Ad Expert

---
name: ad-expert
description: "Expert in paid advertising across Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Google Ads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Specializes in ad ideation, creative concepting, copywriting, audience targeting, campaign structure, and performance optimization. Use when creating ad campaigns, writing ad copy, designing audience targeting, planning ad creative, or optimizing ROAS. Triggers: ads, paid media, Facebook ads, Google ads, TikTok ads, LinkedIn ads, YouTube ads, ROAS, ad copy, audience targeting, campaign."
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
  author: Humblytics
---

# Ad Expert

## Purpose

Plan, create, and optimize paid advertising campaigns across all major platforms. Covers the full lifecycle from strategy and audience research through creative development, copywriting, campaign structure, and performance optimization.

## When to Use

- Planning a new paid advertising campaign on any platform
- Writing ad copy (headlines, descriptions, primary text, CTAs)
- Designing audience targeting strategies
- Structuring campaigns, ad sets, and ad groups
- Creating creative briefs for ad visuals or video
- Optimizing existing campaigns for better ROAS
- Deciding budget allocation across platforms
- Researching competitor ad strategies

## Before You Start

1. **Understand the product/offer** — What is being advertised? What is the value proposition?
2. **Identify the goal** — Awareness, traffic, leads, sales, app installs?
3. **Define the audience** — Who is the ideal customer? Demographics, interests, behaviors, pain points.
4. **Budget** — What is the daily/monthly ad budget?
5. **Platform preference** — Does the user have a platform in mind, or should you recommend one?
6. **Existing data** — Any historical ad performance data? Humblytics analytics on landing page performance?
7. **Creative assets** — What images, videos, or brand assets are available?
8. **Look for context** — Check project docs for brand guidelines, tone of voice, and competitive positioning

## Platform Selection Guide

### Meta (Facebook + Instagram)

**Best for:** B2C, e-commerce, local businesses, SaaS with broad appeal, retargeting
**Audience size:** 3B+ monthly active users
**Strengths:** Visual storytelling, lookalike audiences, retargeting pixel, broad targeting with AI optimization
**Ad formats:** Single image, carousel, video, Stories, Reels, collection, lead forms
**Typical CPM:** $5-15 (varies by audience and objective)

**Campaign structure:**
```
Campaign (1 objective)
  └── Ad Set (audience + placement + budget)
       └── Ad (creative + copy)
```

**Best practices:**
- Use Advantage+ campaigns for e-commerce
- Broad targeting often outperforms narrow interest targeting (let Meta's AI optimize)
- Minimum 3-5 creatives per ad set for proper testing
- Use UTM parameters to track in Humblytics
- Optimize for the conversion event closest to revenue

### Google Ads

**Best for:** High-intent search capture, B2B, SaaS, local services, competitor conquesting
**Strengths:** Intent-based targeting, massive reach, diverse formats
**Ad types:** Search, Display, Shopping, Video (YouTube), Performance Max, Demand Gen

**Search campaign structure:**
```
Campaign (budget + settings)
  └── Ad Group (keyword theme)
       └── Keywords + Responsive Search Ad
```

**Best practices:**
- Start with exact and phrase match keywords
- Use negative keywords aggressively
- Write 15 headlines and 4 descriptions per RSA
- Include the keyword in at least 3 headlines
- Use ad extensions: sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call
- Bid on branded terms (competitors will)
- Track conversions via Humblytics integration or Google tag

### TikTok Ads

**Best for:** Gen Z/Millennial audiences, e-commerce, apps, brand awareness, viral content
**Strengths:** Low CPM, high engagement, native-feeling content
**Ad formats:** In-feed video, TopView, Spark Ads (boost organic), branded effects

**Best practices:**
- Ads must feel native — not polished, not corporate
- Hook in the first 1-2 seconds
- Use trending sounds and formats
- UGC-style content outperforms studio content
- Vertical video only (9:16)
- Keep videos 15-30 seconds
- Strong CTA in the last 3 seconds

### LinkedIn Ads

**Best for:** B2B, enterprise SaaS, recruiting, professional services, high-ticket offers
**Strengths:** Professional targeting (job title, company, industry, seniority)
**Ad formats:** Single image, carousel, video, text ads, message ads, document ads, lead gen forms
**Typical CPM:** $30-80 (expensive but highly targeted)

**Best practices:**
- Use job title + company size for targeting
- Lead gen forms convert better than landing page clicks
- Document ads (PDF carousels) get strong engagement
- Thought leadership content outperforms hard sells
- Retarget website visitors and video viewers
- Minimum budget: $50/day per campaign

### YouTube Ads

**Best for:** Brand awareness, education-based selling, retargeting, B2B and B2C
**Strengths:** Video storytelling, intent targeting, long-form engagement
**Ad formats:** Skippable in-stream, non-skippable, bumper (6s), Shorts, discovery

**Best practices:**
- Hook in the first 5 seconds (before skip button)
- Lead with the problem or a bold statement
- Target competitor channels and relevant content
- Use custom intent audiences (people who searched relevant terms)
- Retarget website visitors with testimonial/case study videos

## Pulling Live Campaign Data from Humblytics

Live campaign data comes from the **Humblytics MCP** (server `humblytics` — see the repo README to connect it). If the workspace has Meta or Google Ads connected at **Connectors** in the Humblytics dashboard, query existing campaigns before making recommendations — don't suggest in a vacuum. The MCP handles auth, base URL, and property resolution; you just call the `mcp__humblytics__*` tools below.

There are three ways to touch ads data — keep them straight:

**Path A — Humblytics connectors (READS via the MCP).** Pull whatever Meta/Google Ads has already synced into the workspace. Read-only.

**Path B — Meta's official `meta ads` CLI (WRITES).** The only sanctioned way to pause campaigns or change budgets. Creates resources in `PAUSED` status by default; scope the access token to a single ad account; never store it in `CLAUDE.md`.

**Path C — don't roll your own.** **Do not** route production ad-platform traffic through an unapproved Meta developer app — that is the documented ban pattern Meta is actively enforcing.

The MCP is **read-only for ads** — it never pauses campaigns or changes budgets. All management actions hand off to Path B.

**Meta Ads (Path A reads):**

- `list_meta_connections` — list connections
- `get_meta_connection_status(id)` — connection health + token expiry
- `list_meta_campaigns(id)` — campaigns for a connection
- `list_meta_account_campaigns(id, accountId, since, until)` (dates `YYYY-MM-DD`) — campaigns with performance metrics for an ad account
- `get_meta_daily_insights(id, accountId, since, until)` (dates `YYYY-MM-DD`) — daily spend, impressions, clicks per campaign
- `list_meta_campaign_ads(id, campaignId)` — ads within a campaign (creative + destination URL)
- `get_meta_ad_creative(id, adId)` — full creative metadata for one ad

**Google Ads (Path A reads):**

- `list_google_ads_connections` — list connections
- `get_google_ads_connection(id)` — single connection with customer accounts
- `list_google_ads_campaigns(id, customerId)` — campaigns for a customer account, **metadata only** (`id`, `name`, `status`, `channelType` — no spend/metrics). For Google spend, use `get_ads_attribution`.

**Full-funnel attribution:**

- `get_ads_attribution(startDate, endDate)` (dates `YYYY-MM-DD`) — per-campaign `spend`, `impressions`, `clicks`, `sessions` (these are real, sourced from the ad platforms). `revenue`, `revenue_conversions`, `trial_count`, and `roas` are **only populated if a revenue connector (Stripe / ChartMogul) is attached** to the property — otherwise they return `0`/`null`. Do not present revenue as "joined across Meta + Google + Stripe" by default; for true revenue/ROAS, route to the billing source (Stripe / ChartMogul) rather than treating these fields as guaranteed.

For landing-page performance behind the ads, read `get_pages_breakdown` / `get_page_details` (the pages a campaign drives traffic to) and `get_traffic_breakdown` (channel/source mix) from the same MCP.

When inspecting an underperforming campaign:
1. Call `get_ads_attribution` to confirm the campaign is actually spending (`spend > 0`) but not driving sessions/conversions (vs. a UTM tagging issue). **Do not** diagnose "spending without revenue" off the `revenue`/`roas` fields unless a revenue connector is attached — on a property with no Stripe/ChartMogul connector those fields are structurally `0` for every campaign, so a zero-revenue reading is meaningless, not a red flag. Use `clicks`/`sessions`/`ad_conversions` (and the billing source for actual revenue) to judge performance.
2. List the campaign's ads via `list_meta_campaign_ads(id, campaignId)`.
3. Pull the worst-performing ad's full creative via `get_meta_ad_creative(id, adId)`.
4. Diagnose: destination URL mismatch, weak hook in the first 1–2 seconds (video), generic stock imagery, copy that doesn't match landing-page promise.

## Ad Copy Frameworks

### PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solve)
1. **Problem**: State the pain clearly
2. **Agitate**: Make it worse, show consequences
3. **Solve**: Present your product as the answer

### AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action)
1. **Attention**: Pattern interrupt, bold claim
2. **Interest**: Relevant detail that hooks them
3. **Desire**: Benefits, proof, transformation
4. **Action**: Clear CTA

### Before/After/Bridge
1. **Before**: Their current painful state
2. **After**: Their desired state
3. **Bridge**: Your product is how they get there

### The 4U Headline Formula
- **Useful**: Is it beneficial to the reader?
- **Urgent**: Is there a reason to act now?
- **Ultra-specific**: Does it include concrete details?
- **Unique**: Is it differentiated from competitors?

## Creative Brief Template

When concepting ad creative:

```
Campaign: [name]
Platform: [Meta / Google / TikTok / LinkedIn / YouTube]
Objective: [awareness / traffic / leads / sales]
Target Audience: [ICP description]

Key Message: [one sentence]
Supporting Points: [2-3 bullet points]
Tone: [professional / casual / urgent / educational / entertaining]
CTA: [specific action]

Visual Direction:
- Format: [image / video / carousel / stories]
- Style: [UGC / polished / minimal / data-driven / testimonial]
- Must include: [logo, product screenshot, etc.]
- Avoid: [stock photos, competitor references, etc.]

Copy Variations:
- Headline A: [...]
- Headline B: [...]
- Primary text A: [...]
- Primary text B: [...]
```

## Budget Allocation Framework

For a new campaign with no historical data:

1. **Start with one platform** — Don't spread thin
2. **Allocate 70% to proven, 20% to testing, 10% to experiments**
3. **Minimum viable budget per platform:**
   - Meta: $20/day per ad set
   - Google Search: $30/day per campaign
   - TikTok: $20/day per ad group
   - LinkedIn: $50/day per campaign
   - YouTube: $30/day per campaign
4. **Test for 7-14 days** before making optimization decisions
5. **Scale winners by 20% every 3-5 days** (not more, to avoid audience fatigue)

## Output Format

When creating an ad campaign, deliver:

1. **Campaign Strategy** — Objective, platform, audience, budget
2. **Audience Targeting** — Detailed targeting setup per platform
3. **Ad Copy** — Multiple variations of headlines, descriptions, primary text
4. **Creative Brief** — Visual direction and format specifications
5. **Campaign Structure** — Campaigns, ad sets, ads hierarchy
6. **Tracking Setup** — UTM parameters, conversion events, Humblytics integration
7. **Optimization Plan** — What to measure, when to scale, when to kill

## Related Skills

- **copywriting** — Deep-dive into ad copy and landing page copy
- **marketing-strategist** — Broader channel strategy and funnel design
- **cro-optimizer** — Optimize the landing pages your ads drive traffic to
- **content-strategist** — Create organic content that complements paid campaigns

## Shared Frameworks (REQUIRED reading)

Ad copy and landing-page coordination is where canon advice ("add urgency!", "use 'free'!") backfires loudest in B2B contexts. Read these before writing campaigns.

- **`_shared/frameworks/anti-patterns.md`** — paid-media-specific counter-evidence:
  - **Manufactured urgency**: detected fake urgency reduces customer LTV by 15–40%. A +20% short-term CVR lift can be net-negative on a CLTV basis. **B2B SaaS pricing-page countdowns frequently backfire** — buying committees read them as vendor desperation. FTC scrutiny is increasing on perpetual-reset timers.
  - **"Free" in CTA copy**: Unbounce platform-wide data shows CTAs without "free" outperform CTAs with "free" by -16.8%. Counters the older Corcentric +99% myth. For B2B / enterprise, "free" can signal low-stakes / hobbyist product.
  - **Customer logos**: high-variance. Docsend's +260% from enterprise→enterprise is the outlier; DoWhatWorks aggregate shows logos LOST in most A/B tests. Verify segment-match before using as a creative element.
- **`_shared/frameworks/base-rate-priors.md`** — ad copy A/B tests have similar 25–35% win rates. When pitching creative variants, frame expected outcomes as "1-in-3 chance of beating control" not "this will lift ROAS 40%."
- **`_shared/frameworks/preflight-checklist.md`** — confirm vertical, deal size, and audience awareness level before recommending copy formulas. Schwartz's 5 stages of awareness apply: cold traffic needs different ad copy than retargeted bottom-funnel prospects.
- **`_shared/benchmarks/patterns.json`** — when proposing a creative angle, match to a `pattern_id` and quote evidence-backed lift ranges. Most relevant categories: `cta`, `headline`, `social_proof`, `urgency`.