6 Tips on Ad Spend Optimization

6 Tips on Ad Spend Optimization

In this blog post we share six top tips for reducing wasted ad spend. In a time when global ad spend is down and economic uncertainty is high, it can be tempting for companies to tighten advertising budgets. But this isn’t always the most considered approach and can lead to higher costs later down the line. Instead of drastically cutting budgets, advertisers are better off addressing internal inefficiencies and the sources of wasted ad spend. In other words, finding strategies that help them spend better. Strategies like user targeting, contextual advertising, distributing ads across platforms, automation and, looking to the future, decentralization.

Economic uncertainty and fear of recession has taken root and ad spend is down as a result. Google’s ad revenues dropped by 2% in 2022 and 75% of global brands say that evidence of economic downturn has influenced their media budgets.

Advertising budgets are being slashed. Left, right, and center.

But this isn’t necessarily the most effective course of action for advertisers. Advertising waste is rife. 37 billion dollars of global marketing budgets are wasted and 56% of ad impressions are never seen by consumers. Instead of spending less, brands need to be spending better.

One company that successfully navigated these challenges is MGID. Their approach demonstrates how addressing inefficiencies can optimize ad spend and improve performance.

But how?

Here are our top five tips to help you allocate advertising spend more effectively:

• Identify what’s causing your ad spend wastage: One of the biggest culprits for ad spend wastage is overly broad audience targeting. A blanket approach to advertising is never a good idea, especially when you’re trying to tighten budgets.
• Make your campaigns work harder: Instead of cutting ad spend, create an advertising strategy that works harder and has impact. Even amidst advertising inflation, a strong campaign will continue generating a healthy return on investment (ROI).
• Spread out your spend: Identify the platforms where you have the most organic reach, then divert some spending towards repurposing top-performing content into different formats, such as paid ads, social media ads, video ads, or in-game advertising.
• Automate: Automated advertising platforms like Demand Side Platforms (DSPs), ad attribution products, and anomaly detection services are equipped with features to help advertisers optimize ad spend, track ad value metrics, and flag anomalies in campaign data.
• Consider decentralized advertising: Proponents of decentralization believe it affords marketers greater privacy, transparency around spending, and can reduce ad spend lost to fraud.

How do you reduce ad spend wastage? We’d love to hear your strategies in the comments below.