--- title: Weekly Call — Inventory & Performance Marketing (2026-03-04) type: article created: '2026-03-04' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2026-03-04-weekly-call-inventory-performance-marketing-127153266.md tags: - meeting - google-ads - performance-marketing - inventory - amazon-fba - claude-code - ai-tooling - quarrowstone - roas - negative-keywords - conversion-tracking - clientbrain layer: 2 client_source: Quarra Stone industry_context: b2b-services transferable: false --- # Weekly Call — Inventory & Performance Marketing (2026-03-04) ## Overview Weekly review covering two primary topics: (1) Amazon FBA inventory stockouts suppressing ROAS, and (2) a full Google Ads account overhaul for Quarrowstone, including a live demonstration of [[concepts/claude-code]] diagnosing and fixing the account in real time via the Google Ads API. **Attendees:** Gilbert Barrongo, Mark Hope, Sebastian Gant, Karly Oykhman **Source:** [Fathom Recording](https://fathom.video/share/n4dF1isKNZiYxCQcSFS1eaLiwsHq2nxb) --- ## Key Decisions - **Switch Quarrowstone bidding from Maximize Conversions → Maximize Clicks** with a $4 max CPC cap. Maximize Conversions requires ~30 days of conversion history to function; using it on a new account with zero conversions is a no-op. - **Raise search campaign budgets to $16/day** (from $7/day) to generate ~4 clicks/day at $4 CPC. Retargeting budget set to $10/day. Total exposure ~$58/day; to be monitored and reviewed next week. - **Maintain Google Ads optimization score ≥ 80.** Scores below 80 incur algorithmic penalties from Google. Applied Responsive Search Ads recommendation to bring score from 78 → 83. - **Create a dedicated brand campaign for Quarrowstone** and remove brand terms from non-brand campaigns. Brand clicks cost ~$0.30 CPC vs. ~$5.00 for non-brand; spending non-brand budget on brand terms is waste. - **Reduce conversion goals from 16 → 2 biddable actions.** Duplicate and auto-created goals were confusing the bidding algorithm. Only contact form submissions and Google-hosted lead forms remain as biddable; others set to observation only. --- ## Action Items - [ ] Monitor new Google Ads budgets ($16/day search, $10/day retargeting); review next week (@Gilbert Barrongo) - [ ] Present AI inventory-shipment model demo to Mark next week (@Gilbert Barrongo) - [ ] Maintain Google Ads optimization score ≥ 80 (@Gilbert Barrongo) - [ ] Create dedicated brand campaign; move brand terms out of non-brand campaigns (@Gilbert Barrongo) - [ ] Email Carly re: low Quality Scores (2–4); request landing page improvements (@Gilbert Barrongo) - [ ] Verify retargeting audience list is populated; add if missing (@Gilbert Barrongo) - [ ] Create Google Ads-only Claude Code workspace; set up cron jobs for automated audits (@Gilbert Barrongo) - [ ] Post Google Ads changes report to Slack/Drive (@Mark Hope) - [ ] Fix ClientBrain login/auth for Gilbert (@Mark Hope) --- ## Inventory & Performance Impact ### Current Stockouts | Product | FBA Stock | In Transit | 30-Day Sales Velocity | |---|---|---|---| | Old World White Popcorn | 0 units | 2,400 units | 425 units/mo | | Kidney Beans (5 lb) | 0 units | 288 units | 72 units/mo | | Various 25 lb SKUs | 0 units | In transit | Lower velocity | Shipments scheduled for **March 9** are delayed due to unresolved pickup issues Carly is managing. ### Performance Metrics (Last 30 Days) - **ROAS:** 3.35 (up from 3.3 the prior week) - **TACOS:** Decreasing → improved profit margin trend - **Organic units:** Growing - **Subscribe & Save sales:** Growing Inventory stockouts are the primary suppressor of ROAS. Mark's position: resolve the stockout problem permanently and stop discussing it week-over-week. ### AI Inventory Tool (In Development) Gilbert is building an AI-driven shipment quantity calculator using: - 30-day sales velocity per SKU - Lead time (typically 2–3 weeks) - Current FBA stock levels Demo planned for next week's call. --- ## Google Ads Campaign Overhaul (Quarrowstone) ### Root Cause Analysis The Quarrowstone account had **zero conversions** across all campaigns. Claude Code's API-based diagnosis identified the following: | Issue | Detail | |---|---| | Wrong bidding strategy | "Maximize Conversions" with no conversion history — algorithm has nothing to optimize | | Budget too low | $7/day at $4 CPC = ~2 clicks/day; insufficient signal | | 16 duplicate conversion goals | Auto-created goals confused the bidding algorithm | | Keyword bloat | 200 keywords; only 10 generating any traffic | | Irrelevant broad match traffic | Queries like "bronze statues," "marble floor cleaner," "wax statue maker" | | No negative keywords | Two largest campaigns had zero negatives | | Low Quality Scores | Scores of 2–4; root cause is poor landing page relevance | | Brand terms in non-brand campaigns | Brand CPC ~$0.30 vs. non-brand ~$5.00; wasted budget | | Retargeting display: zero impressions | Likely missing audience list | | Optimization score below 80 | Google penalizes accounts below this threshold | ### Fixes Applied (This Session) 1. **Bidding strategy:** Changed all search campaigns to Maximize Clicks, $4 max CPC 2. **Budgets:** Search campaigns → $16/day; retargeting → $10/day 3. **Conversion goals:** Reduced from 16 → 2 biddable actions (contact form, Google lead form) 4. **Negative keywords:** Added **839 negatives** via Claude Code, including: - Brand terms (to be isolated in dedicated brand campaign) - Irrelevant materials: bronze, fiberglass, granite, marble - Competitor terms (~95 exact match) - Fine art / foundry queries (~71 exact match) - Restoration-specific terms (~180) - Residential / transactional modifiers: "for sale," "buy," "shop" 5. **Keyword purge:** Removed irrelevant keywords from ad groups (127 → 104 remaining) 6. **Optimization score:** Applied Responsive Search Ads recommendation; score raised 78 → 83 ### Remaining Items (Not Yet Done) - Create dedicated brand campaign - Fix landing pages to improve Quality Scores (requires Carly) - Verify/add retargeting audience list - Monitor impression share improvement from budget increase --- ## Claude Code Live Demo Mark demonstrated [[concepts/claude-code]] connecting to the Google Ads API via ~100 pre-built MCP server tools. Key observations: - **Diagnosis speed:** Pulled full account data, identified all major issues, and produced a structured findings table in minutes (slowed this session by Claude server degradation) - **Real-time execution:** Changed bid strategies, modified conversion goals, added 839 negative keywords, and purged irrelevant keywords — all without opening the Google Ads console - **Self-correcting:** When API calls returned syntax errors, the agent identified the issue and retried with corrected syntax - **Scriptable:** Sessions can be saved as named scripts and run on cron jobs for automated weekly audits - **Agent swarms:** Multiple agents can run simultaneously across accounts **Next step for Gilbert:** Set up a Google Ads-only Claude Code workspace (isolated from Mark's multi-tool environment) and configure cron jobs for automated weekly audits. > "It's like a hacker. An AI hacker." — Gilbert Barrongo --- ## ClientBrain Demo Mark briefly demonstrated [[tools/clientbrain]] (`clientbrain.asymmetric.pro`), an internal tool aggregating all client communications (email, Slack, Fathom transcripts, ClickUp tasks, Google Drive) into a searchable, AI-queryable interface. Features shown: - Per-client activity dashboard (emails, meetings, Slacks, Drive docs, ClickUp tasks) - AI-generated 7-day communication summaries - Sentiment analysis on client relationship health - Natural language Q&A against all client data Gilbert's login is broken; Mark to fix auth issue before next session. --- ## Related - [[clients/current/quarra/_index]] - [[clients/current/quarrowstone/_index]] - [[concepts/claude-code]] - [[tools/clientbrain]] - [[concepts/google-ads-bidding-strategy]]