wiki/clients/current/didion/2026-04-05-golf-sponsorship-ad-budget-review.md · 958 words · 2026-04-05

Golf Sponsorship & Ad Budget Review — 2026-04-05

Overview

Working session with Diana Henry (Didion) attended by Melissa Cusumano and Michal Bielerzewski (Asymmetric). The call covered four main areas: finalizing the golf sponsorship page architecture, correcting an underspending ad budget, remediating ongoing Kinsta 500-level server errors, and deciding to hold a Phase 2 content plan while the current LinkedIn/email runway extends into May–June.

Attendees:
- Diana Henry — dhenry@didioninc.com (Didion, external)
- Melissa Cusumano — Asymmetric
- Michal Bielerzewski — Asymmetric

Recording: https://fathom.video/calls/562987052


Key Decisions

# Decision Owner
1 Golf sponsorship form: pursue single-form dual-payment-path (credit card + check via radio button) as the ideal; fall back to two separate forms if Gravity Forms can't support it Ishak (dev) to confirm
2 Add a standalone "Support Silent Auction" section to the sponsorship page, with a dedicated form offering preset donation amounts ($100, $250, $500, etc.) and a required "Not at this time" option Ishak
3 Ad budget caps must be corrected to enable the full approved $700/month spend (currently only ~$545/month is being spent) Melissa
4 Reallocate ad budget toward Google SEM and Meta TOFU campaigns, which have shown the strongest performance Melissa / PPC team
5 Phase 2 content plan (LinkedIn + email) is on hold — current plan runs through May–June; Diana will check internally whether any remaining open roles need support Diana
6 Melissa to resend the $150/month hosting proposal to Diana, ideally bundled with Mark's remediation findings Melissa

Action Items

Melissa (Asymmetric)

Diana (Didion)


Topic Notes

Golf Sponsorship Page

The existing page has hidden elements (credit card and check buttons) from the prior event. The plan for the new page:

  1. Sponsorship tiers section — update pricing, keep existing benefit descriptions (Diana can fine-tune in Divi post-launch). Sold-out tiers will be hidden; active tiers shown.
  2. Payment path — ideal is a single Gravity Form with a "Pay by Check" radio button that reveals mailing instructions inline. If not feasible, two separate forms (one PayPal/CC, one check) with corresponding CTA buttons on the page.
  3. Silent Auction section — new section anchored below the sponsorship tiers. Links to a dedicated, standalone form (duplicated from the golf ball pre-order form as a starting point) with preset donation amounts and a required "Not at this time" field to prompt consideration without forcing a gift.

"If there was a self-selection within the current form we created in Gravity Forms of pay by credit card, select, then it goes down that path. If it's pay by check, select that button… then that goes down that path." — Diana Henry

Ad Budget & Allocation

Current backend caps are set below the approved $700/month, resulting in only ~$545/month actual spend. This is directly limiting recruitment campaign reach during a period of active hiring.

Current (approximate):
- Google Ads total: ~$400/month
- SEM: $100 (budget-constrained)
- Display TOFU + retargeting: split of remainder
- Meta total: ~$145/month
- TOFU: $70
- Retargeting: $70
- Actual spend: ~$543/month

Recommended direction:
- Increase Google SEM allocation (was performing well but capped)
- Increase Meta TOFU (strong results)
- Consolidate/reduce display retargeting split
- PPC specialist to confirm final numbers once caps are corrected

Diana confirmed the budget has always been $700/month — the underspend is a backend configuration error, not an intentional reduction.

Website Health & Hosting

The Didion site on Kinsta is generating frequent 500-level server errors, impacting both site stability and Diana's ability to edit content in Divi. Mark (Asymmetric dev) has API access to Kinsta and is actively remediating:

Melissa will resend the $150/month managed hosting proposal (originally sent July 7th) as supporting context for moving to Asymmetric-managed hosting, which would include 24/7 monitoring, plugin management, and proactive maintenance.

"He said he can get the health score back up to like in the 90s. So hopefully that'll happen." — Melissa Cusumano

Content Marketing — Phase 2 Hold

Current content plan:
- LinkedIn: bi-weekly posts → scheduled through ~April
- Email: monthly → scheduled through ~May/June

Phase 2 (a new content batch) is on hold because:
- The current plan has sufficient runway
- Several high-priority recruitment roles that were driving content needs have been filled
- Diana needs to re-check internally whether remaining open roles warrant a new content push

Early signal from the email program is positive — the first send generated responses from existing customers.


Sources

  1. Index
  2. Hosting Proposal