Ignore anyone who talks about having ‘the secret sauce’ to ads success. It’s total nonsense. There is no sauce, secret or otherwise; there is understanding your platform, understanding your product, and probably most importantly, understanding your audience.

It’s news to nobody that the Apple updates last year threw advertisers into a spin. There was much throwing up of arms, heads in hands, cries of ‘the end of Facebook advertising is nigh!’ and general drama. But, unsurprising, the ads world didn’t stop turning, we’ve adapted, and are continuing to grow businesses.

But out of the drama came a band of merry marketers who claimed to have cracked some mysterious code which would unlock ads success for everyone and anyone. The ‘secret sauce’ analogy was the one we’ve most recently rolled our eyes at, like there’s one delicious, rich bottle of sauce waiting to be uncorked so it can be poured on any campaign for instant success.

I’m not going to lie, of course we still yearn for much of the pre iOS14 ads life, but of the upsides, having to really get under the skin of our client’s businesses has made us better marketers. Because what we have found is that contrary to having a one-size-fits-all-secret-sauce fix to ads in 2022, we develop successful campaigns by getting more immersed than ever into the individual businesses we work with, and their audiences.

Know your platform

Platforms change ALL the time, and new opportunities arise for campaigns regularly. As well as doing your own homework, the easiest way to get a sneak peak at what’s working for others is to be part of a professional community (or two). Talk to your peers, listen to their learnings and decide what current trends are worth testing in your campaigns.

Know your product 

One of the best things about being an agency is the breadth of industries we work in. Whole new worlds open up to us with new clients, which is really stimulating. Being able to experience a product is obviously ideal, but advertisers need to know all the nooks and crannies; why a product exists and for whom. Why was it developed in this way? Why are the competition doing something different this quarter? Why does X sell better than Y? Why does A have a bigger margin than B? Why is F bundled with G but not H?

Know your audience

The best understanding of your audience comes through consistent testing. It’s not secret, or magical, or sexy, but it is how you learn to dial into the right audience with the right ads. Breaking down the key value propositions of your product and understanding the problems they solve is the starting point, after that it’s a methodical process of testing and learning. 

Ads will fail, audiences will wither, but out of the flops comes a sharper understanding of what THAT campaign needs to succeed and scale. It’s not a secret, it’s rubbish on pasta, and it can’t be automatically applied to any account.

In short, there are no short cuts, but the gains are still huge when you get it right, and all the more rewarding!