How to Optimize Campaigns Across Platforms

I've been thinking about what DTC brands get wrong about omnichannel expansion recently. The temptation is to try to be everywhere at once. But the real winners are strategically aligning each channel to build a holistic growth engine. Here’s how to do it right → First, you must have channel-specific thinking. Every channel needs its own playbook. A helpful framework to structure your efforts... DTC Website: • Focus on basket building • Higher AOV targets • Full-price strategy • Data collection hub • Customer relationship building TikTok Shop: • Single-product purchase reality • Organic content engine • Lower AOV expectations • Limited data access • Treat as a retail channel Amazon: • Multi-pack strategy • Bundle economics • Marketplace presence • Competitive monitoring • Specialized management Next up, the Integration Challenge → The biggest mistake brands make is trying to force the same strategy across all channels. Example: One brand we spoke with increased shipping costs on TikTok Shop to push customers to their website. Instead of fighting the platform's natural behavior, they should have optimized for it. You must also consider your unit economics because each channel has its own cost profile. - TikTok Shop might be a loss leader but drive retail success. - Website sales might have better margins but higher customer acquisition costs. - Amazon might have lower margins but better operational efficiency. Here is the new omnichannel playbook: 1. Channel Optimization - Build channel-specific content - Adjust pricing strategies per platform - Create platform-specific bundles - Set realistic KPIs for each channel 2. Data Strategy - Accept data limitations on newer platforms - Focus on first-party data where possible - Build cross-channel customer profiles - Use creative solutions for retention 3. Team Structure - Specialized expertise per channel - Clear ownership of metrics - Flexibility to shift resources - Mix of in-house and agency support The brands that will win aren't the ones just running around trying to be everywhere - they're the ones being intentional about how they show up in each place. Success also isn't about ideal profit extraction across all channels. It's about understanding each channel's role in your broader ecosystem and optimizing accordingly. Key Takeaway: Don't try to make every channel work the same way. Start building channel-specific strategies that work together to drive overall growth. 

We changed one button on a client’s website and watched acquisition costs drop by a third overnight. Same ads, same audience… just tracking what Meta ACTUALLY values instead of what everyone thinks it values. Here’s the exact framework: 1. Fix Your Funnel Mechanics Standard e-commerce flows create massive inefficiencies when they don't align with platform event schemas. Multi-page checkouts, delayed confirmation signals, and fragmented purchase paths all force algorithms to work harder to find your customers. 2. Implement Strategic Conversion Paths Single-page checkout flows increase "InitiateCheckout" events by 20%, giving Meta earlier signals that immediately improve auction performance. Email-capture modals treated as "Lead" events let you optimize for actions Meta can deliver at a fraction of "Purchase" event costs. Progressive form fields create additional data points that feed algorithms the optimization signals they crave. 3. Optimize for Predictive Events While everyone obsesses over "add-to-cart," events like "complete registration" often predict lifetime value more accurately and convert at substantially lower costs. The accounts we've restructured around these insights consistently see 30%+ CPA improvements within weeks. 4. Sequence Your Channels Strategically Start with Pinterest/YouTube for cold reach. Transition to Meta Lead/Form campaigns, optimizing toward micro-conversions. Finally, move to Meta Conversion campaigns using fresh "AddToCart" seed audiences. This sequence leverages each platform's attribution window to maximize incremental lift while preventing platform competition for conversion credit. The brands beating CAC benchmarks in competitive markets have simply restructured their funnel mechanics to align with how algorithms really value conversions. This approach requires zero additional spend; just a strategic reconfiguration of your customer journey.

Here's a B2B Digital Ads Framework for Amplifying Success on LinkedIn Ads 1. So you have some success with LinkedIn Ads....what next? One truth I've known since the beginning of my paid ads journey is this - 🚨 No ad channel just scales perfectly as you increase budget 🚨 For my performance marketing friends out there...this is a duh moment but it needs to be said as the expectation in most orgs is that 2x budget = 2x results...and that's just not the case. Many time if you want to get more ROI from LinkedIn Ads, the answer is actually to improve your paid search campaigns or to implement LinkedIn + Email nurture to convert more of the traffic you're paying so much money for. Ok so back to the question at hand - how to scale a successful LinkedIn Ads motion. 2. Download and own the audience -First harsh truth is that if you are able to activate an audience on LinkedIn, there are probably channels that group is actually more active on and you'd have even more success activating that group across Meta and Programmatic. The reason you might have started with LinkedIn is because it's hard to target those audiences on other channels so the answer is to actually own the data set and then you can take it to any other platform. 3. Run Ads to the custom audience you now own on multiple platforms where your prospects are more likely active. 4. Set up a retargeting framework to build trust and convert the traffic you are driving. -Qualify and retarget with LinkedIn Ads -Retarget on Programmatic + Meta -Leverage thought-leader content to build trust + establish yourself as THE go-to expert 5. Create LinkedIn + Email nuture flows (nearbound) to identify website visitors and accounts highly engaged with LinkedIn ads campaigns (we use DemandSense to see both). With this structure, you can take an isolated win and create something a bit more scalable and efficient as you grow. From here, scaling might look like... - going deeper on your list (owning more of your TAM dataset) -segmenting out and creating more custom/personalized ad experiences - scaling to more LinkedIn + Email flows from more of your sales reps and executive accounts -setting up segmented retargeting groups to have some focus on your warm owned audiences while other focus on broader warm prospects that aren't in your owned datasets. Every journey looks different and you really have to look at it as an ecosystem and not just a series of siloed efforts to scale into something massive AND efficient. Any questions? What would you add?

The biggest marketing arbitrage for brands right now? Building a cross-channel creator community. If you're on TikTok Shop, this means launching a DTC creator affiliate community and pushing those affiliates to repurpose their content across all channels. Here's how to do it, even if you're not planning to scale big from the start: Base level - Protect your investment + boost performance: 1. Set up with Superfiliate or Social Snowball if you're a Shopify brand on TikTok Shop. 2. Create a Discord channel for all creators to protect against platform disruptions. 3. Give affiliates unique discount codes or links. 4. Coach them to share TikTok content on IG Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Meta Reels. This multiplies impressions, engagement, and sales without additional product seeding. But that's just the beginning... Advanced - Scaling your cross-channel community: 1. Build monthly influencer lists of 4k+ creators on Instagram and YouTube. 2. Use tools like Saral and Onsocial for sourcing. 3. Filter for followers (2k-100k) and engagement rate (2%+). 4. Use cold email software for outreach at scale. 5. Set up a 3-step email sequence with an auto-reply for interested influencers. 6. Seed product to new influencers. 7. Create an onboarding flow with Klaviyo, including a welcome challenge. 8. Invite active creators to your Discord. 9. Push Instagram and YouTube affiliates to create TikTok Shop content / and vise versa 10. Use your community as a content engine for UGC and partnership ads. This strategy onboards 100+ new opt-ins monthly to your DTC affiliate program with minimal friction. It's the direction we're pushing our clients to increase affiliate performance while protecting against potential platform disruptions. Remember, it's all about maximizing your reach and minimizing risk. Cross-channel is the future.

Linkedin and Google Ads are a killer one-two punch 🥊 One generates the demand, the other captures it. Here are the essential elements you need to know to run each channel successfully. 💥 Google Ads 💥 1/ Tracking Might seem like a no-brainer but this is the crux of all campaigns. If you have bad tracking, you'll get bad results. Track your core events, enable enhanced conversions, and ensure only your key goals are set to Primary. 2/ High Intent Keyword First Build campaigns/ad groups around highest-intent keywords with modifiers (solution, software, services). They might be lower volume and that’s ok. You’re not worried about volume, you’re worried about quality. 3/ Optimize Towards Quality Goals Optimize campaigns based on the highest quality event. Further, ensure your conversion event is that single event. The ideal here is to move towards optimizing for off-line events like (MQL, Opps, Deals). But you'll start with the goal that's closest to that (i.e. Demo Request). 4/ Keep Match Types to Exact (to start( Start with exact match and monitor search terms to build robust negative lists. These negative lists will allow you to move onto phrase and eventually broad-match targeting. Bonus Section: Beware of location settings (you want "Presence"). 💥 Linkedin Ads 💥 1/ Conversion Tracking It bears repeating. Tracking is essential to get right. Use the Insight Tag. Identify your key conversions (web visit, pricing page visit, demo/trial). Poor tracking = poor results. 2/ Audience Creation Too often people get excited to launch a campaign and forget about the basics. One of those is creating audiences for retargeting. Here's the essentials: a. Website Visitors (90/180) b. Ad Engagers (90/180) c. Company Page Visitors (90/180) d. Video Viewers 25% / 50% / 97% (90/180) 3/ Lead with Video This will allow you to build retargeting audiences faster and do a better job of educating your audience about your solution/services throughout their journey. Pro Tip💡: Record interviews with sales teams, product teams, and leadership. This is easier and cheaper than building animated videos or using stock footage. 3/ Pain Points for Prospecting / Trust for Retargeting Focus on pain points/outcomes in your messaging/ad design with prospecting. And in retargeting, focus on content that builds trust and portrays your business as a thought leader. 4/ Avoid the common pitfalls of targeting. These include: a. Enabling audience expansion b. Enabling audience network c. Not excluding competitors, existing customers, or irrelevant functions/titles --- Hope you found this content helpful. I know there's a lot more I could've mentioned but wanted to widdle it down to the essentials. What else would you add to your list of essentials?

"Set it and forget it" doesn't work on any platform – let alone LinkedIn Ads. Here's what you need to do regularly 👇 Why? Because seasonality, trends, and traffic patterns change. So, here's what you need to be doing: 1. 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀: Daily spend can go up to 50% over what you set. Always plan for this buffer to avoid budgeting surprises. 2. 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗱𝘀: Are you bidding too high and overpaying? Are you bidding too low and cutting off traffic? Iterate to find the sweet spot, but monitor - because monthly & seasonal traffic patterns can throw a wrench in prices. 3. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: As your campaign runs, you'll see the companies, sizes, and job titles reached. Often some not-ideal-fits, competitors, or current customers sneak through. Monitor and exclude them to cut the fat on your campaigns.     4. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Identify which campaigns & ads are driving results. Understand the trends. Pause down lower performers, and shift to better performers.     5. 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: Once a person sees the same ad a few times, "ad blindness" begins to set in, and they'll scroll by assuming they've already seen it before. Refresh your layouts, your brand templates, and say things in new ways to break through. This is how you really hone-in an ad campaign over time.

Meta’s AI can't read your mind or your margins. Are your ad campaigns accidentally prioritizing low-value products? Meta's AI is smart, but it doesn't understand your margins, lifetime value, or broader business goals. While consolidating your campaigns and letting Meta control optimization is ideal for efficiency, over-consolidating can sometimes lead to outcomes that aren't aligned with your business objectives. Here's when it's safe to trust Meta: ✅ Similar SKUs: If your products have similar average order value, profit margins, and customer value, let Meta optimize for volume. This maximizes conversions. ✅ Different prices, similar margins: If SKUs differ in price but have similar profitability, optimize for purchase conversion value (ROAS). Meta usually makes good choices here. But be careful when your SKUs differ significantly in price AND profitability. For example: ➡️ $10 socks with a 10% margin ➡️ $1,000 jackets with a 90% margin Left alone, Meta will likely funnel your spend toward socks simply because they convert more frequently, even if jackets offer higher profit per sale. And none of this even considers the size, competition, or relevance of each product's respective audiences, nor how well the products stand out in ads to those audiences... Why this matters: Meta sees only conversions and revenue, not profit or lifetime customer value. Unless you're explicitly feeding profit data back to Meta, it can't optimize for that or your real business goals. It's best to trust Meta's system to optimize when its incentives are aligned with your business goals and when you control the guardrails of the decisions it can make, preventing poor outcomes for your business. What to do: ✅ Separate campaigns or ad sets for high-margin or strategically valuable products. ✅ Control spend to push specifically high-margin products or efficient customer acquisition SKUs. ✅ Consider using visually appealing (but perhaps lower margin) SKUs strategically to attract more potential customers who may purchase higher-margin items. (What you advertise isn't always what people buy!) ✅ Consider the strategic benefit of acquiring many cheaper customers versus fewer high-value customers, and which is better for your business in the short and long terms. Bottom line: Your campaign structure should explicitly align with your business strategy. How do you think about handling a wide variety of products in one account or business?

Google Ads or Facebook Ads? Wrong question. The real question is: 👉 Are you capturing demand? 👉 Or are you creating it? Here’s how to decide which channel actually grows your business: ✅ CAPTURE Demand → Google Search & Shopping Best when people already know what they want. Think: “urgent care near me,” “affordable CRM for coaches,” “buy electric standing desk” • Start with Search (Lead Gen) or Standard Shopping (e-commerce) • Segment brand vs non-brand terms • Use Max Conversions or manual CPC to start • Once it’s working → layer on PMax to scoop warm traffic But if your Search Impression Share + Click Share > 80%? You’ve likely tapped out the market. That’s where most brands stall. ✅ GENERATE Demand → Meta, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok Best when people don’t know they need you yet. Or they’ve never even heard of your product or service. • For B2C → Start with Meta (broad reach, creative matters most) • For B2B → Start with LinkedIn (laser targeting by role + company) • For eCom → Meta (low AOV, young demos) • For higher-ticket or visual brands → YouTube (after Meta) Pro tip: These are top-of-funnel platforms. Don’t expect neat attribution. Instead, watch for brand lift, higher direct traffic, and search volume spikes. Make sure you measure the backend of your business and consider typical time to conversion. 🎯 Use Advantage+ and PMax strategically These are warm-traffic engines. • Meta Advantage+ scoops up website visitors • Google PMax works best when fed high-quality cold traffic from somewhere else → Use other campaigns and channels to feed PMax They're not top-of-funnel systems. They shine after you’ve built awareness. The truth most brands miss? They pour more money into the same campaign types... …without realizing they’ve already maxed them out. Your next level of growth doesn’t come from picking the “right platform.” It comes from mapping the right campaign type to the right stage of your buyer journey. That’s how you scale sustainably.

During one of our recent podcast recordings, the global eCommerce leader of a CPG shared her biggest frustration: Even in 2025, managing multiple ad platforms felt like a never-ending puzzle, draining time and resources instead of driving results. I can easily relate to this challenge, and it was quite the same three years ago, before the pandemic or in the 2010s. So the lingering question is, how can CPG brands simplify campaign management while maximizing ad performance across multiple platforms? (Let me prioritize maximizing ad performance here) Managing retail media campaigns shouldn’t feel like juggling 20 different logins. Yet, for many CPG brands, that’s the daily reality. The solution? A unified, API-connected campaign manager that brings everything under one roof. With platforms like Pentaleap’s Campaign Manager, brands can: 📍Integrate seamlessly via UI or APIs with tools like Skai, Pacvue or Criteo 📍Run all ad formats—sponsored products, banners, display ads, and more—in one place 📍Boost efficiency by cutting manual tasks and focusing on strategy 📍Drive real impact, with up to 4X incremental ad revenue and 50% higher CTRs Retail media isn’t just about simplifying ad management—it’s also about transforming it into a strategic growth engine. If your current setup isn’t delivering, it’s time to rethink your approach. How is your team optimizing retail media performance? 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟮,𝟲𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿👇 #RetailMedia #DigitalCommerce #AdTech #RetailGrowth #CPG #ecommerce

Most ads fail. Not because of bad products. But because of bad execution. Here’s how to make sure your performance marketing actually performs... 1. The offer matters more than the ad No amount of creative genius can fix a weak offer. Make it clear. Make it irresistible. Make it easy to say “yes.”  2. Track everything (but focus on what matters) Vanity metrics look nice. Revenue pays the bills. Clicks, impressions, and CTR? Useful. Cost per acquisition (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS)? Essential.  3. Test, tweak, repeat There is no perfect ad. There is only iteration. A/B test your headlines, creatives, and CTAs relentlessly. What worked yesterday might flop today. Stay ahead. 4. Target smarter, not broader Reach doesn’t equal results. Zero in on the people who actually want what you offer. Personalization > mass appeal. 5. Don’t rely on just one channel Your best customers aren’t sitting in one place. Diversify. Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, test them all. Scale what works. Drop what doesn’t. What’s the one thing that’s made your campaigns more profitable? 👇 #performancemarketing