---
name: performance-marketing
description: Use when planning, running or auditing paid social and performance marketing (mainly Meta, also TikTok) for any product — ecommerce, digital products, apps — creative strategy and research, hooks and ad formats, UGC/creator/partnership ads, Meta account structure after Andromeda, creative testing and scaling, reading ad metrics, and measurement (CAPI, attribution biases, incrementality, MMM). Triggers on "why aren't my ads working", "how should I structure my Meta account", "what ads should we make", "how do I test creatives", "can I trust this ROAS".
---

# Performance marketing (ad creative, Meta ads, measurement)

Synthesised from Dara Denney, Motion (creative analytics, 2025–2026 talks), Smart Marketer and Mobile Dev Memo
(Eric Seufert). Mostly ecommerce/DTC practice; for app-specific UA read `app-user-acquisition`, for landing pages
`landing-pages-and-copy`. Numbers come from individual accounts and agencies — treat them as starting points, not laws.

## Core playbook

1. **Diagnose before you produce:** one or two sentences on what the account is missing (persona, format, awareness level). → creative-account-diagnosis
2. **Research the moment the problem shows up, not abstract pain points;** document why-buy / why-believe per product. → customer-research-for-ads, motivator-map-why-buy-why-believe
3. **Creative is the targeting:** go broad (inputs are only suggestions), define audience segments, exclude customers; fix proven demographic/placement problems with value rules, not restrictions; reach new people with genuinely different concepts, not near-copies. → meta-targeting-broad-vs-interests, meta-audience-segments-and-remarketing, meta-value-rules, meta-creative-similarity-entity-ids
4. **Creative is a hits business:** ~1 in 100 new ads becomes a whale, so ship enough diverse ads (and several creative sources) for the odds to work. Build diversity in order: formats → awareness levels → desires → personas. → creative-diversity-levels, creative-hit-rate-and-spend-tiers, multiple-creative-partners-and-creative-culture
5. **Hooks stop, target and lead into the story;** change the visual first, cut the "so what?" moment, and carry relevance from the first frame through to the landing page and homepage. → hook-anatomy, verbal-hook-templates, ugc-visual-hook-formats, ad-storytelling-and-the-so-what-test, ad-relevance-chain
6. **S-tier formats today: founder, partnership/creator and VSL-style ads;** put partnership ads at 30–50% of spend. Cheap phone-shot formats still win, and AppLovin needs 45–60 s stories with the CTA at the end. → meta-ad-format-tier-list, founder-ads, partnership-ads-and-creator-selection, lofi-ugc-ad-format-swipe-file, applovin-ad-creative
7. **Start simple, add structure only for a proven problem;** low volume = one campaign, one ad set, optimise for the purchase; give new ads spend with push delivery / the testing tool or a separate testing campaign at higher spend (practitioners disagree — say so); optimise for value/qualified leads; prefer min-ROAS over cost-per-result goals once you have volume. → meta-new-account-low-volume-setup, meta-strategy-by-spend-level, meta-account-structure-2026, meta-creative-testing-by-budget, meta-push-delivery-and-creative-testing-tool, meta-ads-per-ad-set-and-budget-minimums, meta-optimization-event-and-lead-quality, meta-bid-strategy-min-roas-vs-cost-cap
8. **Launch in batches on a fixed cadence, judge the ad set in aggregate after 7–14 days** (breakdown effect), optimise only on primary metrics; don't reflexively turn ads off. → meta-weekly-cadence-and-attribution, meta-breakdown-effect-judge-in-aggregate, meta-underspend-and-never-turn-off-ads, meta-ads-manager-metrics-setup
9. **Find the broken stage before fixing:** no conversions = offer; weak hook/CTR = creative; high CTR + low CVR = page; many unprofitable conversions = business model. A "fatigued" ad is often remarketing exhaustion — check the segment breakdown. → meta-ad-diagnostic-cheatsheet, creative-metrics-hook-hold-ctr, meta-creative-fatigue-diagnosis, meta-landing-page-congruency
10. **Mostly new concepts, some iterations;** scale only clear winners that hold among new audiences on 1-day click/incremental results; raise budgets in steps (or small automated rules) to find the ceiling — don't duplicate campaigns. → iterating-on-winning-ads, meta-iteration-vs-net-new-creative, meta-scaling-winners, meta-budget-scaling-methods
11. **Plan to the capacity you have:** size monthly volume as the spend gap ÷ expected spend per new ad, and judge creative sources by the spend their ads carry, not by hit rate or warm-audience ROAS. → brand-reality-capacity-and-alignment, meta-creative-budget-and-team, creative-demand-formula-carry-rate, judging-creatives-by-spend-not-roas
12. **Fix the signal first:** audit what conversions reach the platforms (events firing on page load, wrong optimisation event); pixel + CAPI, deduplicated, EMQ ≥7, reconciled to orders; send server-side to your 1–3 main platforms. → signal-engineering-and-conversion-event-audit, conversions-api-capi
13. **Last-click is fine while small and on 1–2 channels; beyond that treat platform ROAS as biased and test incrementality.** In Meta, break results down by attribution setting and consider the incremental attribution model before scaling or pausing. → when-last-click-is-good-enough, last-click-attribution-biases, meta-incremental-attribution-model, incrementality-test-design

## Note map

### Ad creative

| Note | Read when |
|---|---|
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/creative-strategy-fundamentals.md` | Starting creative strategy for a brand; defining the strategist's job |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/creative-account-diagnosis.md` | Auditing an account's creative before making new ads |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/customer-research-for-ads.md` | Researching customers/personas to find ad angles |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/motivator-map-why-buy-why-believe.md` | Documenting value props, killer hooks and proof per product |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/human-desires-ad-angles.md` | Choosing an emotional angle (Reiss's 16 desires) |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/teep-funnel-stage-creative.md` | Matching ad format to the buyer's psychological stage |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/hook-anatomy.md` | Writing or diagnosing hooks; what a hook must do |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/verbal-hook-templates.md` | Need ready spoken/text hook templates |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ugc-visual-hook-formats.md` | Need visual first-3-second hook ideas |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/creative-metrics-hook-hold-ctr.md` | Reading creative metrics in order: thumbstop → hold → CTR → CVR |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/meta-ad-format-tier-list.md` | Choosing which ad formats to produce (S–F tier list) |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/creative-diversity-levels.md` | Planning creative diversity for Andromeda |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/iterating-on-winning-ads.md` | Found a winner — what to iterate and how much |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/founder-ads.md` | Considering founder-led ads |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/partnership-ads-and-creator-selection.md` | Running partnership/whitelisted ads; picking creators |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ugc-ad-formula-and-formats.md` | Scripting UGC ads |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ugc-creator-briefs.md` | Writing a creator brief |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ugc-engine-personas-and-creator-deals.md` | Building a scalable UGC program and creator deals |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/holiday-sale-ugc-creative.md` | Preparing Black Friday / sale creative |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/brand-reality-capacity-and-alignment.md` | Sizing the creative plan to team capacity and budget |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/creative-hit-rate-and-spend-tiers.md` | Setting expectations for winners; judging hit rate or creative sources |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/creative-demand-formula-carry-rate.md` | Calculating how many new ads to make per month against a spend target |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/judging-creatives-by-spend-not-roas.md` | Deciding which ads are winners; high spend but low ROAS; audience-segment breakdown |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ad-fatigue-and-creative-longevity.md` | A winner is declining: is it fatigue, and how often to refresh |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ad-relevance-chain.md` | Performance dropped "because of Andromeda"; ad → page → homepage relevance |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/landing-page-tests-with-dedicated-ads.md` | Testing a new landing page with Meta traffic without split-test tools |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ad-storytelling-and-the-so-what-test.md` | Reviewing a cut or script; storytelling, long ads, infomercial lessons |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/lofi-ugc-ad-format-swipe-file.md` | Need cheap, one-creator UGC formats (skits, green screen, text interrupt…) |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/tiktok-style-ugc-production-specs.md` | Filming/editing specs for TikTok-native ads: length, captions, safe zone, cadence |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/bfcm-offer-hooks-and-gift-formats.md` | BFCM offer structure, offer-in-hook props and gift-angle ads |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/applovin-ad-creative.md` | Making creative for AppLovin (e-commerce): length, pacing, end cards, volume |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/ai-generated-ad-creative.md` | Using Veo/Kling/AI in ads; compliance lines for AI content |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/ad-creative/multiple-creative-partners-and-creative-culture.md` | Running several agencies/in-house teams; brand guidelines vs creative freedom |

### Meta ads

| Note | Read when |
|---|---|
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-andromeda-gem-lattice.md` | Understanding how Meta's 2025–26 delivery works; why results changed |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-creative-similarity-entity-ids.md` | Many ads launched but only 1–3 get spend |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-account-structure-2026.md` | Setting up or auditing campaign structure |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-creative-testing-by-budget.md` | Designing creative tests for a given monthly budget |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-ads-per-ad-set-and-budget-minimums.md` | How many ads per ad set; minimum budgets |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-weekly-cadence-and-attribution.md` | Launch cadence, judging window, attribution settings |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-ads-manager-metrics-setup.md` | Choosing Ads Manager columns and which metrics to optimise |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-ad-diagnostic-cheatsheet.md` | Locating where an ad breaks from its metrics |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-creative-test-qualitative-analysis.md` | Explaining why a winning ad won (format, creator, setting, messaging, awareness stage) and recurring creative reports |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-scaling-winners.md` | Deciding what is a winner and how to scale it |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-consolidation-vs-sprint-approach.md` | Account stuck vs has momentum — consolidate or go granular |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-iteration-vs-net-new-creative.md` | Splitting effort between iterations and new concepts |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-persona-angle-creative-dimensions.md` | Planning a creative roadmap by persona × angle × awareness |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-targeting-broad-vs-interests.md` | Targeting questions — broad vs interests |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-landing-page-congruency.md` | High CTR, low conversion; choosing the landing page type |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-dtc-brand-launch-playbook.md` | Launching a new DTC brand on Meta from zero |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-creative-budget-and-team.md` | Planning creative volume, agencies and hires |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-ads-fundamentals-2026.md` | Quick checklist of what moves Meta results; onboarding someone to Meta ads |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-new-account-low-volume-setup.md` | New ad account, small budget, or too few purchases to learn |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-strategy-by-spend-level.md` | How setup, testing, bidding and team change from $100 to $100K/month |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-optimization-event-and-lead-quality.md` | Picking the optimisation event; poor lead quality; value vs volume |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-value-rules.md` | Some segments are worth more (LTV, lead-to-sale) — adjusting bids instead of restricting |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-bid-strategy-min-roas-vs-cost-cap.md` | Choosing min ROAS vs cost cap vs lowest cost; setting the target |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-audience-segments-and-remarketing.md` | Do I need retargeting campaigns? Seeing how much spend goes to warm people |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-push-delivery-and-creative-testing-tool.md` | New ads get no spend; using push delivery or the creative testing tool |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-breakdown-effect-judge-in-aggregate.md` | Tempted to judge or kill individual ads/assets on thin data |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-underspend-and-never-turn-off-ads.md` | Meta won't spend at target efficiency; whether to turn ads off |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-creative-fatigue-diagnosis.md` | An ad's performance dropped after a good start — fatigue or not? |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-budget-scaling-methods.md` | How fast to raise budget; automated scaling rules; finding the ceiling |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/meta-ads/meta-advertiser-maturity-levels.md` | Benchmarking a brand's or competitor's Meta ads (Ad Library audit) |

### Measurement

| Note | Read when |
|---|---|
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/measurement-stack-attribution-incrementality-mmm.md` | How last-click, incrementality and MMM fit together |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/when-last-click-is-good-enough.md` | Small/1–2 channel advertiser: do I need more than last-click? |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/last-click-attribution-biases.md` | Reading channel ROAS that may be inflated or under-credited |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/meta-incremental-attribution-model.md` | Meta standard vs incremental attribution; view-through inflation |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/incrementality-test-design.md` | Planning a geo/holdout test |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/mmm-evaluation-and-open-source.md` | Choosing or validating an MMM (Robyn, Meridian) |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/conversions-api-capi.md` | Setting up server-side conversions (CAPI) |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/signal-engineering-and-conversion-event-audit.md` | Auditing what conversion data reaches platforms; picking optimisation events |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/mmp-role-and-skadnetwork.md` | Apps: do I need an MMP; SKAdNetwork |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/evaluating-new-ad-channels.md` | Should we test CTV, AppLovin or another channel? |
| `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/wiki/marketing/measurement/mobile-ua-evolution-and-team-structure.md` | Designing a UA team and channel mix by budget |

## Gaps

- TikTok Ads, Google/YouTube Ads and AppLovin setup in depth (only touched on).
- B2B performance marketing; email/SMS and retention marketing.
- Several sources are ecommerce-only — app-specific nuances (SKAN, MMPs) live in `app-user-acquisition` and the measurement notes.
- Parts of two Motion/Dara transcripts were garbled by speech-to-text (noted inside the affected Meta notes).