Everything we thought we knew about digital advertising, and more specifically on Facebook and Instagram over the last 10 years has changed over the course of the last month. However, just because the landscape is changing doesn't mean we can't learn, change, and evolve with it, and come out stronger on the other side.

On June 29, Shopify Unite announced upcoming changes to the platform that mostly are centered around its infrastructure, tooling, and technologies. While some may hear ‘Shopify conference’ and think that’s as nerdy as it gets, ad buyers, brand/shop owners, and marketers alike are all eyes and ears right now. 👀👂

In findings from our own accounts, conversations with ad buyers from around the globe, and some information shared from our Facebook account rep, the best things to do right now as ad buyers are…

Yes, digital marketing, and more specifically ad buying has LOTS of acronyms we use to describe what’s going on with our ads and in the rest of the industry. Yes, it can get confusing. Hopefully this guide helps you feel a little more prepared for your next meeting.

This year has brought on significant shifts in the ad buying space. There has been so much information we (as ad buyers) have had to retain just to be able to repeat back to clients and so we can properly advertise on the platform.

iOS 14.5 came, went, and already updated to iOS 14.6. If you don’t know what this means, you may have found the wrong blog. If you do know what it means, you know that digital advertising hasn’t been the same since Apple oh-so-kindly released its newest software update.

“I think we’re going to pause spend.” These are common and dangerous words that are more frequently coming from clients these days. People see it as a way to save money, but in reality, shows mostly a fundamental misunderstanding of how Facebook works with delayed attribution and changes in reporting. The reality is that this tactic will likely do more to hurt than help, for a number of reasons. Here’s why…

Our approach has been to focus now, more than ever on MER (Total business revenue divided by paid media spend), and then analyze Facebook’s role in that media spend.

It really does feel like media buying before April 26, 2021 was a different world than after April 26, 2021. What happened on April 26?

We know that since iOS14.5 has been released and users are opting out of being tracked on third-party sites, blended data is about to become even more important than ever before.

Many of you reading this run ad agencies, and there’s many things we disagree on, but one that we know for sure; is when results “decline” or times get tough, man do people go looking around for another agency to handle their ads.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal Columnist Chris Mims wrote a piece outlining some of the ways the changes related to iOS14 could hurt small businesses. We were honored they quoted co-founder Gracie Foxwell after we spoke with him about these changes.

Yes, Facebook performance seems to feel a lot like a pendulum always swaying back and forth usually leaving you feeling like your account regularly heading in the opposite direction you want it to go. So, here are a few success stories from across the industry.

Lately I’ve been hearing from people that it’s hard to describe all the changes and state of the paid social advertising landscape to clients. We share this challenge with you. So, to help out, here’s an email I recently wrote to a client giving them a high level state-of-the-state.

If you’ve been following us on Twitter or reading our Foxwell Digital Download biweekly emails, you’re up-to-speed on the new Neighborhood Ad Center, Nextdoor’s self-serve ad platform that might just be the next best thing since, well, Facebook ads.