Paid media unplugged
In a nutshell…
- Walled garden platforms can make it tough to get a clear picture of what’s working.
- Customer acquisition costs have shot up, forcing marketers to focus on profitability.
- Testing is essential, but running experiments is tricky and requires the right tools.
- Retail media ads can help boost ROI, but they need to be integrated carefully.
- Gen AI is great for content, but it still needs a human touch to feel authentic.
- Content that feels real resonates more with audiences; static and overproduced content is less effective.
A closer look…
Paid media in action
The world of paid media often requires investing in platforms with limited visibility, where you may feel like you’re trusting a “black box”. They might deliver strong machine learning capabilities, but they don’t always reveal the full picture. This can make it tricky to gauge the true impact of each ad dollar, especially in a landscape where customer acquisition costs are continually rising.
Many brands in The Retail Hive are working hard to get the most out of these platforms, turning to data-layering tools to combine external and internal insights. These tools help them better understand the customer journey across various channels—integrating search, social and retail media to maximise ROI.
As brands experiment with retail media ads and AI-powered search optimisation, they’re increasingly looking to enhance how their digital channels work together. Paid media isn’t just about driving clicks anymore, it’s about capturing customer intent at the right moment and using data to fine-tune those interactions across the entire funnel. Many brands are now investing in cross-channel strategies to ensure they’re not missing key opportunities in the customer journey. This is particularly relevant for retail and direct-to-consumer brands, which need to capture and retain customer interest in a crowded marketplace.
Still to do…
While paid media plays a vital role in the marketing mix, brands still face big challenges, particularly around proving the value of their spend. Gen AI is becoming very popular for content creation, but its authenticity can be called into question. Overly polished or artificial content can feel off-putting, especially on platforms where real-life storytelling matters. Many brands are still trying to find the balance—leveraging AI to speed up production while keeping the ‘human in the loop’ to make sure content is relatable and genuine. This has led to an increased reliance on user-generated or native content, which often resonates more with audiences than slick, branded messages.
GA4 has introduced more challenges than it’s solved for marketers, particularly in tracking and attribution. The transition from Universal Analytics has left many teams struggling to reconcile data inconsistencies between GA4 and other popular platforms like Shopify. The new structure makes it harder to gain a clear, comparable view of performance over time, creating uncertainty around which channels truly drive results. This lack of alignment has turned tracking into a guessing game for many, prompting them to explore different tools that can bridge these gaps and offer a more reliable and holistic view of their paid media campaigns.
Beyond tech, marketers also need flexibility to intervene and adapt to real-world changes, like regional trends or seasonality, which AI tools might miss. Mastering paid media now means blending automation with human intuition—ensuring every dollar spent aligns with both brand goals and customer expectations.
