Paid media

Who runs it

Paid media is led by Kate Horsington, our founder and managing director. Before D3 she spent over a decade running paid search in-house at large UK price comparison sites. Those are among the most competitive and technically demanding PPC environments in the UK. Auctions are crowded, margins are thin and every click is contested by teams who know exactly what they are doing.

That background shapes how we work. Structure is deliberate. Query control is tight. Nothing is left on a platform default unless the default is the right answer.

One programme, not a list of channels

Each platform sees a different part of the customer journey. We plan them together and move money between them on evidence.

• Google: Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen and YouTube
• Microsoft Ads, run as its own channel rather than a copy of Google
• Meta and LinkedIn, for prospecting, retargeting and B2B audiences
• Budget pacing across all of them, so spend goes where the next pound returns most

Automated campaign types such as Performance Max are only as good as what you feed them. They need sound product data, honest conversion values, clear exclusions and creative that has been tested. We put our effort into those inputs, then check what the automation does with them.

Feeds, creative and landing pages

Where there is a product catalogue, the feed is the targeting. We clean titles, fill missing attributes, add custom labels for margin and stock, and fix disapprovals at the source.

Creative is tested, not guessed. Each test changes one thing, starts with a hypothesis and runs long enough to give an answer.

When the ad is fine and the page is the problem, we say so. Conversion rate work covers page speed, form friction, message match between ad and page, and the tracking on the page itself.

Bidding to value, not volume

Smart bidding optimises towards whatever you tell it a conversion is worth. If every lead counts the same, it buys the cheapest leads. We set up value-based bidding with real values, and profit-based bidding where margin data allows, so the platforms chase the outcomes that pay. That depends on measurement, which is why we check it first.

How we run it

We check the tracking before the first budget change, so a win is a real win. Every test has a hypothesis and a decision rule, so it ends with a choice rather than a debate. Budget moves on evidence, at the pace the numbers allow.

What you get:

• An account structure you can read
• A test log you can audit
• A weekly report that answers three questions: what changed, why, and what we do next

Recognition

Our paid search work won five categories at the European Search Awards 2025, including Best Use of AI in PPC and Best Local Campaign (PPC), Small. It also took a silver. The full record is on the awards page.

Where we usually start

1. Taking over a messy account, with a teardown in week one
2. Launching a new channel with clean measurement from day one
3. Running an account month to month on a fixed, agreed scope