Automated campaigns take advantage of marketers

Automation isn’t the holy grail we’ve been promised — or at least, that was our hypothesis going into episode six of our video series, The Hypothesis. In this episode, we tell you what exactly advertising automation is, where we think it goes wrong, how it takes advantage of busy marketers, how we use it, where we test to ensure its effectiveness, and more. Watch the full video below or listen to the episode here to get this conversation in its entirety. More of a skimmer? Keep reading for our top takeaways.

Top takeaways from this episode 

What is an automated advertising campaign?

• When we talk about automated campaigns, we’re discussing campaign types and tools with automated features within them. These features within ad products reduce advertisers' need for manual adjustments and tweaking.
• Campaign automation can encompass various aspects such as bidding, targeting, channel, tactics, keyword selection, and creative.
• Automated campaigns have existed for years; the degree of automation has evolved. For instance, tCPA (Target CPA) and tROAS (Target ROAS) bidding strategies were launched in 2010 and 2016, respectively.
• AI and ML have been integrated into ad products for years and the current shift is more about marketing these features differently.
  
  

How are marketers using automation?

• Currently, automation helps marketers with two main things: optimization of campaigns and production work. 
• Optimization includes automated bidding, open targeting, automated creative optimization, suggestions to improve overall account health, and optimization scores. Who are we targeting and who are we serving this ad to?
• Production work includes basic creative, ad copy, campaign structure, delivery across different networks, etc.
• Most marketers aren’t fully handing over the keys to the automated campaign types just yet though (although the platforms are encouraging it). 
  
  

How is automation “taking advantage of marketers”?

• These types of automated campaigns are heavily promoted to marketers who are already busy doing so many other tasks that they might not have the time to check all the factors that play into these campaign types.
• Our problem with fully automating campaigns is that the automation tools and campaign types are a black box. The platforms don’t show the full targeting, bidding, or decision-making happening with your ad dollars. 
• It’s often unclear where ads are serving in the black box and how incremental the resulting conversions actually are. 

So how should marketers use automation?

• Remember, garbage in, garbage out. What are you feeding the algorithm? If you’re feeding PMax a bad metric, it’s going to give you bad results. For example, let’s say you're trying to get purchases but you’re optimizing for page views, it probably won’t perform for you.  
• Consider the diminishing returns. Have you been looking into the incrementality of your automated campaigns?
• Look into how many users in those campaigns are returning or new. Is it an expense retargeting tactic?