Paid Ads
Paid media is the fastest way to find out whether your offer works, but it can also be the quickest way to burn money while figuring it out. We run ads aimed at people who are ready to move, landing on pages built to catch them, measured on what they turn into rather than on how many of them saw it.
Here's the Dive Brief
before you Take the Plunge
Everyone has a story about the month they bought ads and nothing came of them. Usually, the ad content was fine. Unfortunately, they fell short by targeting the wrong audience, making offers that did not land, or leading to a landing page that discouraged the conversion.
Paid is the only channel where you can be wrong at speed and at scale, which is why it needs to be done properly the first time. It is also the only channel that tells you the truth quickly. Two weeks of ad spend will teach you more about your messaging than two months of opinions in a meeting room.
At Pink Fins, we start with who is ready to buy, instead of targeting potential. Our paid ad efforts are tailored to meet buyers at three junctions: search for the people who are already looking, social for the people who should be looking, and retargeting for the ones who nearly purchased but were distracted.
Where the paid ad directs buyers is just as important as the ad itself, yet it is often overlooked. An ad can only ever be as good as the page behind it, so that page is also a priority. We take responsibility for the paid ad and where it points to, so buyers aren’t lost between the clicks.
Our reporting monitors leads and cost per lead. Impressions are a number that only ever goes up, which is what makes them such comfortable and misleading reading. Remember, don’t dive in without Pink Fins.
Why Pink Fins for Paid Ads
Pink Fins Brand Management is a boutique brand firm that runs paid media, as a component of our overall brand strategy. That means the people writing your ads are the people who worked out your positioning, so the ad, landing page, and everything else you publish are making the same argument.
Paid Ads FAQ
What budget is worth starting with?
Enough to learn something. Below a certain point you are not running a campaign, you are buying a rounding error and a lot of uncertainty, and we would rather tell you that than take the retainer. On the call we will give you a real floor for your market.
Which platforms do you run?
Google and Meta for most clients, LinkedIn where the buyer genuinely lives there, and we will say no to the rest unless there is a reason. Being on every platform is not a strategy, it is a way of spending the same budget five times less effectively.
Is ad spend included in what I pay you?
No, and be careful with anyone who blurs that line. You pay the platforms directly and you keep the accounts, so the data and the history stay yours if we ever part ways. We charge for the work, not for the privilege of passing your money through.
How fast do we see results?
Faster than anything else we do. First data inside a week, and a reasonable read on whether the offer and the audience are right inside two to three. Getting it profitable rather than merely working usually takes a quarter of testing.
Do you build the landing pages?
Yes. It is the single biggest lever in paid media and the one most often left alone. If your existing page converts we will leave it and say so. If it does not, no amount of clever bidding will rescue it.
What if the ads do not work?
We tell you, and we tell you early, because paid shows its hand fast enough that there is no excuse for a quiet quarter. Sometimes the answer is a different audience or a different offer. Occasionally the honest answer is that paid is the wrong lever for you right now.
Ready to Make Waves?
One 30-minute call. Tell us what you sell and who buys it, and we will tell you whether paid is the right lever right now and roughly what it would take to find out.