Sometimes I wonder if the entire ads racket isn't a case of the emperor with no clothes.
Has anyone here actually had a meaningful increase in users and revenue by using targeted-ad services, that they couldn't achieve by more organic methods (e.g. posting on places like Reddit, word of mouth)?
The real goal for the big players using these services isn't actually increasing their own users and revenue. They have better ways to do that.
Rather, the goal is to lock everyone else out from even possibly doing so.
For example: AdWords isn't about reaching new audiences, it's about staking a claim on an audience in perpetuity (as long as your budget allows). This is completely apparent from the pricing model.
Google's brilliance is that via the ubiquity of their search platform, they have effectively managed to leverage a property tax on attentional real estate. If you don't pay, someone else will move in and hopefully develop the attentional property further, raising the value Google can charge you for it until you're priced out and someone else comes along to hold onto it.
That's like the 1000th ad-targeting article I've read, but the first time to hear this perspective. Absolutely fascinating, thank you!
Here's one question though: If you're the established player in one field and don't really need the online ads other than for staking a claim, would it really influence your sales that much if a competitor takes over that space? Probably just a downturn in number of sales to new customers? (Who presumably haven't heard about the other players in the field and just go with the one that's shown to them in online search results?)
Okay, that's more than one question, but maybe you'd like to elaborate a bit.
I very much doubt the small bump in sales of Coke after a major ad campaign actually pays for the campaign. That's not the point.
Lets suppose CocaCola stopped advertising completely. No TV adds, no product placement, no billboards, nothing, but Pepsi and the other soft drinks companies kept up their rate of advertising or even increased it to fill the gap. The only time anyone ever saw the name Coke would be when they saw it on a shelf. It might take a while, but the outcome would be inevitable.
It's known for quite a while that only a minuscule fraction[1] of the digital advertising results in actual conversion. But, marketers have come into terms that even it is worth spending large money; it's just that only those without a large budget and expecting miracles out of digital advertising end up as total losers.
Then again, with the influencers/celebrity culture, the landscape of digital advertising has changed. Hence, Instagram supposedly leads when it comes to organic conversions. Good news here is, those who don't want such ads can stay away from the platform (or) that influencer. Bad news is, it is resulting in creating hoards of gullible, programmable masses with little effort, who can be exploited for various nefarious activities which can have an effect even outside of those platforms.
Retargeting can be quite effective, along with other forms of first-party data used for targeting- such as CRM data to inform which ads are relevant.
Behavioral data using 3rd parties like Neustar / Lotame have more dubious results, but still rake in billions each year from ad buyers that fastidiously track their ROI.
Most online display works to reinforce messaging in other forms of media, or win over new audiences with sheer volume.
Good question, this [] article proposes that this is indeed a bubble. I tend to agree and generally avoid ad-tech related work, even though it is closely tied to the engineering work I do.
Personal experience shows that poor results from targeted ads is usually because of a) poor product, b) poor audience targeting, c) poor creative, or d) poor testing and tracking.
There's an entire cottage industry of marketers (especially affiliate marketers) who make a lot of money through targeted ads. Unlike big brands, they can't afford to throw money at branded campaigns; they have to see results. If they continue to patronize ads, it means that they are getting conversions.
Has anyone here actually had a meaningful increase in users and revenue by using targeted-ad services, that they couldn't achieve by more organic methods (e.g. posting on places like Reddit, word of mouth)?