Blog · ppc

ppc field notes.

Practical, opinionated writing on ppc from the team at Adfirm. 70 posts in total — 29 in this category.

RETAIL MEDIA NETWORKS · 2026 +35% spend growth · $130B+ market Amazon Ads TIER 1 · $60B+ Sponsored Products Sponsored Brands Sponsored Display min $1,500 / mo Walmart Connect TIER 2 · FASTEST GROWING Sponsored Search Products Display + onsite Connected TV min $900 / mo Target Roundel TIER 2 · CTV-FORWARD Display + CTV Off-Target inventory In-store sales attrib. min $5,000 / mo Instacart Ads TIER 2 · GROCERY · BEAUTY Featured Products Search Ads High repeat-purchase min $1,200 / mo CLOSED-LOOP ATTRIBUTION Observed conversions, not modeled · the retailer's own purchase data verified
ppc

Retail media networks 2026: SMB guide to Amazon, Walmart

Retail media network spend jumped 35% in 2026. Here's how SMBs win on Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, and Instacart without burning budget.

3-LAYER ATTRIBUTION STACK · 2026 LAYER 1 · PLATFORM CAPIs · DAILY High resolution · biased · per-channel optimization Meta CAPI Google Enh. TikTok API Pinterest CAPI LinkedIn CAPI LAYER 2 · CROSS-CHANNEL DASHBOARD · WEEKLY Unified view · still last-click-anchored · reporting Triple Whale Northbeam Rockerbox Hyros Polar LAYER 3 · MMM + INCREMENTALITY · QUARTERLY Truth layer · slow · budget allocation decisions Robyn Meridian Geo holdouts Conv. lift tests
ppc

The marketing attribution stack in 2026: tools that actually work

The marketing attribution stack in 2026: Triple Whale, Northbeam, Rockerbox, and the build-vs-buy decisions that actually move CAC and ROAS.

PAID · :15 Grow your local business on every screen. yourbrand.com/tv audible-first · 15s SMB CTV PILOT $3-5k/month finally viable — self-serve, no minimums CHANNELS MNTN $1,800 Vibe (FAST) $1,200 Roku Direct $1,000 LIFT MEASURED Branded search +34% Direct traffic +22% Total funnel conv +12% Blended CAC -8%
ppc

Connected TV advertising in 2026: how SMBs finally win on CTV

Connected TV advertising in 2026 finally became viable for SMBs. Here's what to spend, where to buy, and the creative format that actually works.

google.com/search?q=plumber+chicago LOCAL SERVICES ADS · TOP OF PAGE A Adfirm Plumbing Co. Google Guaranteed ★★★★★ 4.9 · 247 reviews Open · responds in <2 min Call now Message RANK #1 LSA Competitor Plumbing Google Guaranteed ★★★★☆ 4.5 · 84 reviews · responds in 12 min Another Local Plumbing ★★★★☆ 4.3 · 42 reviews · responds in 38 min SPONSORED · STANDARD ADS WHY #1 RANKS #1 LSA factors REVIEW VELOCITY 8 new reviews / month RESPONSE TIME avg 1.4 min RESPONSE RATE 97% answered LEAD QUALITY 86% qualified COST PER LEAD $34 vs $58 category avg
ppc

Google Local Services Ads in 2026: the SMB playbook for LSA

Google Local Services Ads in 2026: how service businesses win the top spot above Maps with the Google Guarantee badge and lead-quality scoring.

PINTEREST FEED · MASONRY Modern kitchen ideas SHOP Sustainable home Mid-century lamp SHOP Wedding inspo 2026 Skincare routine SHOP Capsule wardrobe SHOP CPM COMPARISON · SAME AUDIENCE Pinterest's quiet edge Meta Instagram $14.20 TikTok $11.60 Pinterest $6.40 PINTEREST 2026 Monthly users 537M High-intent audience planning mode CPM vs Meta -55%
ppc

Pinterest ads in 2026: the under-priced visual search channel

Pinterest ads in 2026 are quietly the cheapest high-intent paid channel left. Here's the targeting, creative, and budget framework that wins.

@ Threads @founderpost 2h Just hit $50k MRR. Six things I'd do differently if I started today... ♡ 1.2k · ↺ 84 · 💬 312 A @adfirm SPONSORED Most teams waste 30% of their Meta budget on this one mistake. Six fixes inside · 4-min read META BUDGET AUDIT The 30% leak Read the breakdown ♡ 642 · ↺ 38 · 💬 84 Home Search + Activity Profile THREADS VS INSTAGRAM · SAME META AUCTION Where the under-pricing is CPM IG Feed $12.80 Threads $6.90 CTR IG Feed 1.42% Threads 0.98% CPA · BLENDED IG Feed $38.40 Threads $27.10 CATEGORY · B2B SAAS · CREATOR ECONOMY · MEDIA Lower CTR, lower CPM, competitive CVR · 29% better CPA
ppc

Threads ads in 2026: Meta's newest inventory worth a real test

Threads ads in 2026 are Meta's newest paid surface. Here's what's working, what's broken, and how to test the channel without wasting budget.

Glow Vitamin C Serum $28.00 · in stock Buy @beautybyana Used this every night for 30 days... 182k 💬 4.2k $ Shop Home Shop + Inbox Me IN-APP CONVERSION FUNNEL 1 Creator video plays Native-feeling content with tagged product 100% 2 Tap product tag Opens product page inside TikTok — no external site 23% 3 Tap "Buy" One-tap checkout · saved card · address auto-filled 9% 4 Purchase complete Algorithm sees full path · optimizes against revenue 6.4% CPA VS OFF-PLATFORM TIKTOK ADS -44% zero-friction in-app checkout
ppc

TikTok Shop ads in 2026: the new direct-purchase paid channel

TikTok Shop ads in 2026 fuse content, commerce, and checkout in one tap. Here's how to set up campaigns and creative that actually convert.

META ADS MANAGER · 2026 STRUCTURE Ads Manager · Acme Co Last 7 days · ROAS 4.2x ADVANTAGE+ Prospecting + Warm 1 campaign · 1 ad set SPEND · 7D $18,420 CPA · BLENDED $22.40 EXISTING CUSTOMER % 28% CREATIVES LIVE 26 CREATIVE POOL · 26 ACTIVE -40% off this week UGC 9:16 + 21 more
ppc

Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns: the 2026 setup that actually scales

Meta's Advantage+ Shopping rewrote the media-buying playbook. Here's the 2026 account structure that compounds, plus the four mistakes that kill performance.

INSTANT FORM VS LANDING PAGE INSTANT FORM Get a free SEO audit Pre-filled from your profile Name Maya Chen Email [email protected] Biggest SEO challenge? Submit LANDING PAGE adfirm.net/audit FREE AUDIT Get your free SEO audit 48hr delivery. No card needed. [ hero image ] RAW CPL $4.20 vs $14.80 Instant Form wins on volume QUALIFIED % 22% vs 64% Landing page wins on quality COST PER QUALIFIED LEAD $19.10 vs $23.10 Closer than CPL suggests
ppc

Meta lead gen 2026: Instant Forms vs landing pages, what actually wins

Meta Instant Forms convert 2-3x landing pages on raw rate but burn agency time on lead quality. Here's the 2026 framework for picking the right format per offer.

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