paid-advertising

name	paid-advertising
description	Use when planning paid advertising campaigns, optimizing ad spend, setting up conversion tracking, designing audience targeting, writing ad copy, or analyzing campaign performance. Covers Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads, bidding strategies, retargeting, lookalike audiences, landing page optimization, ROAS optimization, and compliance.
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","Grep","Glob","Bash"]

Paid Advertising -- Campaign Strategy, Execution, and Optimization

1. Campaign Structure

Account -> Campaign (budget, objective, schedule)
           -> Ad Set / Ad Group (targeting, bid, placement)
              -> Ad (creative, copy, CTA, destination URL)

Objective Selection

Goal	Objective	Platforms	Key Metric
Brand awareness	Awareness/Reach	All	CPM, reach
Website traffic	Traffic	All	CPC, CTR
Lead generation	Lead gen / Conversions	All	CPL, conversion rate
App installs	App installs	Meta, Google, TikTok	CPI, install rate
Sales/revenue	Conversions / Shopping	Google, Meta	ROAS, CPA
B2B leads	Lead gen	LinkedIn, Google	CPL, lead quality score

Rule: One objective per campaign. Never mix awareness and conversion objectives.

2. Platform Selection Guide

Platform	Best For	Avg CPC	Targeting Strength
Google Search	High-intent keywords, bottom-funnel	$1-5	Intent-based (keyword)
Google Shopping	E-commerce, product catalog	$0.50-2	Product-based
Google Display	Retargeting, awareness	$0.10-1	Contextual, audience
Meta (FB/IG)	B2C, lookalikes, visual products	$0.50-3	Demographic, interest, behavioral
LinkedIn	B2B, job title targeting	$5-15	Professional (title, company, industry)
TikTok	Gen Z/Millennial, viral creative	$0.20-2	Interest, behavioral
YouTube	Video ads, awareness, tutorials	$0.10-0.30/view	Intent + demographic

Decision framework: Start with the platform where your audience shows purchase intent. For B2B with deal sizes > $5K, LinkedIn's high CPC is justified by lead quality. For D2C/e-commerce, Meta + Google Shopping is the standard stack.

3. Audience Targeting

Targeting Layers

Layer	Description	Example
Core/demographic	Age, gender, location, language	25-45, US, English
Interest/behavioral	Interests, purchase behavior	"SaaS", "Project management"
Custom audiences	Your data (email lists, pixel data)	Customers, leads, website visitors
Lookalike/similar	Platform-generated from seed list	1% lookalike of purchasers
Retargeting	Re-engage past visitors/engagers	Visited pricing page, didn't convert

Retargeting Windows

Audience	Window	Bid Adjustment
Cart abandoners	1-3 days	Highest (3-5x)
Pricing page visitors	7 days	High (2-3x)
Key page visitors	14 days	Medium (1.5-2x)
All website visitors	30 days	Standard
Past purchasers (upsell)	60-90 days	Medium
Engaged social followers	90 days	Low-medium

Lookalike best practices: Seed with highest-value customers (not all customers). Start with 1% lookalike (most similar), test wider. Exclude existing customers. Refresh seed lists quarterly.

4. Bidding Strategies

Strategy	When to Use	Risk Level
Manual CPC	Learning phase, tight control	Low
Target CPA	Stable conversion data (50+ conv/month)	Medium
Target ROAS	Revenue tracking in place, 100+ conv/month	Medium
Maximize conversions	Limited budget, want volume	High (CPA may spike)
Maximize clicks	Traffic campaigns, awareness	Low

Budget allocation framework: 70% to proven campaigns/audiences, 20% to testing new audiences/creatives, 10% to experimental (new platforms, formats).

Learning phase: Most platforms need 50 conversions per ad set per week to optimize. During learning (first 3-7 days), avoid major changes. If not hitting 50/week, broaden targeting or combine ad sets.

5. Ad Creative and Copy

Ad Copy Formula

HEADLINE (max 30 chars Google, 40 chars Meta):
  [Benefit] + [Specificity] + [Urgency/CTA]
  Examples: "Cut Deployment Time 80% -- Free Trial"
            "AI-Powered CRM -- 14 Days Free"

DESCRIPTION (max 90 chars Google, 125 chars Meta):
  [Problem] + [Solution] + [Proof] + [CTA]
  Example: "Tired of manual deployments? Automate CI/CD in minutes.
            Trusted by 5,000 teams. Start free."

CREATIVE BEST PRACTICES:
- Video outperforms static on Meta/TikTok (2-3x engagement)
- UGC-style content outperforms polished ads on TikTok
- Carousel ads drive highest CTR on Meta for e-commerce
- Text-heavy images penalized on Meta (keep text < 20% of image)

Testing Framework

Test one variable at a time: Creative -> Copy -> Audience -> Placement -> Bid.

Test Type	What to Test	Min Budget	Duration
Creative	Image vs video, styles	$500/variant	7-14 days
Copy	Headlines, CTAs, angles	$300/variant	7-14 days
Audience	Targeting segments	$500/segment	14 days
Landing page	Page variants	$500/variant	14-21 days

Winner criteria: Statistical significance (95% confidence), minimum 100 conversions per variant, or 1,000 clicks for CTR tests.

6. Conversion Tracking

Implementation Checklist

[ ] Base pixel/tag installed on all pages (Meta Pixel, Google Tag, LinkedIn Insight)
[ ] Conversion events defined and firing correctly
[ ] Server-side tracking as backup (Meta CAPI, Google Server-side GTM)
[ ] Enhanced conversions enabled (hashed email/phone for matching)
[ ] UTM parameters on all ad destination URLs
[ ] Cross-domain tracking configured (if applicable)
[ ] Test mode verified (Meta Events Manager, Google Tag Assistant)
[ ] Offline conversion import set up (CRM -> ad platform)

Attribution Windows

Platform	Default Click	Default View	Recommended
Google Ads	30 days	1 day	30-day click
Meta Ads	7 days	1 day	7-day click, 1-day view
LinkedIn	30 days	7 days	30-day click
TikTok	7 days	1 day	7-day click

7. Campaign Optimization

Optimization Cadence

Timeframe	Actions
Daily	Check spend pacing, pause underperformers, adjust budgets
Weekly	Review CPL/CPA/ROAS by ad set, refresh creative if fatigued
Bi-weekly	Audience analysis, add negative keywords (Search), test new creative
Monthly	Full performance review, budget reallocation, strategy adjustments

Key Optimization Levers

Problem	Diagnosis	Fix
Low CTR	Ad not resonating	Test new creative/copy, refine targeting
High CPC	Competitive auction	Improve quality score, adjust bidding, try different keywords
Low conversion rate	Landing page or audience mismatch	A/B test landing page, tighten targeting
High CPA	Multiple issues possible	Check full funnel: CTR -> landing page -> conversion flow
Ad fatigue	Frequency > 3 (Meta)	Refresh creative, expand audience
Low ROAS	Wrong audience or offer	Segment by audience, test pricing/offer changes

Google Search Specific

Negative keywords: Review search terms report weekly. Add irrelevant terms as negatives. Use negative keyword lists shared across campaigns.

Quality Score optimization: Align ad copy with keyword intent. Ensure landing page matches ad promise. Improve page load speed. Target CTR > 3% for non-brand keywords.

8. Landing Page Optimization

Must-haves: Headline matches ad copy (message match). Single clear CTA above the fold. Social proof (logos, testimonials, numbers). Mobile-optimized (60%+ of ad traffic is mobile). Load time < 3 seconds.

Conversion rate benchmarks: SaaS landing pages 3-5%. E-commerce product pages 2-4%. Lead gen pages 5-15%. Free trial pages 8-15%.

9. Reporting and ROAS

Campaign Performance Template

Campaign: [Name]  |  Period: [Dates]  |  Budget: $[X]

Metrics:
  Impressions: [X]     |  Clicks: [X]        |  CTR: [%]
  CPC: $[X]            |  Conversions: [X]    |  CVR: [%]
  CPA: $[X]            |  Revenue: $[X]       |  ROAS: [X]x
  Spend: $[X]          |  Profit: $[X]        |  ROI: [%]

By Ad Set: [Top 3 and bottom 3 with metrics]
By Creative: [Top 3 and bottom 3 with metrics]

Actions: [What to pause, scale, or test next]

ROAS Targets by Industry

Industry	Break-even ROAS	Good ROAS	Excellent ROAS
E-commerce (physical)	2x	4x	6x+
SaaS (monthly sub)	1.5x (first month)	CLV-based: 3x+	5x+
B2B services	3x	5x	8x+
D2C brands	2.5x	4x	7x+

10. Compliance and Privacy

Platform policies: No misleading claims or fake urgency. No before/after images without disclaimers (Meta). No discriminatory targeting for housing/employment/credit (US law). Proper disclaimers for regulated industries (finance, health).

Privacy requirements: Cookie consent before pixel fires (GDPR/ePrivacy). Honor opt-outs (CCPA). Use Conversions API / server-side tracking to reduce reliance on cookies. First-party data strategy: email lists, CRM data, logged-in user matching.

Ad library transparency: Major platforms require political/issue ad disclosures. All Meta ads are publicly visible in the Ad Library. Plan creative accordingly.

11. Budget Planning

Monthly Budget Template

Line Item	Budget	% of Total
Google Search (brand)	$X	10%
Google Search (non-brand)	$X	25%
Google Shopping	$X	15%
Meta (prospecting)	$X	20%
Meta (retargeting)	$X	10%
LinkedIn	$X	10%
Testing/experimental	$X	10%
Total	$X	100%

Scaling rules: Increase budget by max 20% per week (platform algorithms destabilize with larger jumps). Scale winning ad sets, not campaigns. When CPA exceeds target by 30%+, pause and diagnose before spending more.