AI SkillPlan Ad CampaignMarketing

Paid Ads — Plan Campaigns That Deliver ROI — Claude Skill

Name: Paid Ads
Author: Corey Haines

A Claude Skill for Claude Code by Corey Haines — run /paid-ads in Claude·Updated Apr 10, 2026·v1.1.0

Compatible withClaude·ChatGPT·Gemini·OpenClaw

Plan and optimize paid ad campaigns across Google, Meta, and LinkedIn

Build campaign structure for Google Search, Display, and Performance Max
Define Meta audience targeting by demographics, interests, and lookalikes
Recommend bidding strategies based on your goal and CPA targets
Create LinkedIn campaign structure for B2B audience targeting
Diagnose underperforming campaigns and recommend optimization actions

Who this is for

Demand Generation Manager

You own pipeline generation — paid ads, email sequences, lead magnets, and form optimization. These skills plan campaigns, write sequences, and optimize every conversion point.

See skills for this role

Growth Marketer

You run experiments, optimize funnels, and own the numbers from signup to revenue. These skills handle the audit, analysis, and testing setup — so you spend time on strategy, not spreadsheets.

See skills for this role

What it does

Planning a new paid search campaign

Designs the full Google Ads structure: campaign type, ad groups, keyword strategy, bidding, and budget allocation

Improving ROAS on a Meta campaign

Reviews current audience setup, creative performance, and bidding, then recommends specific changes to improve efficiency

Starting B2B paid ads on LinkedIn

Builds a LinkedIn campaign strategy with audience targeting, ad formats, budget recommendations, and conversion tracking plan

How it works

Describe your product, target audience, and campaign goal

Share current campaign data if optimizing an existing campaign

Skill designs the campaign structure, targeting, and bidding approach

Recommends budget allocation and measurement setup

Delivers a prioritized action plan for launch or optimization

Metrics this improves

Lead Generation

Paid campaigns are a direct and scalable driver of lead volume with measurable attribution

Marketing

Ad CTR

Audience targeting refinement and creative iteration improve ad click-through rates

Marketing

CPA

Optimizing targeting, bidding, and campaign structure directly reduces cost per acquisition

Marketing

ROAS

Campaign optimization and budget allocation toward top performers increases return on ad spend

Marketing

Works with

Segment

manual

Pipe conversion events to ad platforms for accurate audience and attribution data

Google Ads

manual

Plan, launch, and optimize search and display campaigns for inbound acquisition

Google Analytics

manual

Track post-click behavior and conversion attribution from paid campaigns

manual

Execute B2B paid campaigns targeting by job title, company size, and industry

Meta Ads

manual

Run demand generation and retargeting campaigns on Facebook and Instagram

Want to use Paid Ads?

Choose how to get started.

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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 .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), 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

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: Exclude existing customers and recent converters — showing ads to people who already bought wastes spend

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

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:

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

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

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

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

Tool Integrations

For implementation, see the tools registry. Key advertising platforms:

Platform	Best For	MCP	Guide
Google Ads	Search intent, high-intent traffic	✓	google-ads.md
Meta Ads	Demand gen, visual products, B2C	-	meta-ads.md
LinkedIn Ads	B2B, job title targeting	-	linkedin-ads.md
TikTok Ads	Younger demographics, video	-	tiktok-ads.md

For tracking, see also: ga4.md, 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

Reference documents

Ad Copy Templates Reference

Detailed formulas and templates for writing high-converting ad copy.

Primary Text Formulas (Problem-Agitate-Solve, Before-After-Bridge, Social Proof Lead, Feature-Benefit Bridge, Direct Response)
Headline Formulas (For Search Ads, For Social Ads)
CTA Variations (Soft CTAs, Hard CTAs, Urgency CTAs, Action-Oriented CTAs)
Platform-Specific Copy Guidelines (Google Search Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads)
Copy Testing Priority

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 →

Feature-Benefit Bridge

[Feature]
[So that...]
[Which means...]

Example:

Real-time collaboration on documents So your team always works from the latest version Which means no more version confusion or lost work

Direct Response

[Bold claim/outcome]
[Proof point]
[CTA with urgency if genuine]

Example:

Cut your reporting time by 80% Join 5,000+ marketing teams already using [Product] Start free → First month 50% off

Headline Formulas

For Search Ads

Formula	Example
[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]"
[Keyword] + [Differentiator]	"CRM Built for Small Teams"
[Price/Offer] + [Keyword]	"Free Project Management \| No Credit Card"

For Social Ads

Type	Example
Outcome hook	"How we 3x'd our conversion rate"
Curiosity hook	"The reporting hack no one talks about"
Contrarian hook	"Why we stopped using [common tool]"
Specificity hook	"The exact template we use for..."
Question hook	"What if you could cut your admin time in half?"
Number hook	"7 ways to improve your workflow today"
Story hook	"We almost gave up. Then we found..."

CTA Variations

Soft CTAs (awareness/consideration)

Best for: Top of funnel, cold audiences, complex products

Learn More
See How It Works
Watch Demo
Get the Guide
Explore Features
See Examples
Read the Case Study

Hard CTAs (conversion)

Best for: Bottom of funnel, warm audiences, clear offers

Start Free Trial
Get Started Free
Book a Demo
Claim Your Discount
Buy Now
Sign Up Free
Get Instant Access

Urgency CTAs (use when genuine)

Best for: Limited-time offers, scarcity situations

Limited Time: 30% Off
Offer Ends [Date]
Only X Spots Left
Last Chance
Early Bird Pricing Ends Soon

Action-Oriented CTAs

Best for: Active voice, clear next step

Start Saving Time Today
Get Your Free Report
See Your Score
Calculate Your ROI
Build Your First Project

Platform-Specific Copy Guidelines

Google Search Ads

Headline limits: 30 characters each (up to 15 headlines)
Description limits: 90 characters each (up to 4 descriptions)
Include keywords naturally
Use all available headline slots
Include numbers and stats when possible
Test dynamic keyword insertion

Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram)

Primary text: 125 characters visible (can be longer, gets truncated)
Headline: 40 characters recommended
Front-load the hook (first line matters most)
Emojis can work but test
Questions perform well
Keep image text under 20%

LinkedIn Ads

Intro text: 600 characters max (150 recommended)
Headline: 200 characters max (70 recommended)
Professional tone (but not boring)
Specific job outcomes resonate
Stats and social proof important
Avoid consumer-style hype

Copy Testing Priority

When testing ad copy, focus on these elements in order of impact:

Hook/angle (biggest impact on performance)
Headline
Primary benefit
CTA
Supporting proof points

Test one element at a time for clean data.

Audience Targeting Reference

Detailed targeting strategies for each major ad platform.

Google Ads Audiences (Search Campaign Targeting, Display/YouTube Targeting)
Meta Audiences (Core Audiences, Custom Audiences, Lookalike Audiences)
LinkedIn Audiences (Job-Based Targeting, Company-Based Targeting, High-Performing Combinations)
Twitter/X Audiences
TikTok Audiences
Audience Size Guidelines
Exclusion Strategy

Google Ads Audiences

Search Campaign Targeting

Keywords:

Exact match: [keyword] — most precise, lower volume
Phrase match: "keyword" — moderate precision and volume
Broad match: keyword — highest volume, use with smart bidding

Audience layering:

Add audiences in "observation" mode first
Analyze performance by audience
Switch to "targeting" mode for high performers

RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads):

Bid higher on past visitors searching your terms
Show different ads to returning searchers
Exclude converters from prospecting campaigns

Display/YouTube Targeting

Custom intent audiences:

Based on recent search behavior
Create from your converting keywords
High intent, good for prospecting

In-market audiences:

People actively researching solutions
Pre-built by Google
Layer with demographics for precision

Affinity audiences:

Based on interests and habits
Better for awareness
Broad but can exclude irrelevant

Customer match:

Upload email lists
Retarget existing customers
Create lookalikes from best customers

Similar/lookalike audiences:

Based on your customer match lists
Expand reach while maintaining relevance
Best when source list is high-quality customers

Meta Audiences

Core Audiences (Interest/Demographic)

Interest targeting tips:

Layer interests with AND logic for precision
Use Audience Insights to research interests
Start broad, let algorithm optimize
Exclude existing customers always

Demographic targeting:

Age and gender (if product-specific)
Location (down to zip/postal code)
Language
Education and work (limited data now)

Behavior targeting:

Purchase behavior
Device usage
Travel patterns
Life events

Custom Audiences

Website visitors:

All visitors (last 180 days max)
Specific page visitors
Time on site thresholds
Frequency (visited X times)

Customer list:

Upload emails/phone numbers
Match rate typically 30-70%
Refresh regularly for accuracy

Engagement audiences:

Video viewers (25%, 50%, 75%, 95%)
Page/profile engagers
Form openers
Instagram engagers

App activity:

App installers
In-app events
Purchase events

Lookalike Audiences

Source audience quality matters:

Use high-LTV customers, not all customers
Purchasers > leads > all visitors
Minimum 100 source users, ideally 1,000+

Size recommendations:

1% — most similar, smallest reach
1-3% — good balance for most
3-5% — broader, good for scale
5-10% — very broad, awareness only

Layering strategies:

Lookalike + interest = more precision early
Test lookalike-only as you scale
Exclude the source audience

LinkedIn Audiences

Job-Based Targeting

Job titles:

Be specific (CMO vs. "Marketing")
LinkedIn normalizes titles, but verify
Stack related titles
Exclude irrelevant titles

Job functions:

Broader than titles
Combine with seniority level
Good for awareness campaigns

Seniority levels:

Entry, Senior, Manager, Director, VP, CXO, Partner
Layer with function for precision

Skills:

Self-reported, less reliable
Good for technical roles
Use as expansion layer

Company-Based Targeting

Company size:

1-10, 11-50, 51-200, 201-500, 501-1000, 1001-5000, 5000+
Key filter for B2B

Industry:

Based on company classification
Can be broad, layer with other criteria

Company names (ABM):

Upload target account list
Minimum 300 companies recommended
Match rate varies

Company growth rate:

Hiring rapidly = budget available
Good signal for timing

High-Performing Combinations

Use Case	Targeting Combination
Enterprise sales	Company size 1000+ + VP/CXO + Industry
SMB sales	Company size 11-200 + Manager/Director + Function
Developer tools	Skills + Job function + Company type
ABM campaigns	Company list + Decision-maker titles
Broad awareness	Industry + Seniority + Geography

Twitter/X Audiences

Targeting options:

Follower lookalikes (accounts similar to followers of X)
Interest categories
Keywords (in tweets)
Conversation topics
Events
Tailored audiences (your lists)

Best practices:

Follower lookalikes of relevant accounts work well
Keyword targeting catches active conversations
Lower CPMs than LinkedIn/Meta
Less precise, better for awareness

TikTok Audiences

Targeting options:

Demographics (age, gender, location)
Interests (TikTok's categories)
Behaviors (video interactions)
Device (iOS/Android, connection type)
Custom audiences (pixel, customer file)
Lookalike audiences

Best practices:

Younger skew (18-34 primarily)
Interest targeting is broad
Creative matters more than targeting
Let algorithm optimize with broad targeting

Audience Size Guidelines

Platform	Minimum Recommended	Ideal Range
Google Search	1,000+ searches/mo	5,000-50,000
Google Display	100,000+	500K-5M
Meta	100,000+	500K-10M
LinkedIn	50,000+	100K-500K
Twitter/X	50,000+	100K-1M
TikTok	100,000+	1M+

Too narrow = expensive, slow learning Too broad = wasted spend, poor relevance

Exclusion Strategy

Always exclude:

Existing customers (unless upsell)
Recent converters (7-14 days)
Bounced visitors (<10 sec)
Employees (by company or email list)
Irrelevant page visitors (careers, support)
Competitors (if identifiable)

Quality tested— 6 tests, 37 assertions verified

Paid Ads — Plan Campaigns That Deliver ROI — Claude Skill

Who this is for

What it does

How it works

Metrics this improves

Works with

Want to use Paid Ads?

Skill instructions

Paid Ads

Before Starting

1. Campaign Goals

2. Product & Offer

3. Audience

4. Current State

Platform Selection Guide

Campaign Structure Best Practices

Account Organization

Naming Conventions

Budget Allocation

Ad Copy Frameworks

Key Formulas

Audience Targeting Overview

Platform Strengths

Key Concepts

Creative Best Practices

Image Ads

Video Ads Structure (15-30 sec)

Creative Testing Hierarchy

Campaign Optimization

Key Metrics by Objective

Optimization Levers

Bid Strategy Progression

Retargeting Strategies

Funnel-Based Approach

Retargeting Windows

Exclusions to Set Up

Reporting & Analysis

Weekly Review

Attribution Considerations

Platform Setup

Universal Pre-Launch Checklist

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Strategy

Targeting

Creative

Budget

Task-Specific Questions

Tool Integrations

Related Skills

Reference documents

Ad Copy Templates Reference

Contents

Primary Text Formulas

Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS)

Before-After-Bridge (BAB)

Social Proof Lead

Feature-Benefit Bridge

Direct Response

Headline Formulas

For Search Ads

For Social Ads

CTA Variations

Soft CTAs (awareness/consideration)

Hard CTAs (conversion)

Urgency CTAs (use when genuine)

Action-Oriented CTAs

Platform-Specific Copy Guidelines

Google Search Ads

Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram)

LinkedIn Ads

Copy Testing Priority

Audience Targeting Reference

Contents

Google Ads Audiences

Search Campaign Targeting

Display/YouTube Targeting

Meta Audiences

Core Audiences (Interest/Demographic)

Custom Audiences

Lookalike Audiences