Google Ads search campaign plan with keyword research, budget and forecast

Ledgerly lets freelancers create GST-ready invoices in India and simple invoices with payment links in the US. It has 38,000 sign-ups, mostly from word of mouth and a few blog posts. The paid plan costs ₹299 a month in India and $12 a month in the US. About 9% of free sign-ups upgrade within 60 days, and paying users stay about 14 months on average.

The founders have approved a test budget of ₹3 lakh a month in India and $6,000 a month in the US for three months. They tried Google Ads once, with one broad campaign and the default settings, and spent ₹80,000 in two weeks on searches like "free invoice template" and "invoice meaning". They got 140 sign-ups and almost no upgrades.

The growth lead, Ananya Rao, wants a proper plan before a rupee is spent: - a target cost per sign-up and per paying customer worked out from the numbers above; - keyword research in Google Keyword Planner for both countries, grouped by intent; - an account and campaign structure with match types, negatives and bidding approach; - responsive search ads and landing page recommendations for each ad group; - a budget split and a 90-day forecast of clicks, sign-ups and paying customers, with ranges; - conversion tracking requirements and a test plan with decision rules.

You must not spend real ad money. Build the plan in a spreadsheet and, if you like, set up a Google Ads account in draft without launching. Done looks like a plan workbook, ad copy, a forecast and a two-page pitch to Ananya. She will judge it on whether the targets come from the unit economics and whether the forecast is honest about uncertainty.