Phase 03 - Create
Phase 03 - Create
Performance Marketing:
Budget you can explain.
Performance works best when the brand behind it is clear. We plan and run paid campaigns out of the positioning, across social, search and now inside ChatGPT. Optimised for contribution to the business, not for clicks.
Performance works best when the brand behind it is clear. We plan and run paid campaigns out of the positioning, across social, search and now inside ChatGPT. Optimised for contribution to the business, not for clicks.
Definition line
Performance marketing is paid advertising aimed at a measurable action: an enquiry, a purchase, an application. It is steered by what happens after the click rather than by reach, and that is what separates it from classic advertising.
Performance marketing is paid advertising aimed at a measurable action: an enquiry, a purchase, an application. It is steered by what happens after the click rather than by reach, and that is what separates it from classic advertising.
Performance marketing is paid advertising aimed at a measurable action: an enquiry, a purchase, an application. It is steered by what happens after the click rather than by reach, and that is what separates it from classic advertising.
Scope
What is included
Problem List
This is for you if
You run ads, but nobody can say what they bring in.
The budget keeps running because nobody switches it off, not because anyone knows what it contributes.
The platform reports thirty leads, sales knows about four.
As long as nobody explains the gap, sooner or later nobody internally believes the numbers at all.
The same ad has been running for months.
Costs creep up because the same people keep seeing it, and there is no material for anything new.
AI advertising is mentioned everywhere and bookable nowhere.
In ChatGPT you really can buy ads since August. In other answer engines you cannot, and the two get confused constantly.
Reference
What that looked like at Maleco.
What that looked like at Maleco.
Generate enquiries in a market where everyone sells the same thing.
Generate enquiries in a market where everyone sells the same thing.
Two stages instead of one. First ads on Meta and Google showing what Maleco stands for, as video and as stills, aimed at painting and interior finishing firms. Then retargeting the people who responded, optimised for enquiries. The budget follows behaviour, not an audience description.
Two stages instead of one. First ads on Meta and Google showing what Maleco stands for, as video and as stills, aimed at painting and interior finishing firms. Then retargeting the people who responded, optimised for enquiries. The budget follows behaviour, not an audience description.
Paid Social
Search & AI Ads
Campaign Optimisation
„Most accounts do not lose money on the wrong bids. They lose it because the same ad has been running for six months."
„Most accounts do not lose money on the wrong bids. They lose it because the same ad has been running for six months."
„Most accounts do not lose money on the wrong bids. They lose it because the same ad has been running for six months."
What happens in the first 3 months
What happens in the first 3 months
Why month one has no results.
Why month one has no results.
Performance does not work from day one, it works from the point where there is enough data to decide. Expecting results before that means switching off in week three and starting over six months later.
Performance does not work from day one, it works from the point where there is enough data to decide. Expecting results before that means switching off in week three and starting over six months later.
1
Weeks 1 to 2
Numbers, not results yet.
Access, measurement, consent, conversions. The dullest part and the only one that cannot be caught up later: a campaign measured wrongly cannot be evaluated after the fact.
1
Weeks 1 to 2
Numbers, not results yet.
Access, measurement, consent, conversions. The dullest part and the only one that cannot be caught up later: a campaign measured wrongly cannot be evaluated after the fact.
2
Weeks 3 to 6
The first reliable differences.
Several creatives run at once, and after a few weeks it becomes visible which message lands and which does not. Before that it is fluctuation, not insight.
2
Weeks 3 to 6
The first reliable differences.
Analysis, concept, production or evaluation, depending on the phase. Whatever comes out, we sort it before you see it. Not every inconsistency is a problem, and not every finding matters equally. You get what counts, not all of it. We need nothing from you.
3
From month 3
A falling cost per enquiry.
Now the findings flow back into new creative, and that loop is what makes advertising cheaper over time. Which is why three months is the minimum, even with monthly cancellation.
3
From month 3
A falling cost per enquiry.
Whether it is a workshop, feedback round or review call depends on the phase. Who decides does not. What we have is on the table, the options get tested, and the direction is set by those who will defend it internally.
Full funnel: three stages, three goals
Reach people who do not know you yet.
This stage is not about leads. It is about being seen at all. Broad audiences, video and striking visuals, little text. Teams that expect inquiries here write the stage off as a failure and switch off exactly what makes the next two stages cheaper later.
Give a reason to the people who reacted.
Anyone who watched the video, visited the site or engaged now gets the reason: what you do differently, how it looks, who already works with you. This stage costs little and still gets cut first because it does not deliver direct leads. But it decides the price the third stage runs at.
Show the way to the people about to decide.
ow the offer, the price range, the form, the meeting. Small audiences, concrete messaging, no room for atmosphere. This stage looks best in the report because conversions get credited to it. The fact that it runs so cheaply comes from the two stages before it.
Our creative stack!
From clicks to conversions, our stack is built for performance. These tools help us plan, track, and optimize campaigns that actually work.
Frequently Asked
Frequently Asked
Questions
Questions
What is performance marketing, and how is it different from ordinary advertising?
Performance marketing is steered by a measurable action, not by reach. Every ad has a goal, every goal has a price. Whatever does not hit the price gets switched off instead of explained away.
Classic advertising buys attention and hopes for effect. Performance buys an action and does the maths. Both have their place, and the honest point is that they work better together than apart: a brand nobody knows pays more for every enquiry, because it has to replace trust with budget. That is why our performance work comes out of the positioning rather than out of a campaign template.
The practical difference day to day is the speed of decisions. In classic advertising you decide once and look at the results afterwards. Here you decide every week, which is why an account left alone gets a little more expensive every month.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
Performance marketing is steered by a measurable action, not by reach. Every ad has a goal, every goal has a price. Whatever does not hit the price gets switched off instead of explained away.
Classic advertising buys attention and hopes for effect. Performance buys an action and does the maths. Both have their place, and the honest point is that they work better together than apart: a brand nobody knows pays more for every enquiry, because it has to replace trust with budget. That is why our performance work comes out of the positioning rather than out of a campaign template.
The practical difference day to day is the speed of decisions. In classic advertising you decide once and look at the results afterwards. Here you decide every week, which is why an account left alone gets a little more expensive every month.
Can you actually buy advertising inside AI?
In ChatGPT, yes. OpenAI opened self-service in 31 European markets on 31 August 2026, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In other answer engines, currently not.
It is bought through the Ads Manager, with geo-targeting, custom audiences, measurement via pixel and conversions API, and bidding that optimises beyond clicks and impressions towards conversions. So it is a real channel, not an announcement.
One limit is worth knowing first: only users on the free and Go plans see ads, while Plus, Pro and Enterprise stay ad-free. In B2B that removes part of the decision-maker group, the people who pay precisely to work undisturbed. Perplexity had ads and withdrew them, citing trust in the answers.
Anyone selling you AI advertising in general today either means ChatGPT or means nothing. In practice that means: for consumer products the channel is immediately interesting, for explanation-heavy B2B we test it on a small budget alongside Google and decide after six weeks, not before.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
In ChatGPT, yes. OpenAI opened self-service in 31 European markets on 31 August 2026, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In other answer engines, currently not.
It is bought through the Ads Manager, with geo-targeting, custom audiences, measurement via pixel and conversions API, and bidding that optimises beyond clicks and impressions towards conversions. So it is a real channel, not an announcement.
One limit is worth knowing first: only users on the free and Go plans see ads, while Plus, Pro and Enterprise stay ad-free. In B2B that removes part of the decision-maker group, the people who pay precisely to work undisturbed. Perplexity had ads and withdrew them, citing trust in the answers.
Anyone selling you AI advertising in general today either means ChatGPT or means nothing. In practice that means: for consumer products the channel is immediately interesting, for explanation-heavy B2B we test it on a small budget alongside Google and decide after six weeks, not before.
How is this different from SEO & AI visibility?
Here visibility is bought, there it is earned. Ads inside ChatGPT are this service. Appearing in the answers without paying is SEO & AI Visibility in the Evolve phase.
The split is not formal, it decides budget and expectation. Paid visibility works on the day it runs and stops the day after, organic takes months and stays. Anyone wanting both should also know they are measured differently: an ad has a click and a price, a mention in an AI answer has neither and is tracked through monitoring.
In the first call we say which of the two fits the question someone arrives with. Often the answer is to start with ads, because within weeks they show which message lands at all, and that knowledge then feeds the organic work. The reverse also holds: anyone already found well organically needs less paid visibility, and we say so even when it argues against this service.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
Here visibility is bought, there it is earned. Ads inside ChatGPT are this service. Appearing in the answers without paying is SEO & AI Visibility in the Evolve phase.
The split is not formal, it decides budget and expectation. Paid visibility works on the day it runs and stops the day after, organic takes months and stays. Anyone wanting both should also know they are measured differently: an ad has a click and a price, a mention in an AI answer has neither and is tracked through monitoring.
In the first call we say which of the two fits the question someone arrives with. Often the answer is to start with ads, because within weeks they show which message lands at all, and that knowledge then feeds the organic work. The reverse also holds: anyone already found well organically needs less paid visibility, and we say so even when it argues against this service.
Why do you talk more about creative than about bidding?
Because the platform does the bidding now. What a human still influences is the offer, the audience and the creative, and the creative moves the most. Without variants there is nothing to test.
A few years ago accounts were won on bids and keywords. Today the systems handle that themselves, better and faster than any hand. Three levers are left: who you show it to, what you offer, and how it looks. The third is the only one you can vary endlessly. So we plan campaigns with several creatives running at once and replace the weakest one regularly. That assumes material exists. If you have three ads you are not testing, you are just running them. This is exactly where this service depends on Content Production, and that is not an upsell, it is the condition for testing to mean anything at all.
Framer is a web builder for creative pros. Be sure to check out framer.com to learn more.
Because the platform does the bidding now. What a human still influences is the offer, the audience and the creative, and the creative moves the most. Without variants there is nothing to test.
A few years ago accounts were won on bids and keywords. Today the systems handle that themselves, better and faster than any hand. Three levers are left: who you show it to, what you offer, and how it looks. The third is the only one you can vary endlessly. So we plan campaigns with several creatives running at once and replace the weakest one regularly. That assumes material exists. If you have three ads you are not testing, you are just running them. This is exactly where this service depends on Content Production, and that is not an upsell, it is the condition for testing to mean anything at all.
Want to learn more about us? Check out our entire FAQ!
Want to learn more about us? Check out our entire FAQ!
Interested in Content Marketing?
Check out our most recent articles!
Interested in Content Marketing?
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Content that converts
(and doesn’t suck).
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Content that converts
(and doesn’t suck).
Let’s talk.
Content that converts
(and doesn’t suck).
Let’s talk.
Nikkan & Soli Managing Directors
Nikkan & Soli Managing Directors
Nikkan & Soli Managing Directors
