Paid Social Best Practices Meet Their Worst Enemy: Actual Results | PPC TH 133
43 min
Best practices in paid social are useful starting points, but how often do we question whether they're still producing the results we want?As advertising platforms automate more targeting and campaign decisions, some of the approaches we've relied on for years deserve another look. That includes how we structure campaigns, develop creative, and decide when an ad needs to be replaced.In this episode of PPC Town Hall, Aaron Levy and I are joined by paid social expert Akvile DeFazio to discuss which established practices still make sense, where breaking the rules can produce better results, and how advertisers can make more informed decisions.We cover:- Why imperfect ads sometimes outperform polished creative, including Akvile's experience with two videos that became top performers despite having no sound.- When to refresh ad creative, and why one of her Instagram ads continued performing for nearly five years.- How automated targeting is changing paid social strategy, and where advertisers should focus their time as platforms take over more decisions.- Why giving platforms more control still requires human judgment, especially when their optimization decisions don't fully account for business context.- How to work with creators, founders, and executives to produce content that feels natural without losing sight of the advertising objective.- Why platform-reported ROAS isn't the complete picture, and how to evaluate paid social performance against broader business outcomes.- What paid search practitioners should consider when expanding into paid social, including differences in audience behavior, creative, and measurement.One point I found particularly interesting was Akvile's approach to creative fatigue. Rather than replacing ads because they've been running for a certain number of weeks, she looks at what the performance data is telling her. It's a useful example of why established practices should guide our thinking without replacing our judgment.Whether you manage...
