Happy fall, MiM-ers! Grab your pumpkin-spiced latte, settle in with Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, and get ready to dive into an insightful discussion with Zapier’s head of paid ads about storytelling, AI-targeted ads, and why influencer marketing is his go-to strategy.
(I’m sorry I can’t offer up a more recent fall-inspired album. To be fair, I’m still obsessed with my “Summer 2019” mix.)
Keep reading to learn why Zapier’s head of paid ads thinks the golden age of paid ads is over.
Influencer Marketing: The New Frontier
James de Feu, Zapier’s head of paid ads, vividly recalls the heyday of traditional ads. However, he believes those times have passed. For a seasoned marketer like de Feu, influencer marketing represents a game-changing approach.
He’s so convinced of its power that he happily brought it under his team’s domain. “We see that as our brand motion,” de Feu affirms.
His dedication is clear when asked how he’d allocate a $1k budget. De Feu would invest a significant 40% into influencers.
But paid ads aren’t disappearing. De Feu would still channel 50% of the budget into them, with the remaining 10% going to SEO.
“Paid ads will always be on,” he says. “But they don’t offer the reach they once did.”
This understanding makes de Feu’s strategy clear: diversify to maintain relevance. While paid ads remain crucial, influencer partnerships on platforms like Instagram and TikTok help connect Zapier with its audience.
“Influencers are key,” de Feu notes, highlighting their importance even for B2B enterprises. “It’s no longer about just appealing to glossy teenage products.”
The Power of Storytelling in Paid Ads
According to de Feu, storytelling is a marketer’s most effective tool. “In paid ads, we can get stuck on single-experiences. But storytelling remains massive,” he explains.
Infusing narratives into marketing isn’t new but continues to be pivotal. Audiences have always been captivated by good stories, and this trend isn’t fading any time soon.
“Highlighting testimonials, building stories, and creating use cases are strategies we’ve refocused on,” de Feu remarks. “Storytelling is, and will remain, our superpower.”
De Feu’s advice to marketers: start with your customers. Understand their needs and craft compelling tales that convey your solutions.
Embracing Changes with AI-Targeted Ads
As David Bowie famously sang, “Ch-ch-changes,” and it’s a sentiment no truer than in marketing. De Feu emphasizes the necessity to adapt. He advocates for continuous testing to harness AI in personalizing ads, not merely in asset creation but also in audience targeting.
“Staying on top of these changes is crucial,” he insists. “Otherwise, you risk wasting funds.”
An example includes a sports brand using AI to target yoga apparel ads specifically to yoga enthusiasts and golf attire to potential customers on Wall Street.
De Feu envisions a future where ads are more tailored and less about generic appeals, providing a more precise connection with the audience.
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