Bruce Clark’s Post

I believe that one of the biggest questions facing a modern marketer developing creative is how to manage metrics versus meaning. This week a leaked document from one of the world's biggest YouTubers Mr Beast offered a fascinating blueprint for YouTube success, with obsessive focus on video optimisation and just three key metrics: Click Thru Rate (CTR), Average View Duration (AVD), and Average View Percentage (AVP). This type of maniacal, perfectly optimised content that’s designed to answer the call of the YouTube (or TikTok or Insta) algorithm is what brands are competing with every time they put out a new campaign. It showcases one of the biggest challenges of working on scale ad campaign - how do you manage the challenge of gaming platform metrics versus developing meaningful, impactful creative? How do you gradually reduce a big creative idea into shorter ones custom-made for the platform while still keeping its fidelity? Platforms are both great tools and merciless masters. They dictate rules for optimisation and it’s important to be aware of their requirements. But the best brands strike a balance in their advertising. They’re not just shaped by platform needs. They take risks and don't follow the formula. They mess with the expected formats and know that the unexpected can capture even more attention. They ultimately find the balance between high-performing, platform-fit content and strong, meaningful creative executions. It's not easy, but that's the bar we should be aiming towards.

Feeling overwhelmed with ad creation? Ever thought about taking your best posts or videos and turning them into easy ads? It's all about using what's already working for you. No more guessing games—just results. Start with the content that really clicks with your audience. Tweak it a bit, test it out, and watch the engagement roll in. Here are three quick actionable steps: - Identify your top-performing content based on engagement metrics. - Repurpose this content into ads, making sure to adapt it for the ad format. - Test your ads and use A/B testing to find what works best. Keep it consistent. Reuse, refine, repeat. Ready to level up your marketing game?

Should you use Inventory Filters? With the latest controversy around Meta’s new content moderation policies, brands are looking at their options. If you’re running ads, check out Inventory Filters. Access them by doing the following... 1. Go to Brand Safety and Suitability. 2. Click on "Controls" on the left. 3. Click "Ad Account Settings" at the top. 4. Next to Inventory Filter, click "Change." The first inventory filter you'll see is for in-stream videos and Facebook Reels. There’s also one for Audience Network. Click to Edit. The default setting is Moderate Inventory, which excludes highly sensitive content. You may instead want to use Limited Inventory, which “excludes additional sensitive content as well as all live videos.” These same settings are also available within the ad set under Placements. That way, you can control this account-wide or by ad set. Of course, when you limit your inventory, you can expect costs to go up. But if you have a sensitive or high-profile client who is worried about these latest changes, this is something to try. Inventory Filters might at least keep your ads out of the most problematic videos. Is this something you've experimented with?

In 2025, the shift in ad strategies is clear: genuine content rules. The polished, perfect ads of the past? They're out. Now, it's about giving viewers a real, unfiltered look behind the scenes. Here's what's catching on: - Customer Ads: Real people, real settings. Forget professional shoots; ads that show actual customers using products in their everyday lives are resonating more than ever. - Ugly Ads: It sounds counterintuitive, but it's true. Ads that ditch the gloss for authenticity stand out. They're raw, they're different, and they speak truth providing a refreshing change in a feed full of curated perfection. Mind, it’s not just some 2 month trend but a soon to be reality. Brands that can genuinely showcase what they're about, warts and all, are the ones that will thrive. It builds trust and fosters connections that polished campaigns just can't match. 2025 is all about keeping it real. The more genuine your ads, the better they'll land. — So, if you are struggling with your ad performance or want real UGC ads that brings conversion, just comment “New Year” or drop a DM, and we will help you. We have generated over $25 million in revenue for our clients, and they love working with us. We are running new year offers on our services, so you don’t want to miss out on that.

Don’t make perfect ads. The key to winning with ads? Testing, analyzing, and iterating. If you’re chasing perfection, you’re already losing ground. We put hundreds of ads out every week, constantly adapting to client requests and trends in the ad space. What worked a month ago might not work today, so staying flexible and iterating based on what’s working is essential. Remember: An ad will very rarely be perfect. Sometimes, the ads that took the least effort end up performing the best. Just run the ad and see what sticks, analyze the results, and adjust. If you’re waiting for a flawless ad, you’re missing the point. Experiment, adapt, and win by consistently refining your approach.

Want to know how to build a brand using performance marketing? Look at Merge Mansion by Metacore. Released in 2020, it was promoted with ads that caught gamers off-guard. At first, it looked like just another mobile game ad. The kind that asks you to renovate a house. Only this time it was to renovate your grandma’s old mansion. But then there was a twist. As you play the game, you suddenly begin to uncover a sinister plot involving Grandma’s secrets. Suddenly, the game turns into one part match-three game, another part murder mystery. The marketing was unique. People thought it was weird. But it got attention. By August 16, 2021, over 10 million downloaded the game. So they decided to up the game (pun intended) and launched live video ads starring Kathy Bates as grandma A big spend for a mobile game. But the $38.6 million they generated from it more than made up for it. Which is an important reminder for companies advertising on digital. It’s not about the size of your marketing budget. At first, Metacore spent the same as everyone else. Nor is it just about resonating on a product level. Or doing what everyone else does. It’s about resonating on a cultural level. (In this case, it was about tapping into the tension around how people felt about mobile game ads Instead of ignoring it,they played with it. It’s about getting people's attention). It's about ideas. It's about playing with the medium. It's about combining direct response and brand awareness in one campaign. It’s putting back performance into “performance marketing. It's becoming famous. As Howard Luck Gossage once said: “The buying of time or space is not taking out hunting license on someone else private preserve.But renting stage on which we may perform.” You don’t need a big marketing budget to make it big. You just need a great idea and the right execution. #advertising #marketing #digital

Creative optimization isn’t about dynamically shuffling ads based on performance—it’s about resonating deeply with your audience. Here’s why it’s fundamental to any advertising strategy. To truly captivate and convert players, you must tap into their psychological drivers and emotional triggers. This isn’t guesswork; it’s science. It means understanding the nuanced psychological profiles of your audience and crafting ad campaigns that speak directly to them. You’re not just creating content; you’re hoping to connect on a deeper level. Here’s what true creative optimization looks like: ✅ Identifying the specific emotional and psychological drivers of your top-performing player segments. ✅ Designing ad creative that evoke the right emotions at the right time during the player journey, increasing engagement and retention. ✅ Utilizing psychographic insights to fine-tune your creative strategy, ensuring every asset contributes to a cohesive and compelling player experience. ✅ When your creative assets are backed by psychological insights and data, they don’t just look good—they drive results. It’s tempting to stick with broad, one-size-fits-all strategies but with Solsten’s help, you can refine and expand your creative strategy as your understanding of your audience grows. Dive into the science of creative optimization below. https://lnkd.in/gY6pVwhE

Not all CPMs are made equal 👀 ❌ In layman's terms... CPM is the price a brand is willing to pay for 1,000 ad impressions. These rates can range from as low as a few bucks to upwards of $100+ 🤯 And since there's no universal calculator determine what the fair "market rate" is... It's important to consider what factors influence CPM's: Niche/Audience Demo 🧑🤝🧑 What type of content is published? Similarly, who is watching this content? Does a finance channel justify the same rates as a kid's cartoon channel? Length ⏳ Is the integration in the first 30 seconds, 60 seconds, or a dedicated video? Production costs increase and video performance will likely decrease; the opportunity cost needs to be priced accordingly. Timing ⏰ Is the integration in the beginning of the video (pre roll) or halfway through (mid roll)? During any ad, retention falls. With a dip in average view duration, platforms are less likely to push content due to a lack of "viewer satisfaction". The earlier on in the video, the more risk creator's take. Platform📱 What platform is the content being posted? Should a Tik Tok activation be priced the same as long form YouTube video? Product Audience Fit 🛍️ Is the product endemic vs non-endemic? Can it be seamlessly integrated in a video or will it feel "off brand"? Exclusivity 🔒 Is it prohibited to partner with similar brands for a certain timeframe? Usage 📈 Will the brand allocate paid spend behind the video or use it on their social pages for organic distribution? Name, Image, Likeness 👤 Should a faceless channel justify the same CPM as on screen talent? How do you value your brand? Not all CPM's should be priced the same; every creator is different.

If you run an e-com brand and you’re doubting the power of great ads. It’s time you heard of Loop Earplugs (a €126.5 million business!) It’s an earplug brand founded in 2016. They have: Usually have a low Average Order Value Few recurring customers Yet they’d grown into a 9-figure business, selling 5M+ pairs in 2023. A big part of their success? Their brilliant META/ TikTok advertising strategy. They: 👉 Have 3.500 ads live on META (worldwide) 👉 Have a great content mix: UGC, GIFs, statics, high-production, etc 👉 Test a lot of different ad concepts 👉 Test many different ad angles 👉 Use a wide variety of unique content creators 👉 Make their ads really stand out They literally test everything possible, minor and big changes. Honestly, their ad library is a masterclass. So what learnings can we take from this? 💡 We need more and better ad creatives. 🏁 More good ads = more winning ads = profitably scaling spend. 💡 We need a healthy variety of ad types 🏁 Video/ static doesn’t work for everyone. More styles = more people to sell 💡 We need ads that stand out. 🏁 Copying is easier than ever. We only get attention by standing out. So when you think ads don’t work for your brand. Ask yourself: - Do we create enough and good ads? - Do we have a healthy variety of content types? - Do our ads stand out? If the answer isn’t 100% yes… Is it any wonder sales aren’t growing?

MARKETING | Every once in a while, an ad evokes real emotion. It is a marketer's dream!  Click the link below to find out more about sadvertising.  #ads #sadadvertising #marketingstrategy https://lnkd.in/d48Xq4qk