12-Month Marketing Plan
Layer 1 · Paid Media Allocation · v1.0 · $120,000
Paid Media Plan — $10,000 / month
Where every one of the $120,000 paid-media dollars goes across the 12-month cycle. Platform by platform, room by room, month by month. Budget flex, creative rotation, bid strategy, audience architecture, and the six KPI checkpoints that trigger reallocation.
Contents
- The $120,000 allocation at a glance
- Month-by-month spend curve
- Platform deep-dives — Meta · Google · LinkedIn · YouTube · Other
- Audience architecture — who we target, where they live in the platforms
- Creative rotation strategy — how many variants, how often refreshed
- Bid strategy and campaign objectives
- The six reallocation triggers
- Risk register — what could go wrong and how we respond
1. The $120,000 allocation at a glance
$28,000
Google · 23.3%
$24,000
LinkedIn · 20%
$8,000
YouTube · 6.7%
$3,000
Newsletters · 2.5%
$3,000
Test / Contingency · 2.5%
$120,000
Total annual
3.5×
Target ROAS Y1
Why this mix. Meta dominates because Room C (regular giving) is the largest revenue line, and Meta remains the highest-yielding Australian direct-response channel for $19–$29/month recurring gifts in the 45–70 demographic (F&P Australia benchmarking data 2024). Google Search captures the high-intent layer (people already searching for hardship / palliative support). LinkedIn is disproportionately weighted to Room B (corporate CSR / ESG buyers). YouTube is reserved for the Margaret narrative and one hero video per quarter — pre-roll on health, finance and news content.
2. Month-by-month spend curve
Not $10,000 flat. Spend flexes with donor demand (peak-giving windows) and campaign readiness (need to build lists in soft months). The 12-month curve looks like this:
| Month | Meta | YouTube | Other | Total | Primary campaign | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 · M01 | — | — | — | — | — | $0 | Pre-launch · no channels live · accounts provisioning only |
| Oct 2026 · M02 | $3,500 | $1,500 | $4,000 | — | — | $9,000 | Charity-live (1 Oct) · A launch · F referrer push · B warm-up · C creative test (post 25 Oct) |
| Nov 2026 · M03 | $7,000 | $3,000 | $1,500 | $500 | — | $12,000 | Christmas Appeal build+launch |
| Dec 2026 · M04 | $4,500 | $2,500 | $500 | $500 | — | $8,000 | Christmas Appeal peak (dark 25-31) |
| Jan 2027 · M05 | $1,500 | $1,000 | $2,000 | — | $500 | $5,000 | A foundation applications · C steward |
| Feb 2027 · M06 | $2,000 | $1,500 | $6,000 | — | $500 | $10,000 | B Bank Paradox · corporate CY |
| Mar 2027 · M07 | $3,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | — | — | $8,000 | D policy · F Q1 data · A ongoing |
| Apr 2027 · M08 | $3,500 | $2,000 | $1,000 | — | $500 | $7,000 | EOFY microsite build + creative test |
| May 2027 · M09 | $7,500 | $3,000 | $500 | $1,000 | — | $12,000 | EOFY launch · PCW peg |
| Jun 2027 · M10 | $9,000 | $4,000 | — | $1,000 | — | $14,000 | EOFY peak — final push |
| Jul 2027 · M11 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $2,500 | — | $500 | $5,000 | Post-EOFY debrief · B FY28 pitches |
| Aug 2027 · M12 | $2,500 | $1,500 | $3,000 | $500 | $500 | $8,000 | Annual Report · Wills Week · Year-2 |
| ANNUAL | $54,000 | $28,000 | $24,000 | $8,000 | $2,500 + $3,500 contingency | $120,000 | Full-year total |
Read the curve. Six months are at or below the $8K "steady state". Four months are at peak ($10K+). Two months are at trough (<$6K). The peaks steal from the troughs — Nov, Feb, May, Jun. This is deliberate: paid media in Australia yields dramatically higher ROAS in Christmas Appeal (Nov-Dec) and EOFY (May-Jun) than in the soft months. Concentrating spend in the giving windows produces 2-3× the return of flat monthly spend.
3. Platform deep-dives
GOOGLE
Google Search + Performance Max + Google Grants
Annual: $28,000 paid · plus $120,000 in-kind Google Ad GrantsGoogle is the intent capture layer. Whoever is typing "help with medical debt in Australia" or "financial support terminal illness" is already deep-funnel. Google Search + Google Ad Grants (the $10K/month in-kind grant available to registered ACNC charities with DGR) form a double stack — paid captures branded and high-value keywords, Grants captures the long-tail informational queries.
The Google Ad Grants opportunity
$120,000/year in free ad spend. Google Ad Grants gives [DGR endorsement pending] ACNC-registered charities a $10,000/month in-kind Google Search budget. Cap of $2 max CPC, minimum 5% CTR maintenance requirement, must run at least 2 ad groups with 2 ads each. Application submitted Month 1, approved typically within 60 days. This effectively doubles LWD's paid-media reach in the intent layer at zero additional cost. We treat it as a mandatory implementation item and build a dedicated Grants campaign structure from Day 1.
Paid Google campaign structure
| Campaign | Objective | Rooms | Match type | Est. annual spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand — "Life Without Debt" | Conversions | All | Exact + phrase | $2,500 |
| Non-brand high-intent — "medical debt help Australia" | Conversions | C | Phrase | $9,500 |
| EOFY tax-deduction keywords | Conversions | C | Phrase + exact | $4,000 |
| Foundations research keywords | Traffic | A | Phrase | $3,000 |
| Corporate CSR / matched giving | Traffic | B | Phrase | $2,500 |
| Performance Max — donate | Conversions | C | — | $4,500 |
| YouTube search intent (via GDN) | Video views | C | — | $2,000 |
Google Ad Grants campaign structure
| Ad group | Target keywords (sample) | Rooms |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal illness & debt | "help with debt terminal illness", "cancer diagnosis debt help", "MND financial help Australia" | C · F |
| Palliative & end-of-life | "palliative care financial support", "end of life debt", "hospice family financial help" | C · F |
| Debt hardship — general | "debt hardship Australia", "cannot pay debt sick", "financial hardship illness" | C |
| Consumer credit advocacy | "credit hardship variation", "cancel debt legally Australia", "debt waiver ATO ill" | C · F |
| How to help | "how to help family with medical debt", "supporting sick relative financially" | C |
| Bequest & wills | "leaving bequest Australia charity", "wills week charity donation", "in memoriam giving" | E |
| Foundations research | "palliative care grants Australia", "financial hardship charities Australia" | A |
| Referrer information | "debt help palliative patient", "social worker financial support terminal" | F |
LINKEDIN
LinkedIn (Ads + Organic + Sales Navigator)
Annual: $24,000 · 20% of totalRoom B and Room A live here. LinkedIn is the only paid platform where "Head of ESG at ANZ" or "Program Officer at Paul Ramsay" is a targetable job title. Expensive per-impression, but the audiences are unique and the deal sizes justify it. Organic Lisa/Laurence/Carla posts + paid amplification.
Campaign structure
| Campaign | Objective | Room | Peak months | Annual spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Paradox — corporate CSR | Website visits + Lead gen | B | Feb, Jul 2027 | $8,000 |
| Foundation program officers | Website visits | A | Oct 2026, Jan 2027 | $5,500 |
| Health sector referrers | Lead gen form | F | Sep-Oct 2026, Mar 2027 | $4,500 |
| Government / policy stakeholders | Website visits | D | Mar 2027 | $2,000 |
| Personal amplification — Lisa/Laurence/Carla | Engagement | All | All year, small | $2,500 |
| Matched Audiences retargeting | Website visits | B | All year | $1,500 |
Audience targeting
- Bank Paradox audience: seniority Director+ · job function CSR / Sustainability / Community Investment · industries: Banking / Insurance / Superannuation · Australia only
- Foundation officers: job titles CEO / Executive Director / Program Officer / Grants Manager · organisation names: Paul Ramsay Foundation, Ian Potter Foundation, Vincent Fairfax, Snow Foundation, Perpetual, Equity Trustees, Sidney Myer, Myer Foundation, Sherman Foundation, Colonial Foundation, Reichstein Foundation
- Health referrers: job function: Social Work / Palliative Care / Community Health · industries: Hospital & Health Care / Non-profit Health · Australia only
- Government/policy: employers: Department of Health, Aged Care Quality & Safety Commission, PHNs · seniority Manager+
- Matched Audiences: LWD website visitors (via Insight Tag), uploaded email list (foundation officer + corporate contacts CRM export)
YOUTUBE
YouTube (TrueView + Bumper + Discovery)
Annual: $8,000 · 6.7% of totalReserved for hero video moments. Not a broad reach play at this budget — a targeted, high-context play. We produce one 60-second Margaret narrative hero (Q4 2026), one 30-second Lisa piece-to-camera (Q2 2027 EOFY), one 15-second bumper for the Christmas Appeal, and one 90-second theory-of-change explainer for Room A.
Placements & targeting
| Placement | Format | Audience | Annual spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health content (SBS, ABC, Cancer Council channels) | TrueView skippable 30s | Australia 45-70 · health interest | $3,000 |
| News / current affairs | Bumper 6s (Christmas + EOFY) | Australia 45-70 | $2,500 |
| Finance content (SMH, ABC News, Money Magazine) | TrueView 15s | Australia 35-60 · finance interest | $1,500 |
| Discovery (search-suggested) | Discovery ad | Query: "how to help family debt" | $1,000 |
OTHER
Sponsored newsletters + Test / Contingency
Annual: $6,000 · 5%The wildcards. $3,000 for high-quality Australian sponsored-newsletter placements (The Weekly Beast, Crikey, Squiz, InDaily, The Mandarin — chosen for demographic + credibility fit). $3,000 kept as contingency to double down on a winning channel mid-year (e.g. if Reddit or TikTok emerges as a viable Room C channel, we have budget to test).
4. Audience architecture
Six primary audience segments, mapped across all four paid platforms. Every ad in the production library targets one of these six.
| Audience | Room | Size (Australia) | Where to reach | Message frame |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carers of terminally ill family | C | ~180K active any given month | Meta core · Google Grants · YouTube health | Story-led · "she was lying awake at 3am" · $19.25 anchor · peace of mind |
| Adult children of aging parents | C · E | ~2M | Meta core · Google Search · Facebook groups | Story + Trust · "when the diagnosis comes, this is the debt call you don't know how to make" |
| Palliative & health social workers | F | ~8,500 total (small, high-value) | LinkedIn · direct outreach · industry publications | Clinical rationale · referral pathway · MOU offer · "here's what your patients get" |
| Foundation program officers | A | ~200 institutions, ~600 people | LinkedIn · direct outreach · discovery calls | Data-led · theory of change · evaluation partner · 4 measured outputs |
| Corporate CSR/ESG leads | B | ~2,500 ASX200 + top 500 private | LinkedIn · Bank Paradox thought-leadership · direct pitch | Bank Paradox positioning · matched giving · ESG data pack · employee giving |
| Government / policy stakeholders | D | ~1,500 across Fed + State health + aged care | LinkedIn · policy submissions · industry events | Systems change · Y1 case data · policy brief · inquiry submissions |
5. Creative rotation strategy
Volume. Minimum 6 active variants per always-on campaign. Minimum 12 active variants per hero campaign (Christmas, EOFY). At any given time the production library holds 40-50 approved creatives ready to rotate in.
Refresh cadence. Evergreen creative: 21-day refresh (swap in 2 new variants, retire 2 lowest performers). Hero campaigns: 7-day refresh at peak spend. Every refresh triggered by ad-fatigue signal (frequency >3.5, or CTR drop >20% from launch baseline).
Format mix per campaign. 40% single-image · 25% carousel · 20% short video (15-30s) · 15% Reels-native vertical. Ratios adjust by platform (Instagram Reels-heavy, Facebook mixed, LinkedIn image-and-text-heavy).
Message-match discipline. Every ad's headline promise must be visible above the fold on the landing page it links to. This is a Google Quality Score requirement (lower CPCs) and a conversion-rate requirement (drop-off is 30-50% higher when the ad-to-page mismatch exists).
6. Bid strategy and campaign objectives
| Platform | Campaign type | Objective | Bid strategy | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | Christmas / EOFY hero | Conversions (Donate) | Highest volume · $40 daily minimum | CPA <$140 M03 → <$70 M12 |
| Meta | Retargeting | Conversions | Cost cap $50 | CPA <$40 |
| Meta | Lookalike | Conversions | Highest volume | CPA <$120 |
| Google Search Paid | Brand | Conversions | Target CPA $30 | Impression share >90% |
| Google Search Paid | Non-brand | Conversions | Target ROAS 250% | Conv. rate >5% |
| Google Ad Grants | All | Traffic + micro-conv | Manual CPC max $2 | CTR >5% (grant maintenance) |
| Google PMax | Donate | Conversions | Target ROAS 300% | Blended CPA <$100 |
| Bank Paradox | Website visits | Max CPC $8 | CTR >0.6% | |
| Lead gen | Lead form | Cost per lead $80 | Lead-to-conv >15% | |
| YouTube | Hero video | Views (TrueView) | Target CPV $0.08 | View-through rate >40% |
7. The six reallocation triggers
The plan is not fixed. Six automated triggers monitor performance and flag budget reallocation to Carla within 24 hours of hitting.
- Trigger 1 — Channel CAC breach. If any channel's 30-day rolling CAC exceeds the platform target by >30% for 3 consecutive weeks: reallocate 25% of that channel's next-month budget to the top-performing channel.
- Trigger 2 — Creative fatigue. If frequency in any Meta campaign exceeds 4.0 with CTR <0.8%: pause creative + push next-in-queue variant within 48 hours.
- Trigger 3 — Room-level pipeline gap. If Room A applications, Room B conversations, or Room F MOUs fall below plan by >30% at any month-end: reallocate $2K from Room C to that room's channel (LinkedIn) for the next month.
- Trigger 4 — Peak-window pace. During Christmas Appeal (Nov-Dec) and EOFY (May-Jun): if daily donation velocity is >20% ahead of forecast at day 10, push borrowed budget from adjacent months forward. If >20% behind, hold spend and diagnose.
- Trigger 5 — LTV data revision. Quarterly cohort review. If 24-month LTV projection drops >15% from previous quarter, reduce all evergreen Meta spend by 20% until diagnosed.
- Trigger 6 — Compliance flag. If any ad, landing page, or piece of creative is flagged for RG 96, composite, or hedge-word violation: pause the entire campaign, remove creative, escalate to Carla + Lisa within 4 hours.
8. Risk register
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta account restricted (charity-topic sensitive) | Medium | High | Meta Business Manager verified, DGR docs uploaded pre-launch, "special ad category — charity" flag set correctly, backup account seeded |
| Google Grants suspended (CTR drop <5%) | Medium | High ($10K/mo in-kind lost) | Automated CTR monitor + weekly ad-group review · retire underperforming keywords within 14 days |
| iOS ATT / cookie deprecation degrades attribution | High (known ongoing) | Medium | Server-side CAPI covers 90%+ · first-party UUID · manual UTM discipline |
| Ad platform CPMs spike (Nov-Dec, May-Jun known peaks) | Certain | Medium | Budget curve already priced peak CPMs · shift 20% earlier if forecast worse |
| Creative fatigue at scale | High | Medium | 50-creative production library · 21-day refresh · 3 fresh videos per quarter |
| Regulatory challenge on any single ad | Low | Very High | Compliance review (Carla) on every asset pre-launch · trigger 6 auto-pause |
| Attribution disputes at Board level ("we don't know where it came from") | Low with framework, High without | High | Attribution framework enforced, 4 dashboards published, quarterly audit |
This plan is a working hypothesis. The version 1.0 you're reading is the starting position. Every trigger above is real — every month closes with a written debrief that adjusts the next month. By Month 6, this plan will look meaningfully different. That is the plan working, not the plan failing.