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Checklist: How to Prepare Paid Ads

4 Key Elements for Your Paid SEA Campaign (aka goole / facebook / linkedin ad preparation)

Last Update: 20.03.2025 • Author: Marius Jost • Time to read: 3 Min.

Before a paid advertisement can go live on Google Ads, Meta (Facebook), or LinkedIn, four essential pieces need to be in place, which you should develop together with your agency.

This small checklist is based on our experience and will hopefully help you avoid delays or project issues in your performance marketing efforts.

① Goal of your campaign

☐ Define the advertising goal in two sentences

☐ Set the daily budget(s) for the campaign(s)

☐ Determine the start and end dates for the campaign(s)

☐ Specify the URL of the landing page

☐ If necessary, set the landing page to noindex and optimize for speed

2 women preparing a paid ad in a marketing agency

Creative Director reviewing key-messages for the SEA Campaign

② Content

☐ Define 2-3 key messages for the landing page (focus on benefits rather than features)

☐ Create texts for the ad copy itself

☐ Decide which ad extensions to use (for example, which phone number to provide and who will be responsible for it)

③ Visual Design

Visual Design

☐ Agree on one single master design (out of 3 drafts)

...and only after this decision:

☐ Create the creative assets based on that master design

☐ for Meta in formats: 1:1, 16:9, 9:16 & 4:5

☐ for Google in formats 1:1, 1,91:1, 4:5

Design artist working on the Visual layout of an ad

two men setting up a google ads account, integrating conversion tracking

④ Tech Setup & Tracking

☐ Set up Facebook page / Google Ads account with payment method

☐ Tracking setup (Conversion tracking / "Meta-Pixel" / Insight Tag)

☐ Definition of a target audience in Google / Meta or LinkedIn that fits the budget (not too large, not too small)

☐ Grant permissions so the agency can work on the ad account without having to call you for PIN codes.

Project Plan for your Paid Ads - your SEA Preparation Plan

To get a meaningful SEA reparation plan in a waterfall-style, we will have to order the tasks above in a new way: not by topic, but by priority.

We have learned that the set-up of facebook page, your payment method, or ad account approvals can consume valuable time.

The blue highlights indicate how long certain tasks may take.

This waterfall plan illustrates that in each planning phase (A-D), you should tackle different types of tasks.

For example, in Phase A, you will find tasks related to "campaign objective," "visual design," and "technical setup."

PHASE A

PHASE B

PHASE C

PHASE D

1) Set up Meta-Page /
Google-Ads-Acc.
& Payment Method

2) Grant all necessary
ad account permissions

to agency / colleagues

3) Define your
advertising objective
in 2-3 sentences

4) Discuss 2 basic
ideas / concepts
for the visual design
and order 3 drafts
with your creative team.

1) Decide on when your campaign
will start and when it has to end.

2) Discuss and decide the
campaign's daily budget(s)

3) Craft 2-3 key messages for the landing page (concentrate on benefits rather than features)

4) Agree on one single master design (out of your 3 drafts), then create assets

- for Meta: 1:1, 16:9, 9:16 & 4:5

- for Google: 1:1, 1,91:1 & 4:5

1) Select the best creative assets from the step before

2) Create all texts
for the ad copy part
of your ads

3) Define URL of
your landing page

4) Set noindex for your landing
page & optimize it for speed

1) Decide which ad extensions to use (for example, which phone number to provide and who will be responsible for it)

2) Create the ads,

start them and control

their performance each day.

The following tasks are to be repeated periodically:

1) Create weekly mini-report and reconcile with all decision makers

2) Deactivate the ads which do not perform well.

Images by Tim van der Kuip, Arlington Research, Linkedin Sales Solutions and Milad Fakurian @ Unsplash

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