paid-ads

name	paid-ads
description	Use when the user wants help with paid advertising campaigns on Google Ads, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), LinkedIn, or other ad platforms. Also use when the user mentions 'PPC,' 'paid social,' 'SEM,' 'paid media,' 'Google Ads,' 'Facebook Ads,' 'ad budget,' 'campaign setup,' or 'ROAS.'

Paid Advertising

Expert knowledge for planning, launching, and optimizing paid advertising campaigns across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and other platforms.

Core Framework: Paid Ads Hierarchy

1. Goal Definition → 2. Audience → 3. Offer & Creative → 4. Campaign Structure → 5. Bid Strategy → 6. Measurement → 7. Optimization

Never start with campaign structure. Start with goal and audience.

Goal Definition

Define the goal before opening an ad platform.

Goal	Primary Metric	Platform Fit
Lead generation (B2B)	Cost per lead (CPL), MQL rate	Google Search, LinkedIn
Free trial signups	Cost per activation, CAC	Google Search, Meta
Brand awareness	CPM, reach, frequency	Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn
Retargeting / nurture	Cost per engagement	Meta, Google Display, LinkedIn
E-commerce sales	ROAS, revenue	Meta Shopping, Google Shopping

For SaaS: track CAC against LTV. If LTV:CAC > 3:1, the channel is viable. If < 3:1, fix first.

Google Ads

Campaign Types

Type	Use For
Search	Bottom-of-funnel, high-intent buyers
Display	Retargeting, awareness
Performance Max	Google-automated cross-channel (use with caution)
YouTube	Video awareness and consideration

Search Campaign Structure

Account
└── Campaign (one per product line or goal)
    └── Ad Group (one per theme / intent cluster)
        └── Keywords (3-15 per ad group)
        └── Responsive Search Ads (3 per ad group)

Match Type Strategy

• Exact [keyword]: Only your exact term. Highest precision, lowest volume.
• Phrase "keyword": Your term in order with words before/after. Balance of precision and reach.
• Broad keyword: Google interprets widely. Use only with smart bidding and good negative keyword lists.

Recommended starting approach:

• Launch with phrase and exact match
• Add broad match only after phrase match proves ROI and you have 500+ conversions for smart bidding

Negative Keywords

Always build a negative keyword list before launch. Common negatives: "free," "jobs," "salary," "DIY," competitor brand names you don't want to target. Review Search Terms report weekly for new negatives.

Quality Score

Quality Score (1-10) determines your ad rank and cost per click.

Components:

• Expected CTR (does your ad get clicked relative to competitors?)
• Ad relevance (does your ad match the keyword?)
• Landing page experience (does your landing page match the ad and keyword?)

Bidding Strategy

Strategy	Use When
Manual CPC	Low conversion volume, tight control needed
Enhanced CPC	Transition from manual to smart bidding
Target CPA	Have 50+ conversions/month, stable CPA goal
Target ROAS	E-commerce with revenue data, 100+ conversions/month
Maximize Conversions	Launching a new campaign, want volume over efficiency

Smart bidding requires data. Don't use Target CPA until you have 30-50 conversions in the past 30 days.

Meta (Facebook / Instagram) Ads

Campaign Structure

1. Campaign: Objective (Conversions, Traffic, Awareness, Lead Gen)
2. Ad Set: Audience, placement, budget, schedule
3. Ad: Creative (image, video, carousel, collection)

Audience Strategy

Cold audiences (prospecting):

• Lookalike audiences (from customer list, purchase events, or high-value website visitors)
• Interest targeting (use as supplement, not primary — limited for B2B)
• Broad targeting + creative testing (let the algorithm find your audience)

Warm audiences (retargeting):

• Website visitors (last 30, 60, 180 days)
• Video viewers (watched 25%, 50%, 75% of your content)
• Customer list for exclusion or upsell

Audience sizing for testing:

• Too small (< 100K): Limited optimization data
• Too large (> 5M): Lacks precision without good creative signal
• Sweet spot: 500K–3M for most B2B markets

Budget Allocation by Funnel Stage

Funnel Stage	Budget %	Goal
Cold (prospecting)	60-70%	Find new buyers
Warm (retargeting)	20-30%	Convert interested visitors
Existing customer	10%	Upsell / prevent churn

Attribution Model

Meta's default: 7-day click, 1-day view.

For B2B with longer buying cycles: Use 7-day click only (removes view-through inflation). Supplement with Conversions API (server-side) for accuracy.

LinkedIn Ads

When to Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn is expensive (CPCs of $8-15) but offers unique targeting:

• Job title and seniority
• Company size and industry
• Account-based marketing (targeting specific company lists)

Use LinkedIn when:

• ICP is enterprise decision-makers
• Targeting is difficult on other platforms (niche job titles)
• Account-based marketing

Campaign Types

Type	Best Use
Sponsored Content	Feed ads, document ads, video ads
Lead Gen Forms	Lower-friction lead capture (pre-filled from LinkedIn profile)
Dynamic Ads	Personalized follower and spotlight ads

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms pre-populate from the user's LinkedIn profile, increasing conversion rates 2-5× vs landing page traffic. Keep form to 3-4 fields maximum.

Budget Allocation Across Funnel

Starting budget guidance:

• Need minimum 10 conversions/week per campaign for smart bidding to work
• If you have < $5K/month, focus on one campaign/channel
• Spread budget across too many campaigns = none have enough data to optimize

Full-funnel budget split:

• Search (bottom-funnel, high intent): 40-50% of search budget
• Display / retargeting: 20-30%
• Social prospecting: 30-40%
• Brand campaigns: 10-15%

Attribution Models

Last-click: All credit to the last touchpoint. Undervalues top-of-funnel channels. Data-driven: Google distributes credit based on observed path patterns. Requires 300+ conversions/month. Linear: Equal credit across all touchpoints. Safe default when you can't run data-driven.

For B2B: Use data-driven if you have > 300 conversions/month; otherwise linear.

ROAS and CAC Calculation

CAC = Total Ad Spend / Number of New Customers Acquired
ROAS = Revenue from Ads / Ad Spend
Payback Period = CAC / (MRR × Gross Margin)

SaaS benchmarks:

• Target CAC payback period: < 12 months for self-serve, < 18 months for enterprise
• LTV:CAC: > 3:1 for a healthy paid channel

Common Rationalizations

Rationalization	Reality
"More campaigns = better coverage"	More campaigns means less data per campaign. Smart bidding needs concentration.
"We should test every audience and creative at once"	Scattered tests produce uninterpretable results. Test one dimension at a time.
"Our click-through rate is high — the campaign is working"	CTR is a vanity metric without conversion data. Track cost per qualified lead.
"We'll set it and forget it once it's running"	Paid ads require weekly optimization. Ignore them and waste compounds.
"LinkedIn is too expensive for our budget"	LinkedIn is only too expensive if LTV doesn't support the CAC.

Verification

• Campaign goal defined with primary metric and target (e.g., CPL < $150)
• Audience defined before campaign built (targeting specs written before platform opened)
• Negative keyword list built for Google Search campaigns
• Budget allocated across funnel stages (not all in one campaign)
• Conversion tracking verified (test conversions firing before going live)
• Attribution model selected and documented
• Weekly optimization cadence defined (what to review, when)
• LTV:CAC target set for channel viability assessment