Goal: talk about ads like someone who has run them, sell the managed ads module per channel, and never promise a number. Our team runs the changes. The client owns the ad account, the card and every yes.
You don't need to build campaigns. You need to understand what the prospect is paying for, so you can ask good questions and spot a bad setup in their current account.
| Level | What lives here | Plumber example |
|---|---|---|
| Account | The client's ad account: billing, card, users, conversion tracking. | Ridgeline Plumbing's Google Ads account, paid with their own card. |
| Campaign | The daily budget, the goal, where ads show (location radius, language). | "Emergency repairs, Dayton + 20 miles", $50/day. |
| Ad group (Google) or ad set (Meta) | One theme. On Google it holds the keywords. On Meta it holds the audience and placements. | "Water heater repair" with its own keywords. |
| Ad | What the buyer actually sees: headlines, text, image or video, the link. | "Same-Day Water Heater Repair in Dayton". |
Every time someone searches or scrolls, the platform runs an auction among the advertisers who want that spot. The winner isn't just the highest bid. Relevance and the quality of the ad and landing page count too (on Google this shows up as Quality Score ↗). That's why a clear ad that matches the search and a fast page can beat a bigger budget. Most of our ads are paid per click: the client pays when someone clicks, not when the ad shows.
Campaigns run on a daily budget, but the client thinks in monthly spend. Platforms are allowed to spend more than the daily budget on a busy day and less on a quiet one. Google can spend up to 2× the daily budget in one day, while keeping the month at or under about 30.4× the daily budget. Meta can go up to 1.25× in a day. So a $50/day Google campaign can spend $100 on a Monday. That's normal, not a mistake, and it's why our monthly cap leaves headroom (section 4).
After a campaign starts, or after a big change, the platform spends a stretch testing who responds. Results are bumpy during this learning period. Constant edits restart it. That's why we batch changes into weekly fixes instead of fiddling daily, and why the first month is the least predictable.
A conversion ↗ is the action that matters: a form sent, a call, a booking, a purchase. A conversion action is how Google records it. A pixel is a small piece of code on the website that tells the platform when it happens (on Meta, the Meta pixel ↗).
Before anyone talks about results, know what a lead is worth to this client. The formula:
Worked example · Ridgeline Plumbing, Dayton, OH (fictional)
Average water heater job: $1,200. Profit margin: 40%. They close 1 in 2 leads (50%).
$1,200 × 0.40 × 0.50 = $240.
Ridgeline can pay up to $240 for a lead on that service before ads lose money. Below that line, ads are profitable. This is the client's own math, not a forecast from us. We never say what their cost per lead will be.
Ask for these three numbers on discovery. Most owners know their average job and roughly how many quotes they win. Cost per lead ↗ · Customer lifetime value ↗
Brand searches include the business name ("Ridgeline Plumbing"). Non-brand searches are for the service ("water heater repair near me"). Brand clicks are cheap and convert well because the person already wanted that business. If an account mixes them, results look great but most of those people would have found the client anyway. Ask: "How much of your current ad results come from people searching your name?" Branded keywords ↗
Google and Meta each report the conversions they think they caused. One customer who saw a Meta ad and later clicked a Google ad can show up in both reports. So never add platform results together and call it "total leads", and compare platforms carefully, with the client's own records (calls answered, jobs booked) next to the platform's number.
If a prospect is in credit, housing, employment, health, legal or finance, say "Your industry has extra ad rules, so setup includes the platform's category steps and review." Don't guess at the details. Bring them to your manager.
This card is the only place on this site where ad platform statuses live. Every other page links here. When a status changes, it changes here, so check it before every call.
| Platform | Status | Rep rule |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search | LIVE at launch (19 Nov 2026) | Sell now |
| YouTube (via Google Ads) | LAUNCHING | Sell; give the start date from your manager |
| Meta (Facebook and Instagram) | LIVE once Meta approves our app (expected at launch) | Sell; the start date depends on approval |
| TikTok | LAUNCHING (planned January 2027) | Sell; give the start date from your manager |
| ChatGPT ads | LAUNCHING | Sell; give the start date from your manager |
"Google Search starts as soon as your account is connected. For [platform], I'll confirm the start date with my manager and put it in writing before you sign."
Status: see the status card. Text ads on Google results when someone searches for the service. This is intent: the buyer is already looking.
Emergency and on-demand local services (plumbers, HVAC, locksmiths, roofers, garage door repair), dentists and clinics, lawyers, B2B services and software buyers who search for a solution.
Their own Google Ads account with their card on it, access for the connection, the services and areas they want, approved facts and offers, and a working website or landing page with a form or phone number.
"When someone in your area searches for the job you do, your ad shows up with a call button. We pick the searches, block the junk ones every week, and you see exactly what it cost and what came in."
Status: see the status card. Video ads on YouTube, run through the same Google Ads account, so there's nothing extra to connect.
Home remodelers, roofers, solar installers, med spas and any business with a visual story or a bigger-ticket job people research for weeks.
Their Google Ads account and card, plus video: a finished ad or real footage of the team and the work. Confirm with your manager who edits the ad before you promise it.
"YouTube is how people in your area get to know you before they need you. It runs from the same Google account, and it needs a short video of you and your work."
Status: see the status card. Ads in the Facebook and Instagram feeds, Reels and Stories. Nobody is searching, so the ad has to stop the scroll and create the want.
Med spas, salons, gyms, restaurants, ecommerce stores, home services with strong before-and-after visuals, event and local experience businesses.
A Facebook Page and Instagram account, their own Meta ad account with their card, business verification when asked, approved facts and offers, real photos, and a WhatsApp Business number if they want WhatsApp ads.
"Meta is where your customers scroll every night. We put your offer in front of people near you, send them to your site, a call or a WhatsApp chat, and keep the pictures fresh so people don't tune out."
Status: see the status card. Full-screen vertical video in the TikTok feed. It rewards ads that look like TikTok, not like commercials.
Consumer brands selling to younger buyers: apparel, beauty, food and drink, fitness, ecommerce with a product that demos well on camera.
Their own TikTok ad account and card, a real person willing to be on camera, about 2 clips to start and fresh clips about every 2 weeks.
"TikTok works when it looks like a real person, not an ad. If someone on your team can film two short clips now and a new one every couple of weeks, it's worth a test. If not, start somewhere else."
Status: see the status card. The newest channel, and the one prospects ask about most. Get the facts exactly right.
Considered purchases people research by asking questions: home remodeling, wedding and event venues, tutoring and coaching, B2B services, software, specialty ecommerce.
Their own ChatGPT ads account and card, the account verification the platform asks for, approved facts, and a landing page that answers the question the buyer was asking.
"When someone asks ChatGPT about what you do, your ad can show as a labelled card under the answer. It doesn't change what ChatGPT says, and paid ChatGPT users don't see it, so it's a test for reach on free users, not a way into the answer."
Getting named inside AI answers is the Website + SEO work. A ChatGPT ad never moves that. If a prospect mixes them up, separate them on the spot.
Per channel, our team does the setup, the first account check, campaigns, ad copy and creative, weekly fixes, the budget cap and a monthly report. Here is what the client can count on:
| Rule | What it means for the client |
|---|---|
| Client owns the account and card | The ad account and the card on it are theirs. The client pays the platform directly. We never touch billing. |
| Created paused | New campaigns are created paused. Turning one on is its own separate approval. Nothing spends by surprise. |
| Every change is a proposal | Budgets, keywords, new ads: each one is proposed and someone approves it. Our team can approve on the client's behalf, and every approval is logged by name. |
| Undo | Most changes can be undone. |
| Monthly cap with headroom | The client sets a monthly cap. We pause our campaigns before it's reached, leaving room for over-delivery days: Google can spend up to 2× the daily budget in a day, Meta 1.25×. |
| Approved facts only | Ad copy only uses facts the client approved. No made-up offers, prices or claims. |
| Weekly summary + monthly report | A weekly summary, and a monthly report with spend, results, cost per result, what we changed and whether it helped, including when a change didn't help. |
| Pause everything | The client can pause everything at any time. |
"It's your account and your card. We build campaigns paused, nothing turns on without a yes, every change is logged with who approved it, and you can pause everything yourself any time."
Google + Meta = $800/month. Two or more modules get 15% off the module total. All prices and bundle rules live on Day 2 · pricing.
Ad spend is separate. The client pays the ad platform directly on their own account and card. Our fee covers the work, not the clicks.
Ridgeline Plumbing buys Google Search and plans $1,500/month of ad spend.
Our fee: $400 (to theStacc).
Ad spend: $1,500 (to Google, on Ridgeline's card).
Total: $1,900/month, in two separate bills.
Website + SEO ($600) + Google Search ads ($400) = $1,000 module total.
15% off: $1,000 × 0.85 = $850/month, plus ad spend paid to Google.
Two ad channels alone (Google + Meta): $800. Paid ads count as one module however many channels, so ads alone get no 15%. Add any other module and the 15% applies to the whole total.
"Our fee is $400 a month per channel. Your ad budget is separate and goes straight to Google on your card, so you always see exactly what the clicks cost."
The full rule set, including what you can assert freely and the banned phrases, is the honesty gate on Day 2. Use the commit line when a prospect pushes for a number. For ads, that means: we commit to the work every month and track spend, results and cost per result with them.
"I won't promise a cost per lead, because nobody honest can before the ads run. What I can show you is your break-even: on your numbers, a lead is worth up to $[X]. We'll report spend, results and cost per result against that line every month."
Start with one channel that fits how the buyer shops, prove it, then add a second. The table is a starting point for the conversation, not a promise of results.
| Business type (fictional US examples) | First channel | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency plumber, Columbus, OH | Google Search | The buyer has a problem right now and searches for it. Intent beats everything. Call assets put the phone number on the ad. |
| HVAC or roofer, Phoenix, AZ | Google Search | Same as above: repairs and replacements are searched. YouTube can come second for bigger jobs. |
| Dental practice, Raleigh, NC | Google Search | Patients search "dentist near me". Not ChatGPT ads: dental is a poor fit there. |
| Med spa, Scottsdale, AZ | Meta (Facebook + Instagram) | Treatments are visual and impulse-friendly. People discover them while scrolling, not searching. |
| Ecommerce store (home goods) | Meta | Products sell on pictures and carousels, and Meta finds buyers who weren't looking yet. |
| B2B service (IT support for offices) | Google Search | Business buyers search for a solution when they need it. Keywords qualify the intent. |
| Younger consumer brand (energy drink, streetwear) | TikTok | The audience is there and responds to real-person video. Only if they can keep the clips coming. |
| Home remodeler or wedding venue | Google Search, then ChatGPT ads as a test | Long, considered decisions where people ask questions before they pick. |
You should be able to: explain account → campaign → ad group or ad set → ad, work out break-even cost per lead and the client's total monthly cost, read the status card, describe each channel's fit and what the client provides, and state the managed ads rules without promising a number.