SLO Ad Campaign Strategy — 52 Claude Skills for Independent Consultants

⚠️ Pre-launch strategy doc (May 23) — historical. The funnel math below was modeled BEFORE launch (no real AOV/CVR yet) and assumed an incomplete OTO stack. OTO2 is now built and live; OTO3 was removed from the funnel (May 23 decision). For the live funnel and actual performance, the single source of truth is the ## Funnels and Check-In Log sections of STATUS.md. Read this doc for the original strategic frameworks (Ben/Pittman/Callan/Deiss math), not for current funnel state or numbers.

Status: Pre-launch strategy (superseded by STATUS.md for live state). Date: 2026-05-23 Owner: Cade (Media Buyer) Product: 52 Claude Skills for Independent Consultants, $7 front-end Domain: 52aiskills.com (pending DNS) Meta Pixel: 1708795119368065 (existing) Funnel (as planned 5/23): Ad > Sales page > ThriveCart ($7 + $12 bump) > OTO1 ($29) > OTO2 ($97) > Thank-you > Email sequence > Workshop invite. NOTE: OTO2 is built/live; OTO3 ($197) was removed from the funnel — see STATUS ## Funnels.

Kathryn,

Two golden rules before we get into this.

Rule 8 (Recipient-First): I built this as the document you open on launch morning. Every section answers one question: what do I do, and in what order? No theory without action steps. If something needs a decision from you before launch, it is flagged explicitly.

Rule 6 (Pride Gate): Every budget number ties to Ben's benchmarks from the F07 master reference. Every testing framework ties to Pittman's paid traffic system and Callan's creative testing model. I am not guessing at numbers -- I am applying the frameworks you already own to your specific funnel math. Where I lack real data (no sales page CVR yet, no AOV yet), I have modeled conservative, healthy, and best-case scenarios so you can plan without false precision.

Let's build this.

1. Financial Model (Start Here -- Everything Else Follows)

Before campaign structure, you need to know what "winning" looks like in dollars. Per Deiss (SLO/CVO): the front-end doesn't need to be profitable. It needs to self-liquidate so every buyer after that is pure back-end profit.

Your Funnel Math (Conservative Model)

AOV Projections

With current stack (FE + Bump + OTO1 only):

AOV formula: $7 + ($12 x bump%) + ($29 x OTO1%)

With full stack (once OTO2 + OTO3 are built):

What This Means for Launch

Ben's benchmark: FE ROAS 100%+ (break even on ad spend from day-one purchases).

At conservative AOV of $13.50, you need your cost-per-purchase (CPP) at or below $13.50. That means:

• If sales page CVR is 3% (cold traffic healthy), your max CPC is ~$0.41
• If sales page CVR is 5% (cold traffic strong), your max CPC is ~$0.68
• If sales page CVR is 2% (cold traffic floor), your max CPC is ~$0.27

Professional services B2B on Meta typically runs $1.50-$4.00 CPC. At those CPCs, you need higher CVR or higher AOV to self-liquidate.

The honest assessment: With only FE + Bump + OTO1, self-liquidation on day one is unlikely at B2B CPCs. This is normal for a launch with an incomplete OTO stack. The strategy is:

1. Phase 1 (Weeks 1-4): Launch with current stack. Goal is not ROAS -- it is data. Learn CPP, CVR, bump rate, OTO1 rate, and which creatives win.
2. Phase 2 (Weeks 5-8): Build OTO2 ($97) and OTO3 ($197) with video. This is where AOV jumps to $20-35 and self-liquidation becomes realistic.
3. Phase 3 (Week 9+): Scale winning creatives with full stack. Target FE ROAS 100%+.

Bottom line: Do not judge this funnel's economics until the OTO stack is complete. Per Ben's own Scale Checklist 2.0 -- OTO3 sat at 0% without video, and the gap between "with video" and "without video" was the difference between $25K in 10 days and significantly less.

2. Campaign Structure

Architecture: CBO + Broad + Creative Testing

Per Pittman: audience targeting has been largely commoditized by Meta's algorithm. Creative is the variable. The campaign structure exists to test creative efficiently, not to test audiences.

What Was Planned vs What We Launched

The original plan below called for $30-50/day with 3 ad sets (Broad + 2 interest stacks). We launched differently based on two factors:

1. Budget constraint. Kathryn could not afford $40/day for testing. The CIB campaign had been running successfully at $20/day — that was the proven affordable level.

2. CIB learnings. The CIB campaign (documented in the-build/wip/meta-campaign-setup-guide.md) proved that $20/day CBO with 1 broad ad set and multiple ads works. CBO picked AI Power User decisively (94% of budget, 99.5% of leads) without needing interest targeting — the algorithm found the right people through broad targeting with interest suggestions.

3. Why broad with no interest targeting for SLO. CIB used broad targeting with interest suggestions (accounting, financial planning, management consulting). For SLO, Cade recommended dropping interest targeting entirely and going fully broad. Rationale: SLO is Purchase-optimized, not Lead-optimized. Purchase events are rarer than Lead events — at $20/day, the algorithm needs the widest possible audience pool to find the small number of people who will buy. Interest targeting narrows that pool and could slow data accumulation. Going broad lets Meta's algorithm do the finding. We learn WHO buys from the data (which creatives convert, what the buyer profile looks like) rather than pre-filtering by assumed interests. One ad set, fully broad, 4 ads testing hooks — we're testing creative, not audience.

Actual launch configuration (May 28, 2026):

• Budget: $20/day CBO
• Ad sets: 1 — "Broad — US 25-65", Advantage+ placements, English, SLO Purchasers excluded
• Ads: 4 (Volume/Value, Pattern Recognition, Identity, Differentiation) — one per hook, product-shot-a images
• Optimization: Purchase
• Targeting: Fully broad, no interest targeting, no interest suggestions
• Rationale: CIB proved $20/day CBO picks winners. Broad targeting gives Purchase optimization maximum room at a constrained budget. Creative is the variable being tested, not audience.

Original Plan (for reference — not executed)

Campaign 1: TESTING (Always On)

Objective: Purchase (optimize for the ThriveCart purchase event -- see Section 5) Campaign type: CBO (Campaign Budget Optimization) Budget: $30-$50/day (see Budget section)

Ad sets (3 to start) — NOT USED, replaced by single broad ad set (see above):

Each ad set runs 3-4 ads (different hooks/creatives). Total: 9-12 ads at launch.

Exclusions (apply to all ad sets):

• Existing customer list (ThriveCart buyers -- upload when available)
• Website visitors last 7 days (retargeting goes in Campaign 2)
• Anyone who has already purchased (via pixel Purchase event)

Campaign 2: RETARGETING (Turns On Week 2+)

Objective: Purchase Campaign type: CBO Budget: $10-$15/day

Ad sets (2):

Creative: Different angle from prospecting. Social proof, FAQ objection handling, "still thinking about it?" framing. 2-3 ads per set.

Why separate campaign: Retargeting audiences are small and warm. Mixing them with cold traffic in the same CBO lets Meta dump all spend on retargeting (easy conversions) and starve cold prospecting. Separate campaigns = separate budgets = controlled spend distribution.

Campaign 3: SCALE (Turns On When Winners Found)

Objective: Purchase Campaign type: CBO Budget: Starts at $50/day, scales 20% every 3 days on winners

Ad sets: Only graduated winners from Campaign 1. An ad that wins in Testing gets duplicated into Scale with higher budget.

This campaign does not launch on Day 1. It activates in Week 3-4 when you have statistically significant winners (see Testing Framework).

3. Creative Strategy

The 12 Hooks You Already Have

The sales page includes 4 hook sets with 3 variations each. Here is how to prioritize them for testing:

Launch Wave 1 (Day 1 -- test these first)

Why this order: You have a novel product at an extreme price point. Test whether the offer itself converts (Hook 2 -- just say what it is and what it costs) before testing emotional/pain angles. If the direct offer works, everything else is creative iteration on top. If it doesn't, you learn that fast and pivot to pain/identity angles.

Launch Wave 2 (Week 2 -- based on Wave 1 data)

Take the winning hook SET from Wave 1, and test the other 2 variations from that set. Plus, bring in the top performer from a losing set as a wildcard.

Example: If Set 2 (Volume/Value) wins in Wave 1, test these in Wave 2:

• "Proposals. SOWs. Session recaps. Follow-ups. Case studies. Pipeline reviews. 52 Claude skills. $7."
• "I build operational systems for consulting firms. These are the same Claude skills I use. $7 for all 52."
• Plus one wildcard from the next-best set

Ad Format Recommendations

Creative Volume for Launch

Minimum viable launch: 8 unique ads (4 hooks x 2 image variations each) Recommended launch: 12 unique ads (4 hooks x 3 variations each -- different images, same copy) Week 2 refresh: 4-6 new variations based on Week 1 winners

Static Image Direction (Brief for Wren)

Per Callan: Ads should look native to the platform, not polished to the point of looking like ads. The "note" style and text-heavy formats tend to outperform designed graphics for info-product offers.

4. Budget Recommendation

Testing Phase (Weeks 1-4)

Why this range:

• Ben's minimum for F07: $2K+/mo in ad spend
• At $50/day on testing, each ad set gets ~$15-17/day (3 ad sets in CBO). That is enough to exit the learning phase (50 optimization events per week at the ad set level) within 7-10 days.
• Below $30/day, you will not exit learning phase fast enough to make decisions. Data will be noisy and slow.

My recommendation: Start at $40/day ($1,200/mo). This is enough to learn without burning cash before the full OTO stack is built. You are buying data, not revenue, in Phase 1.

Scaling Phase (Week 5+ with full OTO stack)

Scaling rule (Pittman): Increase budget 20% every 3 days on winning ad sets. Do not double budget overnight -- it resets the learning phase and spikes CPM.

Kill Criteria

Kill an ad (not the ad set) if it has spent 2x your target CPP with zero purchases. Kill an ad set if all ads in it are dead. Kill a campaign never -- restructure it.

5. Pixel and Tracking Setup

Events to Configure

Purchase event value: Pass the dynamic cart value (not just $7 -- include bump and OTO values). This lets Meta report actual ROAS, not just purchase count.

ThriveCart-to-Meta Pixel Integration

ThriveCart supports native Meta pixel integration:

1. In ThriveCart > Settings > Integrations > Tracking, add Pixel ID: 1708795119368065
2. Enable the "Purchase" event on the success page
3. Pass the order value dynamically (ThriveCart does this natively)
4. Verify with Meta's Pixel Helper Chrome extension after first test purchase

Combined purchase events: In ThriveCart pixel settings, check "combine purchase events." This fires one Purchase event per buyer with the total cart value (front end + bump + OTOs combined) instead of separate events per transaction step. Without this, a full-cart buyer triggers 4-5 purchase events, inflating purchase count in Meta and distorting CBO optimization signals. Status: Enabled May 29, 2026.

Conversions API (CAPI): ThriveCart supports server-side event sending via a checkbox in the pixel settings. Enable it and paste the access token from Meta Events Manager (Pixel > Settings > Conversions API > Generate Access Token). CAPI sends purchase events server-to-server, bypassing browser-based tracking limitations (iOS 14.5+, ad blockers, thank-you page redirect issues). Status: Enabled May 29, 2026.

Override source URL: Set to https://52aiskills.com in ThriveCart pixel settings. This ties CAPI purchase events to the verified domain instead of ThriveCart's domain (kathrynhbrown.thrivecart.com), which Meta cannot associate with Kathryn's verified domain. Without this, server-side events may not attribute to ads correctly. Status: Set May 29, 2026.

Custom Audiences to Build

Note: Lookalike audiences need at minimum 100 source events to be useful. Do not build lookalikes until you have 100+ purchases tracked by the pixel. At conservative conversion rates, this takes 2-4 weeks.

Conversion Optimization Settings

Campaign 1 (Testing):

• Optimization event: Purchase
• Attribution window: 7-day click, 1-day view
• Delivery: Lowest cost (no bid cap during testing)

Why Purchase, not Landing Page View: You want Meta to optimize for buyers, not clickers. At $7, the purchase is low-friction enough that optimizing for it directly works. If you optimize for page views, you will get cheap traffic that does not convert.

If purchase volume is too low for Meta to optimize (fewer than 50/week per ad set): Switch optimization to InitiateCheckout temporarily. This gives Meta more signal to work with. Switch back to Purchase once volume builds.

6. Testing Framework

What Gets Tested, In What Order

Per Pittman and Callan: test one variable at a time. Creative is the biggest lever, so test that first.

How Long Before Decisions

Minimum data for a decision:

• Per ad: 1,000 impressions AND $15+ spend (whichever comes second)
• Per ad set: 2,000 impressions AND $30+ spend
• Per campaign: 7 full days (to account for day-of-week variation)

Do not make decisions based on:

• Fewer than 500 impressions (too noisy)
• First 48 hours (Meta is still in learning/exploration)
• A single day's performance (daily variance is normal)

What "Winning" Looks Like

A "winning" ad in Phase 1 (incomplete OTO stack): CPP below $20, CTR above 1.2%, consistent performance over 5+ days. You are not targeting FE ROAS 100% in Phase 1 -- you are finding the creative and audience combinations that produce the cheapest buyers.

A "winning" funnel (Phase 2, full OTO stack): FE ROAS 100%+, AOV $25+, stable CPP under $15. This is when you scale.

Weekly Review Cadence

Every Monday morning, review:

1. Ad level: CTR, CPC, CPP for each ad. Kill losers, note winners.
2. Ad set level: Which targeting is winning? Broad vs interest stacks.
3. Funnel level: Sales page CVR, bump rate, OTO1 rate, AOV.
4. Budget level: Total spend vs total revenue. FE ROAS.
5. Decision: Scale winners (20% budget increase), kill losers, brief new creative for next week.

7. Launch Checklist

Everything that needs to be in place before the first ad goes live. Organized in dependency order.

Pre-Launch (Complete Before Turning On Ads)

Domain and Pages:

• [ ] 52aiskills.com purchased and DNS configured
• [ ] Sales page live at 52aiskills.com (the cold traffic version)
• [ ] ThriveCart checkout connected and tested (test purchase through full flow)
• [ ] OTO1 page live and connected in ThriveCart flow
• [ ] Thank-you page live
• [ ] Returns/refunds page live and linked from sales page footer
• [ ] Compliance footer on sales page (Disclaimer, Privacy, Returns, Terms, Contact) -- per Ben's F07 master, missing compliance footer = CPMs spike 2-3x
• [ ] Mobile responsiveness verified (60%+ of Meta traffic is mobile)

Domain Verification:

• [x] All funnel domains verified in Meta Business Manager (Settings → Owned Domains) — completed May 28
• [x] DNS TXT records added via domain registrar — completed May 28
• [x] Verification confirmed — events now attributing to ads correctly

Pixel and Tracking:

• [x] Meta pixel (1708795119368065) installed on 52aiskills.com
• [x] ViewContent event firing on sales page load (verify with Pixel Helper)
• [x] InitiateCheckout event firing on ThriveCart checkout load
• [x] Purchase event firing on ThriveCart success page with dynamic value
• [x] Combined purchase events enabled in ThriveCart — one event per buyer with total cart value (May 29)
• [x] Conversions API (CAPI) enabled in ThriveCart with Meta access token + override source URL 52aiskills.com (May 29)
• [x] Test purchase completed and verified in Meta Events Manager
• [ ] UTM parameters configured on ad URLs: ?utmsource=meta&utmmedium=paid&utmcampaign={{campaign.name}}&utmcontent={{ad.name}}

Meta Ads Manager Setup:

• [ ] Business Manager verified
• [ ] Ad account in good standing (no policy violations)
• [ ] Payment method active
• [ ] Custom audiences created: Purchasers, Sales Page Visitors, Checkout No Purchase
• [ ] Existing customer list uploaded for exclusion (if available)

Creative Assets Ready:

• [ ] 4 ad copy variations written (1 per hook -- Wave 1)
• [ ] 2-3 image variations per hook (8-12 images total) -- brief Wren
• [ ] Ad copy reviewed against voice.md (calm authority, zero sales pressure, no hype language)
• [ ] Images sized for Meta placements: 1080x1080 (feed), 1080x1920 (stories/reels)
• [ ] Primary text, headline, and description written for each ad

Campaign Build:

• [ ] Campaign 1 (Testing) built: 3 ad sets, 3-4 ads each
• [ ] Exclusions applied: purchasers, website visitors 7 days
• [ ] Optimization event: Purchase
• [ ] Attribution: 7-day click, 1-day view
• [ ] Placements: Advantage+ (let Meta optimize across feed, stories, reels, etc.)
• [ ] Budget: $40/day CBO
• [ ] Campaign 2 (Retargeting) built but paused -- turns on after 7 days of traffic

Email and Post-Purchase:

• [ ] MailerLite automation connected to ThriveCart purchase
• [ ] Welcome/delivery email configured and tested
• [ ] Post-purchase email sequence loaded (at minimum emails 1-5)

Decision from Kathryn needed:

• [ ] Final daily budget confirmed ($40/day recommended -- see Section 4)
• [ ] Launch date set (recommend a Monday for full first week of data)
• [ ] OTO2 and OTO3 build timeline confirmed (recommend completing before scaling past $50/day)

Post-Launch (First 48 Hours)

• [ ] Verify pixel events are firing in Meta Events Manager (real traffic, not test)
• [ ] Check ad delivery status -- all ads "Active" and spending
• [ ] Verify no ad rejections or policy flags
• [ ] First purchase tracked and attributed correctly
• [ ] ThriveCart email delivery confirmed for first real buyer
• [ ] No action on ad performance for 48 hours -- let Meta exit exploration

Week 1 Review

• [ ] Monday review: CTR, CPC, CPP for all ads
• [ ] Kill any ad with 1,000+ impressions and CTR below 0.8%
• [ ] Kill any ad that has spent 2x target CPP with 0 purchases
• [ ] Note top 2 performing ads by CPP
• [ ] Check sales page CVR (clicks to purchases)
• [ ] Check bump take rate
• [ ] Check OTO1 take rate
• [ ] Calculate AOV
• [ ] Brief Wave 2 creative based on winning hook set

8. Decisions Needed from Kathryn

Flagging these explicitly so nothing stalls:

9. Risk Register

10. KPI Dashboard (Track Weekly)

Set up a simple spreadsheet or track in the Monday review.

Appendix: Ad Copy Templates (Wave 1)

Four ads, ready to pair with images from Wren. Each follows the Brunson Hook/Story/Offer structure compressed for a Meta ad.

Ad 1 -- Volume/Value (Offer-First)

Primary text: 52 Claude skills built specifically for independent consultants. $7.

Proposals. SOWs. Session recaps. Follow-ups. Case studies. Pipeline reviews. Client onboarding. Content. Capacity planning.

Each skill is a complete set of production instructions -- not a one-line prompt. Upload it to Claude, give it your inputs, get a production-ready deliverable back.

52 skills. 8 categories. $7. Use them today.

Headline: 52 Claude Skills for Consultants Description: Instant download. Works with Claude Pro. CTA button: Shop Now

Ad 2 -- Pattern Recognition (Pain-First)

Primary text: Every proposal you write follows the same structure. You're still building it from scratch.

Every session recap has the same sections. You're still writing it by hand.

Every follow-up email follows the same pattern. It's still sitting in your head.

52 Claude skills built for independent consultants. Each one turns a deliverable you repeat every week into a 5-minute production system.

$7 for all 52.

Headline: Stop Rebuilding What Already Has a Pattern Description: Download a skill. Upload it to Claude. Use the output today. CTA button: Shop Now

Ad 3 -- Identity (Audience-First)

Primary text: If you run a consulting practice and you're still building deliverables from scratch -- this is for you.

52 Claude skills covering every phase of your practice. Business development. Proposals. Client delivery. Communication. Content. Operations. Strategy.

Each skill is a complete production system. Not a prompt. Not a template. A set of instructions that produces a deliverable ready to use.

Built by someone with 25 years inside professional services firms.

$7 for all 52.

Headline: Built for the Person Who Runs the Practice Description: 52 production-grade Claude skills. Instant download. CTA button: Shop Now

Ad 4 -- Differentiation (Mechanism-First)

Primary text: A prompt is a sentence. A skill is a production system.

You've used ChatGPT. You typed a question. You got a decent answer. Then you spent 20 minutes fixing the tone, restructuring the sections, and removing the parts that sounded like a robot wrote them.

A Claude skill is different. It's complete production instructions -- structure, sections, tone, quality standards. The output is ready to use, not ready to edit.

52 of them, built for independent consultants. $7.

Headline: Stop Prompting. Start Producing. Description: 52 Claude skills. Every deliverable in your practice. CTA button: Shop Now

Strategy built by Cade. Frameworks applied: Deiss (SLO/CVO, self-liquidation targets), Pittman (campaign structure, creative-first testing, scaling rules), Callan (creative volume, native formats, test-before-polish), Hormozi (Value Equation applied to AOV math), Ben's F07 master reference (benchmarks, OTO video requirement, compliance footer, failure modes).