How to Structure Your First Axon Launch: Day 0 vs. Day 7 Campaigns

One of the most important decisions you'll make when launching on AppLovin Axon is how to set up your optimization windows. Specifically: whether to use Day 0 attribution, Day 7 attribution, or both — and why it matters more than most brands realize.

Here's how to think about it, and how Metaply structures launches for Shopify brands.

What Are Day 0 and Day 7 Campaigns?

Axon's attribution windows determine how the model measures and optimizes for conversions.

A Day 0 campaign tells Axon to optimize for purchases that happen on the same day as the ad click. This is ideal for impulse buys, lower AOV products, and brands where customers tend to purchase quickly after discovering a product.

A Day 7 campaign tells Axon to optimize for purchases that happen within 7 days of the ad click. This is better suited for higher AOV products, considered purchases, or brands with longer customer decision cycles — where someone might see an ad today, think about it, and come back to buy later in the week.

Why Run Both Simultaneously?

The standard Metaply launch playbook runs Day 0 and Day 7 campaigns simultaneously from the start. This approach lets Axon's model test both attribution windows in parallel and identify which one generates better conversion density and economic efficiency for your specific product and audience.

Running only one window means you're making an assumption about your customer's purchase behavior without data to back it up. Running both gives the model more surface area to learn from.

The Full Launch Structure

A well-structured Axon launch looks like this:

Campaign Structures:

• Universal campaign (broad reach, mixed audience)
• Prospecting campaign (net-new customer acquisition)
• Discovery campaign (upper-funnel awareness to conversion)

Creative Volume:

• 10 to 20 creatives per campaign at launch
• Mix of hooks, offer framings, and UGC styles

ROAS Targets:

• Two targets per campaign: one efficiency target (250% to 400%) and one scale target (150% to 250%)
• The efficiency target identifies what's profitable; the scale target identifies what's growable

Landing Pages:

• Minimum two landing pages: your product detail page and an alternative (advertorial, quiz, bundle page)
• Testing landing page performance is as important as testing creative performance

Geographic Settings:

• Global campaigns with no early geo splits
• Let Axon identify where your buyers are; don't pre-restrict before you have data

A Real-World Example

A skincare brand launching on Axon might structure their initial test like this:

• 3 UGC hooks (different talent, different opening lines)
• 2 offer structures (discount vs. free gift with purchase)
• 2 landing pages (PDP vs. before/after advertorial)
• Day 0 and Day 7 campaign variants
• Universal and Prospecting campaign structures

That's 24-plus possible creative and conversion combinations for Axon's model to test. This variety is what gives the model what it needs to identify winning patterns quickly.

When to Review Results

Do not review performance and make decisions in the first 5 days. The model is in the learning phase. Early data is noisy and unrepresentative.

After 5 to 7 days, you're looking for:

• Which campaign structure is generating conversions at or near target
• Which attribution window is producing better conversion density
• Which creatives are driving add-to-carts and purchases
• Whether any campaigns should be killed based on the thresholds above

Kill signals: fewer than 10 conversions after 5 to 7 days, CPA more than 2x target with no improvement, or zero add-to-carts in 72 hours.

Scale signals: 20 or more conversions per day with stable CPA/ROAS, ROAS at target for three consecutive days, consistent post-click engagement.

The Key Takeaway

Your launch structure is your most important decision on Axon. The model will optimize toward whatever inputs and goals you give it — but only if those inputs are set up correctly from day one.

Metaply has launched dozens of Axon campaigns for Shopify brands using this framework. Talk to us about what a launch structure looks like for your brand.