AIWorkDex
Marketing Practice

Choose and run one bounded acquisition test

Create a bounded acquisition test with a supported audience, channel rationale, operating commitment, maximum cost, review date, evidence boundary, and decision rule.

Preparation
One setup session, the fixed experiment window, and one review.
Difficulty
Moderate
Task
Choose an acquisition experiment
Back to the Task: Choose an acquisition experiment

Before you start

Get what you need before you start

  • Use prior audience and offer evidence to shortlist the channel; the Tool will not choose it for you.
  • Confirm an eligible Google Ads campaign before following the Tool-specific steps.
  • Approve the maximum spend, owner, dates, and failure stop before launch.
  • Complete applicable tracking, consent, privacy, and advertising-claim review.

Steps

Work through the method

Use the listed inputs and tools. Check the evidence when you need to verify a step.

  1. Shortlist plausible acquisition routes

    List where the supported buyer looks, learns, asks, or buys. Exclude routes beyond the available budget, skills, access, compliance capacity, or useful learning window. Compare at most six routes by reach evidence, cost, operating effort, time to a useful signal, and unfinished prerequisites. Select one test and record what could reopen the rejected routes.

    Why it matters: A platform experiment cannot decide which channel deserves the team’s limited operating commitment.

    Input
    Audience evidence, buyer behaviour, current access, budget, skills, compliance capacity, operating commitments, and unfinished prerequisites.
    Output
    A bounded shortlist, one selected route, rejected alternatives, and evidence that could reopen them.
    Tools in this stepGoogle Sheets

    Evidence for this step

  2. Write the channel decision first

    State the audience, channel rationale, campaign, message, one variable, chosen measure, spend limit, test window, stop condition, and decision due at the end.

    Why it matters: Precommitting the decision reduces the temptation to select a favourable platform metric after seeing the results.

    Input
    Audience evidence, offer facts, channel constraints, budget, baseline, and operating capacity.
    Output
    A signed experiment brief with one variable and a stop, change, or continue decision rule.
    Tools in this stepGoogle Sheets

    Evidence for this step

  3. Audit the measurement boundary

    Verify the event, source tags, campaign eligibility, conversion window, attribution setting, consent route, claim support, and exclusions. Record anything that cannot be verified.

    Why it matters: A controlled campaign setting cannot repair an incorrect event, unsupported claim, or incomplete tracking route.

    Input
    The experiment brief, campaign settings, analytics implementation, product substantiation, and market requirements.
    Output
    A readiness checklist with verified settings, open gaps, named owners, and a launch decision.
    Tools in this stepGoogle AdsGoogle Sheets

    Evidence for this step

  4. Use the route-specific branch

    When the selected route is an eligible Google Ads campaign, configure one changed variable, dates, allocation, measure, and spend boundary. For community, partnership, content, event, or direct outreach, record the delivered activity and observed response without claiming experimental control.

    Why it matters: The documented platform workflow preserves the selected change and result inside an eligible campaign.

    Input
    The approved brief, eligible campaign, verified event, spend limit, and launch checklist.
    Output
    A completed route-specific test with the delivered activity, settings where applicable, incident log, and observed result.
    Tools in this stepGoogle AdsGoogle Sheets

    Evidence for this step

  5. Record the channel decision

    Compare the observed result with the preselected measure and stop rule. Record data gaps, attribution limits, operational changes, and a stop, change, or continue decision.

    Why it matters: The decision must remain useful even when the sample is weak or the platform result is inconclusive.

    Input
    The original brief, settings, platform result, incident log, spend, and wider business context.
    Output
    A dated decision record with evidence links, limits, owner, and any next experiment.
    Tools in this stepGoogle AdsGoogle Sheets

    Evidence for this step

Success checks

Check the result before you finish

  • The shortlist compares no more than six plausible routes and records why one test was selected.
  • A Google Ads test changes one variable inside an eligible campaign; another route records activity and response without claiming experimental control.
  • The measure, maximum cost, dates, operating commitment, and stop condition were recorded before launch; allocation is recorded for an eligible Google Ads experiment.
  • The result includes data gaps, attribution limits, and relevant incidents.
  • The decision concerns this channel experiment and makes no universal acquisition claim.

Failure modes

Watch for these problems

  • The team selects a channel because the Tool supports it. Return to audience and channel evidence before spending.
  • The campaign changes creative, audience, bidding, and destination together. Reduce it to one reviewable variable.
  • The event or consent route fails during the window. Stop interpretation and repair measurement before another test.
  • A favourable attributed result becomes a causal claim. Restate it as the platform observation and keep incrementality unresolved.

Tools

Choose the tools you need

Sources

Read the sources behind this practice

Check what each source supports and where the advice has limits.