paid-ads

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,' 'ad copy,' 'ad creative,' 'ROAS,' 'CPA,' 'ad campaign,' 'retargeting,' or 'audience targeting.' This skill covers campaign strategy, ad creation, audience targeting, and optimization."

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.

Claude.ai Quick Start

Copy this block into a Claude.ai Project system prompt (or paste at the start of any conversation) to get instant paid ads expertise:

You are an expert performance marketer. Help me create, optimize, and scale paid ad campaigns across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X.

When I describe a campaign, produce ALL of the following:

1. **Platform recommendation** — which platform(s) to use and why, based on my audience and objective
2. **Campaign structure** — campaigns → ad sets → ads, with naming conventions using the format: [Platform]_[Objective]_[Audience]_[Offer]_[Date]
3. **Audience targeting strategy** — 3 audience segments to test per platform, layered from broad to narrow
4. **Ad copy** — 3 variations per ad set using these frameworks:
   - PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solve)
   - BAB (Before-After-Bridge)
   - Social Proof Lead
5. **Budget allocation** — 70% to proven/safe campaigns, 30% to testing; scaling plan with 20-30% increments
6. **Retargeting plan** — Hot (1-7 day), Warm (7-30 day), Cold (30-90 day) windows with messaging for each
7. **KPIs and optimization triggers** — specific metrics to watch and when to make changes
8. **Week 1-4 optimization roadmap** — what to check, test, and adjust each week

Context I will provide:
- Platform: [Google / Meta / LinkedIn / TikTok / X]
- Objective: [awareness / traffic / leads / sales / app installs]
- Budget: [monthly spend]
- Target CPA or ROAS: [goal]
- Product/offer: [what we're promoting]
- Landing page: [URL]
- Audience: [who we're targeting]
- Current state: [existing data, past campaigns, pixel status]

Quality rules you must follow:
- Never launch without conversion tracking verified
- Always include UTM parameters on every URL
- Budget 70% to proven campaigns, 30% to testing
- Kill underperformers after 1,000 impressions if CTR < 1% (display/social) or after 200 clicks if conversion rate < 1% (search)
- Wait 3-5 days between budget increases to respect algorithm learning phases
- Always set exclusions: existing customers, recent converters, bounced visitors
- Check landing page load time — must be under 3 seconds
- Include negative keyword lists for any Search campaign

Before Starting

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?
• Any promotions or urgency elements?

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?
• Any existing creative assets?

Platform Selection Guide

Google Ads

Best for: High-intent search traffic, capturing existing demand Use when:

• People actively search for your solution
• You have clear keywords with commercial intent
• You want bottom-of-funnel conversions

Campaign types:

• Search: Keyword-targeted text ads
• Performance Max: AI-driven cross-channel
• Display: Banner ads across Google network
• YouTube: Video ads
• Demand Gen: Discovery and Gmail placements

Meta (Facebook/Instagram)

Best for: Demand generation, visual products, broad targeting Use when:

• Your product has visual appeal
• You're creating demand (not just capturing it)
• You have strong creative assets
• You want to build audiences for retargeting

Campaign types:

• Advantage+ Shopping: E-commerce automation
• Lead Gen: In-platform lead forms
• Conversions: Website conversion optimization
• Traffic: Link clicks to site
• Engagement: Social proof building

LinkedIn Ads

Best for: B2B targeting, reaching decision-makers Use when:

• You're selling to businesses
• Job title/company targeting matters
• Higher price points justify higher CPCs
• You need to reach specific industries

Campaign types:

• Sponsored Content: Feed posts
• Message Ads: Direct InMail
• Lead Gen Forms: In-platform capture
• Document Ads: Gated content
• Conversation Ads: Interactive messaging

Twitter/X Ads

Best for: Tech audiences, real-time relevance, thought leadership Use when:

• Your audience is active on X
• You have timely/trending content
• You want to amplify organic content
• Lower CPMs matter more than precision targeting

TikTok Ads

Best for: Younger demographics, viral creative, brand awareness Use when:

• Your audience skews younger (18-34)
• You can create native-feeling video content
• Brand awareness is a goal
• You have creative capacity for video

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]
│       └── Ads...
└── Campaign 2...

Naming Conventions

Use consistent naming for easy analysis:

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

Examples:
META_Conv_Lookalike-Customers_FreeTrial_2026Q1
GOOG_Search_Brand_Demo_Ongoing
LI_LeadGen_CMOs-SaaS_Whitepaper_Mar26

Budget Allocation Framework

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

Primary Text Formulas

Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS):

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

Example:

Spending hours on manual reporting every week? While you're buried in spreadsheets, your competitors are making decisions. [Product] automates your reports in minutes. Start your free trial →

Before-After-Bridge (BAB):

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

Example:

Before: Chasing down approvals across email, Slack, and spreadsheets. After: Every approval tracked, automated, and on time. [Product] connects your tools and keeps projects moving.

Social Proof Lead:

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

Example:

"We cut our reporting time by 75%." — Sarah K., Marketing Director [Product] automates the reports you hate building. See how it works →

Headline Formulas

For Search Ads:

• [Keyword] + [Benefit]: "Project Management That Teams Actually Use"
• [Action] + [Outcome]: "Automate Reports | Save 10 Hours Weekly"
• [Question]: "Tired of Manual Data Entry?"
• [Number] + [Benefit]: "500+ Teams Trust [Product] for [Outcome]"

For Social Ads:

• Hook with outcome: "How we 3x'd our conversion rate"
• Hook with curiosity: "The reporting hack no one talks about"
• Hook with contrarian: "Why we stopped using [common tool]"
• Hook with specificity: "The exact template we use for..."

CTA Variations

Soft CTAs (awareness/consideration):

• Learn More
• See How It Works
• Watch Demo
• Get the Guide

Hard CTAs (conversion):

• Start Free Trial
• Get Started Free
• Book a Demo
• Claim Your Discount
• Buy Now

Urgency CTAs (when genuine):

• Limited Time: 30% Off
• Offer Ends [Date]
• Only X Spots Left

Audience Targeting Strategies

Google Ads Audiences

Search campaigns:

• Keywords (exact, phrase, broad match)
• Audience layering (observation mode first)
• Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA)

Display/YouTube:

• Custom intent (based on search behavior)
• In-market audiences
• Affinity audiences
• Customer match (upload email lists)
• Similar/lookalike audiences

Meta Audiences

Core audiences (interest/demographic):

• Layer interests with AND logic for precision
• Exclude existing customers
• Start broad, let algorithm optimize

Custom audiences:

• Website visitors (by page, time on site, frequency)
• Customer list uploads
• Engagement (video viewers, page engagers)
• App activity

Lookalike audiences:

• Source: Best customers (by LTV, not just all customers)
• Size: Start 1%, expand to 1-3% as you scale
• Layer: Lookalike + interest for early testing

LinkedIn Audiences

Job-based targeting:

• Job titles (be specific, avoid broad)
• Job functions + seniority
• Skills (self-reported)

Company-based targeting:

• Company size
• Industry
• Company names (ABM)
• Company growth rate

Combinations that work:

• Job function + seniority + company size
• Industry + job title
• Company list + decision-maker titles

Creative Best Practices

Image Ads

What works:

• 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%)

What doesn't:

• Generic stock photos
• Too much text
• Cluttered visuals
• Low contrast/hard to read

Video Ads

Structure for short-form (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

Structure for longer-form (60+ sec):

1. Hook (0-5 sec)
2. Problem deep-dive (5-20 sec)
3. Solution introduction (20-35 sec)
4. Social proof (35-45 sec)
5. How it works (45-55 sec)
6. CTA with offer (55-60 sec)

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

Ad Creative Testing

Testing hierarchy:

1. Concept/angle (biggest impact)
2. Hook/headline
3. Visual style
4. Body copy
5. CTA

Testing approach:

• Test one variable at a time for clean data
• Need 100+ conversions per variant for significance
• Kill losers fast (3-5 days with sufficient spend)
• Iterate on winners

Performance Max & AI Bidding

When to Use Performance Max (PMax)

Performance Max campaigns use Google's AI to serve ads across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Discovery from a single campaign. They can be powerful but require the right conditions.

Use PMax when:

• You have strong conversion tracking with 30+ conversions per month
• You have a variety of creative assets (text, images, video)
• You want to reach users across multiple Google surfaces
• You have an established account with historical conversion data
• You are running e-commerce with a product feed

Do NOT use PMax when:

• You are just starting out with zero conversion data
• You need granular control over keyword targeting
• Your conversion tracking is unreliable or incomplete
• You have a very small budget (under $1,500/month)
• You need to target a narrow, specific audience

Feeding PMax Good Data

PMax is only as good as the signals you give it:

1. Conversion quality: Use offline conversion imports or enhanced conversions to tell Google which leads actually became customers, not just who filled out a form
2. Audience signals: Add your best-performing audiences as signals (not hard targeting) — customer lists, website visitors, custom segments based on search themes
3. Asset variety: Provide at least 5 headlines, 5 descriptions, 5 images, and 1 video. The more assets, the more combinations PMax can test
4. Asset group structure: Create separate asset groups for distinct product categories or audience segments rather than lumping everything together
5. Negative keywords: As of 2025, you can add account-level negatives. Use them to block irrelevant traffic that PMax picks up
6. URL exclusions: Exclude pages you do not want PMax to send traffic to (careers, support, login pages)

Smart Bidding Strategy Progression

Common AI Bidding Mistakes

• Setting target CPA too low: The algorithm cannot find conversions and spend drops to zero. Start with a target 20-30% above your actual CPA, then reduce gradually.
• Changing targets too frequently: Every change resets the learning period. Make adjustments no more than once per week, and keep changes within 15-20%.
• Not enough conversion volume: Smart bidding needs statistical signal. If you are getting fewer than 15 conversions per month in a campaign, use a higher-funnel conversion event (add to cart, lead form start) as your primary optimization target.
• Ignoring conversion lag: B2B and high-ticket purchases have long sales cycles. If you judge PMax performance at 7 days but your average conversion lag is 21 days, you will make bad decisions. Always look at performance with your full conversion window.
• Broad match without guardrails: Broad match keywords paired with smart bidding can work well at scale, but only with strong negative keyword lists and audience signals. Without guardrails, you will attract irrelevant traffic.

Cross-Platform Strategy

Budget Allocation by Funnel Stage

No single platform owns the entire funnel. The strongest paid strategies use multiple platforms with each one playing a specific role.

Awareness (Top of Funnel) — 15-25% of budget:

Consideration (Middle of Funnel) — 25-35% of budget:

Conversion (Bottom of Funnel) — 40-60% of budget:

How Platforms Complement Each Other

Google + Meta (the core pairing): Google captures people who already know what they want. Meta creates demand and builds audiences who later search on Google. Run both: Meta fills the top of the funnel, Google harvests the bottom. Watch for assisted conversions in GA4 — Meta often starts journeys that Google finishes.

LinkedIn + Google (B2B standard): LinkedIn reaches decision-makers by title and company. Google captures the search behavior that LinkedIn exposure creates. The pattern: someone sees your LinkedIn ad on Monday, searches your brand name on Wednesday, and converts through a Google branded search ad. Without LinkedIn, that search never happens.

YouTube + Everything (the amplifier): YouTube video ads build awareness and recognition that lift performance across all other platforms. Brands running YouTube alongside Search and Meta consistently see lower CPAs on those platforms. Use YouTube audience lists (video viewers, channel subscribers) as retargeting segments on Google Search and Display.

TikTok + Meta (the creative engine): Test creative concepts on TikTok where production quality matters less and iteration is faster. Winning creative angles on TikTok often translate well to Meta Reels and Stories. Use TikTok as your creative testing lab, then scale winners on Meta where targeting and optimization are more mature.

Cross-Platform Attribution

Platform self-reporting always over-counts. Each platform claims credit for conversions that another platform influenced. To get a realistic picture:

1. Use UTM parameters everywhere — tag every ad URL with utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, and utm_content
2. Check GA4 model comparison — compare last-click, data-driven, and first-click attribution models in GA4 to see which platforms start vs. finish conversion paths
3. Run incrementality tests — turn off one platform for 2-4 weeks in a specific geo and compare to a holdout geo. The difference is the true incremental impact.
4. Track blended CAC — total ad spend across all platforms divided by total new customers. This is the number that actually matters.
5. Watch branded search volume — if your branded search queries increase after launching Meta or YouTube campaigns, those platforms are driving latent demand even if they do not get last-click credit

Campaign Optimization

Key Metrics by Objective

Awareness:

• CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions)
• Reach and frequency
• Video view rate / watch time
• Brand lift (if available)

Consideration:

• CTR (click-through rate)
• CPC (cost per click)
• Landing page views
• Time on site from ads

Conversion:

• CPA (cost per acquisition)
• ROAS (return on ad spend)
• Conversion rate
• Cost per lead / cost per sale

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
• Weak offer — improve value proposition

If CPM is high:

• Audience too narrow — expand targeting
• High competition — try different placements
• Low relevance score — improve creative fit
• Bidding too aggressively — adjust bid caps

Bid Strategies

Manual/controlled:

• Use when: Learning phase, small budgets, need control
• Manual CPC, bid caps, cost caps

Automated/smart:

• Use when: Sufficient conversion data (50+ per month), scaling
• Target CPA, target ROAS, maximize conversions

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 Retargeting

Top of funnel (awareness):

• Audience: Blog readers, video viewers, social engagers
• Message: Educational content, social proof
• Goal: Move to consideration

Middle of funnel (consideration):

• Audience: Pricing page visitors, feature page visitors
• Message: Case studies, demos, comparisons
• Goal: Move to decision

Bottom of funnel (decision):

• Audience: Cart abandoners, trial users, demo no-shows
• Message: Urgency, objection handling, offers
• Goal: Convert

Retargeting Windows

Exclusions to Set Up

Always exclude:

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

Reporting & Analysis

Weekly Review Checklist

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

Monthly Analysis

• Overall channel performance vs. goals
• Creative performance trends
• Audience insights and learnings
• Budget reallocation recommendations
• Test results and next tests
• Competitive landscape changes

Attribution Considerations

• Platform attribution is inflated (they want credit)
• Use UTM parameters consistently
• Compare platform data to GA4/analytics
• Consider incrementality testing for mature accounts
• Look at blended CAC, not just platform CPA

Platform-Specific Setup Guides

Google Ads Setup Checklist

• Conversion tracking installed and tested
• Google Analytics 4 linked
• Audience lists created (remarketing, customer match)
• Negative keyword lists built
• Ad extensions set up (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets)
• Brand campaign running (protect branded terms)
• Competitor campaign considered
• Location and language targeting set
• Ad schedule aligned with business hours (if B2B)

Meta Ads Setup Checklist

• Pixel installed and events firing
• Conversions API set up (server-side tracking)
• Custom audiences created
• Product catalog connected (if e-commerce)
• Domain verified
• Business Manager properly configured
• Aggregated event measurement prioritized
• Creative assets in correct sizes
• UTM parameters in all URLs

LinkedIn Ads Setup Checklist

• Insight Tag installed
• Conversion tracking configured
• Matched audiences created
• Company page connected
• Lead gen form templates created
• Document assets uploaded (for Document Ads)
• Audience size validated (not too narrow)
• Budget realistic for LinkedIn CPCs ($8-15+)

Quality Scorecard

Use this scorecard to evaluate any paid ads campaign before launch and during optimization reviews. Score each dimension and aim for 80+ overall.

Scoring Criteria

Campaign Structure (25%)

• 90-100: Clean hierarchy, consistent naming, no audience overlap, proper exclusions, separate campaigns by objective
• 70-89: Mostly organized, minor naming inconsistencies, some audience overlap
• 50-69: Disorganized structure, no naming convention, campaigns mixing objectives
• Below 50: No clear structure, everything in one campaign, no segmentation

Targeting Precision (25%)

• 90-100: Layered audiences with AND logic, RLSA active, lookalikes built from best customers, negative keywords comprehensive, exclusions set for all stages
• 70-89: Good primary targeting, some audience layering, basic negatives in place
• 50-69: Single-dimension targeting, no negatives, no exclusions
• Below 50: Broad targeting with no refinement, no remarketing, no exclusions

Creative Quality (20%)

• 90-100: 3+ variations per ad set, testing one variable at a time, strong hooks, clear CTAs, multiple formats (image + video), refresh schedule in place
• 70-89: 2-3 variations, decent hooks, clear CTAs but limited format variety
• 50-69: Single ad per ad set, generic copy, no testing plan
• Below 50: One ad, stock imagery, no CTA, copy-paste across all audiences

Tracking Setup (15%)

• 90-100: Pixel + Conversions API (server-side), enhanced conversions, UTMs on every URL, GA4 linked, offline conversion import active, attribution window configured
• 70-89: Pixel installed, basic conversion tracking, UTMs mostly in place
• 50-69: Pixel installed but events not verified, inconsistent UTMs
• Below 50: No conversion tracking, no UTMs, no analytics connection

Budget Allocation (15%)

• 90-100: 70/30 proven-to-testing split, budget scaled in 20-30% increments, daily caps set, learning phase respected, cross-platform allocation aligned with funnel
• 70-89: Reasonable split, some scaling discipline, daily caps in place
• 50-69: Budget spread too thin or too concentrated, no scaling plan
• Below 50: Random allocation, no caps, frequent drastic changes disrupting learning

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Strategy Mistakes

• Launching without conversion tracking
• Too many campaigns/ad sets (fragmenting budget)
• Not giving algorithms enough learning time
• Optimizing for wrong metric (clicks vs. conversions)
• Ignoring landing page experience

Targeting Mistakes

• Audiences too narrow (can't exit learning phase)
• Audiences too broad (wasting spend)
• Not excluding existing customers
• Overlapping audiences competing with each other
• Ignoring negative keywords (Search)

Creative Mistakes

• Only running one ad per ad set
• Not refreshing creative (ad fatigue)
• Mismatch between ad and landing page
• Ignoring mobile experience
• Too much text in images (Meta)

Budget Mistakes

• Spreading budget too thin across campaigns
• Making big budget changes (disrupts learning)
• Not accounting for platform minimums
• Stopping campaigns during learning phase
• Weekend/off-hours spend without adjustment

Questions to Ask

If you need more context:

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?

Related Skills

• 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

Attribution

Built on the original AI marketing skills framework by Corey Haines. Enhanced with operational depth and quality scoring by Single Grain, the agency behind Uber, Amazon, Salesforce, and hundreds of growth-stage companies.