Texas Restaurant Equipment — Monthly Performance Report

Executive Summary

March was a foundational month for TRE’s ad account. We launched two new campaigns mid-month — an equipment acquisition campaign targeting sellers (restaurants closing or with idle equipment) and an audience-building engagement campaign — while transitioning away from the original buyer-side Dukers product campaigns. Total spend was $1,101.12 across 28 active days, generating 14 confirmed phone calls at $78.65/confirm and 1,381 post engagements from the audience builder. The strategic pivot to seller acquisition proved correct: the acquisition campaign delivered 8 confirms at $45.82/confirm vs. buyer-side campaigns averaging $92.39/confirm. The engagement campaign is building retargetable audiences at $0.13/engagement, well ahead of the $0.20 benchmark. Notably, by month-end Meta began redistributing acquisition budget — “Equipment Sitting Idle” went from $6 in its first two weeks to $44 total, and “Equipment Removal” from $5 to $26, suggesting the algorithm is exploring beyond the initial “Closing Your Restaurant” concentration.

Strategic Context

Account restructure in March. TRE’s account underwent a significant strategic shift this month. The original approach (buyer-side Dukers product ads optimized for calls) was replaced mid-month with a seller-side acquisition campaign targeting restaurants looking to sell equipment TO TRE. This “flip the funnel” strategy targets the supply side — closing restaurants, idle equipment owners — which is higher-margin for TRE’s business model. Buyer-side campaigns (PVM | TRE Leads and PVM | TRE Leads - Copy) were paused around March 16. An engagement campaign was also launched to build retargetable audiences for future Google Ads coordination. This means month-over-month comparisons are not apples-to-apples — March is effectively a baseline month for the new strategy.

Weekly Trend

Week	Spend	Impressions	Link Clicks	Call Confirms	Cost / Confirm
Mar 1–2 (partial)	$52.56	1,685	38	1	$52.56
Mar 3–9	$253.97	8,136	128	0	N/A
Mar 10–16	$315.37	14,133	123	6	$52.56
Mar 17–23	$230.08	12,245	113	4	$57.52
Mar 24–31	$249.14	15,785	94	3	$83.05
Total	$1,101.12	51,984	496	14	$78.65

Week of Mar 3–9 had zero confirms despite $253.97 in spend — this was purely buyer-side campaigns (Dukers ads) before the acquisition campaign launched. Weeks 3–5 include the seller-side acquisition campaign, which began delivering Mar 14. The zero-confirm week validates the decision to pivot strategy. Final week (Mar 24–31) saw highest impressions but lowest link clicks and highest cost/confirm — consistent with frequency saturation in the Houston geo.

Changes Made This Month

Mar 6: Launched click-to-call landing page for TRE. Replaced form-fill funnel with direct phone call path. Phone calls are TRE’s preferred conversion. (Changelog)
Mar 13: Launched “Equipment Acquisition | Calls” campaign — seller-focused, 4 ad variants (Closing Your Restaurant, We Buy Restaurant Equipment, Equipment Sitting Idle, Equipment Removal). Phone call optimization, $20/day, Houston 50mi, Mon–Fri 8a–5p. (Changelog)
Mar 13: Launched “Audience Builder | Engagement” campaign — 4 content themes (Auctions, Showroom Showcase, Used Equipment Tips, Brand Comparison). $10/day, optimized for post engagement. (Changelog)
Mar 14: Acquisition campaign ads approved and started delivery. All 4 ad variants went active between 11:17 AM and 1:20 PM CT. [Unlogged — activity history only]
Mar 14: Engagement campaign ads started delivery — Auctions, Showroom Showcase, Brand Comparison, Used Equipment Tips all approved. [Unlogged — activity history only]
~Mar 16: Paused “PVM | TRE Leads - Copy” campaign (buyer-side Dukers product ads). Budget consolidated into acquisition campaign due to buyer-side cost/confirm ($75.96) running 2x seller-side ($36.99). (Changelog)
Mar 16: Meta billed $70.16 to TRE account. [Unlogged — activity history only]
Mar 17: Equipment Sitting Idle and Equipment Removal ads started getting secondary delivery via Advantage+ groups. [Unlogged — activity history only]
Mar 23: Meta billed $250.00 to TRE account. [Unlogged — activity history only]
Mar 30–31: Meta significantly increased delivery to “Equipment Sitting Idle” ($37.87 in 2 days vs. $6.36 prior 16 days) and “Equipment Removal” ($21.50 in 2 days vs. $4.83 prior). Algorithm exploring beyond “Closing Your Restaurant” dominance. [Data pull]

What We Expected vs What We Saw

Action	Expected	Actual	Assessment
Launch seller acquisition campaign	Sub-$50/confirmed call	$45.82/confirm (8 confirms)	Exceeded
Engagement campaign audience building	$0.20/engagement or better	$0.13/engagement (1,381 engagements)	Exceeded
Click-to-call LP improves call volume	Higher call volume vs. form fills	14 confirms, 26 calls placed in first month	Promising
Pause buyer-side to consolidate budget	Better overall cost efficiency	Post-pause cost/confirm dropped from $92.39 to $45.82	Exceeded

Campaign Performance

Campaign	Status	Spend	Impressions	Clicks	Confirms	Cost/Confirm
TRE \| Equipment Acquisition \| CallsBest CPA	Active	$366.56	22,109	310	8	$45.82
TRE \| Audience Builder \| Engagement	Active	$180.21	9,659	709	—	—
PVM \| TRE Leads	Paused	$358.33	11,398	280	3	$119.44
PVM \| TRE Leads - Copy	Paused	$196.02	8,818	117	3	$65.34

The buyer-side campaigns (PVM | TRE Leads and PVM | TRE Leads - Copy) ran primarily in the first half of the month before being paused. Combined, they spent $554.35 for 6 confirms ($92.39/confirm). The seller-side acquisition campaign delivered 8 confirms for $366.56 ($45.82/confirm) — a 50% lower cost per confirm. The engagement campaign generated 1,381 engagements at $0.13/engagement, building retargetable audiences for Google Ads coordination. Note: the acquisition campaign’s cost/confirm rose from $38.19 (through Mar 29) to $45.82 with the final two days of spend producing no new confirms — a sign of frequency saturation in the current geo/audience.

Ad-Level Performance: Equipment Acquisition (Seller-Side)

Ad	Spend	Impressions	Clicks	Confirms	Cost/Confirm
Closing Your Restaurant	$233.75	14,016	225	4	$58.44
We Buy Restaurant EquipmentBest CPA	$62.25	3,557	49	2	$31.12
Equipment Sitting IdleEfficiency	$44.23	3,503	26	2	$22.12
Equipment Removal	$26.33	1,033	10	0	N/A

“Closing Your Restaurant” still consumed the majority of spend (64%) but Meta began redistributing in the final week. “Equipment Sitting Idle” went from $6.36 through Mar 29 to $44.23 by month-end — a 7x increase — and maintained $22.12/confirm with 2 confirms on now-meaningful spend. “We Buy Restaurant Equipment” at $31.12/confirm remains the most reliable performer. “Equipment Removal” received $26.33 (up from $4.83) but still has zero confirms — the algorithm is testing it but it’s not converting. Consider killing this variant or refreshing creative.

Ad-Level Performance: Buyer-Side (Paused Campaigns)

Ad	Spend	Impressions	Clicks	Confirms	Cost/Confirm
All Dukers discount	$281.11	9,977	192	3	$93.70
All Dukers w/ prices	$206.99	6,803	159	2	$103.50
Dukers “keep it cold”	$42.70	2,118	21	1	$42.70
Dukers “fry like a pro”	$10.72	649	11	0	N/A
Dukers Carousel	$8.57	428	6	0	N/A
Other (3 ads)	$4.26	241	8	0	N/A

Buyer-side campaigns paused ~Mar 16. These ran primarily in weeks 1–3. Included for full accounting.

Audience Insights

Audience (Ad Set)	Spend	Impressions	Call Confirms	Cost / Confirm
PVM \| TRE Leads \| Houston Restaurant owners/managers, Houston 50mi, 25–60	$554.35	20,216	6	$92.39
TRE \| Acq \| Houston 45mi \| Mon–Fri 8a–5p Small biz, commercial property, catering, Houston 50mi, 25–65	$366.56	22,109	8	$45.82
TRE \| Eng \| Houston 30mi Small biz, restaurant mgmt, foodservice, Houston 50mi, 25–65	$180.21	9,659	—	—

The acquisition ad set targeting small business owners, commercial property managers, and catering professionals delivered 2x better cost efficiency than the buyer-side restaurant owner audience. Both target Houston 50mi, but the seller-side audience is broader (18–65 with Advantage+) and uses different interest signals. The engagement ad set continues building a clean retargetable pool — frequency remains manageable but should be monitored as we enter April.

Ad-Level Performance: Engagement Campaign

Ad	Spend	Impressions	Engagements	Cost / Engagement
AuctionsTop	$88.38	6,444	717	$0.12
Showroom Showcase	$60.15	2,489	449	$0.13
Used Equipment Tips	$21.90	498	160	$0.14
Brand Comparison	$9.78	228	55	$0.18

All four engagement ads are performing at or above the $0.20/engagement benchmark. Auctions content remains the clear winner at $0.12/engagement. Showroom Showcase picked up significant delivery in the final week ($60.15 total, up from $45.93 through Mar 29) and improved to $0.13/engagement. Brand Comparison tightened to $0.18/engagement — now within benchmark. Meta is still concentrating delivery on Auctions (49% of spend) but the distribution is healthier than mid-month.

Accountability: Previous Report Action Items

Action Item (from Mar 27 Weekly)	Status	Notes
Frequency mitigation for Acquisition campaign (expand radius, broaden age, or new creative)	Not Started	Frequency at 1.24 (monthly avg) — not critical yet, but rising week-over-week per weekly reports. Should be addressed in April.
Split “We Buy Restaurant Equipment” into own ad set with dedicated budget	Not Started	Ad delivered $31.12/confirm on $62.25 spend. Still being somewhat starved but distribution improved in final week. Still recommended.
“Equipment Sitting Idle” — kill or restructure into own ad set	Not Started	Meta increased delivery in final week — now $44.23 total spend with 2 confirms at $22.12 each. Signal validated on meaningful spend. Still recommended to split into own ad set.
Coordinate Google Ads retargeting with engagement audience pool	In Progress	Engagement campaign has reached ~8,036 unique users. Audience pool exists. Google coordination status unknown from available data.
“Used Equipment Tips” — move to separate ad set or let go	Not Started	Delivery dropped to near-zero in final week per weekly report. Still getting some engagements ($0.14/eng) but Meta is deprioritizing it.

Action items sourced from the March 27 weekly report’s “What’s Next” section. This is the first monthly report for TRE, so no prior monthly action items exist.

Recommendations for April

1. Restructure the Acquisition campaign into separate ad sets per ad variant. Meta began redistributing budget in the final week (delivery concentration dropped from 76% to 64% on “Closing Your Restaurant”), but the algorithm is still not giving each ad a fair test. “We Buy Restaurant Equipment” ($31.12/confirm) and “Equipment Sitting Idle” ($22.12/confirm on now-meaningful spend) both outperform the lead ad. Splitting into individual ad sets with dedicated budgets will lock in fair distribution. If after 2 weeks any ad set has zero confirms, kill it.
2. Address frequency before it becomes a problem. Acquisition campaign frequency is 1.24 monthly average but was trending upward in the final weeks (1.96 per the Mar 27 weekly). In a geo-contained Houston 50mi market, this will degrade performance fast. Options: expand radius to 75mi, test San Antonio or Dallas/Fort Worth markets, or introduce 2–3 fresh creative angles to reset frequency.
3. Kill “Equipment Removal” ad. Zero confirms despite $26.33 in spend and 1,033 impressions. Meta gave this ad significantly more delivery in the final week (up from $4.83 mid-month) and it still produced nothing. The messaging angle isn’t converting. Kill it and reallocate budget to the two proven performers. If “equipment removal” as a concept matters, test it with completely new creative.
4. Set a monthly budget target. March spend of $1,101.12 happened without a defined monthly budget — it was driven by daily/lifetime budgets on individual campaigns. The acquisition campaign’s $600 lifetime budget is 61% spent; at current pace it will exhaust in mid-April. Recommend establishing a clear monthly target (suggest $900–1,200 based on current run rate) and refreshing the lifetime budget before it caps out.

Budget Summary

$1,101.12

Total Spend

Across 4 campaigns (2 active, 2 paused mid-month)

$39.33

Daily Average

28 days with active spend. $35.52/day across full 31-day period.

N/A

Budget Utilization

No defined monthly budget. Active campaigns: Acq $600 lifetime (61.1% used), Eng $10/day.