The traditional "big idea" campaign model is broken. A modern approach starts in the mid-funnel with organic social content. Content that resonates with the algorithm and audience on merit then becomes the brief for both lower-funnel performance ads and upper-funnel brand campaigns, de-risking the entire process.
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Most content fails because its intention is selfish: to convert a user. A successful strategy treats the content itself as the final product, designed solely to provide value and build a relationship. This consumer-centric approach, which avoids treating content as a top-of-funnel tactic, is what builds long-term trust and a loyal audience.
Local service businesses should use organic social media as a testing ground for ad creative. Post helpful, authentic content consistently. When a post naturally gains significant traction (e.g., 5-10k views), invest a small, targeted ad budget ($100-$500) to amplify that proven winner within a tight geographic radius to generate leads.
The traditional B2B marketing mix of SEO, paid search, and content is no longer sufficient. Modern growth relies on activating word-of-mouth through a superior product, leveraging founder social presence for authenticity, and investing heavily in the creator economy (especially YouTube) to reach engaged B2B audiences.
Brand campaigns reach the 95% of buyers not currently in-market. Instead of relying on vanity metrics, Square ties this investment to business outcomes by tracking the subsequent lift in organic traffic, which they've found converts better than paid channels.
Stop viewing brand as a top-of-funnel activity. For elite companies, brand isn't a precursor to selling; it is the selling. It creates inbound demand that bypasses traditional conversion tactics like search ads or affiliate marketing, making it the most powerful and sustainable growth engine.
Stop planning creative and media buys simultaneously. Instead, post creative organically first. Then, exclusively allocate media spend to amplify the content that has already demonstrated strong consumer engagement, forcing creative to be effective on its own merit before receiving paid support.
As AI devalues simple clicks, marketing focus must shift to building a strong brand that algorithms recognize as authoritative. High-quality, well-structured owned content (like blogs and reports) becomes more critical for discoverability than traditional performance marketing tactics.
Instead of reactively trying to please algorithms, proactively identify the best 'doorways'—specific platforms and content formats—to reach your ideal audience. This shifts the focus from chasing reach to strategically choosing where you appear and how you present your brand.
Counterintuitively, dedicating budget to campaigns optimized for engagements, follows, and shares can be a powerful brand-building tool. This approach reaches more people less expensively than conversion campaigns, building an audience and 'searing memories' that lead to future demand, complementing direct response efforts.
Reverse the traditional marketing funnel. By linking from newsletters directly to a relevant social media post, brands can leverage their highly-engaged email audience to boost post performance and grow their social following simultaneously.
