General Marketing Concepts for Pearl Diver Intent Campaigns

General observations and common practices for running ad campaigns on Pearl Diver intent data, from campaign goals to reviewing low-quality leads.

This guide covers general observations and common practices for running ad campaigns on Pearl Diver intent data, aimed at marketers who are new to intent-based targeting. Results vary by platform, industry, and campaign setup, so treat this as a starting point, not a formula.

Warning: This is general guidance, not marketing advice. Results vary by platform, industry, and individual campaign setup.

Campaigns built on Pearl Diver intent data usually need more active monitoring and optimization than a basic campaign. They take a little longer to set up, but the extra effort pays off in targeting accuracy.

Note: Meta's advertising system, including its Andromeda AI learning model, learns across your entire ad account. A Pearl Diver intent campaign can improve targeting performance across your other Meta campaigns too.

Run Pearl Diver intent data as a new campaign alongside your existing marketing. Don't use it to replace what's already working.

A/B testing

Run multiple variations of a campaign at once: different creatives, audiences, or settings. Compare their performance, pause the lower performers, and give more budget to what's working. Treat this as an ongoing process, not a one-time search for the perfect setup.

Campaign goal and target

The campaign goal you select in an advertising platform determines what the platform optimizes for. Optimize for:

Form submissions
Website conversions

Both goals need conversion tracking in place, usually through the platform's own tracking pixel. For Meta campaigns, feed sign-ups through the Meta API too, so conversions get attributed correctly. Every recorded conversion feeds back into the platform, shaping how it prioritizes contacts in your Pearl Diver intent list, and similar contacts if you have lookalike features enabled.

Note: Traffic-focused objectives such as clicks or visits can bring higher volume but lower engagement. Test a few objectives to find what works for a given campaign.

Restricting campaigns to Pearl Diver intent data

Select the custom audience Pearl Diver is sending data to in the Ad Set settings, under the Audience section.

Ad Set Audience settings with the Pearl Diver custom audience selected.

On Meta, if Advantage+ is off you'll see a "switch to recommended setup" box; if it's on, the same box reads "Further limit the reach of your ads." Turn off broad expansion features like Meta Advantage+ and Google Performance Max if you want your ads to stay inside your selected Pearl Diver intent audience. Leaving them on can increase reach, but it also lets the platform serve ads to people outside your intended targeting.

Geo and demographic targeting

Keep your geo-targeting and demographic restrictions active in every campaign. That way, even if Advantage+ or a similar feature gets left on by accident, the contacts it suggests stay inside your targeted area and range.

Ad placement settings

Review placement performance regularly: where your ads appear, and how each placement performs. Short-form video placements can generate accidental clicks when someone taps an on-screen element, which shows up as a brief visit with no real engagement. Average session duration and conversion rate by placement are the two metrics that expose this fastest.

Reviewing low-quality or off-target leads

If conversion performance looks lower than expected, check these three things:

Landing page average session duration — a short session points to a mismatch between your ad messaging and landing page content, or to accidental clicks.
Visitor location data — check whether the traffic matches your intended geography and customer profile.
Ad platform reporting — review which placements, creatives, or segments are driving clicks relative to conversions.

Revise your creative to filter for fit

If follow-up shows that a chunk of your leads aren't well-qualified, for example they don't meet your budget or readiness expectations, adjust your ad creative to set clearer expectations upfront. Messaging that references pricing ranges, minimum requirements, or readiness criteria, such as "Have $100k already saved for a home loan?", encourages people to self-select before they submit a form. Test and review creative changes over time to see how they affect lead volume and quality.

Note: The ad platform's algorithm tests multiple creative types and variations to find what engages leads most. Give it a wide range of creative to work with.

Budget and the learning period

Advertising platforms go through a learning phase when a new campaign launches, often around two weeks with a daily budget over $50. Performance data only reflects the campaign's real, longer-term potential once learning stabilizes. Frequent structural changes during this phase reset the learning period, so hold off on major edits until it settles.

Need help? Visit the Pearl Diver Help Centre or book a support session with the team.

Did this answer your question?