The Ad Spend

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Notes on running an account that remembers

Field notes and research on paid media, memory, and the difference between a number and a decision.

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124 posts in Reference

A woman in glasses reacting with disbelief while holding a phone handset
ReferenceOctober 27, 2025

Total Advertising Cost of Sales (TACoS)

Amazon TACoS shows organic health. 5-15% is healthy. Declining TACoS = ads building organic momentum.

2 min read
Close portrait of a woman wearing a telephone headset with her hand to her ear
ReferenceOctober 24, 2025

Facebook Lead Ads Benchmarks for Home Improvement — Latest Available Data (Checked July 2026)

Home Improvement Facebook: $41.26 CPL (55% cheaper than Google). Before/after visual content performs well.

2 min read
Heels resting on a desk beside a headset and scattered notes while a hand writes
ReferenceOctober 20, 2025

First-Touch Attribution (FTA)

First-touch gives credit to discovery channel. Use to understand 'How do customers find us?' not for budgets.

2 min read
A woman resting her head on one hand while working at a dark terminal late at night
ReferenceOctober 16, 2025

LinkedIn Ads Benchmarks 2026

LinkedIn Ads in 2026: 121% company-level B2B ROAS, €5.98 CPC, €34.33 CPM, €70.11 per company influenced (Dreamdata, Mar 2026, data Aug 2024–Jul 2025). We still do not publish per-industry LinkedIn benchmarks — here is why.

3 min read
A woman lying back on stacked folders pressing a phone handset to her forehead
ReferenceOctober 13, 2025

Last-Touch Attribution (LTA)

Last-touch is platform default but biased toward conversion channels. Overvalues Search and retargeting.

2 min read
Two colleagues passing a file over a desk while a woman with a mug looks on
ReferenceOctober 6, 2025

Data-Driven Attribution (DDA)

Data-Driven Attribution (DDA) explained — Google's default model, credited algorithmically across touchpoints. The 2026 standard.

2 min read
A man seated on the floor sorting through scattered printed reports
ReferenceSeptember 29, 2025

Attribution Window

Attribution window explained — the timeframe for crediting conversions to an ad. Shorter windows are the 2026 privacy-era norm.

2 min read
A seated man listening while a colleague behind him takes a phone call
ReferenceSeptember 22, 2025

View-Through Conversions (VTC)

A view-through conversion credits an ad that was seen but not clicked. Meta's March 3, 2026 attribution change reshaped how it is counted — here is the new default window.

2 min read
A young man in shirt and tie seated calmly in front of stacked boxes and reeded glass
ReferenceSeptember 14, 2025

Incrementality Testing: A Practical 2026 Playbook

A practical 2026 playbook for incrementality testing: what it measures, when to use geo holdouts versus conversion lift versus audience holdouts, how to design tests that survive scrutiny, and how to triangulate results with MMM and attribution now that Meridian and GeoX have made geo experiments mainstream.

9 min read
A blurred figure behind reeded glass with a sticky note reading quarterly review Q2
ReferenceSeptember 7, 2025

Lifetime Value (LTV)

Calculate customer lifetime value. LTV determines max CAC. Most businesses underestimate and underspend.

2 min read
A woman in a dark vest touching her ear and glancing sideways
ReferenceAugust 31, 2025

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

CAC includes all acquisition costs, not just ads. SaaS $200-500, E-commerce $20-100. Compare to LTV.

2 min read
Overhead shot of a woman in a vest and skirt kneeling on red carpet looking up at the camera
ReferenceAugust 24, 2025

LTV:CAC Ratio

LTV:CAC ratio explained — lifetime value vs. acquisition cost. The core unit-economics health check, still ~3:1 as a 2026 benchmark.

2 min read

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