The symptom looks like a media problem
Cost per lead climbs, the team asks for creative, and the plan gets rewritten. Meanwhile nobody checks how quickly those leads were touched, how many were touched twice, or whether the stage they sit in means anything.
When follow-up is inconsistent, every channel looks expensive. The platform is judged on outcomes it does not control.
Fix the catching layer first
Before increasing spend, make three things true: every lead is routed to an owner, first-touch time is measured, and stage changes require evidence. Those three alone usually change reported channel performance without a single bid edit.
Only then is it fair to ask whether the media plan or the creative is the constraint.
Run them on one calendar
Weekly pacing review and weekly follow-up review belong in the same meeting, with the same numbers. Split them and each side will keep blaming the other with different data.