It’s no secret that AI is becoming the name of the game, and the landscape of digital marketing hasn’t been left out. Both Google and Facebook are heavily leaning into AI, and with that has come changes to account structure.

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Many digital marketers are loath to change with the times, as the proliferation of AI has taken away a lot of the control that digital marketers have.

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But I’m here to tell you - you need to lean into it and not cling to the old ways, or you threaten tanking your account’s efficiency.

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Here’s what that looks like on both Facebook and Google Platforms.

Google

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In 2021, Google made changes to their keyword match types, eliminating Broad Match Modified and broadening the reach of their other match types. Additionally, their AI has gotten better as well. Put these two changes together and it’s time to rethink how you structure your Google ads account.

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The Granularity Has To Go.

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At this point, there has to be a reason for separate campaigns to exist (notice I said campaigns and not ad sets).

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They are:

1. Different location requirements
2. Different performance requirements (such as different ROAS targets) 
3. Results not congruent with spend (for example, one as set is performing really well but not getting the spend; it could be worth breaking it out and giving it its own budget).

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Beyond that, you’re fracturing your account and working against Google’s current best practices.

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I know, it feels like losing control. But trust me, overall this increases account efficiency as it doesn’t force spend through ads that aren’t performing as well. It allows the system to constantly juggle the lowest cost acquisitions, leading to cheaper conversions.

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Facebook

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Much to the annoyance of ads managers, Facebook has been removing thousands of targeting options and forcing users to rely more heavily on AI for finding potential converters.

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Combine that with their improving AI, and it’s time to restructure your Facebook ads as well.

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You’ve Gotta Simplify Here Too.

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Like Google, spreading your budget between a bunch of different ad sets and campaigns is going to hurt your account.

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Instead of having multiple Top of Funnel ( TOF) campaigns with Adset Budget Optimization (ABO), you need to be consolidating all of your TOF ad sets into one campaign with Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO).

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Fighting this will drive up your ad costs. There’s really no way around it.

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That being said, similar to Google, there are reasons at times to have separate TOF campaigns, such as:

1. Different campaign objectives
2. Needing more spend on a particular product or product segment

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There’s also no reason to have multiple retargeting campaigns; put all those ads sets into the same campaign with CBO and let her rip.

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(Some ad managers advocate for including all TOF and MOF audiences into the same CBO campaign, but I’m not sure I can be convinced of that quite yet. At least without some further testing.)

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So what’s the winning strategy?

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So if a lot of the strategy we previously relied on is no longer relevant, what is?

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Creative.

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Creative, creative, creative.

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This is now what differentiates you and your brand and sets you apart. You can’t just throw random images or videos into the mix and hope for the best; you have to be extremely intentional and stay up-to-date on the current creative trends. Fail to do this, and your ROAS tanks.

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Here are some tips we give our clients when it comes to generating creative.

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1. Color. Ads with warmer tones - which contrast Facebook’s blue branding colors - tend to stand out on the app and perform better. 
2. Low Production Value. Videos and images taken with just a cell phone look native to the platform (aka, like content a user’s friend would upload), and almost always outperform professionally-done video and images. 
3. Short form video. Short form video (10-15 seconds) typically outperforms images, so definitely incorporate that into your mix as well. ‍
4. Educate, entertain, or inspire. Good advertising does at least one of these three things (even better if you can incorporate more than one of these qualities into the same piece of content). Remember, you’re advertising for the buyer, not for you or your brand; create content that resonates with them.

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The Name of the Game is Simplification.

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If you’re still fighting some of the new changes within the platforms, this is your sign that you need to stop. Remove the granularity, simplify your account structures, and produce great creative, and you’ll do wonders for your account’s performance.

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