---
id: "10.10"
title: "Paid acquisition"
dept: marketing-and-growth
status: needs-you
owner: Param
branded: false
last_verified: 2026-10-26
sources:
  - "brew origin/main a559de6: public/index.html:1-2; public/app.js:404, 409; git grep for gtag, googletagmanager, fbq in public and server.js finds nothing"
  - "memory: squareup-tracking-structure, cozy-meta-campaign, brew-pricing-parked, no-spend-while-building, no-disclaimers-in-ads, sell-relief-not-discounts"
  - "handbook content/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand.md"
  - "handbook/AGENTS.md"
---

# Paid acquisition

## Answer

We have never paid to acquire a brand for Brew, and no budget, channel or rule for it exists; this document holds the questions and a proposal that keeps spend at zero until a read turns into a weekly habit and a price exists.

## Today

| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| No ad, campaign or paid post for the product appears in any source | [src: no source found in memory or brew origin/main] |
| The product's own pages carry no analytics or ad pixel, so a paid click could not be counted | [src: brew/public/index.html:1-2] [src: git grep gtag googletagmanager fbq origin/main] |
| The company has one Meta ad account, SquareUp Ads India, billed in rupees, and one GA4 account; neither has a Brew dataset or property | [src: memory squareup-tracking-structure] |
| A Setup Analytics skill exists that builds a Meta dataset and a GA4 property for a new product | [src: memory squareup-tracking-structure] |
| The one paid campaign we ran was for a different store, Cozy Snugglet; it was paused on 8 Oct after a lifetime ₹9,817, 29 clicks, one add to cart and no sales. The memory index rounds it to ₹9,860; the note's figure is used here | [src: memory cozy-meta-campaign] |
| Pricing is parked, so there is no revenue per brand to pay back a click | [src: memory brew-pricing-parked] |
| Reads are capped while we build; each costs real money, see [cost per brand](/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand) | [src: brew/public/app.js:404] [src: handbook content/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand.md] |
| The product name is not chosen, so there is no brand to buy search terms for | [src: handbook/AGENTS.md] |

## Tomorrow

Every item here is a proposal for Param.

| Item | Version | Tag |
|---|---|---|
| No paid acquisition while reads are capped | v1 | New, proposed |
| Install analytics on the landing and the ask page first: a GA4 property and a Meta dataset, with read asks, sign ins, reads started and first hand offs as events | v1 | New, proposed |
| A first paid test only after three gates: pricing set, name chosen, partners handing off weekly | v1 | New, proposed |
| The first test: one channel, one audience, one hook from [audiences and hooks](/marketing-and-growth/audiences-and-hooks), a fixed cap Param names, one ask: a read | v1 | New, proposed |
| Retargeting people who started a read and stopped | v2 | New, proposed |
| Search ads on the product name, once it exists | v2 | New, proposed |

## How we do it

Proposed rules, until Param decides:

1. Spend nothing on ads for the product until Param writes a budget into this document.
2. Never boost a post that claims something the current version does not do.
3. Every paid test gets a row in the [campaign log](/marketing-and-growth/campaign-log) before it starts: goal, cap, dates, hook, what success means.
4. Stop a test the moment it reaches its cap. No auto top ups.
5. Ad creative follows the house rules: no disclaimers or fine print on creative, sell relief and never discounts.
6. Count only what a person does after the click: read asks, reads started, first hand offs. Never likes or followers.

## Numbers

| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per read ask | Ad spend divided by read asks from that test | Ad platform and the asks list | Proposed |
| Cost per first hand off | Ad spend divided by new brands that hand off a pick within 14 days | Ad platform and brief status | Proposed |
| Read cost on top | Our model and data cost for each paid read | [Cost per brand](/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand) | Proposed |

## Open

1. **Do we do paid acquisition at all before launch?** Proposal: no; organic and warm intros only while reads are capped.
2. **What are the gates for the first test?** Proposal: pricing agreed with Sai, the name chosen, and every partner handing off weekly for four weeks.
3. **Which channel first?** Proposal: Meta, Instagram only, in India, because the founder audience scrolls there and the ad account exists.
4. **What budget?** Proposal: Param names one fixed cap for a two week test; nothing is spent past it.
5. **Do we set up tracking now, before any spend?** Proposal: yes; run Setup Analytics for the product's own pages this cycle, at no cost.
6. **Does the Cozy campaign teach us anything here?** Proposal: one rule only: never launch paid without a working purchase or ask event to count.