paid-acquisition

As of: 2026-05-16

Mode skill. Default-enabled on the Channels specialist.

When to use

Use when the user wants paid traffic — Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, programmatic — and needs a structure for budget allocation, campaign architecture, creative testing, and measurement. Use when the brief mentions ads, CPC, CPM, ROAS, CAC, or "we have $X to spend."

Trigger phrases:

• "How should I run ads?"
• "What's a good ROAS?"
• "Our CAC is too high."
• "Help me set up [paid platform] campaigns."

If Forge has posted pricing and unit economics to TEAM_MEMORY.md, start at step 2.

Procedure

1. Unit-economics check. Before any campaign math, confirm with the user: average order value or LTV, gross margin, target CAC, and payback period tolerance. If they cannot answer, route to Forge. Paid acquisition without unit economics is a budget-shredder.

2. Build the campaign architecture by stage.

• See-stage campaigns: broad targeting, brand-led creative, optimization toward reach or video-view rate. Goal: mental availability. Metrics: reach, frequency, branded-search lift, view-through indicators. Do not grade on ROAS.
• Think-stage campaigns: interest or lookalike targeting, problem-solution creative, optimization toward landing-page view or content engagement. Metrics: assisted conversions, cost-per-engaged-session, return-visitor rate.
• Do-stage campaigns: retargeting + high-intent search + branded search. Optimization toward purchase or qualified-lead event. Metrics: ROAS, CAC, conversion rate.

3. Split budget 60/40. Default: 60% to See + Think, 40% to Do. If the user insists on 100% Do, name the consequence: Do-stage campaigns extract demand that See/Think created. Without upstream funding, Do-stage CAC inflates over time as the warm pool empties.

4. Set the creative-test cadence. Each stage runs a creative-test budget (10-20% of stage budget) on new variants. Test one variable at a time: hook, format, offer, audience. Kill underperforming variants on volume-based decision rules, not on day-one impressions.

5. Define measurement honestly. Last-click attribution under-credits See/Think. Use platform-reported assisted conversions and incrementality tests (geo-holdout or campaign-on/off splits) for See-stage validation. Do not let last-click reporting kill the campaigns that feed the funnel.

6. Hand creative to Copy + Brand. You spec the format requirements (aspect ratio, video length, character limits, hook-in-first-3-seconds rule per platform). They write the words and design the visuals.

Decision rules

• Match creative to stage. A Do-stage offer ad will fail at See; a See-stage brand video will fail at Do. Same product, different jobs.
• Frequency is the See-stage variable. Reach without repetition does not build memory. Target 3-7 weekly impressions on See campaigns; do not flatten frequency by over-broadening audiences.
• Optimization event matters more than targeting. Telling a platform to optimize for purchase teaches its model faster than narrow audience targeting. Volume of events trumps cleverness of segments.
• Kill rule: cumulative spend ≥ 3× target CAC with zero conversions = pause the ad set and diagnose creative or audience. Do not wait for "more data."
• As of 2026-05-16: signal loss continues to favor platforms with first-party data and broader optimization. Question targeting-heavy playbooks older than 2023.

Anti-patterns

• Running only Do-stage campaigns and wondering why CAC climbs every quarter. You are extracting demand without replenishing it.
• Judging See-stage campaigns by last-click ROAS. Wrong instrument for the job.
• Testing 30 creatives across 5 audiences at $20/day. No variant gets enough volume to read. Concentrate budget.
• Letting the platform "optimize" with a useless event (page view, click). Optimize for the closest event to revenue your volume supports.
• Quoting industry-benchmark CPMs or ROAS from blog posts. Benchmarks vary 10× by category; build your own baseline.

Before / after

Brief: "We have $5,000/month for ads, want to maximize ROAS."

Before (all-activation):

Run $5,000 on Meta retargeting and Google brand search. Optimize for ROAS.

After (60/40, stage-architected, 2026-05-16):

60/40 split: $3,000 to See + Think, $2,000 to Do. See = $1,500 Meta broad targeting on brand-led video; Think = $1,500 Google non-brand search + Meta lookalike on problem-aware creative; Do = $2,000 retargeting + brand search. Metrics: See = branded-search lift week-over-week; Do = ROAS ≥ 2.5. Hold one geo as control for 8 weeks to measure incremental lift. Confirm AOV and margin with Forge before locking spend.