label
- • Create dashboard notification
Why This Works:
Low Quality Score means you're paying more per click. Reducing bids saves money while you work on improving ad relevance. The 100 impression minimum ensures there's enough data to trust the QS.
Dayparting Optimization
Increase bids during peak conversion hours
- • Time of day is between 9:00 AM and 8:00 PM
- • AND Day of week is Monday through Friday
- • AND Campaign is active
- • Increase all keyword bids by 25%
- • Decrease all keyword bids by 25%
Why This Works:
If your business converts better during business hours, bid more aggressively then and save budget during off-hours. This ensures your budget lasts all day while maximizing ROI during peak times.
Budget Pacing Alert
Get notified when spending too fast or too slow
- • Daily budget % spent is greater than 50%
- • AND Time of day is before 2:00 PM
- • OR Daily budget % spent is less than 30%
- • AND Time of day is after 6:00 PM
- • Send email alert with current pacing status
- • Include recommendations to adjust bids
Why This Works:
Prevents running out of budget too early (missing evening traffic) or underspending (missing opportunities). Gives you time to make manual adjustments if needed.
Creating Your First Rule
Follow these steps to create a custom automation rule in Zaplane:
Navigate to Automation Rules
Go to Settings → Automation → Custom Rules and click "Create New Rule"
Name Your Rule
Give it a descriptive name like "Pause Low ROAS Campaigns" or "Scale Winners on Weekends"
Choose Your Trigger
Select when the rule should evaluate. Options:
- • Schedule: Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly
- • Event: When metric changes, budget threshold, status change
- • Continuous: Check every 15 minutes (for urgent rules)
Set Conditions
Build your IF statement by adding conditions:
Define Actions
Choose what happens when conditions are met:
Set Safety Limits (Optional)
Add guardrails to prevent unintended consequences:
- • Maximum bid cap: Never bid more than $X
- • Maximum budget: Never spend more than $X/day
- • Execution frequency: Only run once per day/week
- • Affected campaigns: Limit to specific campaigns or exclude some
Test the Rule
Before activating, click "Test Rule" to see what would happen:
Test Mode Shows:
- • Which campaigns/keywords would be affected
- • What changes would be made (before/after values)
- • Estimated impact on spend and performance
- • Any warnings or potential issues
Activate & Monitor
Once you're confident, toggle the rule to "Active" and monitor its performance:
- • Check the rule's activity log daily for the first week
- • Verify actions are executing as expected
- • Adjust conditions or actions if needed
- • Review impact on campaign performance
Pre-Built Rule Templates
Zaplane offers 20+ pre-built rule templates you can use as starting points:
Using Templates
- Go to Automation → Custom Rules
- Click "Browse Templates"
- Select a template that matches your goal
- Customize the conditions and actions for your needs
- Test and activate
Popular Templates
- • Pause Low Quality Score Keywords
- • Scale Winning Campaigns
- • Budget Pacing Alerts
- • Dayparting Bid Adjustments
- • Geographic Performance Optimization
- • Device Bid Modifiers
- • Emergency Pause Rules
- • Weekend Budget Scaling
Best Practices for Custom Rules
✅ DO: Start Simple
Begin with one or two straightforward rules (like pausing zero-conversion campaigns) before building complex multi-condition rules. Master the basics first.
✅ DO: Require Sufficient Data
Always include minimum data requirements in conditions (e.g., "at least 100 clicks" or "at least $500 spent"). This prevents making decisions on insufficient sample sizes.
✅ DO: Set Safety Caps
Always define maximum bids, maximum budgets, and execution frequency limits. Never let a rule make unlimited changes.
✅ DO: Test in "Preview Mode" First
Use the test feature to see what would happen before activating. Review the affected campaigns and projected changes carefully.
✅ DO: Monitor Rule Performance
Check your rule's activity log at least weekly. Verify it's executing as expected and actually improving performance. Adjust if needed.
❌ DON'T: Create Conflicting Rules
Avoid rules that fight each other (e.g., one rule increasing bids while another decreases them on the same campaigns). Review all active rules to prevent conflicts.
❌ DON'T: Make Large Changes
Start with small adjustments (10-20%) rather than dramatic ones (50%+). You can always increase the magnitude after seeing results.
❌ DON'T: React to Short-Term Fluctuations
Use lookback windows of at least 7 days for most metrics. Daily performance can be noisy - make decisions based on trends, not single-day results.
❌ DON'T: Set It and Forget It
Rules need regular review. Market conditions change, your business evolves, and what worked last month might not work this month. Audit your rules quarterly.
Managing Your Rules
Enable/Disable Rules
Toggle rules on/off without deleting them. Useful for seasonal rules or when testing changes.
Edit Existing Rules
Modify conditions, actions, or settings anytime. Changes take effect immediately.
Duplicate Rules
Clone a working rule and modify it for similar use cases. Saves time vs. creating from scratch.
View Activity Logs
See every action your rules have taken: what changed, when, and the before/after values.
Ready to Build Your Rules?
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