Performance marketing has traditionally involved targeting the right audience at the right time through data-driven advertising channels such as Meta Ads, Google Ads, and Snapchat. These platforms have provided control and depth in terms of audience segmentation, bidding strategy, and negating audience types based on data points, enabling marketers to drive scale in an efficient manner and gain a competitive edge.

However, with the rise of AI and the shift towards a cookieless world, the landscape is changing. Many powerful targeting options, growth hacks, and bidding strategies are becoming obsolete as giants like Meta and Google focus more on AI-driven products like UAC, UACe, PMax, AAA, and Shopping Advantage Ads.

On the other hand, branding is becoming more data-rich, with significant ad platforms offering richer targeting options and offline channels like TV, print, and OOH going digital. This data-driven approach is becoming increasingly important for successful branding.

The question facing marketers is how to differentiate and continue leveraging advertising for growth at scale in a world where AI is levelling the playing field.

1. First-party data activations, Data accuracy & Signals:
Innovative tactics like sending signals for quality leads or excluding low-ticket orders can significantly impact engine performance. In a cookieless world, the use of first-party data is becoming increasingly important to adapt to the changes that are already underway.

2. Deep Expertise on Ads Platforms like Meta, Google, Snapchat, Tiktok etc :
Expertise in advertising platforms such as Meta, Google, Snapchat, and Tiktok is essential for achieving optimal campaign performance. Although AI has reduced the need for human intervention, it is still crucial to have a robust monitoring system in place to prevent wasted media spend. It is also important to understand how different interventions impact the system's learning and use advanced options innovatively to drive results.

Innovative tactics like sending signals for quality leads or excluding low-ticket orders can significantly impact engine performance.

3. Ad Creatives, Videos & Landing pages
Creating high-quality creatives and videos that convert at scale and speed is another significant factor for success. Personalizing the landing page experience according to the ad creatives on which the user clicked is a relatively ignored aspect but is easily achievable with technology for top-performing campaigns.

4. Full Funnel Optimisation based on User Journey
Performance optimization has evolved beyond ad optimization based on just the last click. It's now essential to take ownership of the full funnel, from capturing, nurturing, and converting clicks to customers. Building a first-party data warehouse, deploying customized data models, and regularly analyzing data to differentiate are also important for enterprise advertisers.

5. BI, Data Models & Frameworks
Examples of differentiating through data models include grading lead intent for brands that generate leads online and sell offline and creating an internal benchmarking model for D2C brands to measure key metrics against their historic best. Data models can also identify top products to advertise for acquisition, upsell, and cross-sell, resulting in a sustainable ROI lift on Pmax, DPA, and other platforms.

“Building a first-party data warehouse, deploying customized data models, and regularly analyzing data to differentiate are also important for enterprise advertisers.”

6. Beyond mainstream Performance Advertising Channels - Affiliates, Influencers, OTT & Marketplaces.
Apart from the commonly used performance advertising channels such as affiliates, influencers, OTT, and marketplaces, there are other lesser-known channels that are worth exploring. Although Meta and Google are still the go-to performance channels for most brands, their competitiveness and declining effectiveness make it necessary to diversify media spends.

Advertising channels such as Sharechat, Snapchat, and Apple ads should be considered, and experimenting with a small percentage of the media budget is recommended. Influencers are becoming increasingly important in both performance and branding strategies, and paid promotions through their handles offer good ROI. Marketplaces are now major competitors to Meta and Google, with their own ad platforms and high-intent data capture. Ignoring these channels is no longer an option. While Meta and Google will continue to dominate performance spends, a mix of other channels could help improve overall results.

In conclusion, the Advertising system is rapidly evolving. Traditional media is getting digitalised at an increasing rate, AI is taking over all the facets of campaign optimisation.