Paid Media strategy — CIAL Dun & Bradstreet¶
Operating definition document for the pilot. Scope: CIAL360 Credit + combined Compliance landing (Compliance Intelligence + D&B Risk Analytics). Companion document: Ad → Landing system defines Message Match and UTM traceability.
Language note. Document body is written in English. Ad headlines, landing copy, and keywords are kept in Spanish exactly as published or as they need to be entered in the platforms.
1. Executive summary¶
The pilot runs on two parallel campaigns with distinct audiences and narratives:
- CIAL360 Credit — credit and collections teams (CFO, Credit Manager, Collections, Risk). Focus: speed, cost, and precision of the B2B credit decision.
- Compliance (Intelligence + Risk Analytics) — compliance, risk, procurement, and third-party risk teams. Focus: continuous monitoring, sanctions/PEP, country risk, UBOs, ESG and cyber.
The strategy operates on two channels: Google Ads Search (declared-intent demand) and LinkedIn Ads (B2B prospecting with native segmentation by job title, industry, and company size). These are the two channels with the best fit to the regulated ICP in LATAM and let pilot investment concentrate on measurable surfaces.
Bidding runs on manual CPC or manual cap during the pilot. Migration to Smart Bidding (tCPA, Maximize Conversions) is evaluated at pilot close, once enough conversions have accumulated and quality signal comes back from Salesforce.
2. Selected channels¶
| Channel | Role | Why it is included |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads Search | Primary channel for declared-intent demand | Captures active intent ("alternative to X", "KYC software", "supplier monitoring"). Required to avoid ceding positions to competitors that already bid for the relevant terminology. |
| LinkedIn Ads | Primary channel for B2B prospecting | Native segmentation by role, industry, and company size, matching the regulated ICP. Indispensable for Compliance, strong for Credit. |
Channels out of the pilot¶
| Channel | Decision |
|---|---|
| Meta Ads | Out of the pilot. Does not offer B2B segmentation comparable to LinkedIn for the regulated ICP. Re-evaluable from month 4 if scope expands. |
| Google Display + YouTube | Out of the pilot. They work as retargeting once there is a baseline of traffic; the pilot first builds that volume before activating them. |
| TikTok Ads | Out of the pilot. ICP advertising consumption on this platform does not justify the investment in this vertical. |
| Google Search — Branded | Deferred from the initial pilot allocation. A non-brand-focused allocation delivers more incremental signal at this pilot scale. The Branded campaign can be revisited with additional budget or after the first optimization cycle. |
3. Campaign structure per product and channel¶
Standard structure per product (replicable across Credit and Compliance):
[Product]
├─ [Channel]
│ ├─ Campaign: Awareness / Prospecting (cold)
│ │ └─ Ad Sets / Ad Groups per angle (A / B / C)
│ ├─ Campaign: Demand Capture (search / intent)
│ │ └─ Ad Groups per keyword theme
│ └─ Campaign: Remarketing
│ └─ Ad Sets per audience (LP viewers, form abandoners)
Total active campaigns by month 2 of the pilot: 6 (3 per product × 2 products) under the current allocation that defers the Branded campaign.
| Product | LinkedIn Prospecting | LinkedIn Remarketing | Google Search Non-brand | Google Search Branded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIAL360 Credit | 1 | 1 | 1 | Deferred |
| Compliance | 1 | 1 | 1 | Deferred |
LinkedIn remarketing activates in month 2, once the LP-viewer audience reaches the minimum volume.
4. Targeting / Audiences¶
4.1 LinkedIn — CIAL360 Credit¶
Primary job titles: - Chief Financial Officer · CFO - Credit Director · Credit Manager - Collections Director · Collections Manager - Risk Director · Chief Risk Officer - Treasurer
Industries: Manufacturing, Retail, Automotive, Food & Beverage, Construction, Transportation & Logistics, Financial Services (partial).
Company size: 201–10,000+ employees.
Geography: Mexico (primary). Staged expansion to Colombia, Peru, Chile from month 4.
Exclusions: direct competitors, junior roles (analyst, assistant), students, and "self-employed".
Audiences by layer:
- Cold audience: as above, no overlap with remarketing.
- Warm audience / matched audience: ABM list of target accounts (CSV uploaded to LinkedIn).
- Hot audience / remarketing: LP viewers in the last 30 days + visits to cialdnb.com/credit/*. Active from month 2.
4.2 LinkedIn — Compliance¶
Primary job titles: - Chief Compliance Officer · Head of Compliance · Compliance Manager - Chief Risk Officer · Risk Manager · Third-Party Risk Manager - Internal Audit Director · Internal Audit Manager - Procurement Director · Procurement Manager · CPO - AML/PLD Officer · AML Officer - General Counsel (secondary)
Industries: Banking, Fintech, Insurance, Pharma, Telecom, Energy, Mining, International Logistics, Government, Regulated Public Sector.
Company size: 501–10,000+ employees.
Geography: Mexico (primary). LATAM from month 4.
Exclusions: industries without meaningful regulatory pressure, junior roles, competitor accounts.
Audiences by layer: same scheme as Credit (cold / matched ABM / remarketing in month 2).
4.3 Google Ads Search — targeting¶
Google Search targets by keyword intent + additional audiences in observation mode:
- In-market audiences in observation: Business Software, Financial Software, Risk Management Software, Procurement Solutions.
- Customer Match with the ABM list (uploaded to Google Ads).
- Remarketing list for Search (RLSA): landing visitors over the last 30/60/90 days — used to lift bids by up to +30%.
- Geo: Mexico. Language: Spanish + English.
- Exclusions: physical locations at competitor offices and own-employee lists (Customer Match).
5. Keywords (Google Ads)¶
5.1 Principles¶
- Match types: start with Phrase and Exact. Broad is reserved for later phases with separate budget.
- One keyword per ad group when Exact; two to four per ad group when Phrase, grouped by theme.
- Universal negative-keyword list maintained in a negative-keyword sub-document.
- Singular/plural and language variants are covered with Phrase match; they are not added as separate Exact entries.
5.2 Keywords — CIAL360 Credit¶
The non-brand high-intent set below feeds the existing ad group Credit_NB_SoftwareCreditoB2B plus five additional ad groups that complete the Non-brand scope: Credit score, Company bureau, Automated decisioning, D&B Rating, DSO reduction.
Branded¶
| Keyword | Match |
|---|---|
| cial360 credit | Exact |
| cial 360 credit | Phrase |
| cial dun bradstreet credit | Phrase |
| cialdnb credit | Phrase |
Non-brand high-intent¶
| Theme | Sample keyword | Match |
|---|---|---|
| B2B credit software | software de crédito b2b |
Phrase |
| B2B credit software | software gestión crédito b2b |
Phrase |
| Business credit score | score de crédito empresarial méxico |
Phrase |
| Business credit score | score crédito empresas |
Exact |
| Company bureau | buró de crédito empresarial |
Phrase |
| Company bureau | buró empresarial alternativa |
Phrase |
| Automated credit decisioning | automatizar decisión de crédito |
Phrase |
| Automated credit decisioning | automatización política de crédito |
Phrase |
| Dun & Bradstreet | dun bradstreet méxico |
Phrase |
| Dun & Bradstreet | paydex |
Exact |
| Dun & Bradstreet | d&b rating |
Phrase |
| DSO reduction | cómo reducir dso |
Phrase |
| DSO reduction | días de cobro pendientes |
Phrase |
Competitor (controlled usage)¶
| Keyword | Match |
|---|---|
alternativa creditreform |
Phrase |
alternativa coface |
Phrase |
comparativa coface vs |
Phrase |
Competitor keywords are served with the generic Credit landing, without naming the competitor in the copy. CTR and Quality Score are monitored weekly.
Additional company-bureau ad groups¶
Two ad groups were added to the Credit Non-brand campaign to match how companies in Mexico actually search for business credit checks, where demand concentrates on the "buró de crédito" phrasing. This is an addition that complements the original Non-brand plan: the existing ad groups and keywords are kept unchanged.
| Ad group | Keywords (Phrase) |
|---|---|
| Credit_NB_BuroEmpresas | buró de crédito empresas, buró de crédito empresarial, buró de crédito para empresas, buró de crédito comercial |
| Credit_NB_BuroPersonaMoral | buró de crédito persona moral, buró de crédito personas morales, buró de crédito para persona moral |
Both ad groups run with the generic Credit landing and the campaign's reinforced negative-keyword list, which keeps spend on business-credit intent and filters personal-credit and free-report queries.
5.3 Keywords — Compliance¶
Branded¶
| Keyword | Match |
|---|---|
| compliance intelligence | Exact |
| risk analytics d&b | Phrase |
| risk analytics dun bradstreet | Phrase |
| cial compliance | Phrase |
Non-brand high-intent¶
| Theme | Sample keyword | Match |
|---|---|---|
| KYC/KYB | software kyc kyb |
Phrase |
| KYC/KYB | plataforma kyb |
Exact |
| KYC/KYB | monitoreo kyc continuo |
Phrase |
| Sanctions & PEP lists | screening de sanciones |
Phrase |
| Sanctions & PEP lists | lista pep méxico |
Phrase |
| Sanctions & PEP lists | monitoreo de personas políticamente expuestas |
Phrase |
| Sanctions & PEP lists | lista negra sat |
Phrase |
| Third-party risk management | software gestión riesgo proveedores |
Phrase |
| Third-party risk management | third party risk management software |
Phrase |
| Third-party risk management | tprm méxico |
Phrase |
| UBO / Beneficial owners | software beneficiarios finales |
Phrase |
| UBO / Beneficial owners | ubo screening |
Exact |
| AML / PLD | software pld antilavado |
Phrase |
| AML / PLD | software prevención lavado dinero |
Phrase |
| Country risk | riesgo país proveedores |
Phrase |
| ESG | evaluación esg proveedores |
Phrase |
| Cyber risk | cyber risk rating proveedores |
Phrase |
Competitor (controlled usage)¶
| Keyword | Match |
|---|---|
alternativa lexisnexis |
Phrase |
alternativa world check |
Phrase |
alternativa refinitiv |
Phrase |
alternativa thomson reuters compliance |
Phrase |
5.4 Critical negatives (cross-cutting)¶
gratis,gratuito,free,crack,descargarcurso,cursos,capacitación,certificación,diplomadoempleo,vacante,trabajo,salariowikipedia,linkedin profilecrédito personal,tarjeta de crédito,nómina,infonavitburó de crédito personas físicasespecial,consulta,reporte,persona física,personas físicas,circulo de credito,fonacot— reinforced for the company-bureau ad groups to keep traffic on business intent and off free self-check queries
6. Bidding strategy¶
6.1 Principles¶
- Learning phase (weeks 1–6): manual CPC or manual cap to stabilize CTR and Quality Score before any automation.
- Conversion threshold: migration to Smart Bidding requires ≥30 accumulated conversions in the last 30 days with CRM-validated lead quality. The pilot strategy is to build that data foundation so the decision can be taken at close.
- Offline conversion import from Salesforce: ensures Google and LinkedIn optimize against SQLs, not against form submits.
- One bid iteration per week per campaign at most, to preserve the learning phase.
6.2 Bid map per channel and phase¶
| Channel | Campaign type | Phase 1 (w 1–6) | Phase 2 (w 7–12) | Phase 3 (month 4+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn — Prospecting | Single Image + Document Ads | Manual CPC with daily cap | Manual CPC with cap | Target Cost per Lead |
| LinkedIn — Remarketing | Single Image + Conversation Ads | Active in month 2 | Manual CPC with cap | Target Cost per Lead |
| Google Search — Non-brand high-intent | RSA | Manual CPC with cap | Manual CPC with cap (evaluate tCPA) | Target CPA (tCPA) |
| Google Search — Competitor | RSA | Manual CPC with cap | Manual CPC | Manual CPC |
6.3 Estimated CPA targets (planning range)¶
Planning figures based on benchmarks for the regulated B2B vertical in LATAM. They are adjusted after cycle 1 with real data.
| Campaign | Initial CPA target (MXN) | Mature CPA target (MXN) |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn — Credit Prospecting | $4,500 – $6,500 | $2,500 – $3,500 |
| LinkedIn — Compliance Prospecting | $5,500 – $8,000 | $3,000 – $4,500 |
| Google Search — Credit Non-brand | $1,800 – $3,000 | $1,200 – $1,800 |
| Google Search — Compliance Non-brand | $2,200 – $3,500 | $1,400 – $2,200 |
6.4 Automatic pause rules¶
- Actual CPA > 2× target CPA over 7 consecutive days → pause and review.
- LinkedIn CTR < 0.40% or Google Search Non-brand CTR < 4% over 14 days → reformulate copy.
- Quality Score < 4 on an ad group with meaningful budget → rewrite landing or pause keyword.
- Form submission rate < 8% of LP traffic → review form friction before continuing to invest.
7. Pilot budget¶
The pilot runs at MXN 30,000/month for 3 months (MXN 90,000 total), allocated 60% Google Ads / 40% LinkedIn Ads and 50/50 across the two products.
| Channel | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search — Credit | $9,000 | $9,000 | $9,000 | $27,000 |
| Google Search — Compliance | $9,000 | $9,000 | $9,000 | $27,000 |
| LinkedIn — Credit | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $18,000 |
| LinkedIn — Compliance | $6,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $18,000 |
| Total | $30,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 | $90,000 |
Figures in MXN, excluding VAT.
Resulting distribution:
- Google Search: 60% ($54,000)
- LinkedIn: 40% ($36,000)
- Per product: 50% Credit / 50% Compliance ($45,000 each)
The budget is held flat month over month to sustain learning across each campaign from day 1. If LinkedIn cannot consume its allocation due to audience or auction conditions, funds shift to Google Search within the same month.
Branded reactivation. The Search Branded campaign is deferred from the initial allocation. It can be reactivated either with additional budget or after the first optimization cycle, once the Non-brand baseline is established.
Translation to daily budgets:
| Campaign | Monthly | Daily (≈30 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search — Credit Non-brand | $9,000 | $300 |
| Google Search — Compliance Non-brand | $9,000 | $300 |
| LinkedIn — Credit Prospecting | $6,000 | $200 |
| LinkedIn — Compliance Prospecting | $6,000 | $200 |
The Google Ads Credit campaign was updated to MXN 300/day on May 27, 2026 to reflect this allocation. See Weekly update — May 25–27, 2026 for the execution log.
8. KPIs and measurement¶
Primary KPIs:
- MQLs/month (leads with relevant company + target role + corporate email).
- SQLs/month (validated by the CIAL commercial team).
- CPA per SQL per product.
- Pipeline generated (MXN in opportunities created) per channel.
Operational KPIs (weekly):
- CTR per campaign, ad set, and creative.
- Average CPC per keyword theme.
- Form submission rate per landing and variant.
- Quality Score of the top 20 keywords.
- LinkedIn impression frequency (target: <8 impressions/person/week).
Reporting cadence:
- Weekly: Looker Studio dashboard (operating view, CIAL and EON).
- Monthly: executive report with funnel analysis and recommendations.
- Quarterly: strategic review and budget reallocation.
9. Operating plan¶
| # | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Validation of this document | CIAL (Compliance + Marketing + Legal) |
| 2 | Access to media accounts (LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Google Ads) as external administrator | CIAL |
| 3 | ABM list of target accounts (~500–1,000 accounts per product) | CIAL Sales/Marketing |
| 4 | Offline conversions from Salesforce via Zapier/API | CIAL IT + EON |
| 5 | Approval of ad and landing copy | CIAL Marketing |
| 6 | Visual creative production (dashboard mockups, illustrations) | EON + CIAL |
10. Operating considerations¶
- Pilot budget is intentionally constrained to validate the system (ad → landing → form → CRM) before scaling. Success is measured in lead quality and cost per SQL, not in high volume.
- The learning phase of each platform takes 4–6 weeks. The pilot produces a useful reading by the end of month 2 and supports budget reallocation in month 3.
- The regulated B2B sales cycle runs 3–9 months; the pilot is measured by MQLs/SQLs generated, not by closed-won deals.
- LinkedIn and Google policies on sensitive terms (KYC, AML, compliance) require ready-to-swap copy variants in case of disapprovals.