PPC strategy template with a worked example

PPC strategy template

A PPC strategy sets how paid search and paid social budget is spent: which campaigns run, who they target, what counts as a conversion and the cost per result the account must hit. It is owned by the paid media manager and agreed with the head of marketing, the sales team that works the leads and finance.

Horizon: 1 year4 priorities · 10 outcomes

Use this template

What this pPC strategy template includes

ContextThe situation, the challenges to solve, and what is deliberately left out.
Goals and economicsWhat the account must deliver for spend to be worthwhile.
Campaign structureThe campaigns in the account and the job of each.
Keyword and audience themesWhat triggers the ads and what is excluded.
Ads and landing pagesWhat people see and where they land.
Bidding and budget rulesHow bids are set and when budget moves.
Priorities and measuresThree to five priorities, each with an owner, outcomes with a baseline and target, and the initiatives behind them.

PPC strategy example

A complete pPC strategy for a fictional organization: residential solar and home battery installer operating in three states.

Worked examplePPC strategy

Organization	Residential solar and home battery installer operating in three states (180 staff)
Ambition	Cut the paid media cost of an installed system from $2,800 to $2,100 on a flat budget by bidding to sat appointments instead of form fills.
Horizon	1 year

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

The account spends $140,000 a month and produces about 1,000 leads at $140 each, but only 250 become a sat appointment and 50 an installed system, so each paid install costs $2,800. Bidding is set to form submissions, and 31% of leads are disqualified on the first call: renters, shaded roofs, addresses outside the service area. Over the past 12 months non-brand search volume in our zip codes is down 22% while average cost per click rose from $7.80 to $9.10. In one of our three states, lower export credits have pushed solar-only payback past 11 years.

Challenges

The platforms are optimizing toward the cheapest form fill, which is often a renter or a homeowner outside our service area, because no sales outcome is sent back to them.
Demand is shrinking and clicks cost more, so the account cannot buy its way to more installs. It has to waste less of what it already buys.
The solar-only offer no longer pays back in one state, yet that state still runs the same ads and landing pages as the other two.

We will focus on

Sat appointments and installed systems as the numbers the account is run on, with offline conversions imported from the CRM every day.
Homeowners with a monthly electric bill over $150 inside the zip codes our own crews can reach within 90 minutes.
A battery and lease offer built for the low-export-credit state, with its own campaigns, pages and targets.

We will not

Buying shared leads from aggregators, even at $45 a lead. The ones we tested were sold to four installers at once and closed at a third of the rate of our own leads.
Raising the budget to chase volume. Spend stays at $140,000 a month until cost per install is below $2,400.
Advertising in the two neighboring states where we hold a license but have no crews, however cheap the clicks are.

Goals and economics

Monthly budget	$140,000 across search and paid social, held flat for the year. Up to 15% moves between states each month according to install crew capacity.
Target cost per acquisition	$420 per sat appointment and $2,100 per installed system, down from $560 and $2,800. Cost per lead is reported but is no longer a target.
Target return on ad spend	12.6 on installed contract value at an average contract of $26,500, up from 9.5. It is measured on installs, not signatures, because 17% of signed contracts cancel before installation.
Conversion tracked	Primary conversion: sat appointment, imported from the CRM with the click ID within 24 hours. Form submits, calls over 90 seconds, signed contracts and installs with contract value are imported as secondary conversions for reporting.

Campaign structure

Campaign	Platform	Targeting	Budget share
Brand	Search	Exact and phrase match on our name, all three states	6%
Non-brand solar, one campaign per state	Search	Phrase and exact match, service-area zip codes only	44%
Battery and backup power	Search	Low-export-credit state plus outage-prone counties	14%
Competitor and review terms	Search	Exact match on six regional installers	6%
Homeowner prospecting	Paid social	Lookalikes of installed customers inside service zip codes	18%
Remarketing	Paid social and display	Site visitors, 30 days; unbooked leads, 90 days	7%
Video test	Online video	Homeowners in zip codes with a recent rate increase	5%

Keyword and audience themes

Theme	Match or audience type	Exclusions
Solar installers and companies near me	Exact and phrase	Jobs, careers, training, DIY, kits, wholesale, used panels
Solar cost, quotes and payback by state	Phrase	Free solar, government giveaway, stocks, RV, shed, pool heating
Home battery and backup power	Phrase and exact	Portable power stations, generators, camping, RV
Competitor names and reviews	Exact only	Login, customer service, phone number, complaints, lawsuit
Brand	Exact and phrase	Careers, monitoring login and existing-customer support terms
Homeowner lookalikes	1% to 3% lookalike seeded with installed contract value	Renters, zip codes outside the service area, customers and open leads
Remarketing	First-party lists from the site and the CRM	Disqualified leads and signed customers

Ads and landing pages

Ad angles	Four angles: the monthly bill against the local utility's latest rate increase; a $0-down lease for homeowners who do not want to finance a purchase; battery backup for counties with frequent outages; and installation by our own crews, not subcontractors, with the local install count.
Landing pages	One page per state and offer, with utility-specific savings and a four-step qualifier (homeowner, roof and shade, monthly bill, zip code) before contact details. Qualified visitors book the home visit on the next screen. Renters and out-of-area addresses see a polite exit and no conversion fires.
Testing rhythm	One landing page test and two ad tests run per state at any time, each held for 200 leads per variant or four weeks. Winners are chosen on sat-appointment rate, never on click-through or form rate alone.

Bidding and budget rules

A non-brand campaign moves to a target cost per sat appointment once it records 30 imported appointments in 30 days. Below that it stays on maximize conversions with a bid cap.
Broad match runs only inside campaigns that bid on imported appointments and carry the shared negative list. It never runs with form fills as the goal.
The search-term report is reviewed every Monday. Any term with $400 of spend and no qualified lead becomes a negative keyword.
Budget follows crew capacity. When a state's install backlog passes 10 weeks, its non-brand budget drops 25% until the backlog clears.
Paid social is capped at 25% of spend until its cost per sat appointment is within 20% of non-brand search.
Brand search is capped at 6% of budget and bids to impression share, not to a conversion target.

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: Paid Media Manager

Bid to sat appointments, not form fills

The platforms find more of whatever they are told to count. Today they count form submissions, so they deliver cheap leads that sales cannot use.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Cost per sat appointment	$560	$420	Q4 2027
Paid media cost per installed system	$2,800	$2,100	Q4 2027
Sat appointments per month from paid media	250 appointments	333 appointments	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Capture the click ID on every form and call and store it on the CRM lead record
Import sat appointments, signed contracts and installs to the ad platforms daily
Rebuild non-brand search into one campaign per state so each has enough appointment volume to bid on
Replace the weekly cost per lead report with a funnel report from click to install

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 2Owner: Marketing Operations Analyst

Stop paying for homeowners we cannot serve

Nearly a third of leads fail on the first call for reasons that could be known before the click or on the form. Every one of them costs $140 and ten minutes of a rep's time.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Leads disqualified on the first call	31%	15%	Q3 2027
Search spend on terms with no qualified lead in 90 days	22%	8%	Q2 2027

Initiatives

Build a shared negative keyword list from 12 months of disqualified leads
Replace radius targeting with a zip code list drawn from crew drive times
Add the four-step qualifier to every landing page and lead form
Send disqualification reasons from the CRM to the paid media team each week

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 3Owner: Director of Marketing

Rebuild the offer for the low-export-credit state

Solar alone no longer pays back there, so solar-only ads attract clicks that sales cannot close. Storage and a lease change the math for the homeowner.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Battery attach rate on paid-sourced sales in that state	18%	45%	Q4 2027
Paid media cost per installed system in that state	$3,800	$2,600	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Launch battery and backup campaigns with their own landing pages and savings model
Rewrite ad copy around self-consumption and outage protection instead of selling power back
Test a $0-down lease offer against the purchase offer on non-brand search

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 4Owner: Inside Sales Manager

Turn more clicks into booked home visits

With demand down 22%, each click has to work harder. The biggest losses after the click are slow callbacks and pages that ask for a phone number before showing any savings.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Clicks that become a sat appointment	1.6%	2.2%	Q4 2027
Leads called within five minutes	22%	80%	Q2 2027
Installed systems per month from paid media	50 systems	67 systems	Q4 2027

Initiatives

Put a booking calendar on the confirmation page so qualified leads choose their own visit time
Route new leads to the first available rep with a text and call inside five minutes
Build state and utility-specific landing pages with a savings estimate before the form
Add an evening and Saturday callback shift for leads that arrive after hours

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Blank pPC strategy template

The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.

Your planPPC strategy

Organization	[Describe your organization in a few words, with its size]
Ambition	[One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan]
Horizon	[How long the plan runs, for example 12 months]

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]

Challenges

[A problem the strategy has to solve]
[A problem the strategy has to solve]

We will focus on

[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]
[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]

We will not

[Something you are deliberately leaving out]
[Something you are deliberately leaving out]

Goals and economics

Monthly budget	[Your monthly budget]
Target cost per acquisition	[Your target cost per acquisition]
Target return on ad spend	[Your target return on ad spend]
Conversion tracked	[Your conversion tracked]

Campaign structure

Campaign	Platform	Targeting	Budget share
[Campaign]	[Platform]	[Targeting]	[Budget share]
[Campaign]	[Platform]	[Targeting]	[Budget share]
[Campaign]	[Platform]	[Targeting]	[Budget share]

Keyword and audience themes

Theme	Match or audience type	Exclusions
[Theme]	[Match or audience type]	[Exclusions]
[Theme]	[Match or audience type]	[Exclusions]
[Theme]	[Match or audience type]	[Exclusions]

Ads and landing pages

Ad angles	[Your ad angles]
Landing pages	[Your landing pages]
Testing rhythm	[Your testing rhythm]

Bidding and budget rules

[A rule for bidding or reallocating budget]
[A rule for bidding or reallocating budget]
[A rule for bidding or reallocating budget]

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 2Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 3Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 4Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

How to adapt it

01
Work out your economics before anything else: average order value, gross margin and close rate give the most you can pay for a lead, an appointment and a sale.
02
Choose the conversion you bid on by going as far down the funnel as you can while still recording about 30 a month per campaign. If sales are too rare, use the step before them.
03
Draw the campaign structure around budgets and goals you need to control separately, such as brand against non-brand or one region against another, not around every keyword theme.
04
Write the exclusions next to each theme. Pull them from your own search-term report and from the reasons sales rejects leads.
05
Set bidding and budget rules as if-then statements with numbers, so anyone covering the account makes the same call you would.
06
Replace the outcomes with your own baselines from the last 90 days, and include one measure that sits after the lead, such as cost per sale.

How to run it

A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.

Check-in	Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly.
Review	Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly.
Reset	Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly.

Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.

Track this plan in Tability

Still comparing tools? See the 10 best strategy software tools.

Common mistakes

Judging the account on cost per lead. The cheapest leads are often the worst, and a falling cost per lead can hide a rising cost per sale.
Turning on broad match and automated bidding before conversion tracking reflects real sales outcomes, which teaches the platform to find the wrong people faster.
Counting brand search conversions as proof that paid media works, when most of those customers were already looking for you.
Changing bids, budgets and ads every few days, so no test runs long enough to produce a result.

Questions, answered.

What should a PPC strategy template include?

It should include the account economics (budget, target cost per acquisition and return on ad spend), the conversion you track, the campaign structure with budget shares, keyword and audience themes with exclusions, the ad angles and landing pages, and written bidding and budget rules. Finish with a few outcomes that tie spend to revenue.

How do you set a target cost per acquisition?

Start from what a customer is worth. Take the average order value, multiply by gross margin, and decide what share of that margin you will spend to win the customer. Then work backward through your close rates to get the allowable cost per appointment and per lead. Check the result against what the account achieves today.

Should PPC campaigns optimize for leads or for sales?

For sales, or the closest step to a sale that happens often enough. Automated bidding needs roughly 30 conversions a month per campaign to learn. If closed sales are too few, import an earlier sales milestone such as a qualified lead or a held appointment, and keep form fills as a secondary signal only.

What is the difference between a PPC strategy and a PPC plan?

The strategy sets the economics, the audience, the account structure and the rules for moving money. The plan is the working list of campaigns, tests and changes for the coming weeks. A strategy should hold for a year, while the plan is updated every week as results come in.

How often should a PPC strategy be reviewed?

Review performance weekly, the budget split monthly and the strategy itself each quarter. Weekly reviews cover search terms, spend pacing and tests. The quarterly review asks whether the targets still match your margins and whether any campaign should be stopped. Revisit sooner if prices, margins or regulations change.

PPC strategy template

Get the Word file

What this pPC strategy template includes

PPC strategy example

Context

Goals and economics

Campaign structure

Keyword and audience themes

Ads and landing pages

Bidding and budget rules

Bid to sat appointments, not form fills

Stop paying for homeowners we cannot serve

Rebuild the offer for the low-export-credit state

Turn more clicks into booked home visits

Blank pPC strategy template

Context

Goals and economics

Campaign structure

Keyword and audience themes

Ads and landing pages

Bidding and budget rules

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

Get the Word file

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

What this pPC strategy template includes

PPC strategy example

Bid to sat appointments, not form fills

Stop paying for homeowners we cannot serve

Rebuild the offer for the low-export-credit state

Turn more clicks into booked home visits

Blank pPC strategy template

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

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