Tim Burd’s Automated Rules in the Sneak Attack Method

By Reggie Paquette at Revalbot

September 23, 2020 | 5 min read

Editor's Note: This post has been updated with new links and content.
Original Publication Date: December 11, 2019

Automation is an essential tool in Tim Burd’s kit for scaling Facebook ads efficiently.

It’s “important unless you want to sit at your computer 24 hours a day, which no one wants to do,” Tim said. “I’m all about automation. If you can automate your life, you can actually go out and enjoy it.”

What Is The Sneak Attack Method?

Tim unveiled the Sneak Attack Method to the public at the 2018 Affiliate World Conference after developing it for his own clients. Since then, AdLeaks members have used it to run more efficient and profitable campaigns too.

The essential concept is to set low manual bids and increase the amounts slowly, incrementally, until Facebook starts delivering your ads. In other words, you’re “sneaking in” to get the cheapest traffic.

The Sneak Attack Method requires an existing campaign, ad set, or ad. Also, it helps if you have some prior experience advertising on Facebook.

That said, the Sneak Attack is a perfect strategy for young ad accounts that don’t have a high budget.

Native Automation Rules + Revealbot

We’ve collected the automated rules in the Sneak Attack Method so you can review and implement them all at once if you’d like.

And as Tim points out in his presentation, a critical piece of the strategy is automating ads with Facebook’s native automated rules and Revealbot. Some of the rules that follow will require Revealbot’s advanced capabilities to be effective.

To get the full context of why, when, and how to use these automated rules, watch the video here.

The Stop/Loss Rule

Just like a stop/loss order in the financial market, this automated rule turns off ad sets that aren’t generating any purchases today after spending up to a certain amount you’re willing to lose.

Although this rule is pretty simple, Tim says it shows “why these rules are crucial. It keeps you from getting burned.”

The stop/loss rule can be set up in Facebook’s native automated rule tool like this:

sneak attack method stop loss rule facebook

This rule turns off all active ad sets that have zero purchases today and over $60 spent. You’ll need to change the $60 to fit your campaign cost objectives.

Tim also recommends setting it at 3x your target cost per purchase.

This will give Facebook enough time to register purchases before turning off your ad set too early.

Here’s how the same rule would be made in Revealbot:

One of the differences between Revealbot and Facebook automated rules is Revealbot can run rule checks every 15 minutes.

The native platform, in contrast, only runs as quickly as every 30 minutes. Depending on your daily spend, this 15-minute difference can be critical.

The Trim the Fat Rule

“Trim the Fat” addresses ad sets that have purchases today, but are too expensive to keep running.

Setting up this rule in Facebook’s native automated rules tool is simple. First, set the first condition to purchases greater than zero. You’ll also need a cost per purchase greater than $40.

It looks like this in Facebook:

sneak attack method trim the fat rule facebook

Here’s the same rule in Revealbot again:

If the ad set is already registering purchases and seems to be through the learning phase, Tim recommends setting the cost per purchase limit to the maximum cost per purchase you’re willing to accept.