Content 🤝 Content

Marketing as always been described as a mix of art and science. In 2024, the balance between the these two ends of the spectrum is tipping more and more towards the ‘art’ portion of marketing, particularly in the worlds of digital advertising and media buying.

Back in the good ol’ days of 2018, media buying was all about targeting, bidding strategies and account structure. It was a purely technical hands-on-keyboard job. I spent 90% of my time crunching numbers and optimizing campaigns in ad accounts. Canva and Capcut who? At that point, running video ads wasn’t even a thing. I could use any random image that my clients provided, make basic static ads, put spend against it, and see the sales flow in. We could quickly churn out and test many different kinds of ads. With an endless supply of ads, optimizing and continuing to get conversions was easy.

But with the head-spinning pace of the digital ads world, what works one day can suddenly stop performing, and you’re left scrambling to diagnose the problem and pivot.

Fast forward to today, not only has driving sales through online ads gotten more difficult, Meta and Google have basically dealt a death knell to the traditional media buyer. With Advantage Plus and Performance Max campaigns, these tech companies are saying to brands “don’t worry, you don’t need to know anything about audience targeting and account structure, we will automate the whole process for you. All you need to do is provide the inputs.” And to kick traditional media buyers when they are already down, a new crop of AI platforms are telling brands they can fully automate and optimize the media buying process.

Today’s top media buyers have to go way beyond technical skills. They are mini creative agencies all wrapped into one. They have to operate as creative strategists, art directors, post-production editors, casting directors, to name just a few.

Like media buyers who have had to adapt to a changing landscape, brand owners also have to evolve the way they operate and their mindset when it comes to digital advertising:

• Brand first, product second: based on my experience working with a wide range of clients, the ones who are most successful are the ones who invest in brand building and driving brand awareness across multiple channels.

• Focus on storytelling: Creative is so important and good creative is born from great storytelling. Have a keen understanding of your target audience - who they are, their interests, and what problems they are looking to solve. Create compelling stories, hooks and talking points that will be memorable and resonate with your target customers. If you need a place to start, check out my post about compelling ad hooks.

• Create the infrastructure for really good content: creating content for digital ads these days is akin to shooting mini tv ads. High quality video ads don’t drop out of sky and onto your lap. It takes a lot of thoughtful planning and resources to get it right. Use a content planning and management tool (Magic Brief and Foreplay are two I recommend to clients), hire content creators and editors to create polished ads.

While the future may hold uncertainties, one thing remains constant – adaptability breeds success. So remember: always be ready to pivot your strategy and tactics, and keep your brand story and its impact on your target audience at the heart of your strategy.

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