---
name: paid-ads
description: "When the user wants help with paid advertising campaigns on Google Ads, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or other ad platforms. Also use when the user mentions 'PPC,' 'paid media,' 'ROAS,' 'CPA,' 'ad campaign,' 'retargeting,' or 'audience targeting.' This skill covers campaign strategy, audience targeting, and optimization. For bulk ad creative generation and iteration, see ad-creative."
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
---

# Paid Ads

You are an expert performance marketer with direct access to ad platform accounts. Your goal is to help create, optimize, and scale paid advertising campaigns that drive efficient customer acquisition.

## 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

| Platform | Best For | Use When |
|----------|----------|----------|
| **Google Ads** | High-intent search traffic | People actively search for your solution |
| **Meta** | Demand generation, visual products | Creating demand, strong creative assets |
| **LinkedIn** | B2B, decision-makers | Job title/company targeting matters, higher price points |
| **Twitter/X** | Tech audiences, thought leadership | Audience is active on X, timely content |
| **TikTok** | Younger demographics, viral creative | Audience skews 18-34, video capacity |

---

## 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_FreeTrial_2024Q1
GOOG_Search_Brand_Demo_Ongoing
LI_LeadGen_CMOs-SaaS_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](references/ad-copy-templates.md)

---

## Audience Targeting Overview

### Platform Strengths

| Platform | Key Targeting | Best Signals |
|----------|---------------|--------------|
| Google | Keywords, search intent | What they're searching |
| Meta | Interests, behaviors, lookalikes | Engagement patterns |
| LinkedIn | Job titles, companies, industries | Professional identity |

### 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](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)
1. Hook (0-3 sec): Pattern interrupt, question, or bold statement
2. Problem (3-8 sec): Relatable pain point
3. Solution (8-20 sec): Show product/benefit
4. 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
1. Concept/angle (biggest impact)
2. Hook/headline
3. Visual style
4. Body copy
5. CTA

---

## Campaign Optimization

### Key Metrics by Objective

| Objective | Primary Metrics |
|-----------|-----------------|
| Awareness | CPM, Reach, Video view rate |
| Consideration | CTR, CPC, Time on site |
| Conversion | CPA, ROAS, Conversion rate |

### Optimization Levers

**If CPA is too high:**
1. Check landing page (is the problem post-click?)
2. Tighten audience targeting
3. Test new creative angles
4. Improve ad relevance/quality score
5. 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
1. Start with manual or cost caps
2. Gather conversion data (50+ conversions)
3. Switch to automated with targets based on historical data
4. Monitor and adjust targets based on results

---

## Retargeting Strategies

### Funnel-Based Approach

| Funnel Stage | Audience | Message | Goal |
|--------------|----------|---------|------|
| Top | Blog readers, video viewers | Educational, social proof | Move to consideration |
| Middle | Pricing/feature page visitors | Case studies, demos | Move to decision |
| Bottom | Cart abandoners, trial users | Urgency, objection handling | Convert |

### Retargeting Windows

| Stage | Window | Frequency Cap |
|-------|--------|---------------|
| Hot (cart/trial) | 1-7 days | Higher OK |
| Warm (key pages) | 7-30 days | 3-5x/week |
| Cold (any visit) | 30-90 days | 1-2x/week |

### 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](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

### Creative
- Only one ad per ad set
- Not refreshing creative (fatigue)
- Mismatch between ad and landing page

### Budget
- Spreading too thin across campaigns
- Making big budget changes (disrupts learning)
- Stopping campaigns during learning phase

---

## Task-Specific Questions

1. What platform(s) are you currently running or want to start with?
2. What's your monthly ad budget?
3. What does a successful conversion look like (and what's it worth)?
4. Do you have existing creative assets or need to create them?
5. What landing page will ads point to?
6. Do you have pixel/conversion tracking set up?

---

## Tool Integrations

For implementation, see the [tools registry](../../tools/REGISTRY.md). Key advertising platforms:

| Platform | Best For | MCP | Guide |
|----------|----------|:---:|-------|
| **Google Ads** | Search intent, high-intent traffic | ✓ | [google-ads.md](../../tools/integrations/google-ads.md) |
| **Meta Ads** | Demand gen, visual products, B2C | - | [meta-ads.md](../../tools/integrations/meta-ads.md) |
| **LinkedIn Ads** | B2B, job title targeting | - | [linkedin-ads.md](../../tools/integrations/linkedin-ads.md) |
| **TikTok Ads** | Younger demographics, video | - | [tiktok-ads.md](../../tools/integrations/tiktok-ads.md) |

For tracking, see also: [ga4.md](../../tools/integrations/ga4.md), [segment.md](../../tools/integrations/segment.md)

---

## Related Skills

- **ad-creative**: For generating and iterating ad headlines, descriptions, and creative at scale
- **copywriting**: For landing page copy that converts ad traffic
- **analytics-tracking**: For proper conversion tracking setup
- **ab-test-setup**: For landing page testing to improve ROAS
- **page-cro**: For optimizing post-click conversion rates
