Ad Strategy -- Hawk Academy Workshop Review

01 Funnel Architecture

▾

                         COLD AUDIENCE (Millions)
                                 |
                    +------------+------------+
                    |  STAGE 1: WARM (Venus    |
                    |  Fly Trap -- SOP 14)     |
                    |  3 Reels, no CTA         |
                    |  Pure value, build pools  |
                    +------------+-------------+
                                 |
                     Video viewers 75%+ pool
                                 |
                    +------------+------------+
                    |  STAGE 2: HOT (Tornado   |
                    |  + Direct Response)       |
                    |  15 Reels, soft + hard    |
                    |  CTAs to workshop page    |
                    +------------+-------------+
                                 |
                         Landing page visits
                                 |
                    +------------+------------+
                    |  STAGE 3: APPLY          |
                    |  Landing page + VSL      |
                    |  Application form        |
                    +------------+-------------+
                                 |
                    +-----+------+------+
                    |                   |
              Applied             Didn't apply
                    |                   |
       +------------+-----+    +-------+--------+
       |  STAGE 4: CONVERT |    |  HAWK ACADEMY  |
       |  (Hammer Them)    |    |  FLYWHEEL      |
       |  15-20 retarget   |    |  Retarget to   |
       |  pieces in 72hrs  |    |  free course   |
       |  + email nurture  |    +----------------+
       +--------+----------+
                |
       +--------+----------+
       |  STAGE 5: ATTEND  |
       |  30 seats filled  |
       |  $75K revenue     |
       +--------+----------+
                |
       +--------+----------+
       |  FLYWHEEL OUTPUT  |
       |  Testimonials,    |
       |  Case studies,    |
       |  Referrals,       |
       |  Fresh creative   |
       +-------------------+

Stage 1 (Venus Fly Trap): 3 sequential Reels, no CTA. Pure value. Builds 75%+ viewer and engager pools.

Stage 2 (Tornado + DR): 15 unique Reels following the 10-part DR framework. High frequency to warm audiences. Goal: LP visits + applications.

Stage 3 (Apply): Landing page with VSL, application form, qualification questions, scarcity indicators.

Stage 4 (Hammer Them): 15-20 retargeting pieces in 72hrs + email nurture + confirmation page + personal outreach for high-value applicants.

Stage 5 (Attend): Pre-workshop email sequence. Day-of content capture feeds back into Stage 1/2.

02 Audience Targeting

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Stage 1: Cold Audiences

Interest stacks (Meta):

Small business owners AND (SEO OR Google Ads)
Digital marketing AND (Business coaching OR Entrepreneurship)
Shopify OR WooCommerce

Overlay: Business page admins, engaged shoppers, FB page admins

AI/Tech crossover: ChatGPT AND (Marketing OR Business), HubSpot/SEMrush/Ahrefs/Moz

Demographics: Age 25-55, AU (primary), UK/US (secondary), English, job titles: Business owner, Marketing manager, Founder, CEO, CMO

Lookalikes: 1% LAL of StudioHawk client list (LTV-segmented), Hawk Academy signups, website visitors, IG engagers. Expand to 2-3% when 1% saturated.

Exclusions: StudioHawk employees, existing applicants, competitor agency employees, "SEO agency" interest + digital marketing employment

Stage 2: Warm Audiences

75%+ viewers of Stage 1 Reels (30 days)
50%+ viewers of Stage 1 Reels (14 days)
IG profile visitors, FB page engagers (30 days)
Website visitors (30 days)
Email list engagers (opened/clicked 90 days)

Stage 3: Hot Audiences

Workshop LP visitors (14 days) who did NOT apply
95%+ viewers of Stage 2 Reels
Engaged with 2+ pieces of Stage 2 content

Hawk Academy Flywheel Retarget

50%+ Reel viewers who did NOT visit workshop page
Workshop page visitors who did NOT apply (after 14 days)
Non-qualifying applicants
3+ content engagers with no purchase intent

03 Budget Allocation

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Monthly Budget Tiers

Tier	Monthly Spend	Best For
Starter	$3,000 - $5,000	Testing creative, building pools, 1 workshop/quarter
Growth	$5,000 - $10,000	Consistent pipeline, 1 workshop/month
Scale	$10,000 - $25,000	Multiple workshops/month, AU + international

Percentage Split Across Stages

Stage	%	Starter ($4K)	Growth ($7.5K)	Scale ($15K)
Stage 1 (Warm)	25%	$1,000	$1,875	$3,750
Stage 2 (Hot)	40%	$1,600	$3,000	$6,000
Stage 3 (Apply)	15%	$600	$1,125	$2,250
Stage 4 (Convert)	10%	$400	$750	$1,500
Flywheel	10%	$400	$750	$1,500

Cost Benchmarks (AUD, Meta)

Metric	Target	Acceptable	Red Flag
CPM (Stage 1, cold)	$12-$20	$20-$30	>$40
Cost per ThruPlay (S1)	$0.05-$0.12	$0.12-$0.20	>$0.30
CPM (Stage 2, warm)	$15-$25	$25-$40	>$50
CPC to landing page	$1.50-$3.00	$3.00-$5.00	>$7.00
Cost per LP view	$2.00-$4.00	$4.00-$7.00	>$10.00
Cost per application	$50-$100	$100-$200	>$300
Cost per qualified app	$80-$150	$150-$300	>$400
Cost per attendee	$150-$300	$300-$500	>$600

Unit Economics

Revenue per seat: $2,500 | Target CPA: $200-$400 | Target ROAS: 6x-12.5x
At 30 seats, $300 blended CPA: $9,000 direct spend + pool-building = ~$12,000 total
Realistic blended ROAS: $75,000 / $12,000 = 6.25x
Cancellation/refund rate: 5-8% | Net revenue: ~$69,750

04 KPI Targets Per Stage

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Stage 1: Warm (Pool Building)

KPI	Target	Measurement
Video view rate (ThruPlay)	>30%	Meta Ads Manager
Cost per ThruPlay	<$0.12	Meta Ads Manager
75%+ viewer pool size	10,000+/month	Custom Audiences
Engagement rate	>5%	Instagram Insights
Pool growth rate	15-25% MoM	Custom Audience tracking
Share rate	>1% of views	Post-level metrics

Stage 2: Hot (Traffic + Applications)

KPI	Target	Measurement
CTR (link clicks)	>1.5%	Meta Ads Manager
CPC (link click)	<$3.00	Meta Ads Manager
LP view rate	>70% of clicks	Meta pixel
Application start rate	>15% of LP visitors	Form analytics
App completion rate	>60% of starts	Form analytics
Cost per application	<$100	Calculated

Stage 4: Convert

KPI	Target	Measurement
App-to-confirmed rate	>25% (ad), >40% (with call)	CRM
Show-up rate	>85%	Attendance tracking
Cost per attendee	<$300	Calculated
Email open rate	>40%	Email platform
Retargeting frequency (72hr)	8-12 impressions	Meta Ads Manager

Overall Workshop Metrics

KPI	Target
Seats filled	28-30 (93%+ fill rate)
Revenue per workshop	$70,000-$75,000
Total ad spend per workshop	$5,000-$12,000
Blended ROAS	5x-10x
Time to fill	6-10 wks (Starter), 3-4 wks (Scale)
HA signups from spillover	200-500/month

05 Creative Refresh Cadence

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Fatigue Signals (when any 2 occur simultaneously, replace)

Signal	Threshold
CTR decline	>20% drop from peak over 5-7 days
CPM increase	>30% increase from launch
Frequency	>2.5 cold, >6 warm
CPC increase	>40% increase from first 3-day avg
Quality score	Drops below "Average"
Comment sentiment	"seen this before" shift
Conversion rate decline	>25% drop from peak over 7 days

Volume Requirements (Andromeda)

Timeframe	New Creatives	Purpose
Per week	3-4	Prevent fatigue, feed algorithm
Per month	15-20	Andromeda diversity requirement
Per quarter	45-60	Full library rotation

Production model: Harry batch-films 2 sessions/month (2-3 hrs each) = 8-12 raw takes/session. Mixed hooks/bodies/CTAs yield 15-20 final creatives per shoot.

Creative Testing Framework

Phase 1 (Hook Test): 1 proven body + 3-5 hooks. 3-5 days @ $10-20/day. Kill below 50% of top performer.
Phase 2 (Body Test): Winning hook + 3 body structures. 5-7 days.
Phase 3 (CTA Test): Winning hook+body + 3 CTA variations. 5-7 days.
Phase 4 (Format): Adapt to Vertical Reel, Square, Carousel, Story-native, UGC-style.

06 Hawk Academy Flywheel

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Path 1: Cold → Free HA

Saw Reels → didn't visit LP (14+ days) → retarget with free course ad → HA email nurture → next workshop cycle. 2-5% of warm pool converts.

Path 2: Non-Qualifiers → HA

Applied → too early-stage → "here's the path" email → free course → 6-12 month nurture → re-qualify. >50% convert to free.

Path 2b: Qualified Non-Converters

Qualified but didn't pay → warm lead segment → next-cycle notification → re-enter Stage 4. 15-25% convert on 2nd exposure.

Path 3: Grads → Advocates

Attended → results → testimonial video (Stage 2 creative) + referral incentive ($200 off) + community ambassador. 30% provide testimonials.

Path 4: Organic Amplification

Every paid Reel posted organically on IG, YT Shorts, LinkedIn, TikTok, X. Strong organic gets promoted to paid. 20-40% additional reach.

Growth Projections (Growth Tier, $7.5K/mo)

Month	Warm Pool	Free HA Signups	Applicants	Attendees
1	8,000	150	30	0 (building)
2	20,000	350	60	25
3	35,000	500	80	30
6	80,000	800	120	60 (2 workshops)
12	150,000+	1,200+	150+	90+ (3/month)

07 Platform Strategy

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Meta (70% of budget — Primary)

Best retargeting infrastructure. Reels native to Harry's style. Placement split: IG Reels 40%, IG Feed 15%, IG Stories 10%, FB Feed 15%, FB Reels 10%, FB Stories 5%, Audience Network 5%.

Technical: Pixel + CAPI, custom conversions (PageView, ViewContent, Lead, CompleteRegistration), UTM params, Advantage+ for S1, manual placements for S2+.

YouTube (15% — Secondary)

Longer content + Shorts repurpose. Strong search intent. Lower CPV. Formats: Shorts, in-stream skippable, discovery ads.

LinkedIn (10% — Professional)

Decision-makers. Higher ticket tolerance. Only viable for S2/S3 retargeting at Starter/Growth budgets. CPMs 3-5x Meta.

TikTok (5% — Experimental)

Organic-first 30 days. Spark Ads on top performers. Only scale if 3+ videos hit 10K+ views. Future uncertain — don't build dependency.

Platform Split by Tier

Tier	Meta	YouTube	LinkedIn	TikTok
Starter ($3-5K)	85%	10%	0%	5%
Growth ($5-10K)	75%	15%	5%	5%
Scale ($10-25K)	65%	15%	12%	8%

08 Scaling Playbook

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Trigger Conditions (all must be true for 7+ consecutive days)

Condition	Threshold
ROAS (blended)	>4x
Cost per application	<$120
Cost per attendee	<$350
Creative fatigue	No active creatives showing fatigue
Workshop fill rate	>80% seats filled
Conversion tracking	Pixel + CAPI firing correctly

How to Scale

Vertical: +15-20% daily budget every 5-7 days. Monitor 48hrs. Max 3x before diminishing returns.

Horizontal (in order): 1. More creatives on winning audiences → 2. Expand audience targeting → 3. New platforms → 4. New geos → 5. New offer structures.

Warning Signs

Signal	Action
ROAS <2x for 5+ days	Pause scaling, audit creatives/audiences
CPA doubles from baseline	Cut budget to last profitable level
Frequency >4 on cold	Audience saturated — new targeting needed
CTR drops >40% across all	Full creative refresh needed
Show-up rate <70%	Nurture issue, not ad issue
Account restricted	Shift to backup account immediately

Scaling Timeline

Phase	Timeline	Spend	Output
Test	Weeks 1-4	$3-4K	Build pools, test 15-20 creatives
Validate	Weeks 5-8	$4-7K	First workshop filled, identify winners
Growth	Months 3-4	$7-12K	1 workshop/month consistently
Scale	Months 5-8	$12-20K	2 workshops/month, expand to UK
Mature	Months 9-12	$15-25K	2/month AU + UK

09 Email Nurture Matrix

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Sequence 1: Post-Application (7 emails / 7 days)

Day	Email	Purpose
0	Confirmation	Set expectations, immediate value
1	Authority / Harry's story	Build trust
2	Social proof / testimonial	Transformation story
3	Objection handling / ROI math	Value stack
4	Scarcity update	Real numbers, urgency
5	Free value / workshop tactic	Prove the workshop delivers
6	Final push	Direct CTA

Sequence 2: Non-Qualifier → Hawk Academy (3 emails / 5 days)

Redirect to free course → direct link → keep door open for future workshop.

Sequence 3: Pre-Workshop (5 emails)

14 days: prep guide → 7 days: meet attendees → 3 days: final details → 1 day: see you tomorrow → day-of: schedule.

10 Implementation Checklist

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Meta pixel installed on LP
CAPI configured
Custom conversions created (PageView, ViewContent, Lead, CompleteRegistration)
Custom Audiences created (video viewers, engagers, website visitors)
Lookalike audiences built from client list + email list
UTM parameter structure defined
Application form connected to CRM/email platform
Email sequences built and tested
First 3 VFT Reels filmed and edited
First 5 DR Reels filmed and edited
Ad account billing and spend limits configured
Backup ad account created
Reporting dashboard set up

11 UTM Structure

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?utm_source=[platform]&utm_medium=paid-social&utm_campaign=[stage]-[campaign-name]&utm_content=[creative-id]&utm_term=[audience-name]

Examples:

utm_source=meta&utm_campaign=s1-vft-ai-search&utm_content=vft-01&utm_term=lal-1pct-clients
utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=s2-dr-workshop-cta&utm_content=dr-05&utm_term=custom-intent-seo
utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=s2-retarget-testimonial&utm_content=dr-08&utm_term=job-title-cmo

12 Landing Page Testing

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Begin split testing once Stage 2 generates >100 LP visits/week:

Test	Variant A	Variant B	Min Sample
1	VSL above fold	Text-only hero, VSL below	200 conversions/variant
2	Form on-page	Separate app page (2-step)	200 conversions/variant
3	Benefit-led headline	Social-proof-led headline	200 conversions/variant
4	Long-form page	Short-form (hero + form + 3 badges)	200 conversions/variant

13 Attribution Model

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Primary: Meta 7-day click / 1-day view
Secondary: UTM-based last-click in GA4
Supplement: Self-reported attribution on application form
Review monthly. If Meta reports 5x but GA4 shows 3x, gap = view-through conversions. Don't cut based on last-click alone.
Self-reported question is the tiebreaker for multi-touch paths.

Paid Ad Strategy — 5-Stage Funnel