Meta Ads Automation for Mobile Games: 10 Slack-First Workflows for CPI/ROAS

If you're managing $50K-$500K/month in Meta spend with a team of 1-5 people, you already know the reality: performance moves hourly, but humans sleep. Weekends happen. Launches get chaotic. And by Monday morning, a single runaway ad set can blow through thousands before anyone notices.

The goal isn't to automate your dashboards. It's to automate decisions—with guardrails and approvals so you don't wake up to disasters.

This post covers 10 specific automation workflows that run in Slack, protect your CPI and ROAS, and let small UA teams operate like they have 24/7 coverage.

What "Slack-First Automation" Actually Means

Instead of building rules in separate tools, Slack becomes the operating layer:

One channel for alerts (things that need attention)
One channel for approvals (actions waiting for your thumbs-up)
One channel for creative (what to produce next)

The key is "human-in-the-loop by default." The system proposes changes and executes them only after approval—or automatically for low-risk actions with proper guardrails.

Guardrails that prevent thrash:

Minimum data thresholds (don't react until $500+ spend or 30+ installs)
Cooldowns (don't edit the same ad set twice in 6-12 hours)
Change caps (max ±20% budget per day, max 3 pauses per hour)

Quick Setup Before Running Workflows

Before these workflows work, you need:

Per-geo/per-platform targets: CPI target, D0/D1 ROAS floor, payback window
Early proxy events: Install → tutorial_complete → purchase (or your equivalent)
Naming conventions that make Slack commands safe (e.g., GAME_US_iOS_BROAD_SCALING)
Slack channels: #ua-alerts, #ua-approvals, #creative-queue

The 10 Slack-First Workflows

Workflow 1: CPI Spike Circuit Breaker

Protects you while you're asleep.

Trigger: Rolling 3-hour CPI exceeds target by 20-30% AND spend is $500+ AND installs are 30+.

Action in Slack: Posts "CPI spike detected" with the top offenders. One-click options:

Pause worst 1-3 ads/ad sets by CPI contribution
Reduce their budgets 20-40%
Apply a bid cap

Metric protected: CPI (and indirectly ROAS by stopping low-quality volume early).

Workflow 2: D0 ROAS Floor Guard

Stop buying installs that don't pay.

Trigger: Rolling 6-12 hour D0 purchase ROAS falls below floor (e.g., 0.25-0.40) AND purchase count is 15+ AND spend is $1,000+.

Action in Slack: Recommends the smallest change to restore quality:

Shift budget from low-ROAS to high-ROAS ad sets
Tighten bid/CPA cap
Pause only the creative(s) driving low-ROAS traffic

Metric protected: D0/D1 ROAS and payback trajectory.

Workflow 3: Under-Delivery Auto-Fix

When you want to spend but Meta won't deliver.

Trigger: Ad set spends less than 30% of expected pace by noon AND current CPI/ROAS is within guardrails.

Action in Slack: Runs diagnostic and offers buttons:

Increase bid cap 10-20%
Broaden targeting (expand LAL range, remove narrow interests)
Check for disapprovals or learning-limited status

Metric protected: Delivery stability and spend pacing.

Workflow 4: Daily Budget Rebalance

Scale winners, throttle losers—without chaos.

Trigger: Scheduled daily (e.g., 9:30am) with 3-day data showing 100+ installs or 30+ purchases per ad set.

Action in Slack: Posts proposed reallocation:

Increase budgets +10-20% on top performers (CPI below target, ROAS above floor)
Decrease budgets on underperformers
Keep total account spend within monthly pacing

Metric protected: ROAS while scaling spend.

Workflow 5: Creative Fatigue Rotation

Catch fatigue before CPI explodes.

Trigger: Frequency exceeds 2.0-2.5 AND CTR drops 25%+ vs 7-day baseline OR CPM rises 20%+, with $300+ spend per creative.

Action in Slack:

Flags fatigued creatives
Reduces budget or pauses them
Pings #creative-queue with specs for replacement (format, hook, angle)
Optionally launches test ad set with fresh assets

Metric protected: CTR and CPI (prevents CPM inflation from fatigue).

Workflow 6: Thumbstop-to-Install Drop Alert

When ads look good but don't convert.

Trigger: Video hold rate or CTR is steady/up BUT click-to-install rate drops 20%+ vs baseline AND clicks are 500+.

Action in Slack: Suggests likely causes:

App Store page mismatch
Wrong audience segment
Placement mix issue

One-click: shift spend to segments where CVR holds; pause mismatched ads.

Metric protected: CVR and CPI.

Workflow 7: Placement Leak Plug

Stop one placement from silently draining ROAS.

Trigger: Any placement shows CPI 40%+ worse than campaign average AND spend is $500+.

Action in Slack: Posts ranked "leakiest placements" list:

If manual placements: exclude worst ones
If Advantage+ placements: create controlled duplicate with limited placements and shift budget

Metric protected: CPI and ROAS.

Workflow 8: Geo/OS Shock Absorber

When one segment goes sideways.

Trigger: Any geo or OS segment CPI spikes 25%+ day-over-day OR D0 ROAS drops 20%+ AND spend is $1,000+ in that segment.

Action in Slack: Proposes segment-specific controls:

Throttle that geo/OS budget
Move spend to stable segments
Spin up dedicated campaign with tailored bid/creative

Metric protected: Account-level stability.

Workflow 9: Learning-Limited Consolidation Nudge

Fix structure that forces bad decisions.

Trigger: Ad set marked "Learning Limited" for 48+ hours AND not hitting conversion volume AND CPI/CPA volatility is high.

Action in Slack: Recommends consolidation plan:

Merge overlapping ad sets
Go broader
Move best creatives into consolidated ad set
Apply gentle budget ramps

Metric protected: Efficiency and delivery stability.

Workflow 10: LiveOps Scale Scheduler

Big moments without manual fire drills.

Trigger: Calendar-based (e.g., "Season starts Friday 10am") or Slack command (e.g., "scale to $X/day for 72h").

Action in Slack: Runs pre-planned sequence:

Enable/boost event campaigns
Apply temporary ROAS floors
Promote event-specific creatives
Pause old promos at end time
Post mid-event checkpoints and post-event recap

Metric protected: ROAS during spend spikes.

How to Implement These in Slack

The building blocks you need:

Alert messages with context, breakdown, and confidence level. Not just "CPI is high"—include which ad sets, how much spend, and trend direction.

Approve / Snooze / Apply to similar buttons so you can act without leaving Slack or opening Ads Manager.

Natural-language commands for quick overrides: "Set CPI cap $2.80 for iOS US scaling."

Minimal rollout plan:

Week 1: Alerts only (no automated actions)
Week 2: Approval-based actions
Week 3: Auto-execute low-risk actions (budget rebalance, fatigue rotation)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Overreacting on low volume. Every workflow needs minimum thresholds. Don't pause an ad set based on 5 installs.

Too many edits per day. Meta's learning phase resets with significant changes. Limit yourself to 1-2 edits per ad set per day.

Optimizing only for CPI. Cheap installs that don't pay destroy ROAS. Always pair CPI rules with quality signals (D0 ROAS, proxy event rates).

No rollback path. Every automation needs an undo button in Slack. Things go wrong—make recovery easy.

FAQ

How do I choose CPI and ROAS thresholds so automation doesn't overcorrect?

Start with your historical median CPI and D0 ROAS by geo/platform. Set alert thresholds at 20-25% deviation. Set action thresholds at 30-40% deviation. Tighten gradually as you build confidence.

Can these workflows work with SKAN-delayed signals on iOS?

Yes, but adjust expectations. Use early proxy events (tutorial_complete, level_5) that fire within SKAN windows. For ROAS workflows, accept 24-48 hour delays and use wider time windows (12-24 hours instead of 3-6).

What's the safest approach—fully automatic or approval-based?

Start with approval-based for all actions. Move to automatic only for workflows where you've seen 20+ correct recommendations without override. Budget rebalancing and creative fatigue rotation are usually safe to automate first.

How do I prevent budget rebalances from resetting learning?

Keep changes under 20% per day per ad set. Use campaign budget optimization (CBO) when possible so Meta handles allocation. Batch changes to once daily rather than multiple small adjustments.

Do I need an MMP to run ROAS-based automations?

You can use Meta's reported purchase events, but MMPs (AppsFlyer, Adjust, Singular) provide cleaner signal, especially for iOS. If you're spending $100K+/month, MMP integration is usually worth it.

Start Building Your Automation Layer

These 10 workflows protect CPI and ROAS without adding tools to your stack. They run where you already work—Slack—and give small teams the coverage of a much larger operation.

If you want these workflows built and ready to run, that's exactly what AdPilot does: alerts, approvals, and automated actions for Meta Ads, all inside Slack.