B2b Saas Paid Ads

SKILL.md

---
name: b2b-saas-paid-ads
description: >
  B2B SaaS paid advertising strategy builder.
  Use this skill whenever the user wants to plan, design, or optimize paid advertising campaigns.
  Trigger for phrases like "paid ads strategy", "LinkedIn ads", "Google ads for B2B",
  "ad campaign", "run paid", "Meta ads for SaaS", "retargeting campaign", "demand gen ads",
  "paid media plan", "PPC strategy", "ad copy", "ad creative brief", "paid social",
  "how should we spend our ad budget", or any request to plan paid advertising for B2B SaaS.
---

# Paid Ads Strategy — B2B SaaS

**Purpose:** Build a focused paid advertising plan that generates quality pipeline — right channels, audiences, and creative for each funnel stage.

---

## Step 1: Gather Context

- **Goal:** Pipeline / demos / downloads / event registrations / awareness?
- **Budget:** Monthly budget
- **ICP:** Role, company size, industry
- **Funnel stage:** Cold TOFU / warm MOFU / high-intent BOFU?
- **Assets:** Case studies, demo video, strong landing page?

---

## Step 2: Channel Selection

```
LinkedIn Ads — Primary for most B2B SaaS
├── Best for: TOFU + MOFU, exact job title targeting
├── Minimum: $3K-5K/month | CPL: $100-$400
└── Use: Always if targeting mid-market to enterprise by title

Google Search — High intent, essential for BOFU
├── Best for: In-market buyers searching your category
├── Minimum: $2K-3K/month | CPL: $50-$200
└── Use: When buyers are already searching

Meta — Retargeting + TOFU at scale
├── Best for: Website visitor retargeting, lookalikes
├── Minimum: $1K-2K/month | CPL: $30-$100 (retargeting)
└── Use: Retargeting always; cold if budget allows

G2 / Review Site Ads — Intent-based BOFU (high ROI)
└── Use: If you have G2 reviews and are in a competitive category
```

---

## Step 3: Audience Targeting

### LinkedIn
```
Layers (2-3 combined):
Job Title | Seniority (Director, VP, C-suite) | Company Size | Industry | Skills

Retargeting:
Website visitors (30/60/90 days) | Pricing page (30 days, highest intent)
Blog readers (60 days) | Video viewers (25%/50%/75%)
```

### Google Keywords
```
Tier 1 — Brand: [Your brand] — lowest CPL, always defend
Tier 2 — Competitor: "[Competitor] alternative", "vs [you]"
Tier 3 — Category: "best [category] software"
Tier 4 — Problem: "how to [problem your product solves]"
```

---

## Step 4: Creative Angles

**TOFU (Cold):**
- Insight: "Most [role]s don't know [counter-intuitive insight]"
- Pain: "[Pain point] is costing you [specific impact]"
- Benchmark: "[X]% of similar companies [benchmark] — where do you stand?"

**MOFU (Warm/Retargeting):**
- Social proof: "See how [similar company] achieved [result]"
- Objection: "Think [common objection]? Here's what [customer] said..."
- Demo CTA: "See [product] in action — [specific capability]"

**BOFU (High Intent):**
- Direct: "[Outcome] in [timeframe] — book a 20-minute demo"
- Comparison: "[Competitor] vs [your product] — see the difference"

---

## Step 5: Budget Allocation

```
$3K-5K/month: LinkedIn 70%, Google 30%
$5K-10K/month: LinkedIn 50%, Google 30%, Meta 15%, G2 5%
$10K-20K/month: LinkedIn 45%, Google 30%, Meta 15%, G2 5%, YouTube 5%
$20K+: Add programmatic, content syndication, podcast ads
```

---

## Step 6: KPIs & Optimization

```
KPIs:
├── CTR: 0.5-1.5% LinkedIn | 2-5% Google
├── CPL: per channel benchmark
├── MQL rate (quality signal)
├── Pipeline influenced
└── CAC from paid channel

OPTIMIZATION:
Week 1-2: Don't change (learning phase)
Week 3: Kill lowest CTR creatives
Week 4+: Shift budget to best performers
Monthly: New creative, refresh audiences
```

---

## Output Format

```
# Paid Ads Strategy — [Company Name]
## Objective & Budget
## Channel Mix & Rationale
## Audience Targeting (per channel)
## Creative Angles
## Ad Copy Variants (2-3 per angle)
## Budget Allocation
## Campaign Structure
## KPIs & Benchmarks
## 90-Day Plan (Month 1: baselines, 2: optimize, 3: expand)
```