“Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief, ” Leo Burnett, American advertising executive, once said. Burnett could not have been more correct. As brands spend billions globally on digital advertising, the question remains: what makes an ad campaign truly successful? “To create effective digital ads, it’s crucial to understand your target audience, including their demographics, interests, online behaviour, and pain points. This allows you to tailor your message and select the right platforms to reach them. In a crowded digital space, compelling creative is key—use high-quality visuals, strong copywriting, and a clear call to action to grab attention, while interactive elements and videos can boost engagement,” Gopa Menon, chief growth officer – APAC, Successive Technologies, told BrandWagon Online.
Moreover, focusing on platforms where the audience spends time, and using data-driven optimisation by analysing metrics, conducting A/B tests, and adjusting campaigns, are some of the ways to drive efficacy. Lastly, the value proposition should explain the USP of the product.
A game of effectiveness
It is said that a campaign’s effectiveness is often tied to three critical elements—accurate audience targeting, creative execution, and the use of appropriate ad formats. “We allocate over Rs 10 million monthly to ad campaigns, reflecting our commitment to reaching and engaging our target audience effectively,” Astha Jain, co-founder, Ayuvya, commented. But in today’s advertising landscape, much of this process is powered by technology, enabling brands to ensure their message reaches the right users. With the rising costs of digital advertising and increasing pressure to show returns, how are marketers navigating this complex space?
Technology has seemingly become the backbone of modern ad campaigns. Advanced tools allow advertisers to segment audiences with precision, ensuring ads are not just broadcast to a broad, unfocused audience but are instead delivered to users who are most likely to engage with them. A key part of this transformation is the use of programmatic advertising, which automates the buying and selling of ads in real time through Real-Time Bidding (RTB). “For advertising spending to be efficient, one should ideally pay the lowest price for the most valuable impression. This optimisation is not enough at an aggregate campaign level but for each impression. This means a decision needs to be taken for 7 million bid requests every second, which is computationally extremely difficult. When done right, every single time the decision engine sees an ad request from a publisher or exchange, it calculates the relevance and expected value of that potential impression – based on that it submits a bid. Like any auction, the highest bid wins and the platform that could win that auction without overpaying is the one that would have the most efficient ad spends,” Siddharth Jhawar, general manager, Moloco India, an ad tech company, said.
Programmatic advertising accounts for more than 80% of digital ad spending in regions like the US and Europe, with global programmatic ad spending projected to reach $725 billion by 2025, according to Statista. This automation is built on Data Management Platforms (DMPs), which collect and analyse user data to segment audiences and deliver targeted ads. “Our approach to optimising programmatic advertising hinges on data-driven precision. By leveraging advanced algorithms and a rich data ecosystem, we analyse user behaviour and engagement patterns in real time. This enables us to match ads with the right users based on context, intent, and relevance, ensuring that campaigns drive engagement and achieve their goals. Our platform continuously refines its targeting parameters, reducing ad fatigue for users and optimising spending for advertisers. We are always honing our algorithms to minimise spillover and ensure that ad placements are as effective as they are impactful,” Abhinay Tiwari, chief growth officer, Admattic, said. By placing ads in front of the right users, is believed that marketers are trying to reduce waste, improve efficiency, and ultimately boost ROI.
However, the effectiveness of these campaigns still hinges on creativity. Industry research suggests that creative quality accounts for up to 47% of an ad’s effectiveness, revealed Nielsen. AI is beginning to play a role in creative generation as well. Companies are using AI to craft dynamic ads tailored to individual preferences, testing multiple versions of creative elements in real time to see which performs best.
Ad Campaigns and AI
Artificial Intelligence is seemingly transforming the advertising industry at multiple levels. From optimising ad spend to creating more relevant ads for specific audiences, AI helps brands maximise their marketing budgets. AI can analyse vast amounts of data quickly, predicting consumer behaviour and adjusting campaigns to drive better engagement. Companies using AI for advertising can reduce acquisition costs by up to 30% while increasing revenue by as much as 25%, according to Boston Consulting Group. “AI-generated ads have become increasingly sophisticated, outperforming traditional ads in terms of conversion rates due to their adaptability and personalisation. With AI, ads can be dynamically optimised for format, message, and tone, based on real-time audience data. This adaptability often leads to higher engagement and conversion, as users are presented with creative that resonates with them,” Tiwari added.
Although AI-generated ads are gaining traction, especially for retargeting and personalisation, the technology is still evolving. Conversion rates for AI-driven ads often vary depending on the industry and use case. AI-generated ad campaigns saw comparable conversion rates, if not slightly higher, than human-generated ones, especially in industries like e-commerce and consumer goods, according to Adobe. “AI-driven predictive analytics enables marketers to analyse large datasets and predict which users are most likely to be interested in a product or service. It can also create lookalike audiences by identifying users with similar characteristics to existing customers, helping expand reach to high-potential prospects. With dynamic creative optimisation, AI personalises ad elements like images, copy, and offers in real time based on user behaviour and preferences. Additionally, machine learning algorithms improve ad delivery by optimising placements to maximise visibility and engagement,” Menon commented.
The Martech Angle
Martech platforms like Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and analytics engines enable marketers to segment audiences, track their behaviour, and create more personalised, targeted campaigns. “A CDP unifies customer data from various sources, such as website activity, transactions, and engagement with emails or messages, giving brands a complete view of their customers. With this information, brands can understand preferences like discount habits or favourite categories, allowing for personalised, relevant communication. This tailored approach leads to more contextual ads and ultimately boosts conversion rates,” Ankur Gattani, chief growth officer, WebEngage, said.
Furthermore, it was found that 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that provide personalised offers and recommendations, according to Accenture. Martech tools allow brands to track user engagement across multiple channels, tailoring ads based on real-time data and past interactions. “Automation and personalisation go hand in hand, especially when dealing with large customer bases. Personalisation means delivering one-to-one, tailored messages to each of a million customers, which would be impossible to do manually. This is where automation becomes essential. It not only reduces the need for human intervention but significantly improves conversion rates. Automated systems can send millions of unique, personalised emails far more efficiently than any manual process. Compared to traditional ‘blast’ campaigns managed by people, automated personalised communication consistently delivers better performance and results,” Gattani added.
Ad Spend vs. Results
From what is understood, one of the biggest challenges for brands is measuring the return on their ad investments. In 2023, the average cost per click on Google Ads was $4.22 across various industries, revealed WordStream. Meanwhile, social media ads saw a 20% increase in cost year-over-year, according to eMarketer. “It completely depends on the kind of the market and the consumer segment. For young professionals in metros like Bangalore or Mumbai, digital naturally leads our media mix – these consumers practically live on their smartphones! But when we look at, say, working professionals in Tier 1 and 2 cities where we’re seeing tremendous growth, print and television create that initial trust factor, with digital playing a supporting role. It’s not about following a fixed formula – we adapt based on market dynamics and consumer behaviour patterns,” Maneesh Krishnamurthy, head of marketing (Eyecare), Titan Company, said.
With rising costs, marketers must ensure that every dollar spent yields results. “AI plays a crucial role in optimising our ad campaigns at Recode Studios. We use AI-driven tools to analyse customer behaviour, automate bidding, and dynamically adjust content to maximise impact. Since implementing AI, we’ve seen a 30% improvement in ad engagement rates and a 25% reduction in cost-per-click (CPC) as AI helps us focus on high-value audiences with precision,” Dheeraj Bansal, co-founder, Recode Studios, said. Experts opine that with AI and data-driven approaches, some brands are pushing these boundaries, achieving even higher returns through better targeting and optimisation.
Programmatic advertising and RoI
Programmatic advertising, which automates the buying and selling of online ad space, can be considered one of the most effective ways to optimise ROI. The programmatic ecosystem uses real-time bidding (RTB) to purchase ads that are shown to specific users based on their interests, behaviour, and demographics. This eliminates much of the waste associated with traditional advertising, where ads are shown to broad audiences regardless of relevance. “The open internet, with over three million apps generating 600 billion bid requests daily, offers vast opportunities beyond walled gardens like Google, Amazon, and Meta. Despite spending two-thirds of our time on the open internet (news, gaming, streaming apps), user acquisition technology is often limited to these walled gardens. Moloco Ads provides a powerful solution by using machine learning models trained on an advertiser’s first-party data. This allows the system to identify high-value users, calculate the right bid price, and optimise ad placements. In just 20 milliseconds, it boosts the chances of users clicking, installing, and transacting,” Jhawar added.
Programmatic ad spending is projected to account for 89% of all digital display ad spend by 2026, revealed Zenith. But it’s not without its challenges. Programmatic advertising, like any automated system, requires constant monitoring to ensure it delivers on its potential. Without proper oversight, issues such as ad fraud, misplacement, and overexposure can erode the effectiveness of a campaign, reducing the ROI. “Programmatic buying automates the ad purchasing process, making it more efficient and cost-effective by allowing advertisers to target specific audiences across a wide range of websites and apps. Through real-time bidding (RTB), advertisers can bid on ad impressions in live auctions, ensuring they secure the best price for their desired audience. Adtech also enhances targeting precision, using data on demographics, interests, behaviour, and real-time context. Overall, ad tech increases efficiency by streamlining campaign management, optimisation, and reporting,” Menon added.
While technology is playing an increasingly important role in ad campaigns, creativity remains at the heart of advertising. The most successful campaigns are those that blend data-driven insights with compelling, emotional storytelling. Brands that rely too heavily on automation risk losing the human touch that resonates with consumers. A recent study found that strong creative content delivers more than double the impact on sales compared to those with weaker creative elements, Nielsen revealed. “D2C brands are leveraging martech to build direct relationships with customers, collect first-party data, and personalise their marketing efforts. Using ad tech, they implement omnichannel strategies to deliver consistent messaging across multiple touchpoints like social media, search, and email. These brands focus heavily on performance marketing, using data and analytics to track and optimise campaigns for maximum ROI. Additionally, D2C brands embrace agile marketing, adapting campaigns quickly based on real-time data and customer feedback,” Menon opined.
In an era where personalisation and precision are paramount, the next wave of advertising innovation will likely focus on deepening the emotional connections between brands and consumers. The question remains: How will brands continue to innovate without losing the creative spark that defines memorable and impactful advertising?