Paid Ads

What This Skill Does

This skill helps create, optimize, and scale paid advertising campaigns for efficient customer acquisition. It covers platform selection, campaign structure, and best practices. It's useful for performance marketers and advertising specialists.

When to Use

• Create Google Ads campaigns.
• Optimize Meta advertising.
• Run Linked In ad campaigns.
• Utilize Twitter/X for advertising.
• Create Tik Tok ad content.
• Structure ad accounts effectively.

Key Features

• Provides a platform selection guide.
• Outlines campaign structure best practices.
• Covers account organization strategies.
• Helps define campaign goals.
• Focuses on audience targeting.
• Provides guidance on product and offer promotion.

Manual Installation

Manual installation## Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: If .claude/product-marketing-context.md exists, read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Campaign Goals

What's the primary objective? (Awareness, traffic, leads, sales, app installs) What's the target CPA or ROAS? What's the monthly/weekly budget? Any constraints? (Brand guidelines, compliance, geographic)

2. Product & Offer

What are you promoting? (Product, free trial, lead magnet, demo) What's the landing page URL? What makes this offer compelling?

3. Audience

Who is the ideal customer? What problem does your product solve for them? What are they searching for or interested in? Do you have existing customer data for lookalikes?

4. Current State

Have you run ads before? What worked/didn't? Do you have existing pixel/conversion data? What's your current funnel conversion rate?

Platform Selection Guide

Campaign Structure Best Practices

Account Organization

Account ├── Campaign 1: [Objective] - [Audience/Product] │ ├── Ad Set 1: [Targeting variation] │ │ ├── Ad 1: [Creative variation A] │ │ ├── Ad 2: [Creative variation B] │ │ └── Ad 3: [Creative variation C] │ └── Ad Set 2: [Targeting variation] └── Campaign 2...

Naming Conventions

[Platform][Objective][Audience][Offer][Date]

Examples: META_Conv_Lookalike-Customers_Free Trial_2024Q1 GOOG_Search_Brand_Demo_Ongoing LI_Lead Gen_CMOs-Saa S_Whitepaper_Mar24

Budget Allocation

Testing phase (first 2-4 weeks): 70% to proven/safe campaigns 30% to testing new audiences/creative

Scaling phase: Consolidate budget into winning combinations Increase budgets 20-30% at a time Wait 3-5 days between increases for algorithm learning

Ad Copy Frameworks

Key Formulas

Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS):

[Problem] → [Agitate the pain] → [Introduce solution] → [CTA]

Before-After-Bridge (BAB):

[Current painful state] → [Desired future state] → [Your product as bridge]

Social Proof Lead:

[Impressive stat or testimonial] → [What you do] → [CTA]

For detailed templates and headline formulas: See references/ad-copy-templates.md

Audience Targeting Overview

Platform Strengths

Key Concepts

Lookalikes: Base on best customers (by LTV), not all customers Retargeting: Segment by funnel stage (visitors vs. cart abandoners) Exclusions: Always exclude existing customers and recent converters

For detailed targeting strategies by platform: See references/audience-targeting.md

Creative Best Practices

Image Ads

Clear product screenshots showing UI Before/after comparisons Stats and numbers as focal point Human faces (real, not stock) Bold, readable text overlay (keep under 20%)

Video Ads Structure (15-30 sec)

Hook (0-3 sec): Pattern interrupt, question, or bold statement Problem (3-8 sec): Relatable pain point Solution (8-20 sec): Show product/benefit CTA (20-30 sec): Clear next step

Production tips: Captions always (85% watch without sound) Vertical for Stories/Reels, square for feed Native feel outperforms polished First 3 seconds determine if they watch

Creative Testing Hierarchy

Concept/angle (biggest impact) Hook/headline Visual style Body copy CTA

Campaign Optimization

Key Metrics by Objective

Optimization Levers

If CPA is too high: Check landing page (is the problem post-click?) Tighten audience targeting Test new creative angles Improve ad relevance/quality score Adjust bid strategy

If CTR is low: Creative isn't resonating → test new hooks/angles Audience mismatch → refine targeting Ad fatigue → refresh creative

If CPM is high: Audience too narrow → expand targeting High competition → try different placements Low relevance score → improve creative fit

Bid Strategy Progression

Start with manual or cost caps Gather conversion data (50+ conversions) Switch to automated with targets based on historical data Monitor and adjust targets based on results

Retargeting Strategies

Funnel-Based Approach

Retargeting Windows

Exclusions to Set Up

Existing customers (unless upsell) Recent converters (7-14 day window) Bounced visitors (<10 sec) Irrelevant pages (careers, support)

Reporting & Analysis

Weekly Review

Spend vs. budget pacing CPA/ROAS vs. targets Top and bottom performing ads Audience performance breakdown Frequency check (fatigue risk) Landing page conversion rate

Attribution Considerations

Platform attribution is inflated Use UTM parameters consistently Compare platform data to GA4 Look at blended CAC, not just platform CPA

Platform Setup

Before launching campaigns, ensure proper tracking and account setup.

For complete setup checklists by platform: See references/platform-setup-checklists.md

Universal Pre-Launch Checklist

[ ] Conversion tracking tested with real conversion [ ] Landing page loads fast (<3 sec) [ ] Landing page mobile-friendly [ ] UTM parameters working [ ] Budget set correctly [ ] Targeting matches intended audience

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Strategy

Launching without conversion tracking Too many campaigns (fragmenting budget) Not giving algorithms enough learning time Optimizing for wrong metric

Targeting

Audiences too narrow or too broad Not excluding existing customers Overlapping audiences competing

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