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Published: 2026-09-12 · Last reviewed: 2026-09-12 · Reading edit: 2026-09-12 Someone searches for the problem your product solves. Your ad gets a click, but was the person looking for software, a template, or an answer they could use themselves? Paid search works better when you understand that question and send the reader to a page that answers it.

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When to use it

Start when customers can describe the problem in searchable language, an appropriate landing page exists, and sales or self-service can handle the response. For a new category with little explicit demand, validate problem queries before assuming category keywords will supply volume.

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Build the first campaign

  1. Group by buyer question. Separate brand navigation, category evaluation, alternatives, and educational questions. Give each a budget and destination consistent with its purpose; do not let inexpensive branded demand conceal weak prospect acquisition.
  2. Write a query hypothesis. Record likely intent, excluded meanings, and what evidence would invalidate the group. Review current match behavior in platform documentation. Exact match is not a guarantee of literal word-for-word matching.
  3. Connect the promise. The ad and page should answer the same question, show relevant proof, and explain the next action. Avoid sending an integration query to a generic homepage.
  4. Define measurement before bidding. Test conversion events, deduplication, attribution windows, and downstream qualification. A form submission and an accepted opportunity are different outcomes. Choose a bidding approach compatible with the available, reliable conversion signal; do not train toward a noisy event merely because it is frequent.
  5. Launch with a bounded loss. Name the spend ceiling, review date, and owner. Inspect actual search terms where available and add negative keywords carefully. Overbroad exclusions can remove legitimate demand.
  6. Review economics after the sales lag. Reconcile spend, valid inquiries, qualified opportunities, and wins for the same group of inquiries over time. Keep pending outcomes visible. Change one major variable at a time so the next review is interpretable.

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Worked example

A hypothetical invoice platform buys traffic for “invoice approval software.” Search-term review finds people seeking a printable approval stamp. Those clicks are excluded, while the landing page is revised to show a multi-person approval flow and supported accounting systems. The trial spends $1,200 and receives 12 valid inquiries, of which three become qualified opportunities. That is $100 per valid inquiry and $400 per opportunity; it is not a customer acquisition cost because none has closed yet. The team waits for the cohort’s outcome before claiming profitable acquisition.

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Copy this campaign card

This filled version follows the fictional test above. Replace the entries with one of your own campaigns; the costs are examples, not targets.

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Before expanding

Verify tracking with a test inquiry, check landing-page behavior on a phone, and read a sample of actual inquiries with sales. Expand only where the intent, experience, and economics support it. Platform-reported conversions alone cannot establish incremental revenue.

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Try it with your own work

Review the actual search terms from one campaign, if available. Mark the ones that fit your offer and the ones that mean something else. Choose one mismatch to fix.

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Sources and scope

The example is fictional; any numbers illustrate the method rather than a benchmark. Adapt the worksheet to your own situation. Paid media · Landing page · Attribution Chapter guide · All playbooks
Copyright © 2026 Ivan Xu. All rights reserved. See the copyright and reuse terms. Canonical source: github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook