Pay-per-click Strategy Development

We helped a client see a 47% reduction in cost per incremental conversion, 18% lower CPMs. 24% more reach, all from moving Meta budget out of purchase campaigns and into upper funnel. The purchase campaigns looked efficient, but frequency was climbing and so was CPMr. The algorithm was re-serving ads to the same people, and the "strong ROAS" was mostly Meta converting warm audiences it had already saturated. We needed net-new reach. The playbook: Step 1: Run a Conversion Lift test before you touch anything. You need a real benchmark of what your campaigns are actually doing incrementally, not what the platform tells you. Step 2: Set up lift custom conversions so you can track incremental impact at the campaign level going forward. Step 3: Launch upper funnel campaigns using creative you already have. Take your best performing purchase campaign creatives and run them in awareness and Google Referral traffic campaigns instead of optimizing for purchases. Full exclusions, custom placements. Step 4: Let it run for four weeks. Upper funnel doesn't convert in-platform the way purchase campaigns do, and that's the entire point. You're expanding the pool of people who know you exist so the downstream conversions are actually incremental. Step 5: Repeat your lift tests. Compare to your benchmark. This is where you find out if your upper funnel investment is driving new customers. Step 6: Now build dedicated upper funnel creative. Raw, native-feeling content, demos, social proof, user submitted stuff, etc. The evergreen assets got you started, but purpose-built TOF creative will outperform for cold audiences over time. Step 7: Update strategy based on the data, repeat the cycle. Short term, you're watching for frequency and CPMr to come down while rolling reach climbs. Your in-platform ROAS will probably look worse because you're reaching colder audiences, and that's the point. Longer term, growth in total new customers and reduction in nCPA. If you're hitting a ceiling on Meta and want a second set of eyes, feel free to hit me up.

In April 2025, we used 7 mechanisms to turn $761K of ad spend into $10.8M in revenue. I see people skip at least one of these on every launch I look at. Here's the breakdown. 1. Build the projection model before spending a dollar - Pull historical cost per lead, conversion rates by lead quality, & funnel stage data from prior events - Model all different scenarios (if CPL is X & we convert at 1%, here's revenue. If CPL is higher but conversion is 1.5%, here's that revenue) - We never guessed our way into $10.8M, we modeled it before launch 2. Run a 4-belief narrative framework for 4 weeks before lead capture - Audience needs to believe the model works - They can do it themselves - You're the one to guide them - It'll work for their specific situation - Miss one of the four & they don't buy 3. Build a unique mechanism that cuts through the noise - Don’t be like everyone else selling the same coaching program - Ours was Digital Products 2.0 (digital products + AI) - Familiar enough to understand, different enough to stand out - Then build the offer to neutralize every limiting belief the mechanism creates 4. Score every lead before they hit your sales team - Everyone who registers goes through a survey - Score the responses, feed the data back into the ad platform, optimize for buyers not opt-ins - 170K organic registrations before we spent a dollar on paid - Then layered $761K on top targeting only the highest scoring leads 5. Pitch on episode 2, not episode 3 - Massive drop-off between episodes - Pitching on episode 3 means losing the chunk of the audience who would've bought if they'd heard the pitch earlier - We pitched on episode 2 for the first time this event & it moved the needle massively 6. Cart abandonment round-robin - The moment someone hits checkout & enters their info, a webhook fires & assigns the lead to a sales rep in real time - Only reps actively clocked in get assigned - Rep reaches out immediately ("Hey, I saw you trying to check out, having any issues?") - That alone closed about 14% of all sales 7. Build flexible payment infrastructure - Split It alone accounted for 32% of all payments - People think payment plans mean monthly installments stretched over a year, but flexible options like Split It lower the barrier to entry without extending the timeline - This was the first event we had real financing options & it was a game changer I watch launches at $1-10M consistently lose 5-10x their potential revenue because the event gets treated like a content drop instead of an engineered system. If you can implement a system like this, you maximize your potential and stop losing easy revenue.

99% of conversions from “review” and “testimonial” searches are NEW customers. Not repeat buyers or existing clients window shopping. New revenue. Still, most ad accounts treat these searches like any other keyword. That's idiotic. When someone types "[Your Brand] reviews" into Google, they're confirming they want to buy. They've already moved through awareness and consideration and now they're doing a final due diligence before purchasing. So why would you pay the same CPC as someone searching "[Industry] services"? Here’s why that makes no sense: Keywords containing “review”, “price”, “cost”, and “testimonial” represent the final hurdle for new customers before they convert. Every purchase from these searches = net new revenue for your business. That means your bids for these bottom funnel searches can be much higher than your top-funnel term bids. THE BID STRATEGY THAT ACTUALLY WORKS: Your TOFU search terms might have a $3 max CPC. But for review, cost, price, and testimonial keywords? Make it $5. That's a 67% premium - and it's absolutely worth it. Because these aren't people who might convert someday. They're people who are buying today. HOW TO IMPLEMENT THIS: 1. Segment validation keywords into dedicated ad groups → Don't lump them with general brand terms 2. Set premium bid strategies on these ad groups → Higher CPC is justified when you’re capturing pure new customer acquisition 3. Layer your audience targeting within these groups → Same targeting strategies, but with laser focus on last-touch conversion traffic 4. Track new customer acquisition separately → Measure what actually matters - new revenue, not just total conversions THE BOTTOM LINE: Plenty of advertisers ignore bids on these validation searches entirely. The rest lump them in with all the other branded terms. But not all branded keywords are equal, because not all customer intent is equal. Your ad account should track the difference and bid higher for BOFU, new customer audiences. Anything else is just pure stupidity. Agree? Disagree? I’d love to hear your opinion.

🧠 To Every Amazon PPC Specialist, Freelancer & Consultant — Wake Up. This isn’t a prediction. This isn’t a pitch. It’s a warning. And a wake-up call. We’ve all built careers on execution. What does that look like? ✔ Creating hundreds of campaigns using flat files ✔ Tweaking bids and budgets every day ✔ Using PPC tools to auto-optimize ✔ Building fancy dashboards that update hourly ✔ Sending live reports on Slack or WhatsApp ✔ Sharing performance reviews weekly, monthly, quarterly ✔ Presenting decks to show how “in control” the systems are That’s execution. And execution is being eaten alive by AI. ⸻ Soon, you won’t need to click anything. You’ll just say what you want, and it will be done. Native Amazon tools will do it. Agentic platforms will do it. Campaigns, budget changes, reports — all instant, automated, expected. If your value is in how quickly you can “do the work,” You’re building on sand. That layer — the operational, mechanical layer — is disappearing. And it’s not coming back. ⸻ So what will matter? Strategy. Thinking. Judgment. Domain expertise. 🧠 Knowing what campaigns to run — and why. 🧠 Understanding how CPC, CVR, and AOV shape ROAS, and how to shift those levers. 🧠 Deciding which keywords and ASINs belong together — and which don’t. 🧠 Designing test structures that prove what works. 🧠 Interpreting signals from DSP, AMC, or brand halo effects — and turning them into actions. You won’t win business by showing how quickly you can generate a dashboard. You’ll win it by showing how well you think. ⸻ Here’s what one smart consultant I spoke to did: He used to spend 6–8 hours a week building bulk files and prepping reports. Now he uses an AI agent for all of it — and spends that time refining his bid strategies based on long-tail keyword performance across 3 client verticals. His rates went up. His role evolved. Because he’s now a strategic partner, not a production resource. ⸻ So here’s my ask to every Amazon ad freelancer, PPC specialist, or agency owner: ❌ Don’t spend your next 6 months learning how to use AI to create better reports. ❌ Don’t spend it automating the work that’s going to be free soon anyway. ❌ Don’t confuse speed with value. Instead: ✅ Master Amazon’s entire advertising stack — from Sponsored Ads to AMC to DSP. ✅ Learn how each piece of the ecosystem contributes to growth and efficiency. ✅ Study what truly drives incrementality, profitability, and customer retention. ✅ Become the strategist who feeds the AI, not the one who gets replaced by it. Because you can’t beat the machine at doing. But you can lead it with better thinking. Let AI take the keyboard. You bring the brains.

I’ve helped 5 eCom brands exit for ~$500m. The acquirer always wanted lower CPAs: So we pull 8 levers: 1. Creative → Target ~1 new concept per $10k in monthly spend. → At $500k/mo, that's 50 concepts. → 70% video (top of funnel, builds awareness) → 30% static (bottom of funnel, closes sales) That's 35 video concepts, 15 static concepts. Then 2-3 hook variations per video, and 5-8 variations per static. That's roughly 70 videos and 90 statics. Cut 70%+ of creatives before they hit two weeks. Your top 1-2% of ads should drive ~50% of spend. In most accounts, 70-80% of creative continues performing month-over-month. That means: → To maintain: replace 20-30% monthly → To grow 20%: replace churn + add 20% more volume 2. Media buying There are three actions that cut CPA without new ads: → Pause or spend-cap everything above target CPA → Retest old winners with new copy, headlines, landing pages → Scale the top 1-2% to take ~50% of total spend 8-figure brands can cut CPAs by 50% with media buying alone. Keep testing budget under 20% of total ad spend. Limit budget changes to 10-15% max, but make changes twice as often. 3. Website optimization The benchmarks: → CVR: 3%+ (top 10% hit 4.7%+) → Add-to-cart: 7-10% → Checkout completion: 60%+ Sometimes a landing page with 10% higher CPA leads to faster repurchases and higher LTV. 4. Subscription optimization The targets: → Monthly subscription churn: under 7% → 12-month retention: 40%+ → Repeat purchase rate: 30%+ The lever is segmentation: → Subscription vs one-time buyers → 4 week vs 8 week vs 12 week frequencies → Product categories → Acquisition channels The gap between 2x and 4x purchase frequency is a 2x LTV multiplier. 5. CRO Target email opt-in: 2-5%. Run distinct landing pages for each avatar. Example avatars for a supplement brand: → General nutrition → Gut health → Weight loss 6. Tracking optimization Click-based attribution overvalues lower-funnel performance by up to 250%. Top-of-funnel creative can drive 13X more incremental acquisitions than bottom-of-funnel. Click attribution will tell you the opposite. Post-purchase surveys catch what click attribution misses. Track individual nCAC on every ad you run. 7. Ad copy and headlines Ad copy can boost performance by 30%. Give creators selling points, not exact scripts. Target: → 40%+ hook rate → 2%+ CTR → 2-3 hook variations per video concept minimum 8. Data reporting and analysis Know two numbers: Maximum spend (company stays profitable): → Gross margin - OpEx = maximum marketing spend % → Example: 50% margin - 10% OpEx = 40% max Target spend (customer stays profitable): → Project 3-month customer profitability = your target CPA → Example: $55 AOV, $30 first purchase profit, $39 at month 3 = $39 target CPA End of the day, acquirers want: → Profitable customer acquisition → Reliable new customer growth for 3+ years → LTV and margins optimized

Earlier this year, I almost gave up on pay-per-click advertising. Yes, me—a digital marketer who's been optimizing Google Ads for almost a decade. Let me explain. Our PPC campaigns were hitting a wall... For ourselves and for our clients: - Rising Costs: Cost-per-click was climbing, squeezing our margins. - Declining Engagement: Click-through rates were stagnant. - Low Conversions: Traffic wasn't translating into leads or sales. I was frustrated. It felt like pouring money into a leaky bucket. One afternoon, after yet another campaign underperformed, I sat down and asked myself: "What am I missing?" That's when it hit me. I was so caught up in the mechanics—bids, budgets, keywords—that I lost sight of the most important element: The people behind the clicks. I realized I needed to shift from a numbers-only approach to a people-centric strategy. Here's what I did: Re-examined Audience Targeting - Segmentation: I broke down our audience into specific personas. - Intent Focus: Aligned keywords with the actual intent of our users, not just popular search terms. Revamped Ad Copy - Authentic Messaging: Wrote ads that spoke directly to the needs and pain points of our audience. - A/B Testing: Continuously tested different headlines and descriptions to see what truly resonated. Enhanced Landing Pages - Consistency: Ensured the landing page matched the promise of the ad. - User Experience: Simplified the design for easier navigation and clearer calls to action. Leveraged Analytics - Data-Driven Decisions: Paid close attention to analytics to inform adjustments. - Conversion Tracking: Set up detailed tracking to understand exactly where conversions were coming from. The results? - 30% Increase in Click-Through Rates - 25% Reduction in Cost-Per-Click - 50% Boost in Conversion Rates But more importantly, we started connecting with our audience on a deeper level. I learned that successful PPC isn't just about algorithms and ad ranks—it's about relevance and relationships. So, if you're struggling with your Google Ads campaigns, consider this: Are you speaking your audience's language? Are you addressing their real needs? Are you viewing them as numbers or as people? Don't get lost in the technicalities and lose sight of who you're trying to reach. Sometimes, all it takes is a shift in perspective. Remember, it's pay-per-click, but it's people who click. Are you ready to transform your PPC approach? 👋 Hi, I'm Dave, a digital marketer dedicated to turning clicks into meaningful connections through our agency Spartan Digital Solutions LLC If you want to breathe new life into your PPC campaigns and truly engage your audience, let's connect. Ring my 🔔 for more insights, or feel free to reach out—I'm here to help. #GoogleAds #PPC #DigitalMarketing #CustomerEngagement

You're paying $150 per click for "what to do after a car accident." And wondering why nobody's hiring you. Here's the problem: There's a hard line between informational intent and transactional intent. And treating them the same is burning your PPC budget. 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁: "what to do after a car accident," "should I see a doctor after an accident," "neck pain after crash." These searches happen hours after the accident. The person is panicking. Googling for immediate guidance. They're not ready to hire. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁: "car accident lawyer near me," "personal injury attorney," "truck accident lawyer Orlando." These searches happen days or weeks later. The person knows they need a lawyer. They're comparing firms. They're ready to call. Same practice area. Completely different CPCs. Completely different conversion rates. Here's what happens when you treat them the same: You bid aggressively on informational keywords and pay premium CPCs for clicks that will never convert. Or you underfund transactional keywords because your budget got eaten by people just looking for advice. Both are expensive mistakes. Here's how to fix it: Segment campaigns by intent. Transactional keywords should not be lumped together with informational keywords. Use informational keywords strategically. Lower bids. Educational landing pages. Retargeting pixels. Capture them early and nurture them until they're ready. One firm was spending 40% of their budget on informational keywordsTheir overall Google Ads cost per case was $4,200. We reallocated. Transactional got 75% of budget. Informational got 25% at half the bid. Cost per case dropped to $2,800 in 60 days. Same total spend. Smarter structure. If your PPC campaigns treat every click the same, you're either overspending on the wrong traffic traffic or starving the searches that actually convert. Want help restructuring your law firm’s campaigns around actual buyer intent? Let's talk. #LawFirmGrowth #LegalMarketing #LawFirmManagement #ScalingALawFirm #LegalLeadership #LawFirmStrategy #ParetoLegal

Understanding buyer intent must be the core of your holiday PPC strategy, especially during Christmas. Most brands jump straight into budgets, bids, and keyword lists… But if you don’t understand who is buying and why they’re buying, your spend becomes guesswork. Because holiday shoppers behave differently: They browse faster, compare quicker, abandon more often, and convert only when the offer fits the exact intent they had in mind. This is why most wasted ad spend in December comes from one thing - misaligned targeting. So I built this Christmas PPC cheat sheet to help brands focus on what matters first: 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 → 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 → 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. Here’s a preview of what’s inside ⬇️ 𝟭. 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 ↳ Reach people with clear seasonal buying intent ↳ Tap into audiences actively exploring gifting categories ↳ Avoid broad traffic that clicks but rarely converts ↳ Re-engage warm shoppers still comparing options ↳ Use complementary SKUs to raise total cart value 𝟮. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 ↳ Communicate “gift fit” in seconds ↳ Reduce friction with simple, decisive visuals ↳ Test multiple angles to match different shopper mindsets ↳ Highlight value clearly for faster decision-making ↳ Use formats that capture attention during peak scroll hours 𝟯. 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 ↳ Allocate spend during the exact hours when buyers surge ↳ Support only SKUs that can handle increased velocity ↳ Use structures that guard against inflated CPCs ↳ Prioritize placements that win early attention ↳ Adjust pacing around evening mobile activity 𝟰. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 ↳ Cut low-intent seasonal traffic ↳ Prevent your own variants from competing ↳ Keep funnels clean as competition rises ↳ Remove terms that drain budget without buying signals ↳ Focus spend on true converters 𝟱. 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 ↳ Guide shoppers to curated gift collections ↳ Segment by price point, recipient, or theme ↳ Ensure the landing experience matches the ad promise ↳ Reduce bounce with focused, intuitive pathways 𝟲. 𝗥𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 ↳ Tight performance reviews during high-volume days ↳ Cut losing targets quickly ↳ Reinforce winners with more coverage ↳ Watch conversion shifts as rivals scale spend ↳ Stay agile as demand patterns change weekly If your PPC strategy starts with buyer intent, the rest becomes far more efficient and every dollar you spend works harder. P.S. Want seller tips and strategy from brands doing over $200M in revenue? Check out the ZonGuru Growth Newsletter: 🔔 https://t2m.io/j6Po32q

If you’re just getting started with a new PPC client, there are a lot of moving parts. Here are some of the main areas I check and optimize in a Google Ads account during the onboarding phase: 1️⃣ Sneaky Settings - Auto apply: I don’t trust like that. I recommend keeping ‘Use optimized ad rotation’ and ‘Remove conflicting negative keywords’ but I turn everything else off.  - Bulk actions: I check for automated rules and scripts that are currently running that may not make sense anymore. 2️⃣ Conversion Tracking - Are there any conversions being tracked? What are they?  - Auto-tagging: I like to make sure this is turned on  - Unverified or inaction conversions: If these are present, I’ll dig in more.  - Number of conversions in a 30-day period relative to click volume: If conversions are higher than clicks, that’s not good! 3️⃣ Disapprovals - Ad or keyword level: I will check these areas and try to resolve any disapprovals ASAP (also helps prevent those constant disapproval emails!) 4️⃣ Performance  - Highest spending areas: I will filter here first and slice and dice based on conversion volume.  - High-spending campaign with no conversions: I will either plan to pause, optimize, or restructure (if there is potential).  - High CPL, high-spending campaigns: I will give these a bit more TLC in the optimization department to make the spend more efficient.  - High-spending, high-converting campaigns with awesome performance: These get a gold star! AKA more budget.  - I will work my way through the other campaigns and keywords to get a plan for priority keywords and work through optimizing within the current structure and/or building new campaigns. 5️⃣ Landing Pages & Ad Copy  - Where is ad traffic going? I will dig in and see if the landing page makes sense for the keyword and the call to action.  - Does the ad copy line up with landing page copy? If the landing page is good, then I’l keep it and update the ad copy so they are in sync.  - Big question I ask myself: Does the landing page, CTA, ad copy, and keyword all flow together? If not, it’s time to get to work and craft a plan! 6️⃣ Competitor Research - Calls to action: This is helpful for seeing what other competitors are offering. - Keyword spread: I use SpyFu to see what other competitors might be bidding on and their ad investment (I don’t reallyyyy trust the ad investment piece but it’s helpful for a ballpark estimate)  - Auction insights: Sometimes keyword/PPC competitors are slightly different from the competitors that clients have identified. I will do some spying on these auction competitors to see what kinds of keywords and ads they are running. There are a lot more areas I look into, but character limits are a factor. Maybe a part 2 is needed! ______________________________ 👋 I'm Emily - a PPC expert with 10 years of experience helping businesses get more leads and customers. ☕ Wanna schedule a virtual coffee chat? Grab some time on my calendar and let’s meet!

Pro tip from a PPC expert: 🎯 ❌ No clear account structure = wasted budget ❌ No winning strategy = clicks don’t convert ❌ No optimization & tracking = flying blind Master these 3 pillars and turn campaigns into cash. 💸🚀 ✅ Structure your account for clarity ✅ Define a focused strategy for growth ✅ Optimize & track every click for insights Here’s a quick deep-dive into those three pillars—with a mini case to bring it to life: 1. Crystal-Clear Account Structure✅ What it is: Organizing campaigns → ad-groups → keywords so your ads serve the right message to the right audience. 👉 Why it matters: Keeps budgets separate, makes performance easy to diagnose, and prevents irrelevant traffic. 👉Example: A footwear brand splits its “Running Shoes” campaign into two ad-groups—“Men’s Running Shoes” and “Women’s Running Shoes”—each with tailored headlines and keywords. This way, female shoppers only see “Women’s Running Shoes” ads, boosting relevancy and Quality Score. 2. Focused Strategy✅ What it is: Defining clear goals (e.g., maximize ROAS, boost sign-ups) and matching bids, placements, and ad copy to those goals. 👉Why it matters: Stops you from spending on low-value clicks and aligns every dollar with your business objective. 👉Example: If your goal is to drive trial sign-ups, you bid aggressively on “free trial + [your product]” keywords and use ad copy like “Start Your Free 14-Day Trial Today,” rather than generic “buy now” language. 3. Continuous Optimization & Tracking ✅ What it is: Installing conversion tracking, monitoring key metrics (CTR, CPC, CPA, ROAS), and iterating—testing new headlines, adjusting bids, pausing under-performers. 👉Why it matters: Without data, you’re flying blind; with it, you can cut wasted spend and double down on winners. 👉 Example: After 2 weeks, the brand notices “Women’s Running Shoes” ads have a 3% CTR vs. “Men’s” at 1.2%. They shift more budget to the higher-CTR group and test a new headline (“Shop Top Women’s Running Styles”)—CTR jumps to 4%. ✅Bottom Line: Structure → Strategy → Optimization: nail these in order, and you turn random clicks into reliable revenue. Follow Kautilya Roshan for more insight 😊 #GoogleAds #PPC #DigitalMarketing #GrowthHacking