Happy Sunday, Everyone!
I’m writing this issue while flying back (for three whole days) from Friends of Search & SMX Munich. Both were absolutely fantastic events with fantastic speakers and even-better networking/conversations around content, SEO, PPC & analytics.
Amidst all of the talks and conversations, there was one topic that kept coming up: what else can we do to improve the performance of our Meta + YouTube ads? How do we counter the rising CPMs (and declining outbound CTRs) that are absolutely killing traffic? It’s a pain point I’ve heard from many of our clients over the last 3-6 months as well - so I wanted to share some perspectives on what I’ve observed to be effective.
Why Whitelisting Works
Any account running Meta (or YouTube) Ads at some level of scale - think $20k+ per month in spend - looking to unlock new levels of growth should consider whitelisting. Done well, it can lower CPMs/CPCs by 20% to 35% (for the same objectives), unlock new audiences and build long-term brand equity. It’s a win-win-win tactic that fewer than 1-in-10 accounts I audit actually use.
You’re probably wondering: what the hell is this too-good-to-be-true tactic, and how do I start doing it?
In the simplest terms possible, whitelisting (also known as “creator licensing”) is running ads from the handles/pages of brand-affiliated second parties (like partners, publishers, influencers, creators, etc). The end result is the best of both worlds: an ad that *looks* like an organic post from the partner, but that leverages your brand’s data, audiences, insights, learning and ad dollars.
I have three theories as to why this is so effective, all of which seem plausible and not mutually exclusive:
- It transforms a “billboard” into an “endorsement” – when you’re scrolling social and see an ad from a brand, you assume the ad is painting the brand in the most favorable light possible. Psychologically, that results in skepticism and doubt: you wonder if the brand is embellishing what it (or its products) do, overstating the benefits, misrepresenting proof points (like number of users, awards, or testimonials), or omitting some key details. It’s natural. We have been conditioned to treat claims from brands with healthy skepticism.
But, when you whitelist, the ad doesn’t come from a brand: it comes from a third party - whether that be a creator, a publication, an influencer or even an affiliate of the brand. This disarms the innate skepticism and results in you (1) hearing/seeing what the third party has to say and (2) evaluating that information at closer-to-face-value (let’s be real: none of us trust everything we see on the internet in this day and age).
- The content is designed for the platform - most brands suck at making ads. That’s a painful realization for many a brand owner or brand marketer, but it’s the truth. We can all argue the reasons for it, but the biggest one is this: every ad a brand makes attempts to serve two masters: the brand itself AND the algorithm. We tip-toe through brand guidelines and tone of voice while trying to sound authentic and relatable; we try to shoehorn in product’s talking points while avoiding saying anything negative. The end result tends to be mediocre.
But creators/influencers/publications/affiliates? They know how to craft content that stops scrolls, draws the viewer (read: your target audience) in, and compels them to take their desired next step. Tack on the fact that they are unconstrained by those pesky rules/limits/guidelines, and you have a recipe for higher-performing ads.
- Implied Credibility + Legitimacy - there’s a perception among the non-marketing-folk that influencers only work with legit, credible brands – and to have an influencer/creator/publisher posting about your content implies that the brand is legit. Nothing could be further from the truth, but let’s not shatter every illusion on a Sunday morning. When a potential customer sees a third party - likely one they’ve heard of or seen before - talking about your brand, that’s a massive, subconscious credibility signal.
As with everything in life, I think the truth is some combination of all three – but regardless of the reason, the reality is this: whitelisting ads, done well, work. That leaves one final question for this section:
How do you get them to work? Here’s the playbook we use:
Step #1: Head Over To SparkToro – yes, it’s that damn platform again. When I get up on stage and say I use it every single day, I’m not kidding. I love it. Start typing in the industry/niche/category where you’re operating. Pull up the social tab on the left hand side, head over to “hidden gems” and you’ll find a listing of accounts that are influential among that audience AND aren’t massive. Export that list.
Step #2: Find The Right Fits – pull up IG (or YouTube, or whatever) and start checking out each of those “hidden gems” that you found above. Save (links or download) profiles/posts that catch your attention and note which other creators/influencers/accounts frequently comment on those posts (most creators have relatively tight-knit circles that all comment/engage with one another’s posts). You’re looking for people who you believe would be a good fit for your brand, so evaluate through the lens of both your audience AND brand fit. Ideally, you want a list of 10-20 creators, each with a relatively small following (anywhere from a few thousand to 25k-50k). They’re not all going to agree, and some are going to ask for way more than you’re willing to pay. Best to have backups.
Step #3: Reach Out - this is the simple part – shoot them a DM from the brand, outline what you’re looking for and your compensation structure (flat fee is best). Make sure you mention that whitelisting is part of the engagement up-front (don’t try to sneak this in on the back end of the deal; that doesn't go well).
Based on my experience, 20% to 50% will respond quickly; another 25% or so will respond within a week, and you’ll get ghosted by the rest. Some will just accept the offer, others will negotiate. My most counter-intuitive tip for this step: don’t try to win the negotiation. You want the creator to be on your side, excited about your brand and willing to deal with a little BS later in the engagement. Nothing does that more than building some good will up front.
Step #4: Give Them The Assignment - here’s where you need to think a bit more strategically: where in the journey are you looking to leverage creator content? There’s a few answers here, all of which can be right (but can’t all be right at the same time, with the same content):
- Introduction + Discovery - you want to reach net-new people who have likely never heard of or considered your brand, but are probably familiar(ish) with your creator/influencer. Don’t be overly prescriptive on how the creator should go about doing it, but you do need to give them the context that these are going to be new-to-brand people.
- Consideration - one of the most effective uses of whitelisting is to re-engage site visitors or video viewers who have not purchased. It creates the illusion of a “surround sound” effect, where the user sees the post (likely thinking it is organic) and thinks, “Gee, I just checked out that brand - maybe I should give it another shot.”
- Close The Deal - this works best if you have a large group of people who have gotten fairly far along the customer journey (think: scheduled a tour, added a product to the cart, started to book that trip), but getting them over the hump is proving tricky. The whitelisting ad can help move things along by attacking their reservations in a more direct + more authentic way than you can as a brand.
- Cross-Sell - far too many brands assume that cross-selling will just happen; nothing could be further from the truth. If you have something new to offer your existing customer base (i.e. a new collection, new destination, new community, new product line, etc.), tell them about it. The only thing to be mindful of here is sequencing - you want to announce it from the brand FIRST (preferably via email, SMS and in any communities you have), then roll the creator/influencer whitelisting ads out shortly thereafter. As with the “consideration” section above, this allows the whitelisted ads to function both an introduction + reminder (“Oh yeah, I did see brand X launched that new collection, but I didn’t think it was this cool!”)
When you’re wondering which creator is right for which “stage”, go back to your research notes – if one creator/influencer is incredibly persuasive and articulate, let them handle the consideration and/or close the deal audiences; if someone is broadly appealing and engaging, let him/her handle the discovery + introduction audiences. If someone is wonderful at explaining different (or unconventional) use cases / approaches to your product, they might be perfect for an upsell/retention/product usage role.
The key point here is to be clear with the creator how you’re planning to use their content, so they can create something that has the highest probability of being effective.
Taking It To The Next Level
The above playbook is a wonderful first step into whitelisting; where it goes from “another tactic” to transformational is in the follow-on. Nail these, and you’ll take whitelisting from something that provides marginal value in your ad account to something that completely upends how you do marketing.
#1: Leverage Your Founder/Executive
I maintain that most brands criminally under-utilize their founders/executives when it comes to marketing (something I wrote about here). Put simply, there’s no one better equipped to articulate your organization’s vision, persuade those on the fence and ultimately win the hearts and minds of your target audience than the individual(s) leading your company. No one sells a brand quite as well as a founder or executive.
If you’re not leveraging those people in your ad creative (whether or not you're whitelisting), you’re likely leaving opportunities on the table. But combine these two tactics - founder/executive creative AND whitelisting - and you have a recipe for something truly remarkable.
Approach in-house whitelisting the same way you would a third-party: identify where they’re best, give them a clear directive/goal, and (where ever possible) share examples of high-performing creatives from your research or that you’ve found in the wild.
From a technical standpoint, the mechanics are identical: link the in-house whitelister’s account to your ad account and you’re off to the races. For creative production, all you need is an iPhone, a decent lapel mic (you can grab one of those on Amazon for $19) and a ring light (again, on Amazon for $29) and some scripts for your executive/founder of choice to follow – then let him/her go for it. Once she/he gets into a rhythm, it’s possible to record anywhere from 3-6 ads in a 15 minute slot. If you want bonus points, include a few other hooks and closes for the individual to record after the primary scripts, and now you have (potentially) 30-60 or more creative variants from a single 15-minute shoot.
Book 30 minutes of time each week on your executive/founder’s calendar – ideally, 15 minutes on a Monday/Tuesday, and 15 minutes on a Friday around lunch. The scripts for the first block should be focused around winning hooks from the previous weeks, along with any variants that you’d like created; the second block should be relatively unscripted. Instead, prompt your executive to share what they’ve heard from clients/partners/customers this week, what objections they’re getting on sales calls, what pain points or challenges they see in the market – and how your company can help overcome those.
It’s always tempting to do more than 15 minutes - don’t. Keep the slots short and focused, even if the exec/founder asks to do more. This is a long game. Building the habit of content creation is more important than the raw creative output at the beginning. As you launch their creatives, give him/her honest feedback on what’s working and what’s not. Think of yourself as their trainer: give them positive reinforcement when they nail a rep, and hold them accountable when a set doesn’t meet the standard.
Once you’ve got this down, don’t stop with your founder/executive – recruit 3-5 people from the organization (where practical, include a mix of ages, genders, roles, speaking styles, etc.), all of whom can allocate 15 minutes per week to recording content. Rinse and repeat the above, link up their accounts, and you have your own, home-grown stable of whitelisting accounts. The best part? By leveraging your brand’s assets (creative team, production talent, ad account, data/analytics, etc.) to amplify these individuals, you’re actually helping each person build his/her personal brand at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.
#2: Independent Publisher Whitelisting
One of my first experiences with whitelisting was for a plaintiff’s law firm, way back in 2016-2017. Members of this firm had created and supported a separate organization that provided no-cost support, information and resources to victims of medical malpractice. Over the years, this organization amassed an incredible following due to the excellent content they produced - which ranged from helpful guides and in-depth articles on treatments to quizzes, downloadable content pieces, victim profiles and interviews with victims and their families.
It also happened that this was a dream publisher for whitelisting.
The overlap between the law firm’s target audience and the organization’s was near-perfect, which had the pleasant side effect of being able to tell a relatable, authentic story about how our client (the law firm) was able to recover millions (or hundreds of millions, depending on the matter) for people who were going through something very similar to what followers/community members of this organization were dealing with. It helped that we were able to work directly with the organization to craft the script and shape the rest of the experience (the article, the quiz, etc.) such that it fit exactly what we were hoping to achieve.
This is obviously an extreme example, but these opportunities exist everywhere – if you’re a tech brand, find a review platform willing to work with you on an advertorial (if you’re not sure where to start, use SparkToro to find some hidden gem websites). If you operate in a niche where there aren’t domain-specific publishers, create your own. The cost of creating an entity (ask your lawyer), spinning up a site, populating it with Human+AI content (i.e. let AI create the outlines, you edit + refine them, then let AI proofread them), claiming some social handles + publishing is near-zero. A junior team member or intern can do it in less than a week.
Voila - you have a perfect entity to support your whitelisting (ask your lawyers about disclosure requirements, what you can/can’t do, etc.). Obviously, you do have to add genuine value for your target audience. You have to maintain the page/content and you can’t promote your brand/product non-stop (but you can still promote it).
#3: Nail The Site Experience & Follow-Through
Once you are up and running whitelisted ads, the last (and most overlooked) piece of the puzzle is the follow-on experience. If a user sees a whitelisted ad, clicks it and is directed to a generic (or worse) lander, it is pretty natural they’ll feel confused (at best) or duped (at worst).
The solution? Tailor each lander experience to the whitelisted ad/account. Yes, that means you’ll have to create more landers. You’ll need to invest time to lay each one out in a way that makes sense for that audience segment. You’ll need to think through copy, visuals (include the influencer and the products she/he references), proof points.
If you’re running ads from a publisher (either affiliated or independent), ensure the copy on the page aligns with the content of the ad. You won’t get it perfect on the first try, but if you’re willing to experiment with different lander styles (check this out), you’ll have a clear POV on what works in short order.
Once you’ve nailed the lander, move on to the post-purchase experience: integrate the same creator/influencer/individual/publisher into your “thank you” email series for people who converted on that page. Pass that value back to your CRM, so you can build segments of people who converted off creator X or publisher Y going forward (i.e., when you’re launching a new product or service, you’ll be able to spin up a creative from the same person, and run it directly to this audience segment via whitelisting).
#4: Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
As you start to incorporate more whitelisting into your account, you’ll find some runaway winner creatives & creators – these are the fuel for scaling. The problem is that most brands and agencies don’t bother to properly leverage them.
When you find a creative that hits, the easiest way to unlock additional scale is to transcribe it, upload it to ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude, then ask for 10 variants of this same creative. At least 3 of those will be garbage, but 4-5 will have potential. Edit and refine them, then go back to the same creator who recorded the first one and ask him/her to record those 3-5 new variants.
To branch that creative further, start with your other creator/influencer research. Pull a handful of posts from a different creator that you liked, transcribe those, and upload them to ChatGPT (or whatever). Ask the GPT to create a persona based on the sample transcripts uploaded. Then upload the “winning” ad, and ask the persona GPT to craft 10 variants of the same creative, but in the voice/tone/perspective of their persona. Once again, you’ll have 3-5 losers, along with a handful of potentials. Edit the potentials, then send them to that other influencer/creator to record.
Finally, as you implement a whitelabeling program, you’ll find some creators naturally out-perform others. It happens. The default reaction to this is to double-down on your winners (which you should!) and cut your losers (not so fast). Instead of cutting the lower performers loose, share the high-performing creatives with them - and let them iterate on it themselves. A few will be resistant - lose them. But most of them will actually take the “coaching” and come back with far stronger, more compelling ads when given both the chance and the data to improve.
#5: Reply To The Comments
The final (short) key is to ensure each creator/brand/publisher replies to all credible, legitimate comments on each ad, just like they’d reply to comments on their own posts. A user being able to see a genuine conversation in the comments is a strong positive signal to that user, along with a strong, positive signal to Meta or YouTube.
As with everything, the details matter. Nail those, and you’ll be well on your way to unlocking new levels of scale/growth in your ad account with whitelisting.
That’s all for this week! I’m heading to Paris later today for SMX Paris - be sure to say hello if you’re there as well.
Until next week,
Cheers,
Sam
Loving The Digital Download?
Share this Newsletter with a friend by visiting my public feed.
Follow Me on my Socials