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Checklist: How to Prepare Paid Ads

4 Key Elements for Your Paid SEA Campaign (aka Google / 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
Two professional women collaborating on campaign planning at a computer
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)
Professional man reviewing content and documentation for ad campaign preparation
3
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
Professional working on visual design and graphics on a tablet device
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
Two professionals working on technical setup and tracking at computers

Project Plan for your Paid Ads - your SEA Preparation Plan

To get a meaningful SEA preparation 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 APHASE BPHASE CPHASE 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.

Need Help with Your Paid Ads?

Our team of experts can help you implement this checklist and optimize your campaigns for maximum ROI.