Blog · ppc

ppc field notes.

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

ABOVE-FOLD ANATOMY · MOBILE FREE AUDIT Get your free SEO audit in 48h. We'll show the 3 keyword gaps your competitors are missing. [ founder photo ] Get my audit → USED BY 4,000+ SAAS TEAMS — fold — 1 Eyebrow tag Echoes the ad's offer category 2 Headline = ad value prop User confirms "right page" in 2s 3 Subhead adds the mechanism Disambiguates from competitors 4 One real visual Product, founder, or customer photo 5 Primary CTA · single action 48px tap target · action-specific copy 6 Trust strip near CTA Breaks the "is this legit" reflex LCP TARGET < 1.5s on mid-tier Android over 4G 2× ROAS LIFT 4% CVR vs 2% baseline page
ppc

Meta Ads landing pages: 2026 high-converting page anatomy

The landing page after the click is where Meta ROAS is won or lost. Here's the 2026 above-fold anatomy, the 1.5s LCP target, and the four sections that compound.

ONE CAMPAIGN · SIX PLACEMENTS PMAX Performance Max 3 asset groups · audience signals conversion-optimized bidding 4.8× account ROAS G Search Text · responsive 2.1× YouTube In-stream · Shorts 3.4× Display 2M+ partner sites 1.4× Gmail Promotions tab 2.8× Discover In-feed mobile 3.1× Maps Local intent 5.6×
ppc

Google Performance Max in 2026: the account structure that scales

Performance Max ate Google Ads' campaign types. Here's the 2026 account structure, the asset group framework, and the four traps that wreck performance.

LINKEDIN · ABM TARGETING in Campaign targeting ABM · ICP filters ACCOUNT LIST 240 target accounts uploaded INDUSTRY SaaS · Software · Fintech COMPANY SIZE 200 – 5,000 JOB FUNCTION Marketing · Growth SENIORITY Director · VP · C-Level EST. AUDIENCE ~ 4,200 buyers A Adfirm Promoted · 4,000 followers The 2026 B2B SaaS marketing benchmark report is out. Download to see how your CAC compares to industry. REPORT 2026 SaaS Benchmarks 52 pages · 180 companies Download ↑ Like ⟲ Repost ✉ Send Pipeline impact Last 90 days CPL · QUALIFIED $142 LEAD → OPP RATE 34% PIPELINE INFLUENCED $2.4M CAC PAYBACK 11 mo CRM-tracked, not CPL alone
ppc

LinkedIn Ads in 2026: the B2B playbook that actually closes deals

LinkedIn ads in 2026 are different — better targeting, better lead forms, real attribution. Here's the B2B playbook that closes deals, not just generates clicks.

TIKTOK VS META · CREATIVE DISCIPLINE TIKTOK · NATIVE 3 mistakes I made running my first SaaS 142K 💬 2.1K @founder.notes link in bio · #saas #founder Sponsored vs META · POLISHED (skipped) Instagram A acme_official Sponsored A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY $50k budget SHOP NOW ♥ 412 💬 8 ↗ 14 Pattern: "looks like an ad" → skip CREATOR-STYLE ON TIKTOK: 2-4× CTR · 30% lower CPA
ppc

TikTok Ads for direct response in 2026: the SMB playbook

TikTok converts for DR but the discipline is unlike Meta. Here's the 2026 creative model, account structure, and bid strategy that works for SMB budgets.

ONE CREATIVE · THREE PLACEMENTS DEMAND GEN "How we audit SEO in 48h" 15s · 9:16 · 1:1 · 16:9 assets YOUTUBE SHORTS · 9:16 "48h SEO audit" Get the audit Ad DISCOVER · 1:1 Discover "48h SEO audit" How we audit SEO in 48h adfirm.net · Sponsored GMAIL · PROMOTIONS Promotions Sponsored Adfirm Free 48h SEO audit Linear · Build update Stripe · Invoice ready Notion · Team activity
ppc

Google Demand Gen in 2026: cross-channel video that converts

Demand Gen replaced Discovery and YouTube as Google's primary social-style ad. Here's the 2026 creative spec, audience setup, and what to actually measure.

MMM OUTPUT · CHANNEL CONTRIBUTION BY WEEK $120k $90k $60k $30k $0 W1 W12 LinkedIn Meta Google Organic + brand Promo lift META · SATURATION CURVE You're here Diminishing returns → $0 $200k/mo $0 $1M RECOMMENDATION Shift 25% Meta → LinkedIn + Email
ppc

MMM for SMB in 2026: open-source attribution beyond cookies

Marketing Mix Modeling used to need a Fortune 500 budget. Open-source tools changed that. Here's the 2026 stack for measuring channel impact without cookies.

TRUEVIEW FOR ACTION · WATCH PAGE Ad "How we audit SEO in 48 hours." Skip in 2s adfirm.net Get your free audit Visit site → AUDIENCE SIGNAL Custom intent (URL-based) competitor sites + "best CRM" queries First-party customer match CRM upload · 12k users In-market: Business Software Google segment · ~1.2M reach RESULT · 30 DAYS Skip rate @ 5s 42% View-through rate 31% Pipeline @ 90d $840k
ppc

YouTube Ads in 2026: the high-consideration playbook

Demand Gen is great for new demand, but YouTube standalone still wins for high-consideration B2B and SaaS. Here's the 2026 setup, creative spec, and audience model.

PROMOTED POST · r/SaaS r/ r/SaaS Hot · New · Top u/honest_founder · 4h Just hit $50k MRR with 2 founders ▲ 412 💬 89 PROMOTED u/adfirm_justin We A/B tested 200 subject lines. Here's what won. After 90 days of testing across our SaaS client list, three patterns won consistently. Sharing the data + the open-rate lifts: Open rate by pattern Specific number · 48% Question form · 38% Read the full breakdown → ▲ 1.2k 💬 168 ↗ Share 94% upvoted · community accepted u/devops_dad · 6h Anyone else hate Linear's pricing change? VS META EQUIVALENT CPM -45% CPA -52% CVR vs cold Meta 2.4× DO ▸ Title in Reddit-native voice ▸ 200-600 word substantive body ▸ Reply to comments daily DON'T ▸ Polished branded image ▸ Hyperbolic ad copy ▸ Ignore negative comments
ppc

Reddit Ads in 2026: the SMB playbook from a hostile platform

Reddit's self-serve ad platform matured in 2025. Here's how to run paid Reddit ads in 2026 without getting community-pilloried — and what actually converts.

BING + COPILOT · CPC ARBITRAGE b Bing best CRM for small SaaS team Ad adfirm.net › crm CRM Built for Small SaaS Teams Try free for 14 days. No credit card. Used by 4k+ teams. Ad competitor.com CRM Software · All-in-One Scale your SaaS sales team. g2.com › best-crm-saas Best CRM for SaaS · G2 Reviews 2026 COPILOT Top picks for small SaaS: 1. Adfirm CRM Strong for 5-50 person teams 2. Competitor X Better for enterprise migration 3. Competitor Y Cheapest entry pricing SOURCES [1] adfirm.net [2] g2.com [3] forbes.com vs Google Ads B2B SaaS audience · same query AVG CPC $3.90 vs $8.40 Google CVR 3.8% vs 4.2% Google CPA $103 vs $200 Google ~50% CPA · same intent
ppc

Microsoft Ads in 2026: the channel everyone forgot is growing

Microsoft Ads quietly grew in 2025 thanks to Copilot. CPCs are 40-60% cheaper than Google. Here's the 2026 setup that arbitrages the gap before it closes.

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