Marketing Campaign Tactics

A very easy way to improve your Amazon ads efficiency by at least 10% Let’s say you’re spending ₹4–5 lakhs/month on Amazon ads. Your ACoS looks okay. Conversion rate seems fine. But your gut tells you—you’re still wasting some money on irrelevant traffic You’re not wrong At Atomberg, we had found that some of our Amazon spend was going toward search terms that had no business seeing our ads: - “cheap fan” -“rechargeable fan” - “usb fan under 1000” None of these users were in-market for a ₹3,000+ BLDC ceiling fan. But we were still showing up. And paying for those clicks. And it’s not just us. I’ve seen 6–7 brands' Amazon ad accounts across categories over the last few years—same problem, every single time The fix? N-gram analysis Takes less than an hour. You don’t need to be a performance marketing expert. But the results compound What’s N-gram analysis? It’s breaking down every search term into its word components—1-grams, 2-grams, 3-grams—and then identifying patterns that consistently drive waste… or conversion. Example: “cheap rechargeable fan for hostel room” turns into: 1-grams: cheap, rechargeable, fan, hostel, room 2-grams: rechargeable fan, hostel room 3-grams: fan for hostel, etc. When you do this across all your search terms, you start seeing the real picture. Why this matters more than just checking your search term report: Search terms ≠ keywords a) One keyword can trigger 100s of different queries. Some convert. Most don’t. You need to find the patterns. b) Waste is diluted across low-volume terms. Maybe “rechargeable fan for hostel” spent ₹300. You ignore it. But what if 12 other queries with “rechargeable” spent ₹6,000 in total with zero conversions? c) Long-tail is infinite. N-grams are finite. You can’t negate every bad search. But you can block the core terms—“cheap”, “usb”, “mini”—once and be done with it. d) It helps you scale campaigns too. You can find goldmine phrases like “white ceiling fan”, “silent BLDC fan”, “fan for living room”—with 5x+ ROAS. Those became exact match campaigns What you should do: a) Pull last 3 months of search term data b) Break them into unigrams, bigrams, trigrams c) Create a pivot with spend, orders, ROAS by N-gram d) Negate high-spend, low-conversion N-grams (e.g., “cheap”, “rechargeable”) e) Boost high-ROAS ones (e.g., “bldc”, “ceiling fan white”) f) Add exact match campaigns g) Rinse and repeat monthly Try it. Guaranteed to improve efficiency at whatever scale you are operating If you want to read an expanded version of the post, link is in the first comment

Something I often say is, “money can’t save bad ideas.” As marketers, we often tend to resort to big media plans to boost our reach for brand campaigns, but at Duolingo we've learned that this approach is usually counterproductive. Over the last three years, we've designed our marketing organization to put creativity first - and the results speak for themselves: millions of new user sign-ups, 350M likes on TikTok, viral moments that break the internet, partnerships like our recent Squid Game activation that drove 100M+ organic impressions. I wanted to share a few key lessons we've learned as we've developed this creativity-first model. Of course, nothing is one-size-fits-all, but my hope is that other marketers find this useful: - 1. Make Content That Moves People  Years ago, we started with polished TV ads and carefully crafted messages meant to appeal to everyone. The impressions were there, but they were empty - lots of eyeballs but no visible engagement or impact on key metrics. Real success only came when we started creating moments that people actually want to engage with, not just see. Today we're reinventing what marketing can be, one viral moment at a time. 2. Let Strategy Emerge Through Experimentation I didn't come in with some five-year master plan. Every major win we've had - from our viral TikToks to our Super Bowl stunt - started as a small experiment or ideas that got us excited. This approach requires humility: you have to be willing to admit you don't have all the answers and let the experimentation guide you. 3. Creativity > Budget You can throw money at marketing problems, or you can solve them creatively. When we didn't have the budget for a full Super Bowl ad, we made a memorable 5-second spot...of Duo farting out a miniature Duo. Being resourceful forces you to think differently about impact versus spend. Of course, we spend a big budget on acquisition campaigns but not on building the Duolingo brand. But we've learned that throwing money at mediocre ideas doesn't make them better. 4. Let Your Team Run Wild When people have true ownership over their work and agency to execute their ideas, magic happens. We've found that having clear ownership and minimal bureaucracy leads to better, faster work. I don’t need to see or approve all our social content. The team will raise it with me if there is a question. Give your team the freedom to do big things and get out of their way. - I'd love to hear from you: what unexpected approaches have worked for your team?

💡Did NBCUniversal just quietly set a new blueprint for tentpole marketing? Last night’s Wicked NBC special (One Wonderful Night) wasn’t nostalgia content. It was a conversion event. Not for the core fans — those people transacted weeks ago when tickets first opened and immediately posted record first-day presales. This special did something more strategically interesting: It targeted the curious middle. The: ⌙ “I liked the first one but I’m not rushing.” ⌙ “I don’t really watch musicals but this looks premium.” ⌙ “If it’s good, I’ll go.” Instead of trying to tell those people the sequel is good, Universal Pictures showed them. Live vocals. New songs. Dolby-level staging. A 2-hour proof-of-quality moment in the exact final two-weeks before release. And that strategy matters even more in today’s media landscape, where default consumer behavior is now: “I’ll wait for streaming.” Creating the urgency to watch in theaters has become the modern marketer’s hardest job. NBCUniversal used legacy broadcast not as an awareness play, but as a late-stage trust lever that made opening weekend feel like the correct moment to participate. And the early resonance signals match the intention: ⌙ The biggest social surprise wasn’t the staging — it was the raw live-vocal power. This is what most people didn’t trust from trailers. ⌙ The new-song debuts generated first-listen “I wasn’t expecting that” reactions — which is exactly what moves non-core viewers. ⌙ Interest in the 24 hours after broadcast leaned toward “Wicked tickets,” “Wicked new songs,” and yes, variations of “Wicked theater vs streaming.” ⌙ Clip-sharing and saving behavior (TikTok/YouTube/Instagram) indicates this was not just fandom celebration — it was proof content spreading on its own. And Universal isn’t stopping at one touch. NBC will also re-air the 2024 Wicked film on November 19 — a catch-up funnel for anyone who never saw Part 1. This is may be a new model: Marketing is shifting from “mass teaser” → to “mass proof.” And theatrical urgency is now the KPI. Universal has just shown the entire industry one way to do it. Well done Donna, Dwight, Evan, David, Jim, Vince and Leo and the Fulwell Entertainment team. #Media #NBCUniversal #BoxOffice #Licensing

The trust economy is replacing the attention economy.✅ Marketers have long treated data as their superpower- the more you collect, the sharper your targeting. But as privacy laws evolve, that mindset is hitting a wall. New regulations are redrawing the boundaries of what’s fair, ethical, and legal in data use. Hyper-personalisation still matters. It drives relevance, loyalty, and conversion. Yet creating these experiences while respecting privacy has become the new balancing act. The line between helpful and invasive is thinner than ever. The smartest brands are already adapting. They’re moving from surveillance to service - collecting less, but using it better. They’re making consent experiences simple, data use transparent, and value exchange visible. Instead of chasing clicks, they’re building credibility. Here’s what that looks like in practice: 👉🏻 Audit every data point you collect. If it doesn’t add clear value to the customer, drop it. 👉🏻 Be upfront about how and why you use data. Transparency builds confidence. 👉🏻 Trade access for value - early previews, useful insights, or improved recommendations. Privacy is no longer just about compliance. It’s the foundation of modern marketing trust. The brands that will thrive aren’t those who know the most about their customers but those whose customers choose to share more with them. #futureofmarketing

Here is the Playbook I'd use to find a balance of DR and Brand if I were to do it again. If you’re looking to find a way to invest in brand in a way that’s accountable to revenue so you can get out of the DR and Discounts race to the bottom, this post is for you. Or, if you're seeing increasing customer acquisition costs with no end in sight and know you need to find a way to invest in the longer term growth of the business, but can't because you're not able to measure the revenue impact, this post is for you. Chubbies' transition from a fast-growing, money-losing, short term revenue obsessed brand to a fast growing, profit generating, short AND LONG term revenue obsessed brand was a multi-year mess, but helped save the company. Based on everything we learned, here's how I might approach it if I were to do it again Hope this helps -- ⚖️The 3-Month Playbook for Balanced Performance Marketing 🏆Goal: Drive as much resilient revenue as short term paid revenue with your paid marketing ✍️Definitions: Resilient Baseline Revenue: - The revenue you have left over when you turn off short term ads and discounts. - Revenue from organic search, direct and organic social referral sources with short term influences removed to get to true base. Paid revenue: Revenue that’s not from resilient baseline or from email / sms 📊Results & Measuring Success 💥 Immediately: Increased quality engagements (shares, saves, comments). 🔍 30 Days: Boost in branded search, organic, and direct traffic 💵 30-90 Days: Increased revenue from organic search and direct, with high revenue per session Part I: Mindset Shift 🤔 Step 1: Rethink ROAS 🚫Increasing ROAS doesn’t drive profit growth 🔻Lower ROAS is the goal 💡Ensure team knows that Part II: Get Your DR Right 📊 Step 2: Optimize Short Term DR 🧐Run short-term incrementality tests. Ensure spend is incremental 🧮Use Marginal CAC to inform where, when and how to allocate spend Part III: Start Small. Start Now. 💸 Step 3: Put Money Behind Existing Top Organic Content ✅Use 5% of budget to boost old posts with high shares, comments and saves ✅5% for conversion-optimized ads from top organic posts ✅5% for engagement optimized ads from top organic posts Part IV: Create Content Machine 🎥 Step 4: Hire Hungry Content Creators Hire 3 creators who are hard-working learners and loyal customers 🎯 Step 5: Define Your Brand's Content Arena Identify your brand’s unique gaps (product, positioning, etc.) and the feeling/moment you want to own 🎬 Step 6: Content Machine ✌️Double your video output every week until you can’t 🛠️Constantly improve concept quality 🔻Constantly decrease cost per content piece Part V: Go From Testing to Balance 📈 Step 7: Test, Measure, and Learn Track results and apply lessons in an objective way 🆙 Step 8: Scale Budgets and Incorporate New Content 🔁Go back to Step 3 and increase budgets 🤗As the Creative Machine makes new content, incorporate it 🌗Get to 30% - 50% of budgets

One of the most important challenges for media literacy today is learning how to recognise advertising 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. Traditional ads were relatively easy to identify. They announced themselves. We understood that a company was trying to sell us something, and we approached the message with that knowledge. 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺. It may look like a podcast excerpt, a travel story, a personal confession, an honest review, or a casual recommendation from someone we have followed for years. By the time we realise that there is a commercial relationship behind the content, the message may already have shaped how we feel about the product. This is where influencers have become central to the advertising system. I am not suggesting that every creator deliberately sets out to deceive an audience. 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡. The system rewards advertisements that feel spontaneous, personal, and independent. Brands benefit when commercial messages are processed as trusted advice, while creators benefit from producing content that does not interrupt the audience’s experience by looking too much like an ad. Everyone may be following the logic of the system, but the audience is often left without the information needed to understand what they are actually watching. That is why disclosure matters. 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆. If a post is paid, gifted, hosted, sponsored, or connected to a brand relationship, viewers should not have to investigate the caption, click “more,” or decode terms such as “collab” to discover that relationship. Media literacy today must therefore go beyond analysing news, misinformation, and political communication. It must also help people recognise the increasingly sophisticated ways in which commercial persuasion is embedded within entertainment, lifestyle, identity, and personal storytelling. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮, “𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚?” We must also ask: “Who benefits from this message, what relationship sits behind it, and did the audience know that before the persuasion began?” That is the focus of my latest video in 'Fix your Focus'. #MediaLiteracy #InfluencerMarketing #AdvertisingEthics #DigitalMedia #CreatorEconomy #DigitalAdvertising #OnlineTrust #SocialMedia #BrandCommunication #Disclosure #MarketingEthics #FixYourFocus

Gamification And How They Amplify Experiential Pop-Ups 🎲 I saw this pop-up during the week, a campaign by Uber One which visited 15 college campuses across the US, to celebrate it's student membership program and I immediately thought, this is what brands should be doing on campus! I remember campus pop-ups when I started University, they usually entailed a branded van and a few brand ambassadors standing out in the rain trying to get students to sign up to a new bank or delivery service .......lack lustre and uninspiring to say the least. But this, this was a targeted activation aimed at driving Gen Z loyalty for the brand, and how better to do it than with gamification at the core! CNC Agency (Coffee 'n Clothes) created the experience which integrated arcade-style games into the bright yellow build, fuelling consumer engagement. At each stop, student could participate in nostalgic games developed with partners such as Taco Bell, Dunkin', and other campus favourites to collect virtual coins which could be redeemed for a goodie bag! Gamification works so successfully for Gen Z targeted activations because it aligns with this generation's core behaviours and expectations. But what does that mean? ➡️ Short Attention Spans → Interactive Engagement You only have seconds to capture Gen Z’s attention and gamified content is interactive, immersive, and goal-oriented which keeps them engaged longer than passive content. ➡️ Instant Gratification Gamification leverages points, levels, leaderboards, and rewards which equals immediate results for participation. The experience also included edutainment moments where the brand could connect with students, but still get their message across in a clever and meaningful way. So the key takeaway? Gamification..... ➡️ Increases dwell time ➡️ Promotes interactivity ➡️ Provides content worthy moments ➡️ Adds more purpose to swag and giveaways And finally, I'm rounding up what I also liked about this activation.... 💛 The bright yellow colour palette attracts attention but also sends a message of positivity, which in turn consumers can associate with the brand. 🛍️ Other brands were involved! By collaborating with brands like SEPHORA and Dunkin', students were surrounded with a lifestyle vs one brand and product. 🎮 It's nostalgic but still cool! It feels retro but speaks to a modern audience, an audience the brand are trying to tap into.

🚨Friendly reminder that it’s illegal not to disclose paid partnerships in social content 🚨 Recently, a brand asked me to make a video about their campaign. One of the main talking points they wanted me to hit was that it was "going viral" even though it hadn't even been published online yet. 🤨 I said no for a number of reasons. Since then, I've seen two prominent marketing creators post videos about this campaign, with no disclosure of a paid partnership. To their viewers, these videos look and sound totally normal. Like they just organically wanted to talk about this campaign. But as someone who has read the brief, I was immediately suspicious. Especially because the campaign isn’t THAT interesting. 🫢 Transparency is something I value, and I know my followers appreciate that too. I’ve certainly lost some respect for these creators and hope that they won’t continue to mislead their audiences. Remember, the FTC requires clear disclosure of paid partnerships that is “obvious” and “hard to miss.”

Retail media is eating search ad spend for breakfast. (68% of ad spend growth by 2027—and it’s just getting started.) By 2027, retail media is projected to contribute 68% of incremental growth in search ad spending in the U.S. And I urge you to start thinking differently about retail media. Yes, we've reached that point of no return, and retail media has become a dominant force in digital advertising. By 2027, 68% of incremental growth in search ad spending demonstrates its escalating importance as brands focus on leveraging not only point-of-purchase advertising to reach consumers effectively but also capitalize on its targeting capabilities for full-funnel advertising. ⚠️ 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲 Quick commerce, meal delivery platforms and ride-hail platforms (e.g., DoorDash, Uber, Gopuff) are increasingly developing their retail media networks. These platforms aim to shorten the purchase funnel by allowing brands to engage with consumers at pivotal moments of intent. This trend is fueled by their unique positioning to deliver first-party data insights and enable closed-loop attribution, ensuring measurable ROI for advertisers. ++ 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 ++ 1. Leverage First-Party Data: Utilize the first-party data insights provided by quick commerce platforms to craft hyper-targeted campaigns. This enables you to reach niche audiences effectively, such as lapsed customers or those exploring specific categories. 2. Experiment with Emerging Formats: Invest in programmatic and video ad formats offered by retail networks. For instance, use Connected TV (CTV) to complement in-store advertising and amplify brand storytelling. 3. Collaborate with Quick Commerce Platforms: Partner with meal delivery services and ride-hailing apps to advertise bundled offerings or high-margin products that align with consumer convenience trends. Position your products as solutions for on-the-go lifestyles. 4. Leverage Data Clean Rooms: Use clean rooms to identify high-value audience segments, such as lapsed buyers or customers likely to switch brands, and tailor campaigns specifically for them. 5. Capitalize on Closed-Loop Attribution: Measure ad effectiveness by linking ad exposure to actual in-store or online purchases, enabling you to justify ad spend and optimize ROI. 6. Scale Up Your A/B Testing: Test multiple ad creatives or messages with highly specific audience subsets, allowing you to fine-tune your approach for broader campaigns. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟮,𝟱𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿👇 #CPG #FMCG #ecommerce #retailmedia #analytics

Nuanced cultural and demographic insights and understanding should drive innovation… 👉🏾Black women in the UK spend 7x more than white women on hair care👈🏾 This is just one small example of demographic and cultural insight and understanding that should drive business decisions, more so than the % demographic make up of a country or region. Too often we’re stuck in the simplicity of selling the same products in the same way to different people. Marketing, advertising and product creation simply doesn’t and shouldn’t work in that way. Obsessing over insights that only allow you to paint a picture of what the nation thinks doesn’t allow you to stumble across the gems of cultural nuance that will spark communications that truly resonate with audiences. 📺 Don’t let averages and headline stats rule your strategies. 💡Seek partners who can provide you with insight and foresight into a multiplicity of audience segments. 🎯Place continual learning about your audiences at the heart of internal decisions. For the full WARC podcast episode feat Lydia Amoah FRSA and Cassius Naylor check the comments 👇🏾