{"id":9241,"date":"2024-09-04T13:53:16","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T20:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/?p=9241"},"modified":"2024-09-04T13:54:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T20:54:06","slug":"how-paid-media-buyers-can-get-an-edge-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/how-paid-media-buyers-can-get-an-edge-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"How Paid Media Buyers Can Get an Edge in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(The following post was written by Sam Tomlinson<\/a>, EVP of Warschawski<\/a> and one of the smartest marketing strategists operating today, and published on his blog<\/a>. He’s kindly given us permission to reprint it here. Once you start reading, you’ll see why I believe everyone who subscribes to SparkToro should check it out. -Rand)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past three months have been jam-packed with changes impacting the ad ecosystem and broader ability of brands to market to their audience(s): from Meta rolling out<\/a> its much-anticipated third-party conversion optimization, to Twitter (X) placing inventory<\/a> through Big G, to Google deciding to keep 3rd-party cookies<\/a>, to a radically-altered<\/a> Presidential campaign (for those of us in the US) and an economic roller coaster (for pretty much everyone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of your feelings on any of those changes, the reality is that they are upon us and their impacts will echo across the entire digital media space \u2013 from the costs we pay, to how we identify + reach audience(s), to how we evaluate the relative efficacy of our efforts. The challenge then becomes: what do we do? How do we gain an advantage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for that, I have three ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Do More Audience Research<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Audience understanding has always been the \u201cX-Factor\u201d that separates mediocre from remarkable. In an environment with more competition, higher CPMs, and more brands than ever before vying for attention, it\u2019s gone from \u201cimportant\u201d to \u201cimperative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve worked with hundreds of brands and reviewed the work of hundreds of agencies. The common thread that unites the high-performers is an unfailing desire to better understand their audience \u2013 not just before the sale, but throughout the entire customer lifetime. Great brands and remarkable agencies evolve with their audience, not in response to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The form that research takes varies from brand to brand, agency to agency \u2013 but here are some of the specific types I\u2019ve observed to be consistently effective and impactful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyword Research<\/strong>:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Keywords may be an old, blunt lever \u2013 but old + blunt still works. At the heart of more than a few failed PPC campaigns is a failure to evolve their keyword list in response to audience behavioral changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most successful Google Ads accounts are the ones that integrate search data from many sources (Search Terms Report, Paid & Organic Report, 3rd Party Tools, Customer Surveys, Competitors, Google Search Trends) to identify anomalies, untapped opportunities and areas for exploration AND have a structured process to introduce those new KWs into the account, validate their performance (or lack thereof) and properly organize (add\/exclude\/promote\/demote) those terms within the account\/campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customer Insights: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your customers\/clients are an endless well of insight \u2013 but for that well to be useful, it must be tapped. We\u2019ve consistently found success with a simple, automated process that any brand \u2013 B2B or B2C \u2013 can use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n