Paid Advertising

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when the user's request involves any of the following:

Creating, auditing, or optimizing campaigns on Google Ads, Meta/Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or TikTok Ads
Designing campaign structures, ad groups, or ad set hierarchies on any paid platform
Selecting or troubleshooting bid strategies (manual CPC, target CPA, target ROAS, maximize conversions, etc.)
Building audience strategies including prospecting, retargeting, lookalike/similar audiences, or custom audiences
Allocating or pacing budgets across platforms or campaigns
Setting up or optimizing Google Shopping, Performance Max, YouTube Ads, or Display campaigns
Working with Meta Advantage+ campaigns or manual campaign structures
Running LinkedIn Ads with account-based marketing (ABM) targeting
Launching TikTok Ads including Spark Ads or TikTok Shop integrations
Programmatic advertising including DSP selection, connected TV (CTV), or digital out-of-home (DOOH)
Retail media networks including Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, Kroger Precision Marketing, or Instacart Ads
Any question about paid media strategy, creative strategy for ads, or paid channel mix decisions

Brand Context (Auto-Applied)

Before producing any marketing output from this module:

Check session context — The active brand summary was output at session start. Use the brand name, industry, voice settings, channels, goals, compliance, and competitors shown there.
If you need the full profile, read: ~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/profile.json
Apply brand voice — Formality, energy, humor, authority levels must shape all content tone and word choices
Check compliance — Auto-apply rules for brand's target_markets and industry using skills/context-engine/compliance-rules.md
Reference industry benchmarks — Consult skills/context-engine/industry-profiles.md for the brand's industry
Use platform specs — Reference skills/context-engine/platform-specs.md for character limits and format requirements
Check campaign history — Run python campaign-tracker.py --brand {slug} --action list-campaigns before planning new work
If no brand exists, say: "No brand profile found. Use /dm:brand-setup to create one, or I can proceed with general best practices."
Check brand guidelines — If ~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/guidelines/_manifest.json exists, load and enforce: restrictions.md for banned words, restricted claims, and mandatory disclaimers; channel-styles.md for channel-specific tone overrides (may differ from base voice); messaging.md for approved key messages, taglines, and positioning language; voice-and-tone.md for detailed voice rules beyond the 4 numeric scores. If producing content for a specific channel, channel style rules take precedence over base voice settings.

Do not ask the user for information that already exists in their brand profile.

Required Context

Before executing, gather the following from the user (ask if not provided):

Business type: B2B, B2C, D2C, marketplace, local business
Current platforms: Which ad platforms are active (if any)
Monthly budget: Total paid media spend or per-platform budgets
Goals: Primary KPI (ROAS, CPA, CPL, brand awareness, traffic) and target values
Audience: Who they are trying to reach (demographics, firmographics, interests, behaviors)
Funnel stage focus: Top-of-funnel awareness, mid-funnel consideration, or bottom-funnel conversion
Existing assets: Landing pages, creative assets, product feeds, tracking setup
Tracking infrastructure: Pixel/tag status, conversion tracking, attribution model in use
Industry: Needed to flag regulated category restrictions (healthcare, finance, alcohol, cannabis, gambling)

Capabilities

Campaign Structure Design

Platform-specific campaign architecture (campaigns, ad groups/ad sets, ads)
Naming conventions for scalable account management
Campaign type selection per objective (Search, Display, Shopping, Video, App, PMax, Demand Gen)
Ad group theming and keyword/audience segmentation strategies

Audience Strategy

Prospecting: Interest-based, behavior-based, demographic, and contextual targeting
Retargeting: Website visitors, video viewers, lead form engagers, customer lists, cart abandoners
Lookalike/Similar audiences: Source audience selection, expansion percentages, layering strategies
ABM targeting: Company lists, job title targeting, seniority filtering (LinkedIn-specific)
Exclusion strategies: Negative audiences, customer suppression, converter exclusion windows

Bid Strategy Selection

Manual vs automated bidding decision framework
Target CPA, target ROAS, maximize conversions, maximize conversion value
Portfolio bid strategies for Google Ads
Learning phase management and bid strategy transitions
Seasonality adjustments and bid modifiers

Creative Strategy

Ad format selection per platform and objective
Responsive search ads (RSA) best practices and pin strategies
Meta creative diversification (static, video, carousel, collection, instant experience)
LinkedIn creative formats (single image, carousel, video, document, conversation ads)
TikTok native-style creative principles
Creative testing frameworks (variable isolation, iterative testing)

Budget Allocation and Pacing

Cross-platform budget distribution models
Campaign-level budget optimization vs ad-set level budgets
Daily vs lifetime budgets and when to use each
Pacing strategies for monthly/quarterly targets
Budget scaling rules (20% rule for Google, CBO adjustments for Meta)

Platform-Specific Expertise

Google Ads: Search, Display, Performance Max, YouTube (in-stream, Shorts, Discovery), Shopping, Demand Gen
Meta Ads: Advantage+ Shopping, Advantage+ App, manual campaigns, catalog ads, lead gen forms
LinkedIn Ads: Sponsored Content, Message Ads, Lead Gen Forms, Document Ads, ABM list targeting
TikTok Ads: In-Feed, TopView, Spark Ads, TikTok Shop product ads, Branded Effects
Programmatic: DSP selection (DV360, The Trade Desk, Amazon DSP), CTV, DOOH, audio
Retail Media: Amazon Sponsored Products/Brands/Display, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, Kroger Precision Marketing, Instacart Ads

Process

Standard Campaign Build (Most Common Use Case)

Define objectives -- Clarify the primary KPI and success metric. Map to the correct campaign type per platform.
Audience architecture -- Design the full-funnel audience strategy: cold prospecting segments, warm retargeting pools, and hot remarketing lists. Define exclusions.
Campaign structure -- Build the campaign hierarchy with naming conventions. Determine budget allocation across campaigns.
Bid strategy selection -- Choose the appropriate bid strategy based on data maturity, conversion volume, and goals. Reference bid-strategy.md for decision trees.
Creative strategy -- Define ad formats, messaging angles, and creative variations. Map creative to funnel stage and audience segment.
Tracking validation -- Confirm pixel/tag setup, conversion actions, and attribution model before launch.
Launch plan -- Set launch budgets (often lower than steady-state), define learning phase expectations, and establish the first optimization checkpoint (typically 7-14 days).
Optimization cadence -- Define weekly/biweekly optimization actions: bid adjustments, audience refinements, creative refreshes, budget reallocation.

Campaign Audit Process

Account structure review -- Assess campaign organization, naming conventions, and segmentation logic.
Audience overlap analysis -- Check for audience fragmentation or cannibalization across campaigns.
Bid strategy assessment -- Evaluate whether current bid strategies match conversion volume and goals.
Creative performance -- Identify top/bottom performers, creative fatigue signals, and testing gaps.
Budget efficiency -- Analyze spend distribution vs performance distribution. Flag underspending winners and overspending losers.
Tracking audit -- Verify conversion tracking accuracy, attribution consistency, and data freshness.

Reference Files

google-ads.md -- Google Ads campaign types, settings, optimization tactics, and platform-specific features
meta-ads.md -- Meta Ads campaign structures, Advantage+ configurations, creative specs, and iOS ATT strategies
linkedin-ads.md -- LinkedIn Ads targeting options, ABM strategies, lead gen optimization, and B2B-specific tactics
tiktok-ads.md -- TikTok Ads creative best practices, Spark Ads setup, TikTok Shop integration, and audience strategies
programmatic.md -- DSP selection criteria, CTV planning, DOOH strategies, and programmatic deal types
bid-strategy.md -- Bid strategy decision trees, learning phase management, and portfolio strategy configurations
retail-media-networks.md -- Platform-specific setup for Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Instacart advertising

Output Formats

Campaign plan: Structured document with campaign hierarchy, audience definitions, bid strategies, budget allocation, creative briefs, and KPI targets
Platform audit: Scorecard with findings, severity ratings, and prioritized action items
Budget allocation model: Spreadsheet-ready breakdown of spend by platform, campaign, and funnel stage with projected outcomes
Creative brief: Per-ad-format briefs with messaging angles, CTA options, and spec requirements
Optimization playbook: Weekly/monthly checklist of optimization actions with decision criteria

Edge Cases

iOS ATT Impact on Meta Targeting

Post-iOS 14.5, Meta audience sizes shrunk and attribution windows shortened. When working with Meta campaigns, default to broader targeting with Advantage+ audience expansion, use Conversions API (CAPI) alongside the pixel, recommend 7-day click attribution, and set expectations that reported ROAS will undercount actual performance by 15-30%.

Performance Max Cannibalizing Brand Search

PMax campaigns frequently capture branded search traffic, inflating their reported performance. Always recommend running a brand exclusion list in PMax, maintaining a separate brand search campaign, and comparing incrementality by analyzing total account performance rather than PMax in isolation.

LinkedIn High CPC Management

LinkedIn CPCs are typically 3-10x higher than other platforms. Compensate by focusing on lead quality over volume, using lead gen forms (higher conversion rate than landing pages), tightening audience targeting to reduce waste, and evaluating on cost-per-qualified-lead rather than CPC.

TikTok Creative Fatigue

TikTok ad creative typically fatigues in 3-7 days. Build creative refresh cadences into every TikTok campaign plan. Recommend 3-5 active creatives per ad group with new batches produced weekly. Use Spark Ads (boosted organic) to extend creative life since they feel less like ads.

Retail Media Incrementality

Retail media ads often capture purchases that would have happened organically. When auditing retail media, question whether sales are truly incremental. Recommend running incrementality tests (holdout groups), analyzing new-to-brand metrics (Amazon provides this), and comparing organic rank changes during ad pauses.

Small Budget Cross-Platform Allocation

When total monthly budget is under $5,000, do not spread across multiple platforms. Recommend concentrating on one primary platform that best matches the audience and objective. Only expand to a second platform after the first is optimized and hitting diminishing returns.

Regulated Industry Restrictions

Healthcare, finance, alcohol, cannabis, gambling, and political advertising face platform-specific restrictions. Always check platform policies before recommending campaign types. Some platforms ban certain industries entirely (TikTok restricts financial services ads in some markets). Reference platform-specific docs for current restriction lists.

Related Skills

CRO -- Landing page and conversion optimization for ad traffic destinations
Analytics & Insights -- Attribution modeling, conversion tracking setup, and performance analysis
Audience Intelligence -- Deep audience research to inform targeting strategies
Content Engine -- Ad creative copywriting and messaging frameworks
Funnel Architect -- Full-funnel strategy that paid advertising plugs into
Emerging Channels -- Social commerce and newer ad platforms (TikTok Shop, CTV)