---
name: marketing-paid-advertising
description: Paid advertising strategy for Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn - campaign structure, bidding, audiences, creative, measurement, budget allocation, unit economics (CAC/LTV), revenue attribution, incrementality, payback period, and sales alignment.
---

# PAID ADVERTISING — ACQUISITION OS (OPERATIONAL)

No-fluff execution skill for paid acquisition across Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn.

**References**: [Google Ads](https://support.google.com/google-ads/), [Meta Business](https://www.facebook.com/business/help), [TikTok Ads](https://ads.tiktok.com/help/), [LinkedIn Campaign Manager](https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions)

---

## Modern Best Practices (January 2026)

- Algorithmic buying wins when you provide strong signals: clean conversion events, value, and enough volume per campaign to learn.
- Creative is the main lever on social: plan for volume and refresh cadence; treat creative like a product pipeline.
- Default measurement: server-side signals where possible (Enhanced Conversions / Conversions API / Events API), consistent UTMs, and closed-loop revenue in CRM.
- Use attribution as directional; use incrementality tests to answer budget questions (geo-lift/holdouts) when stakes are high.
- Optimize to profit and payback (not just CPL/ROAS) when margins, refunds, or LTV vary materially.
- Compliance is non-negotiable: platform policies, privacy consent, and avoiding sensitive targeting/claims.

## When to Use

- New campaigns: structure, audiences, bidding, creative
- Scaling spend: budget allocation, ROAS targets
- Platform selection: which channels for which goals
- Unit economics: CAC/LTV modeling, payback period
- Revenue attribution: multi-touch, incrementality

## When NOT to Use

| Scenario | Use Instead |
|----------|-------------|
| Organic social | [marketing-social-media](../marketing-social-media/SKILL.md) |
| SEO/content | [marketing-seo-complete](../marketing-seo-complete/SKILL.md) |
| Landing pages | [marketing-cro](../marketing-cro/SKILL.md) |

---

## Quick Start (What I Need From You)

- Goal: revenue, pipeline, leads, trials, purchases (pick 1 primary)
- ICP/offer: who, pain, positioning, price/ACV, gross margin, refund rate (if relevant)
- Geo/language + budget horizon (test budget + monthly cap)
- Tracking: conversion events + where they’re recorded (GA4, CRM, Shopify, app DB), attribution window expectations
- Constraints: creative/brand limits, compliance constraints, sales capacity + SLAs (B2B)

If unknown, start with assumptions and label them; then validate with data in week 1.

---

## Platform Selection

| Platform | Best For | Typical Cost (Relative) |
|----------|----------|--------------------------|
| **Google Search** | High intent capture | Medium |
| **Meta** | Efficient demand creation + retargeting | Low–Medium |
| **LinkedIn** | B2B precision, ABM | High |
| **TikTok** | Low-cost reach + creative velocity | Low |

*Note: Costs vary massively by industry, geo, offer, tracking quality, and seasonality. Use as directional only.*

### Decision Tree

```text
HIGH INTENT?
├─ YES → Google Search (always include)
└─ NO → What's your goal?
    ├─ Awareness → Meta, TikTok, YouTube
    ├─ B2B/Enterprise → LinkedIn, Google
    └─ E-commerce → Meta, Google Shopping
```

---

## Measurement & Tracking (2026 Default)

Minimum viable measurement before scaling:

- Conversion events defined (lead, SQL, purchase, subscription) with dedupe and clear “source of truth”
- UTMs standardized across every platform
- Server-side signals where feasible:
  - Google: Enhanced Conversions + offline conversion imports (B2B)
  - Meta: Pixel + Conversions API
  - TikTok: Pixel + Events API
  - LinkedIn: Insight Tag + offline conversions (when available)
- Reporting views: spend → conversions → revenue/pipeline (weekly), incrementality tests (quarterly or when budgets materially change)

For deep dives: `references/revenue-attribution-guide.md`, `references/sales-alignment-guide.md`.

---

## Campaign Structure

### Google Ads

```text
├─ Campaign: Brand (Search)
├─ Campaign: Non-Brand (Search)
├─ Campaign: Retargeting (Display)
└─ Campaign: Performance Max
```

### Meta Ads

```text
├─ Campaign: Prospecting
│   ├─ Ad Set: Lookalike 1%
│   └─ Ad Set: Broad (Advantage+)
├─ Campaign: Retargeting
└─ Campaign: Testing
```

---

## Bidding Strategy

| Strategy | When to Use |
|----------|-------------|
| Manual CPC | <50 conversions/month |
| Target CPA | 50-100 conversions |
| Target ROAS | >100 conversions |

---

## Budget Allocation

| Stage | % of Budget |
|-------|-------------|
| Brand | 10-20% |
| Prospecting | 40-60% |
| Retargeting | 20-30% |
| Testing | 10-15% |

---

## Unit Economics

| LTV:CAC | Status | Action |
|---------|--------|--------|
| < 1:1 | Losing money | Stop spending |
| 3:1 | Healthy | Maintain/scale |
| > 5:1 | Under-investing | Scale aggressively |

**Payback Targets:**
- B2C SaaS: < 6 months
- B2B SaaS: < 12 months
- E-commerce: < 3 months

---

## Decision Tree (Triage)

```text
CPL too high?
├─ Check audience size
├─ Check creative CTR (<1% = new creative)
├─ Check landing page CVR (<2% = landing issue)
└─ Check bid strategy

ROAS below target?
├─ Check conversion tracking
├─ Check audience quality
└─ Check offer strength
```

---

## Metrics

| Metric | Target |
|--------|--------|
| CTR | >1% (creative health) |
| CVR | >2% (landing health) |
| Frequency | <3 (fatigue) |
| Quality Score | >6 (Google) |

---

## Anti-Patterns

- **Changing bids daily** → Wait 2-4 weeks
- **Too many audiences** → Use 3-5 max
- **Single creative** → Use 3-5 variants
- **No negative keywords** → Build weekly

---

## Resources

| Resource | Purpose |
|----------|---------|
| [data/sources.json](data/sources.json) | Authoritative sources (platform docs, measurement, privacy) |
| [references/google-ads-guide.md](references/google-ads-guide.md) | Google specifics |
| [references/meta-ads-guide.md](references/meta-ads-guide.md) | Meta specifics |
| [references/tiktok-ads-guide.md](references/tiktok-ads-guide.md) | TikTok specifics |
| [references/linkedin-ads-guide.md](references/linkedin-ads-guide.md) | LinkedIn specifics |
| [references/unit-economics-guide.md](references/unit-economics-guide.md) | CAC/LTV deep dive |
| [references/revenue-attribution-guide.md](references/revenue-attribution-guide.md) | Attribution models |
| [references/sales-alignment-guide.md](references/sales-alignment-guide.md) | Pipeline + CRM alignment |
| [references/operational-sops.md](references/operational-sops.md) | Weekly/monthly SOPs |

## Templates

| Template | Purpose |
|----------|---------|
| [assets/campaign-structure.md](assets/campaign-structure.md) | Campaign hierarchy |
| [assets/budget-allocation.md](assets/budget-allocation.md) | Budget planning |
| [assets/unit-economics-calculator.md](assets/unit-economics-calculator.md) | CAC/LTV calculator |
| [assets/creative-brief.md](assets/creative-brief.md) | Ad creative spec |
| [assets/google-rsa-asset-pack.md](assets/google-rsa-asset-pack.md) | RSA copy + asset pack |
| [assets/creative-test-plan.md](assets/creative-test-plan.md) | Creative testing cadence |
| [assets/performance-review.md](assets/performance-review.md) | Weekly/monthly review doc |

## International Markets

This skill covers US-centric platforms. For regional advertising:

| Need | See Skill |
|------|-----------|
| China platforms (Baidu, WeChat, Douyin) | [marketing-geo-localization](../marketing-geo-localization/SKILL.md) |
| Japan/Korea (Yahoo Japan, Naver, Kakao) | [marketing-geo-localization](../marketing-geo-localization/SKILL.md) |
| Russia/CIS (Yandex, VK) | [marketing-geo-localization](../marketing-geo-localization/SKILL.md) |
| Regional CAC benchmarks | [marketing-geo-localization](../marketing-geo-localization/SKILL.md) |

Tip: If your query mentions regional platforms or specific countries, also use `marketing-geo-localization`.

---

## Related Skills

| Skill | Purpose |
|-------|---------|
| [marketing-geo-localization](../marketing-geo-localization/SKILL.md) | International markets |
| [marketing-leads-generation](../marketing-leads-generation/SKILL.md) | Lead capture |
| [marketing-cro](../marketing-cro/SKILL.md) | Landing optimization |
| [startup-go-to-market](../startup-go-to-market/SKILL.md) | Channel strategy |