Happy Sunday, Everyone!

I hope you’re all enjoying the first weekend of fall – football is back, PSLs are everywhere, leaves are even falling here in Maryland. And, as happens most years, the return of fall has also heralded a return of many clients / brands who were away for the summer, all locking in (to borrow a Gen-Z term) for end-of-year sprint.

Needless to say, it’s been busy.

Much of the focus (understandably) from clients (current and potential alike) over the last week-plus has been on their ad accounts – whether that’s BFCM prep, launching seasonal campaigns or simply ensuring everything is in tip-top shape. But, if we’re all being honest, there’s a Pareto rule at play: 80% of the success of an ad account is derived from stuff outside of the ad account.

That idea - 80% of the success of an ad account occurs outside the ad account - is something I’ve said (and written) on multiple occasions, but I’ve never articulated what those things are, or how you should think about or go about executing them. We’re changing that this week.

I want to start this with a brutally honest perspective: I view paid media as a catalyst. If the correct reactants are present – a fantastic product/service, a strong offer, positive unit economics, a resonant message, a willing-to-buy audience - paid media will accelerate the rate at which the business grows. Conversely, if those reactants aren’t present, all the paid media in the world will simply be an expensive reminder of their absence. And before we take this places, this is not me saying paid media can’t help businesses grow - it absolutely can and does - but rather that those businesses already had the requisite reactants present, and paid media helped accelerate the reaction. No amount of ads will fix a shitty business or make people buy a product they don’t want - just ask Quibi.

And, fundamentally, that’s what optimization outside the ad account is all about: ensuring the right reactants are present, so the ad account catalyst can do its job. This is a topic I sincerely wish more people would spend more time thinking and talking about, because when it's done well, it makes every other dollar invested in the business - whether it be in marketing, product, recruitment, operations, retention - more effective.

Let’s get to it.

#1: The Actual Product/Service

I’ll reiterate what I’ve already said above: if your product/service is shit, no amount of advertising, offer shenanigans or fancy creative will make people want to buy it. More brands should invest more time in product development, service refinement/delivery and product innovation – because having multiple fantastic products/services is the highest-probability path to scaling your overall business. I’d go as far as to say that if you took 10% of the budget you’re currently deploying into ads and instead re-invested it in product development and/or service delivery, you’d likely fix the issues plaguing your ad account in relatively short order. And if you do already have a phenomenal product/service, invest those dollars in developing another one. The reason Ridge Wallets (just one example) is so successful isn’t solely because they make great wallets (though they do) - it’s because they also make phenomenal luggage, pens and rings, too. The same thing is true for HubSpot on the B2B side – they have an exceptional marketing automation tool. But they’ve also layered on an excellent CRM, an ESP, etc. Optmyzr (who sponsored this newsletter) has a best-in-class PPC management tool - but they’ve also built downright awesome Amazon Ads, Meta Ads & Microsoft Ads management products, too.

In each of these cases, the next tier of growth was not unlocked by ads, but rather by creating more remarkable products for ads to amplify.

Obviously, building great products is easier said than done, and the vast majority of that lift falls outside of the marketing team – but marketing can (and should) be involved, For one, marketing knows your customer and your competition. They can provide insight into emerging trends, unresolved pain points/challenges/gaps in the market, all of which can inform + shape your product/service development strategy.

But at the end of the day, most brands (product + service alike) would be better off if they invested more resources into product/service development.

#2: The Almighty Offer

9 out of 10 times, an otherwise unremarkable product paired with an irresistible offer will outsell a great product with a weak offer (just ask TiVo or Zune). Offers are the rubber meets the road - where psychology, positioning, audience understanding and economics collide.

To be very clear, your offer is not merely the 10% off for an email you spam people when they hit your homepage, or the “one months’ rent free” they see on your listings – it’s the sum-total of the value you offer in exchange for your audience’s time, money and energy.

Bundles, giveaways, financing/BNPL, de-risking tactic (refunds/warranties/guarantees), urgency cues and trial structures are levers most brands underutilize when developing their offer. For example, ButcherBox scaled not only on the strength of their core products (they actually are quite good!) but by crafting a compelling subscription offer (“Free bacon for life”) that drove viral growth. Similarly, Allbirds leaned on risk-free trials/returns to reduce the friction of buying a premium shoe completely online. This is the same formula used in industries as diverse as B2B SaaS (14-day trial for $1) and home service (Buy 3 windows, get 1 free or free in-home inspection).

There’s a reason for that: it works.

Offers also have to evolve with context. A “Summer Sale” works in July, but not in November (note: please update your sales - I just got a “summer sale” ad from a well-known brand in September). A free trial might be compelling if your competition isn’t doing much, but if you’re going up against a 2 months free offer, you’ll need to do something to re-frame the conversation or re-position your product/service. And if you’re not sure, check out the Keeping Up with the Joneses issue for ideas on how to stay on top of the competitive landscape.

Your offer is the bridge between product and customer. If your ads aren’t converting, it’s often not the media buying that’s broken — it’s the offer.

#3: The Brand

Brand is the invisible force multiplier. It flattens your marginal cost curve (essentially enabling you to spend more on paid media before reaching negative efficiency), allows you to charge more for a comparable-to-inferior product/service (just ask Starbucks) and creates a community that propels growth.

The reason Coke can charge 4x more for a can of soda than a store brand isn’t because Coke has 4x better ingredients (it’s the same stuff) or a superior product - it’s because it’s Coke. It’s one of the most recognized and trusted brands in the world. The same is true for Nike: they were able to enter dozens of different verticals - from golf to swimming to athleisure - due in large part to the strength of the Nike brand - it isn’t as if their products were actually better (as someone who owned multiple sets of Nike irons + bought way too many Nike balls, I can assure you of that).

The same is true in other industries: Salesforce commands a premium over Zoho. Pella commands a premium over Window World. Toyota is far more trusted (and slightly more expensive) than Kia. Virtually every company in the S&P 500 has hired Accenture or McKinsey, and I’m pretty sure none of them actually know what they got in return for forking over a small fortune.

That level of preference in the market creates a tailwind for performance marketing. CTRs are higher because people recognize and trust the name. Conversion rates are higher because brand equity reduces skepticism. LTV is higher because customers actually want to be associated with the brand. All of this leads to a situation where strong brands can spend more in paid media at a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness.

Brand isn’t just a “long-term play.” It’s an all-the-time lever that directly correlates with lower customer acquisition costs and higher lifetime values. I might go as far as to say that brand is often the highest-return investment a business can make.

#4: Messaging & Positioning

If your product is what you sell, your positioning is why people buy it…and more importantly, why they buy it from you instead of your competition. Too many brands try to play the middle, watering down their message until it’s indistinguishable from everyone else in the market. That’s how you end up in “red ocean” / commodity territory, fighting over features, quantities and price. It’s a losing game that you don’t want to play for any length of time, because no brand emerges from the Commodity Coliseum alive.

Positioning is about carving out blue space - uncontested territory in the minds of your customers. That’s where durable competitive advantages are forged:

• Apple didn’t market Macs as technically superior or top-of-the-line; instead, they positioned them as the computers for creatives and rebels.
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• Drift wasn’t just another SaaS chat widget; they owned the “conversational marketing” category, a term they coined and defined.
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• Tesla didn’t sell EVs as battery-powered cars; they positioned them as status symbols for the future.

Each of these three examples reinforces the three aspects of great positioning: First, it clarifies who you’re for and (just as importantly), who you’re not for. The sharper the edge, the stronger the pull for your ideal customer. That’s a feature, not a bug. Second, it frames the competitive set. Smart brands don’t get stuck debating features and price; they change the lens of comparison entirely, shifting the conversation into narrative and emotion. That may sound silly, but there are (quite literally) hundreds of studies showing that people are rationalizers - we make the decision emotionally, then find facts to support it rationally. Third, it expands your market. Blue space positioning helps buyers see possibilities they didn’t even know existed, and once they see it, they can’t unsee it.

The foundation to remarkable positioning is a deep understanding of your ideal customers – what frustrations do they have? What aspirations/goals are they struggling to achieve? What’s holding them back? What are they working to accomplish - and what do they need to get there? Every gap is an opportunity.

The same is true for competitive noise: identify what everyone else is saying, spot where the messaging converges and deliberately go the other way. Finally, if all else fails, reframe the problem itself. HubSpot didn’t just sell software; they evangelized the idea of “inbound marketing” and owned the category.

The key to making this work is not simply to find the right positioning - it’s to deploy it consistently. Your positioning must align with your brand (the emotional connection you want to make with your target audience at every touchpoint) and be reinforced in everything you do – ads, website copy, thought leadership content, press appearances, product packaging, service delivery, customer success calls, all of it.

Positioning is the single most underleveraged competitive advantage in marketing. If you can identify blue space and own it, every dollar you spend on paid media works is more effective because you’re no longer fighting for attention inside the same crowded box as your competitors - you’re playing a different game entirely.

#5: Customer Insights & Understanding

I’ve written before that I think customer insights / audience understanding are among the single-most-impactful things any marketer can do. That’s not hyperbole - if anything, it’s selling audience insight short.

The fact is that most ad accounts don’t break because of mechanics inside the platform; they break because the brand doesn’t truly, madly, deeply understand its target audience. This is the marketing equivalent of building a house on a swamp – it might be OK for a bit, but the bigger the house gets, and the longer it's there, the higher the probability that it’s going to sink.

Audience insight is the raw material that makes every other reactant stronger. Research isn’t a “nice to have,” - it’s essential. It is the process of surfacing the real pain points, desires and objections that drive decisions. Surveys, interviews, win/loss analysis, review mining, social listening and customer support transcripts are gold mines for understanding not just what customers say, but how they think and feel. The insights revealed from these sources also shed light on the language customers use to describe their problem - language that should inform your keywords, copy, positioning and creative.

When brands do this well, the payoff is massive. Peloton’s surge from unknown to verb wasn’t just about selling a stationary bike with an iPad bolted to it; it was about understanding that they didn’t simply want a better stationary bike - they wanted a bike that replicated the sense of community, accountability and status they got from riding with others. Their messaging and brand reflected that combination. Slack grew explosively not because they were “chat software,” but because they listened to users venting about email, then positioned themselves as the email killer. The difference wasn’t a feature; it was an insight reframed into a competitive advantage.

Strong insights also identify the blue space in the market - the gaps that are overlooked because everyone is too busy fighting over the stuff they think their audience cares about. I worked with a brand recently who thought everyone was obsessed with speed (how fast you can set up an instance or launch a new product), but the real pain point - the unmet need - was reliability and trust. Every other player in the market was harping on how fast they could enable you to vibe code + ship products, but no-one bothered to ask developers if they were comfortable shipping that fast.

It all comes down to this: if you’re not talking to your target audience (customers, prospects, ICP), you’re guessing. And in marketing, guessing is expensive. Audience insight reduces risk, sharpens your positioning, strengthens your offers and makes every dollar of paid media more efficient.

#6: Creative Volume, Variety & Velocity

Creative variety, velocity, and volume are the lifeblood of your ad account. The reality is that 90% of your results likely come from the top 10% — or even top 1% — of creatives. That’s the digital media power law.

The way to thrive in that ecosystem is simple: scale your creative production while reducing your cost-per-creative. The more ads you produce, and the cheaper you can produce them, the higher the probability you’ll uncover the outsized winners that carry your performance without making your CFO cry.

The not-so-secret here is shifting from an idea-driven model (where most brands operate) to a system-driven one. The brands that win - Liquid Death, Gymshark, Ridge Wallets, Nike, HubSpot, Starbucks, Disney+, Salesforce - don’t just get lucky. They’ve built creative factories that test hooks, angles, formats, and offers systematically, with speed and at scale. Their edge isn’t one great ad; it’s a pipeline that guarantees a steady flow of them.

This isn’t about volume for the sake of volume. It’s about velocity. The faster you test, the faster you find winners. The faster you find winners, the more sustainably you can scale. The best brands don’t just optimize ads for performance; they also optimize the process of creating, testing and iterating ads. They reduce the cost of experimentation, expand the variety of creative concepts and increase the speed at which they learn. All of that compounds into a durable creative advantage – more winners = more stable ad account performance = more scale = more resources to create ads = even more winners, and the virtuous cycle continues.

#7: The Post Click Experiences

The job of the ad is to earn the click; once the potential customer arrives on your site, the ad’s job is done. It’s the job of the post-click experience to convert that interested prospect into a paying customer or viable lead.

Unfortunately, for most brands, the post click experience is the weak link in the funnel. I see this every day: brands spending a small fortune on paid media that drives traffic to a generic homepage or mediocre-on-its-best-day product page that was never designed (or capable of) converting cold traffic.

The best brands treat landers as sales teams, not digital brochures. They design them with congruence in mind: the ad makes a promise that the lander delivers on with clarity, focus and urgency. Instead of relying on one-size-fits-all templates, they build angle-specific, influencer-specific and/or offer-specific landers that flow seamlessly from the ads in the account.

The key to great landers is recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all – the same lander that crushes for one creative/offer/angle/audience will likely fall flat for another. It’s a never-ending balancing act – but one that’s worth playing.

#8: Lifecycle Marketing

Too many marketing teams (and brands) treat the sale (or lead) as the finish line - when nothing could be further from the truth. The sale is just the starting point.

The harsh truth for any brand - B2B, B2C, whatever - is that if you treat customers as one-and-done transactions, you’re going to hemorrhage money. You’ll keep paying acquisition costs without ever capturing the compounding value that comes from loyal customers.

Lifecycle marketing is the solution to that existential problem.

Lifecycle is the system that turns a single purchase into a relationship. Email flows, SMS sequences, loyalty programs, referral incentives … these aren’t just retention tactics. They’re revenue multipliers. They extend the lifespan of a customer, increase order frequency and drive up average order value.

The best brands have this wired into their DNA. Amazon Prime didn’t bolt a subscription onto e-commerce; they made retention the business model. Sephora’s Beauty Insider has kept customers in their orbit for decades by layering tiers, perks and exclusivity into the shopping experience. In B2B, HubSpot and Salesforce make leaving more painful than staying, which is why their ecosystems keep growing despite more price increases than I can count.

This isn’t about squeezing a few extra dollars from repeat purchases; it’s about reshaping your economics. Lifecycle systems drive up lifetime value, which has the wonderful side effect of making your acquisition economics more favorable – if you are confident that a new customer will make three subsequent purchases, you can be far more aggressive in how much you pay to acquire that customer up-front, because you know you’ll be able to turn a profit on the subsequent sales.

Fundamentally, this is why brands with strong lifecycle engines don’t hesitate to push spend: they already know payback is coming.

This is all part of a virtuous cycle, with lifecycle marketing making each of the other things in this issue perform better. New products are more likely to be tried by customers who love what you’ve already sold them. Offers are stronger when backed by trust. Creative converts better when aimed at people who are already familiar with your brand. Brand perception grows as loyal customers turn into evangelists.

Everything reinforces everything else – which is precisely why more people should think far more about the stuff outside of the ad account.

So, the next time you’re tempted to solve a problem by fixing the ad account, I hope you take a step back and think about what factors outside the ad account might be better to solve.

Until next week,

Sam

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