Most teams find out they weren’t ready after they’ve spent the money.
Wrong tracking. A landing page that wasn’t built for paid traffic. Math that doesn’t work at the CPCs that channel actually delivers. This skill finds all of it — before you hand money to a platform.
What it looks at
Your actual setup
- Landing page copy and conversion mechanics
- Whether your tracking will feed the algorithm
- Unit economics at realistic channel CPCs
- Offer-to-intent fit for your channel choice
- Who actually owns the feedback loop
What you get back
One verdict. A fix list.
- Go / Go with caveats / Not yet / Fix first
- Scorecard: 7 dimensions, each Ready / Gap / Blocker
- Evidence cited per dimension — not generic notes
- 3–5 specific fixes, in order of priority
- Risks to watch once spend is live
Built for
Operators at one moment
- Founders starting their first paid channel
- Growth leads scaling to a new platform
- VPs assessing whether the team is ready
- CMOs doing pre-spend diligence
- Series A–C B2B SaaS companies
Sample Output
This is what you get back.
Real skill output on a representative scenario. Evidence-cited throughout. Structured for a decision — not a list of generic best practices.
Verdict
Your offer is clear and the channel choice is defensible. Two Blockers prevent a clean Go: GA4 last-click can't feed Meta's optimization algorithm, and your unit economics haven't been tested at real Meta CPCs. Fix both before the invoice lands.
Readiness Scorecard
Detail (Blocker — Conversion Tracking)
Finding: GA4 last-click underreports Meta-attributed conversions by 40–60% in most B2B SaaS setups. Meta's algorithm needs 50 conversion events per ad set per week to exit learning phase. With your current setup, it won't get there — ad sets stall in learning, optimization never kicks in.
Evidence: No Meta Pixel detected on domain. No CAPI endpoint configured. GA4 only, no server-side signal.
Fix: Install Meta Pixel + Conversions API before any spend. Configure purchase and lead events. Verify Events Manager shows clean signal for 48 hours before going live.
Priority Fixes — Ship These Before Spend
Install Meta Pixel + CAPI. Configure conversion events on trial signup and verified lead. Don't put money in until Events Manager shows consistent signal.
Model your CAC ceiling at $8–15 CPC. Run the math: 3% CTR, your actual trial-to-paid rate. If CAC exceeds LTV÷3, the unit economics don't work at this stage.
Build a dedicated paid landing page. Your homepage serves SEO. Paid traffic needs one CTA, agency-specific proof, no nav escape routes. This alone moves conversion rate meaningfully.
Seven things we check.
Each dimension is scored Ready, Gap, or Blocker and each score comes with a specific observation, not a generic note. It doesn’t score a dimension until it has a reason for that score.
This is York IE’s internal pre-flight rubric. The same one the growth team uses before any client engagement turns on spend. We packaged it as a Claude skill so any operator can run it.
Offer Clarity
Can a cold visitor understand what you're selling in under five seconds? If they can't, no amount of targeting fixes that.
Landing Page Quality
Does the page actually work for paid traffic? Homepage-as-LP is almost always wrong. We check mechanics, CTA, and intent match.
Conversion Tracking
Is the right tag firing? Is the conversion received? Is the data clean enough for the algorithm to optimize against?
Offer-to-Intent Match
Does your channel choice match the asking price of your CTA? A $20k deal doesn't close from cold Meta traffic. A $39/mo trial might.
Unit Economics
Does the math work at a CAC this channel can realistically deliver? Most teams skip this and discover it with their first invoice.
Attribution Reality
Will you actually be able to read what worked? If your attribution setup can't tell you which campaigns drove revenue, you can't optimize.
Org Readiness
Is there a person who owns the feedback loop? Paid without a named owner is money that burns slowly and nobody notices until it's too late.
Built for one specific moment.
The decision to start spending or to scale. If you're past that moment, this
isn't the right tool.
- A pre-spend diagnostic — for the go/no-go call on paid
- Seven dimensions, evidence-cited, specific to your setup
- A prioritized fix list you can act on in a single sitting
- Runnable in under 30 minutes by a non-technical founder
- Decision support — not a substitute for judgment
- An audit of live campaigns that have been running for months
- An ad copy or creative generator
- A media plan, channel mix, or bidding strategy advisor
- An SEO or organic performance audit
- A full-service growth engagement
Up and running in under five minutes.
No code. No API keys. No setup wizard. Unzip, follow one page of instructions, paste a prompt.
Download the .zip
Fill in the form above. Your confirmation email includes a unique download link — the .skill file plus a one-page install guide.
Drop it into Claude
Open Claude Desktop, Cowork, or Claude Code. Follow the one-page guide. About three minutes, no technical background needed.
Run your first prompt
Describe your business, channel, and budget. The verdict box, scorecard, and fix list come back in under 30 seconds.
Run the paid ads readiness check on [URL] — we offer [what you do] for [target buyer], converting on [conversion event] with [target sales goal]. [monthly budget] on [channel] targeting [audience].
Know before you spend.
Not after.
Free to download. Five minutes to install. Runs anywhere Claude runs. No cost, no commitment.
Get the Skill Talk to the Growth Team