Executive PPC Recommendation
Capture educational demand deliberately. Scale only when the economics and measurement are trustworthy.
The operating thesis
OBDK does not need one blended campaign for everyone. A teacher buying for a classroom, a district requesting a purchase order, a homeschool parent buying a single kit and a summer program buying for a group are different demand systems. PPC should make those differences measurable.
Search first. Use explicit intent to establish query quality, audience economics and message-market fit.
Shopping controlled. Segment the feed so high-value classroom kits, entry products and refills cannot consume budget indiscriminately.
PMax later. It becomes an opportunity only after conversion values, URL controls, feed labels and landing pages pass the launch gate.
Measure commercial outcomes. Optimize to purchases, qualified quotes and completed offline orders - not traffic or low-intent form fills.
Seasonal, not stop-start. Reallocate budget by academic buying behavior while keeping a controlled learning baseline.
What success looks like
Within 90 days, OBDK should know which audience and keyword clusters deserve more budget, what a qualified institutional opportunity is worth, where paid traffic is leaking, and whether PMax has earned the right to a controlled test.
Scope, Ownership and Boundaries
| PPC lead owns | Inputs required from other owners | Out of PPC scope |
|---|---|---|
| Account and tracking audit | Commercial margins, stock and product priorities | Editorial calendar and content strategy |
| Campaign structure, keywords and negatives | Landing-page creation and page corrections | Academy curriculum or program design |
| Ads, assets, bidding and budget control | Feed implementation and approved product claims | Website redesign and CRO production |
| Conversion specification and reporting | CRM stages and offline order-status data | Newsletter, organic social and SEO delivery |
| Tests, optimization and seasonal reallocation | Creative production and customer-list approvals | General business or channel strategy |
Amazon boundary
Amazon is not a growth workstream in this plan. If Chris wants it retained, the PPC remit is limited to a separate efficiency audit and essential maintenance. No incremental Amazon budget, expansion plan or marketplace-led customer strategy is proposed here.
Paid Demand and Audience Intent
One account, five commercial jobs. Each needs its own query set, message and destination.
| Audience | High-intent query themes | PPC conversion | Required destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schools and classrooms | owl pellet classroom kit; owl pellet dissection kit; science classroom activity | Purchase or qualified school quote | Classroom range with pack size, grade fit and teacher resources |
| Districts and institutions | bulk owl pellets; school purchase order science supplies; tax exempt science kits | Qualified quote, PO or offline order | Institutional page with quote, PO and tax-exempt path |
| Homeschool | owl pellet kit for kids; homeschool owl pellet dissection; owl science activity | Direct purchase | Parent-ready page with single and small-group options |
| Programs and informal learning | summer camp science activity; library science kit; museum owl pellet kit | Purchase or program quote | Flexible group-size page for camps, libraries and museums |
| Returning buyers and refills | owl pellet refill; replacement owl pellets; owl pellet activity refill | Repeat purchase | Fast refill path with compatible pack sizes |
Reseller and competitor terms
Do not launch conquest campaigns until the reseller and supply relationships are mapped. The operating memo confirms that OBDK may supply organizations that otherwise look like competitors. Search-term visibility is useful; indiscriminate bidding could make OBDK pay to compete against its own distribution.
Google Ads Account Architecture
Separate budget, intent and learning. Consolidate only where data proves the audiences behave alike.
| Campaign | Role | Control model | Initial status |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | Search | Brand | Defend navigational demand and expose reseller leakage | Exact and phrase; tight query review | Launch |
| US | Search | Classroom | Capture teacher and classroom kit demand | Intent-led ad groups by kit or job | Launch |
| US | Search | Institutional | Capture bulk, PO, quote and tax-exempt demand | Separate budget and offline-value tracking | Launch when page is ready |
| US | Search | Homeschool | Acquire parents and small-group buyers | Dedicated ads, negatives and product set | Hold for page readiness |
| US | Search | Programs | Capture camp, library and museum demand | Seasonal activation and group-size copy | Seasonal launch |
| US | Search | Refills | Convert returning and replenishment demand | Exact/phrase plus customer audiences | Launch |
| US | Shopping | Standard | Test product-led demand with transparent controls | Product groups and custom labels by audience/value | Launch after feed audit |
| US | PMax | Incremental reach after the core account is proven | URL, brand, feed and conversion-value gates | Not in phase 1 |
Non-negotiable account controls
Shared naming and labels for audience, intent, funnel stage, season and test status.
Campaign-level negative strategy plus cross-negatives between classroom, homeschool, institutional and program demand.
Separate brand reporting. Brand cannot be allowed to disguise weak nonbrand economics.
Search-partner and network settings reviewed explicitly, not accepted by default.
Location targeting set to people in the target location, with exclusions documented.
Keyword, Query and Ad Strategy
Start with observable intent. Expand match types only when measurement, negatives and budget can absorb the learning.
Match-type progression
Exact and phrase establish the baseline for commercial query quality, audience economics and landing-page fit.
Broad match is a controlled expansion test only after primary conversion tracking is reliable, negatives are mature and Smart Bidding has sufficient signal.
Search terms are reviewed at least twice weekly during launch, then weekly once query quality stabilizes.
Negative keyword foundation
| Exclude or isolate | Examples | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Non-commercial research | free worksheet; printable pdf; clipart; owl sounds | Protect budget from information-only demand |
| Wrong product meaning | wood pellets; pellet stove; fuel pellets; pet vomiting | Avoid semantic confusion around the word pellet |
| Unrelated animal services | live owls; owl removal; pest control; wildlife jobs | Remove non-product intent |
| Audience cross-traffic | homeschool negatives in classroom groups and vice versa | Keep message and economics interpretable |
Message by audience
| Classroom | Classroom-ready pack sizes, educator resources, grade relevance and reliable fulfillment. |
| Institutional | Bulk quantities, quote support, purchase-order readiness and tax-exempt process. |
| Homeschool | Approachable single or small-group activity, clear guidance and no classroom-scale commitment. |
| Programs | Flexible group sizes and a practical science activity for camps, libraries and museums. |
| Returning | Fast refill and reorder path using known product compatibility. |
Budget, Bidding and the PMax Gate
The percentages are a starting portfolio, not a permanent entitlement. Spend follows marginal value.
| Portfolio | Starting share | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| School and institutional Search | 45% | Core high-intent demand |
| Homeschool and program Search | 20% | Distinct B2C and seasonal demand |
| Controlled Standard Shopping | 15% | Product-led discovery with feed control |
| Brand, refill and returning | 10% | Defense and efficient repeat demand |
| Remarketing and Customer Match | 5% | Re-engage known, eligible audiences |
| Structured tests | 5% | New queries, ads, audiences or later PMax test |
Bidding decision tree
Reliable revenue values and sufficient volume: use Maximize Conversion Value, then introduce a target ROAS only after the natural performance range is understood.
Reliable primary conversions but weak values: use Maximize Conversions, then test a target CPA against qualified commercial outcomes.
Insufficient tracking or signal: use a tightly budgeted learning setup, such as Maximize Clicks with a CPC ceiling, only while measurement is repaired. Do not scale.
Performance Max launch gate
PMax receives 0% of the phase-one budget. A maximum 5% controlled test can be released only when all gates below are green.
| Gate | Pass condition |
|---|---|
| Measurement | Primary actions deduplicated; values and enhanced conversions verified |
| Landing pages | Approved audience pages; no placeholder copy or pricing anomalies |
| Feed | Titles, GTINs, availability and custom labels validated |
| Controls | Brand exclusions, URL rules and account negatives documented |
| Evidence | Core Search and Shopping have a stable efficiency baseline |
Seasonal PPC Operating Calendar
Use the academic calendar to shift audience and budget - not to repeatedly shut down and restart learning.
| Period | Demand pattern | PPC action |
|---|---|---|
| Aug-Sep | Back-to-school setup and immediate classroom purchasing | Peak classroom/institutional budgets; protect impression share; emphasize fulfillment and PO readiness |
| Oct-Dec | Active instruction and curriculum use | Maintain classroom capture; expand proven queries; push refills and mid-year group activities |
| Jan-Mar | Planning, evaluation and grant activity | Increase institutional and quote coverage; test planning-led copy; build qualified pipeline |
| Apr-Jun | Budget utilization and spend-it-or-lose-it behavior | Raise caps on proven school terms; use deadline-aware assets only where substantiated |
| Jun-Aug | Homeschool, camps, libraries, museums and next-year planning | Shift budget to program and homeschool demand while keeping a classroom learning baseline |
Weekly seasonal control loop
Review search demand, impression share, budget loss and conversion lag by audience.
Move budget toward the next profitable dollar, not the best historic average.
Confirm inventory, lead times and institutional support before any seasonal increase.
Measurement, Conversion Value and Reporting
PPC remains accountable, but the scorecard must reflect OBDK's mix of immediate purchases and longer institutional decisions.
| Action | Bidding role | Required implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Online purchase | Primary | Actual value, currency, transaction ID and deduplication |
| Qualified quote | Primary after validation | CRM qualification rule, expected value and offline stage import |
| PO or offline order | Primary | Import accepted/completed order with actual value and click identifier |
| Newsletter, resource or Academy action | Secondary observation | Report as assisted engagement; exclude from primary bidding goals |
Commercial formulas
| Break-even ROAS | 1 divided by contribution margin rate. Example: a 40% contribution margin implies 2.5x break-even ROAS before overhead. |
| Qualified quote value | Average completed order value x contribution margin rate x quote-to-order probability. |
| Target quote CPA | Expected qualified quote value x the approved acquisition share. |
PPC scorecard
Revenue and contribution-adjusted ROAS by audience, campaign and product group.
Cost per qualified quote, quote-to-order rate and imported offline revenue.
Search-term quality, negative-keyword additions and priority-term impression share.
New versus returning customer economics, where the data is available and privacy-safe.
Conversion lag, cohort performance and marginal ROAS - not only platform last-click results.
90-Day PPC Roadmap
Audit, repair, launch, learn, then scale. Every phase has a release condition.
| Timing | PPC lead deliverables | Dependency or release condition |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1-10 | Account, query, auction, feed and conversion audit; economics model; audience and campaign map | Access granted; margins, stock, reseller relationships and past campaign data confirmed |
| Days 11-30 | Tracking specification; negatives; Search rebuild; controlled Standard Shopping plan; reporting baseline | Priority landing pages and feed fields pass paid-traffic QA |
| Days 31-60 | Query pruning; ad and landing-path tests; bid transition; enhanced and offline conversion validation | CRM stages and completed-order values are importable |
| Days 61-90 | Budget reallocation; audience expansion; Customer Match/remarketing where eligible; PMax gate decision | Core campaigns show stable quality and commercial efficiency |
Review rhythm
| Twice weekly at launch | Search terms, spend anomalies, disapprovals, budget loss and tracking health. |
| Weekly | Budget movement, bid strategy, audience economics, tests and dependency blockers. |
| Monthly | Commercial readout: marginal value, qualified pipeline, offline revenue, seasonal shift and scale decisions. |
| Quarterly | Account architecture, feed segmentation, measurement model and channel incrementality review. |
Launch Brief, Decisions and Evidence
The PPC plan can begin immediately with audit and design. Spend begins only after the commercial and technical gates are agreed.
Access and inputs
Platform access: Google Ads, GA4, Google Tag Manager, Merchant Center and Shopify.
Commercial inputs: product revenue, margin, stock, lead time, seasonality and reseller or supply relationships.
Measurement inputs: CRM/order stages, completed offline sales and permissioned customer lists.
Five decisions to make with Chris
Commercial threshold. Agree contribution margin, break-even ROAS and maximum qualified-quote CPA.
Audience priority. Confirm the first two growth audiences and the institutional service capacity behind them.
Budget range. Set the 90-day learning budget and the rules for moving spend between portfolios.
Conversion definition. Agree what makes a quote qualified and which offline stages return to Google Ads.
PMax decision. Accept that phase one is Search and controlled Shopping, with PMax released only through the documented gate.