● DRAFT — NOT LIVE
Prepared 7 Jul 2026
Google Ads campaign review
Everything to sign off before we build the campaign in Google Ads: the keyword plan with verified South African volumes, sample search and display ads as they will appear, and the checklist to get live. Two campaigns, all of South Africa, weekday business hours only.
Geography
South AfricaPresence only
Schedule
Mon–Fri08:00–16:00 only
Search budget
R200/dayMax clicks, R15 cap
Display budget
R100/dayConquest placements
Conversion
Book a Demo+ free credits
01 — Keyword plan
What people actually search
Volumes verified against DataForSEO and Google Keyword Planner (South Africa, English, both sources agree). The headline finding: the compliance vocabulary has almost no search volume. This is a category-creation market, so the ads capture a small stream of intent while blog and SEO build the demand. Total reachable direct-intent volume is roughly 200–250 searches a month; conquest is larger at ~520.
| Keyword | SA vol/mo | CPC (USD) | Top bid (ZAR) | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| affordability assessment | 140 | $1.82 | R9–R38 | Medium |
| credit vetting | 110 | $0.26 | — | Low |
| income verification | 40 | — | — | Low |
| micro lending software | 30 | $6.41 | R24–R100 | Medium |
| bank statement verification | 20 | — | — | Low |
| bank statement extraction | 10 | — | — | Medium |
| bank statement analysis | 10 | — | — | Low |
| bank statement analysis software | 10 | — | — | High |
| bank statement analyser | 10 | $18.21 | — | High |
| reg 23a | 10 | — | — | Low |
| bank statement fraud detection | 10 | $7.63 | — | Medium |
| credit decisioning software | 10 | — | — | Unspec. |
| national credit act affordability assessment | 10 | — | — | Low |
| Keyword | SA vol/mo | Why keep it |
|---|---|---|
| bank statement affordability | 0 | Core positioning phrase, may grow |
| automated affordability assessment | 0 | Exact product description |
| affordability assessment software | 0 | Buyer phrasing |
| nca affordability calculation | 0 | Regulatory intent |
| reg 23a affordability | 0 | Regulatory intent |
| bank statement scoring | 0 | Legacy category term |
| affordability assessment api | 0 | Developer intent |
| Keyword | SA vol/mo | CPC (USD) | Competition | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| finch technologies | 170 | $0.20 | Low | Gathr's parent, distinctive |
| sprinthive | 140 | — | Low | Distinctive brand |
| akiba digital | 110 | — | Low | Distinctive brand |
| gathr | 50 | $1.36 | Low | Watch: a US events brand shares the name |
| softidoc | 40 | $3.45 | Low | Distinctive brand |
| spike data | 10 | — | Low | — |
| spikedata / obse bank statement / evalfin | 0 | — | — | Keep as free coverage |
Where the volume actually is: competitor brand names (~520/mo combined, all low competition and cheap) plus the single head term "affordability assessment" (140/mo). Conquest is a bigger stream than direct intent, so ad group 2 carries more weight than the original plan assumed. Everything in the compliance-phrasing tables is essentially free SEO-style coverage, not a traffic engine.
| Keyword | SA vol/mo | Angle |
|---|---|---|
| loan management system | 140 | Adjacent — high competition, $10 CPC, hold for later |
| income verification software | 10 | Decision-pack component |
| nca compliance | 10 | Compliance-officer intent |
| loan underwriting software | 10 | Underwriting = the assessment step |
| bank statements as proof of income | 10 | Blog / content angle |
02 — Estimated cost
What it will cost
Two things make this cheap: the auction is nearly empty (no competitor runs ads on these terms), and the volume is thin. Both mean the daily budgets are ceilings we will rarely hit, not targets we will spend to. The numbers below are estimates from the verified CPC data, not guarantees. Week 1 is really price discovery.
| Campaign | Daily cap | Weekly (5 days) | Monthly (~22 weekdays) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search (South Africa) | R200 | R1,000 | R4,400 |
| Display conquest | R100 | R500 | R2,200 |
| Combined ceiling | R300 | R1,500 | R6,600 |
| Where | Typical CPC | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| "affordability assessment" (head term) | R9–R33 | Only term with real competition; R15 cap trims the top |
| Competitor conquest terms | R4–R12 | Low competition, cheap navigational inventory |
| Long-tail direct intent | R2–R8 | Near-empty auction |
| Display (per click) | R1–R3 | GDN is priced on impressions, clicks are incidental |
| Campaign | Reachable searches | Est. clicks | Blended CPC | Est. weekly spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search | 100–170 | 25–55 | R4–R10 | R120–R520 |
| Display conquest | impressions | 10–35 | R1–R3 | R60–R250 |
| Total week 1 | — | 35–90 | — | R180–R770 |
Read the spend as a floor, not a shortfall. The Search campaign will very likely spend well under its R1,000 weekly cap, because there simply are not 1,000 rands worth of relevant searches in South Africa during business hours. That is the market being small, not the campaign failing. The number that matters is not spend, it is whether any of those 35–90 clicks books a demo. Cost per demo is unknowable until we have run: with a first demo, we can start pricing acquisition; until then, treat the whole first R1,000–R2,000 as the price of finding out whether search demand exists at all.
03 — Search ads
Sample search ads
How the responsive search ads will look on a Google results page. Google mixes and matches the approved headlines and descriptions, so these show three representative combinations per ad group. Every headline and description below is character-validated and drawn from the approved banks. Use them to react to the different angles: speed, affordability/compliance, and offer.
Ad group 1 — Direct intent
Variant A — Speed hook
Adaffy.co.za/affordability
Skip the 30-Minute Review | Bank Statement Affordability
Manual affordability review takes 30 minutes per file. Affy does it in 30 seconds. Bank statement in, decision pack out: Reg 23A affordability, tamper checks, debit day.
From R10 Per Statement · Free Credits Included · 5-Layer Tamper Checks · Behavioural Credit Score
Variant B — Compliance angle
Adaffy.co.za/reg-23a
Automate Reg 23A Affordability | Decision Pack in 30 Seconds
Extraction, categorisation, NCA affordability and fraud signals from one bank statement. NCA compliant, audit ready. Your analyst makes the call.
Audit-Ready Output · Built in South Africa · Free Credits Included · 5-Layer Tamper Checks
Variant C — Offer / CTA
Adaffy.co.za/demo
Bank Statement Affordability | Book a 15-Minute Demo
From R10 per assessment. Prepaid credits, no contracts. Free credits to start. Built for SA micro-lenders. Stop manual statement review.
No Contracts, Prepaid Credits · Free Credits Included · From R10 Per Statement · POPIA Compliant
Pinned if CTR is weak: "Skip the 30-Minute Review" (H1), "From R10 Per Assessment" (H2), "Book a 15-Minute Demo" (H3).
Ad group 2 — Competitor conquest
Variant A — The wedge
Adaffy.co.za/decision-pack
Extraction Isn't Enough | Get the Full Decision Pack
Already extracting bank statements? Add affordability, tamper checks, and scoring. Most tools stop at extraction. AffyAssess adds Reg 23A affordability and best debit day.
Full Decision Pack · Affordability Included · 5-Layer Tamper Checks · From R10 Per File
Variant B — Capability
Adaffy.co.za/full-pack
More Than Statement Extraction | Reg 23A Built In
Get the full decision pack: affordability, risk drivers, fraud signals and best debit day. One tool, full assessment. Built for SA micro-lenders.
Full Decision Pack · Reg 23A Aligned · Collection Day Signal · Built in South Africa
Variant C — Compare / demo
Adaffy.co.za/compare
Compare the Full Output | Book a 15-Minute Demo
Most tools stop at extraction. AffyAssess adds Reg 23A affordability and tamper checks. Compare outputs side by side on your own statements.
Free Credits Included · 5-Layer Tamper Checks · From R10 Per File · Built for SA Lenders
No competitor names appear in copy (trademark policy). The keywords bid on them; the ad sells the wedge.
Full headline and description banks (15 headlines + 4 descriptions per ad group, all character-checked) are in docs/gads-campaign-build-2026-07-07.md, section 3–4.
Behavioural-score probe: two headlines ("Behavioural Credit Score", "Score Where Bureaus Cannot"), a callout, and six free zero-volume keywords (behavioural / alternative / AI credit scoring) were added to the Direct Intent group. Keyword research found no standalone SA search volume for that cluster, so it is not a separate campaign, just extra assets the RSA can serve. We watch the asset-level impressions to see if the angle earns any traction before doing more.
Behavioural-score probe: two headlines ("Behavioural Credit Score", "Score Where Bureaus Cannot"), a callout, and six free zero-volume keywords (behavioural / alternative / AI credit scoring) were added to the Direct Intent group. Keyword research found no standalone SA search volume for that cluster, so it is not a separate campaign, just extra assets the RSA can serve. We watch the asset-level impressions to see if the angle earns any traction before doing more.
04 — Display ads
Sample display banners
Three creative concepts for the opposition display campaign and PMax, at native size. These previews show each banner's final settled frame (the image ads that upload to Google). Click Play on any banner to open its animated version in a new tab.
Concept A — Direct intent
"30 minutes by hand, 30 seconds with Affy" · CTA: Book a Demo
Concept B — Conquest
"Extraction isn't enough" · CTA: Book a Demo
Concept C — Message
"Bank statements in, categorisation + affordability + collection day out" · CTA: Book a DemoThe literal option: it spells out what AffyAssess does and settles on the brand. Built in the full size set, including the four sizes the other concepts don't have yet (970×250, 300×600, 320×100, 250×250).
Concept D — Message (refined)
"Bank Statements In | Credit Decision Pack Out", 2 outputs · CTA: Book a DemoConcept C refined: the two phrases carry equal size and weight, and the outputs are trimmed to two (Affordability + Best debit day) with Transaction categorisation dropped to cut clutter and free space.
For review: four creative directions. A leads with speed (the 30-minute-to-30-second timer, ending on "bank statement extraction and assessment"). B leads with the competitive wedge ("extraction isn't enough"). C states it literally (statements in, the outputs out, then the brand). D refines C: equal-weight headline, two outputs only (Affordability + Best debit day), less clutter. We can run more than one: B on the conquest keywords, and A / C / D on broader prospecting placements. All banners: Book a Demo CTA, no price, clickTag and exact IAB dimensions, settle on a static logo + CTA frame.
Static PNG versions of every banner are in ad-assets/creatives/static/ for immediate use as image ads (a new Google Ads account cannot upload custom animated HTML5 without allowlisting). The animated HTML5 is kept for DV360 or once the account is allowlisted.
05 — Counter-competitor display
Following the competition's visitors
A separate display campaign, running the Concept B banners above, aimed at people who research the competition. When someone visits a competitor's site or reads about this category, an AffyAssess banner follows them across the Google Display Network. Same geography and hours as the search campaign: all of South Africa, weekday business hours, R100/day.
| Method | What it does | Reach |
|---|---|---|
| Custom URL segment | Google builds an audience of people who browse sites like the competitor and industry URLs, then shows our banner to them anywhere on the Display Network. This is the workhorse. | Broad, follows them across the web |
| Managed placements | We hand-pick the competitor domains and industry sites themselves, so our banner shows on that inventory directly. | Narrow, only where those sites run Google ads |
| Group | Sites |
|---|---|
| Direct competitors | gathr.co.za · finch-technologies.com · sprinthive.com · akibadigital.com · softidoc.co.za · obse.co.za · spikedata.co.za · evalfin.co.za |
| Industry & regulatory | ncr.org.za · casa.co.za · dcasa.co.za · acpas.co.za · mycomax.com · fintechfundi.com · altronfintech.com · moonstone.co.za |
| Credit bureaus | transunion.co.za · experian.co.za · xds.co.za · consumerprofilebureau.com |
Settings: Optimized targeting OFF (so Google stays on our list), frequency cap 3 per person per day, and exclusions for mobile apps, games, and parked domains (where display budget usually leaks). Landing page is affy.co.za with a display-conquest tracking tag.
What to expect, honestly: display conquest is a brand-presence and retargeting-seed play, not a lead engine. Click-through rates on the Display Network are low (0.1 to 0.4 percent is normal) and most of its influence goes untracked by last click. Its real value here is warming the small, specific pool of people researching this exact category, and building a remarketing list. Judge it on assisted conversions and any lift in demo requests, not on direct clicks. It is deliberately kept cheap at R100/day. Full spec is in docs/gads-campaign-build-2026-07-07.md, section 6b.
06 — Go live
Launch checklist
The steps between this review and a live campaign. Ticks are saved in your browser. Items marked Brink need you in a Google account; the rest I can build or wire up.
Progress: 0 / 0
Account & billing Brink
- Create Google Ads account under Brink's MCCBilling: Momo Global, brink@momoglobal.co.za
- Send me the customer ID and conversion tag snippetSo I can wire the site tags and build the campaign for import
Conversion tracking Brink + Claude
- Create "Demo Request" conversion actionWebsite · Submit lead form · Count once · 30-day click window
- Add the AW- conversion tag to index.html and thank-you.htmlPlaceholder comment already in thank-you.html; tag ID comes from the conversion snippet, not the customer ID
- Deploy the generate_lead GA4 event (already added locally)On feat/design-library; needs merge to main
- Mark generate_lead as a key event in GA4And import it into Ads as a secondary conversion for cross-check
- Test the demo form end to endSubmit a real test, confirm thank-you.html loads and the conversion fires
Search Console & SEO Claude
- Verify affy.co.za in Google Search ConsoleDomain property via Cloudflare DNS TXT record
- Submit the XML sitemapConfirm homepage + blog posts are indexed
Site alignment Brink to approve
- Approve homepage copy alignment (45min→30min, R10, decision pack)Done locally on feat/design-library
- Approve 4 aligned blog postsDone locally; publishing is human-gated
- Decide on the two flagged blog itemsDead /#score nav link across blog; Post 4 component order (score-first)
- Merge feat/design-library to main and deployLanding pages must be live before ads point at them
Build the campaigns Claude
- Build Search campaign (GOOG_SEARCH_AffyAssess_ZA_2026-07)South Africa, Mon–Fri 08:00–16:00, R200/day, max clicks R15 cap
- Load both ad groups, keywords, negatives, RSAs, and assetsFrom the build doc, sections 3–6
- Approve display banners after the QA reviewApply any P1 fixes the review flags first
- Build Display conquest campaign + custom URL segmentOptimized targeting OFF, frequency cap 3/day, competitor + industry URLs
Pre-launch QA Claude + Brink
- Confirm Search partners OFF and Display expansion OFF on SearchKeeps Search and Display from overlapping
- Confirm geo is Presence, not Presence-or-interestAvoids diaspora clicks
- Confirm the schedule shows 08:00–16:00, weekdays onlyBoth campaigns
- Set go-live for a Monday morningSo week 1 runs a clean 5 days inside the window
Realistic week 1: across all of South Africa within the business-hours window, reachable volume is roughly 100–170 searches, so expect 25–55 clicks, not hundreds. Budget will still underspend inside the window; that is expected in a thin-volume category. One demo request in week 1 is a strong signal. Going national (rather than starting in two provinces) also gives more data to read creative performance on, which matters given how thin the market is. If reach still starves learning, widen hours next (07:00–18:00), then days.