A brand marketer's guide to retail media buying strategies for sustained growth Key Facts: Retail media will grow about 15% to $198B in 2026. Amazon dominates with 75.2% market share — more than 10 times larger than second-place Walmart Connect. Retail media CTV ad spending grew about 45% in 2025, with Walmart controlling over 20% of the US TV market through Vizio. RMNs have evolved beyond last-touch conversion to offer full-funnel experiences including CTV, programmatic, and brand awareness campaigns. With retail media set to account for one in eight digital ad dollars, mature retailers are already growing sales by expanding how they reach consumers and the ad products they offer to brands. Historically, retail media networks have focused on lower-funnel tactics, but Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, and an ever growing list of other retail media networks are now offering a full-funnel experience to advertisers and media buyers. What is a retail media network (RMN)? According to RetailTouchpoints.com, "Retail media is the broader term used to describe the concept of retailers using their systems, infrastructure, data and access to their shoppers to help advertisers reach consumers. A retail media network is the actual platform that retailers put in place to do this." These ads can appear in various formats and locations, including search results pages, product pages, category pages, and even in-store displays. But what sets retail media networks apart is their access to valuable first-party data—the key to effective targeting and personalized advertising. What are the top retail media networks? Amazon is, by far, the top retail media network, projected by EMARKETER to command over $56.71 billion in 2026, more than 10 times that of No. 2 Walmart Connect. Other big RMNs include Target's Roundel, Kroger Precision Marketing, Alibaba, Instacart Ads, and Costco Media Network. More are popping up every day! This blossoming of RMNs offers advertisers more opportunities to put their products in front of their target audience when they're already in a purchasing state of mind, but the downside is a lack of consistency or standardization across the platforms. The better question is: where are your shoppers, and where is your product actually sold? Sponsored search on Amazon is table stakes for most CPG brands, but that doesn't mean it should eat your whole RMN budget. Brands should always try to maximize exposure through sponsored search campaigns first before tapping into other tactics, since sponsored search typically has the highest return — but that's just the starting point, not the full strategy. How does retail media fit into an omnichannel marketing strategy? At the top of funnel, RMNs' off-site capabilities — including programmatic display, CTV, and DOOH placements powered by first-party retailer data — let you reach in-market audiences with a level of purchase-intent precision that is genuinely hard to replicate elsewhere. If you know someone bought your category at Kroger three times in the last 90 days, that's an audience worth paying for at the top of the funnel, not just at checkout. In the middle, sponsored search on Amazon or Walmart is not just a conversion tool — it's an awareness driver. Appearing at the top of a category search while a consumer is actively browsing tells them your brand belongs there. That's brand building, even if the click leads directly to a purchase. At the bottom, yes, retail media excels at conversion. Sponsored products, retailer-native display ads, and on-site placements close the loop between consideration and purchase with a directness that most channels can't match. The path to purchase isn't linear anymore. Meet your consumers everywhere they shop, What's an example of full-funnel retail media? As we illustrated to The Current by The Trade Desk, "We have one client who is running a CTV awareness campaign — very typical, but what's new is we're able to target Walmart shoppers and then actually drive them to Walmart, and that is an incredible aspect because now we have a CTV awareness campaign that I can actually share back that they're driving millions of dollars in sales, and to have that data and that closed loop attribution is really going to propel the future of what we can do while we're in the weeds." Read more about this below: Is retail media a good investment? The truth is, retail media can be both a goldmine or a budget sinkhole, depending on how you use it. The goldmine: closed-loop attribution, high-intent audiences, and endemic relevance -- especially when paired with strong creative and smart sequencing. The black hole: fragmented networks, sky-high CPMs, and opaque reporting. Many RMNs prioritize margin over performance, which means your media dollars may be going to prop up retail partnerships rather than drive actual growth. The smart play? Treat retail media like part of your broader media plan, not a separate obligation. It should work with your other channels, not in isolation. That means aligning measurement, creative, and budget logic across the funnel. Click to learn about AI Shopping, or agentic commerce, for product-based brands. How do we negotiate our JBPs to get more media value? This question comes up a lot during media planning season, and it's a real skill. In the age of the RMN boom, retailers have been all too happy to strike deals with marketers, selling off ad space on their own platforms and audience data for ads on third-party platforms. But not every brand knows how to negotiate media value into those commitments. The brands who treat JBPs as purely a merchandising conversation are leaving significant media inventory on the table. Action items Audit your retail media investments quarterly. Audit more often than that, and you'll miss longer-term trends; any less often, and you'll miss opportunity. Map each placement to a funnel stage Identify overlap or redundancy, and Hold your retail partners accountable to the same standards as your other media by evaluating the same metrics like reach, frequency, and sales incrementality. Critically, the time is now for brands to leverage the two largest retailers, Amazon and Walmart, as complete advertising ecosystems. Further references: The Current. https://www.thecurrent.com/exverus-media-hillary-kupferberg-vp-marketing-retail-media-ctv-sales Digiday. https://digiday.com/media-buying/wpp-estimates-commerce-media-spending-to-overtake-tv-this-year/ Bain & Company. https://www.bain.com/how-we-help/are-you-ready-for-the-retail-media-revolution/ This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

A performance-minded guide to planning and measuring streaming TV ads on a midsized budget Cross-channel measurement is possible and available to midsized brands with the right tools and the right analysts on your team. Table of Contents Intro CTV Budgeting for Growth-Stage Brands The Halo Effect: How CTV Drives Downstream Growth The FAST vs. Premium CTV Tradeoff Avoiding Fraud & Protecting Brand Safety CTV Reporting That Matters Try Shoppable CTV for Performance Key Takeaways Direct response is the wrong CTV objective. CTV's real value shows up downstream—in branded search lift, paid social conversion rates, and assisted conversions—not in clicks. Measure it with MMM and brand lift studies, or don't run it yet. CTV's budget floor is market-dependent, not absolute. Single-market testing can start at $10–15K/month on FAST channels; national campaigns need $75K+/month to register. Below your market's noise threshold, you're buying impressions that don't move the needle. FAST channels aren't a compromise. 69% of CTV viewers prefer free ad-supported streaming, and growth brands often win on unit economics there. The right FAST vs. premium split depends on your audience, your creative, and your CAC target—not assumptions about quality. Vanity metrics will get your CTV budget cut. Impressions, CPM, and completion rate don't tell finance anything useful. The metrics that keep CTV in the plan are branded search lift, site traffic lift, and cost per incremental action. Learn tested and proven methods of outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. Intro Connected TV (CTV) refers to internet-connected television sets and the digital content they stream. It's a powerful way to reach vast audiences with visually captivating advertisements. EMARKETER projects CTV ad spend will surpass traditional TV by 2028, reaching $46.89 billion! And it's easy to see why: Brands love the broad scale CTV offers for building brand awareness and the cultural importance of the shows and movies they can align with. However, streaming platforms are fragmented. This fragmentation makes targeting and measurement difficult. Attributing ad views to actual product sales can be a challenge. Add the generally higher cost of CTV inventory compared to social buys, and some growth-stage brands may wonder if the juice is really worth the squeeze. We've mastered the art of hands-on campaign management for midsized brands like Premier Protein, New Belgium Brewing, and TV's "The Chosen." You can too, with this guide. This quick yet comprehensive guide to programmatic advertising will help you make smarter investments in CTV, Display, Video, DOOH, and more. CTV budgeting for growth-stage brands Brand marketers often ask, "What's the minimum budget needed to run an effective CTV media campaign?" There's no one-size-fits-all answer. Your CTV budget floor depends on your geography and goals: For single-market dominance or performance testing, $10-15K/month in smaller markets or on free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels can work. Mid-market brands in major DMAs might need $40-50K/month for meaningful share. National brands need $75K+/month to register. Below your market's 'noise threshold,' you're buying impressions that don't register. The more important questions to ask yourself are: What specific objectives am I trying to accomplish? What would success actually look like? Where are your target consumers located? What channels or content do they enjoy watching? These two titan media channels are joining forces to close the loop for full-funnel advertisers. The Halo Effect: How CTV drives downstream growth Many growing brands chase direct response on CTV. They run a spot, watch for immediate conversions, see nothing, and cut the budget. That's actually backwards and wastes money. Per The Hollywood Reporter, TV's share of global ad revenue is declining from 15.8% in 2024 to a projected 13.9% in 2026. Advertiser budgets are moving toward more performance-driven digital channels. A lot of that budget migration comes down to measurement confidence. Performance channels give marketers a dashboard full of precise numbers. In contrast, TV gives them fragmented reach and visibility. The math seems easy: follow the metrics. But one channel's dashboard doesn't show the whole story. If you measure only CTV-direct conversions, you'll miss 60–70% of the incremental value. A campaign that looks "inefficient" on CTV alone often shows 3–5x return when you connect it to downstream channel lift and cross-device journeys. Planning media for the Super Bowl is very different from the World Cup. Learn how to plan one-night bursts and monthlong tournaments alike. How to set up a halo funnel: Use MMM to connect your TV investment to downstream outcomes. TV's cross-channel effects—lifted search volume and improved paid social conversion rates—don't show up in a standard dashboard. Marketing mix modeling is how you find them before someone cuts the budget. Run a brand lift study and tie it to mid-funnel signals. The more you invest in brand, the lower your customer acquisition cost should trend over time—but you need the data to prove it. Pairing a brand lift study with CAC tracking is how TV gets a seat at the performance table. Start testing shoppable CTV formats. Upper-funnel doesn't have to mean unmeasurable. Shoppable CTV ads incorporate interactive or transactional features directly into television platforms. This gives you conversion data alongside reach. Brands testing it today will have a meaningful head start as the format matures. If you're running CTV without MMM, brand lift studies, or multi-touch attribution, you're flying blind. Better to wait until you have the measurement budget than to run a campaign you can't defend. Predictive analytics and big-picture insights make marketing mix modeling tools invaluable to brand marketers of all industries. The FAST vs. Premium CTV tradeoff for brands Many assume that premium CTV networks like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ are automatically superior to FAST channels like Tubi or Pluto. But that's not necessarily true. In reality, 69% of CTV viewers prefer FAST channels. Challenger brands can take advantage of their lower barrier to entry. (The Trade Desk provides unified buying and targeting across both!) Let's compare the pros and cons: Where FAST wins the race How Premium takes the cake Lower CPMs ($15-30 vs. $25-60) Targeting affluent, younger audiences Less programmatic competition New product launches (premium context = high brand perception, safety) More frequency for same budget = better brand lift May convert more often than FAST = lower CAC Shorter, punchier creative (15-30sec) & lower frequency Longer ad formats, higher completion rates Avoiding fraud & protecting brand safety Some brand marketers worry about fraud in the programmatic advertising supply chain or their ads showing up next to harmful content. That's understandable! But our expert traders have mastered brand safety, data privacy, and waste prevention. Here's how: Platform defenses Tier 1 (Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Roku, etc.) have strong safeguards (first-party content, curated supply). Tier 2 (Pluto TV, Tubi, Samsung TV+, etc.) have moderate safeguards (some UGC content, but editorial review). Tier 3 Open marketplace (via SSPs like PubMatic) has lower safeguards (all publishers welcome). For growth-stage brands, we recommend sticking to tier-1 and tier-2 platforms unless the budget is very small. Also, The Trade Desk integrates pre-bid fraud detection (ads.txt enforcement, Supply Path Optimization) and partners with third-party verification vendors IAS and DoubleVerify. This gives human traders full placement transparency, not a black-box algorithm. Agency defenses We don't leave programmatic trading up to managed services. Our in-house trading experts personally oversee every transaction and negotiate the best rates for our clients. To that end, we create publisher inclusion and exclusion lists in DoubleVerify that supersede any automated content partners. We continuously monitor ad placements for factors like viewability, fraud, contextual relevance, and quality of environment. "Brand safety isn't a filter you bolt onto programmatic after the fact — it's a function of how precisely you understand the inventory you're buying. The more contextual signal and show-level data a brand can get before the impression hits the bid stream, the more confidently they can show up next to content that actually reflects who they are — and stay out of content that doesn't." SEAN EDWARDS, Director of Programmatic & E-Commerce Media CTV Reporting That Matters Don't get caught up in vanity metrics like impressions and CPMs—they mean nothing if those views don't translate to actual sales or brand growth down the road! Growth-stage brands don't have the budget to waste optimizing toward the wrong KPIs. Vanity Metrics Meaningful Metrics Impressions (not predictive) Branded search lift (2-4 weeks after exposure) CPM (doesn't mean better CAC) Site traffic lift (from GA4, attributed to CTV exposure cross-device) Reach (raw number is meaningless without frequency & attribution) Completion rate (global benchmark 95% or higher) Shopping cart additions Cost per incremental action (from incrementality test) A scientific approach to measuring upper-funnel media's impact on actual sales growth And the scheduling or cadence of your reporting matters too. Since CTV is largely a top-of-funnel brand-building tactic, you might see very real effects later down the road. If you're too quick to evaluate and change your strategies after just a week or a month, you may be cutting the very things keeping your brand moving up and to the right over time. Here's a better timeline for reporting, which you can modify to your specific campaign objectives and parameters: Try Shoppable CTV for Performance Shoppable CTV, or T-commerce, is a hugely popular ad format for its ability to collapse the path between entertainment and purchase into a single tap. It incorporates interactive elements into TV ads like QR codes, "Add to Cart" buttons, or "Email me this" links that viewers can use with their remote control or smartphone. These campaigns can be very effective—but not always for the reason you think. Exverus' Media Supervisor Melanie Mogey ran a shoppable CTV test for TV's "The Chosen" and explained to Digiday that direct sales were not the primary KPI—video completion rate (VCR) was. In other words, Mogey and other media buyers have found that this kind of play isn't always a converter, but rather a strong awareness-builder. That's an outcome well worth striving for, but it does require different planning and measurement. CTV works for growth-stage brands when it's planned honestly: right budget for your market, right measurement infrastructure, right mix of FAST and premium inventory. The brands that win aren't the ones with the biggest budgets—they're the ones who know exactly what they're measuring and why. If you're ready to build a CTV strategy that connects to real business outcomes, let's talk. For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news; subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter here. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

GEO doesn't replace SEM -- here's how they work together in a media plan Photo Credit: Vitaly Gariev Key Takeaways: GEO evolves paid search — it doesn't replace it. AI search is changing how people find information, but SEM remains essential. The two disciplines need to be briefed together, not managed in silos. "Search" is bigger than Google. Social platforms, retail media networks, and AI chat surfaces are all search environments now — and each one requires a channel-specific strategy within a full-funnel media plan. Your metrics need to catch up. CTR and page rank alone no longer tell the full story. Search marketers should also be tracking AI Overview inclusion rate, LLM brand mentions, share of model (SOM), and overall brand lift. AI search advertising is here — but it rewards precision. ChatGPT is now selling ads, and Performance Max is the only Google campaign type currently eligible to appear in AI Overviews. As AI-generated ad copy levels the playing field, landing page experience becomes your real competitive advantage. Learn tested and proven methods of outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. GEO evolves, not replaces, paid search In 2026, brand marketers and advertisers are well-acquainted with the ways AI search tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are changing the way people find information and recommendations - fewer clicks, less web traffic, shorter paths to purchase. Ahrefs confirms: Google AI Overviews reduce clicks by 58%! The need for GEO (generative engine optimization) has transformed SEO (search engine optimization) tactics and made share of model (SOM) more important than rank. LLM crawlers largely ignore paid media content! Our parent agency, Brainlabs, is the domain expert on how to create content for AI search engine optimization: So, does this mean search engine marketing (SEM) for top-of-page listing goes away? No, but it does need to adapt. Read on to learn how! What even counts as "search" anymore? Search is so much more than Google (or ChatGPT); it must be considered in the context of a full-funnel media plan, understanding that consumers discover brands and seek information in many different places today. Social search We've been writing for years about how Social is the new Search, as 46% of Gen Zers and 35% of millennials prefer to use social media platforms for product and trend discovery over traditional search engines. Learn how to build media campaigns that harness the power of social media platforms as search engines and discovery hubs. Many people, especially younger adult consumers, trust creators and influencers they relate to more deeply than brand advertising. That's why creator partnerships, affiliate marketing, and user-generated content (UGC) campaigns are booming right now. It also means that marketers should apply SEO principles to social ads, for example: On Instagram, keywords in captions now perform better than hashtags for meeting searchers in discovery mode TikTok's algorithm is powerful for expanding reach and influencing viewers, particularly on its For You page and in search results Pinterest's search engine is designed for people seeking inspiration, how-tos, and product recommendations “Find the long-tail search terms that resonate with your consumers best, and aim to own those key terms. Be specific; don’t take your hands off the wheel, going broad-match or letting the ‘algorithm’ do the work.” -- Michael Robbins, associate director of paid search & social, Exverus Retail search Retail media networks (RMNs) are also ripe environments for applying search marketing strategies that get your product in front of searchers already in purchasing mode. EMARKETER reported in 2024 that 56% of American consumers start their product search on Amazon when shopping! To make your product or brand appear prominently on the search results page of a retailer's e-com site or mobile app: Prioritize home page placements Segment your audiences precisely Dominate your niche Consider many paths to purchase, including in-store Optimize for the right metrics For detailed info on how to do all that: Now, to Google: SEM vs. PPC vs. Paid Search Is there a difference between these terms we often use interchangeably? Yes. SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is the discipline of marketing within search engines, including organic SEO (search engine optimization) and paid search. Paid search is the practice of buying ad space on search engines. PPC (Pay-Per-Click) is the billing model; you pay each time someone clicks your ad. It applies across channels including search, social, and display. All the levers of Paid Search have to work in harmony for effective digital marketing campaigns. Search Engine Journal recommends putting together an Integrated Search Brief at the beginning of each project so every team is working toward the same business objectives. Here's an example: Integrated Search Brief Primary Audience: Brand marketers Buyer Segment: CMOs, VPs, or Directors, companies $100MM+ annual revenue Buyer Role: Find 5 best media agencies on West Coast & request consultations Stage of Funnel or Customer Journey: Mid-funnel, consideration stage Intent Type Example Query Likely searcher need Channel Role Problem-aware "how to buy media cheaply" Understand options SEO, Content Solution-aware "best media agencies" Evaluate category SEO, PPC Comparison "Exverus vs. Brainlabs" Make shortlist SEO, PPC, Landing page Transactional "request agency consult" Take action PPC, Content, landing page “Set up proper goals (by managing your tags) and attribution (how you’ll report and measure ad success in relation to your business goals). Set up enhanced conversions and value-based conversion bidding based on your business goals (revenue, profit margins or lifetime value) well in advance to provide [Google and LLMs] with rich data points that guide automated bidding and machine learning.” -- Ryan Schuster, MBA, director of paid search & social at Exverus, in ADWEEK Google/AI Search metrics that matter If your CTRs are dropping, don't be alarmed. With search results pages receding in favor of AI Overviews, and Google sending less traffic to brand websites, page rank and click-through rate aren't the ultimate goals they used to be; they're just part of the picture. Now, search marketers should be holistically measuring: click-through rate (CTR) cost per click (CPC) AI Overview inclusion rate brand mentions in AI search tools share of model (SOM) overall brand lift multi-touch attribution Ditch the tired marketing acronyms, and measure what really drives business growth across the funnel. PMAX & Google Demand Gen: Google AI Tools Experiment with Google Performance Max (PMAX), which places high-impact formats across Google's entire ecosystem including search, YouTube, and Google Display. It works best with a variety of creative assets and rich data sets. PMAX and Google Shopping ads can all be placed in AI Overviews if they're aligned with the searcher's intent. Demand Gen can also be impactful for upper-funnel needs, as Exverus' Michael Robbins explained to Performance Marketing World, "Since the purpose of AI search is to be dynamic and curated to the searcher, this ad type is versatile, broad, and adaptable enough to feature." Once considered a "black box" with little transparency about where ads are placed and why, PMAX made a significant update in April 2025 that expanded channel-level reporting of where media dollars are going and which platforms are performing best. As of late 2025, Google AI Max Ads can be placed in AI Overviews, as well. Advertising in AI search tools Up until 2026, AI search has predominantly affected SEO, not so much SEM, because buying visibility in AI answers hasn't been an option yet. GEO, or building content to organically show up in AI answers, has been the main driver of AI visibility. Rather than building around keywords, content marketers are building around questions. Now, OpenAI has begun selling ads in ChatGPT, and our parent agency, Brainlabs, is already testing this new frontier. Learn what their testing revealed about targeting, pricing, measurement, and recommendations below: “[ChatGPT Ads] rewards precision. The more tightly your creative maps to the prompt, the better your cost efficiency. CPC is not worth it.” -- Ben Kahan, head of programmatic, Brainlabs North America The proliferation of AI-generated ads will mean that your ads will look very similar to your competitors using the same AI program. AI copy will level the playing field, only further increasing the importance of an optimized landing page experience to gain an advantage over the competition. Paid search ad copy will decrease in importance as landing page experience increases in importance. Meanwhile, Anthropic has scaled its Claude product to the top of the AI food chain by focusing on enterprise functions, subscriptions, and token sales, rather than ad sales. Brainlabs has been building custom Claude Cowork integrations with Notion and a library of over 400 skills authored by employees in just four weeks! We'll continue to be at the forefront of AI search advertising as it develops. The Role of paid search in a media mix Again, search marketing can’t succeed in a vacuum! It must be integrated into an omnichannel media strategy based on your audience’s needs and preferences. Here’s a helpful way to think about the functions of various media channels and how they synergize: What does your audience want? Exploration → Social Media Information → Paid Search Purchase → Retail Media At Exverus, we don’t keep these departments siloed. Our search marketers work closely alongside the paid social, programmatic advertising, and retail/e-commerce teams to share keyword strategies, devise ways to smoothly connect each touchpoint to a purchase, and keep creative brand assets and messaging consistent across all platforms. Provide your target audience with top-quality content in platform-specific formats, and you’ll become the brand they go to without even needing to search. For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news; subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter here. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

In 2026 and beyond, audience segments will reshuffle; media channels will converge; paths to purchase will shorten; and AI will optimize everything. Media planning requires a long-term view and full-funnel integration. The rules of media planning rewrite themselves every quarter: Consumer behaviors shift overnight; new platforms emerge while established channels merge and transform; AI-powered optimization tools promise to automate what once took teams of analysts weeks to accomplish. But here's what stays constant: the need for strategic, data-informed media planning that connects brands with audiences across the entire customer journey. At Exverus by Brainlabs, we've spent 12 years refining our approach to full-funnel media planning for growth-stage, culture-creating brands. Here's what demonstrably works. Table of Contents What is media planning? Elements of a full-funnel media plan Brand vs. performance media Omnichannel marketing Example of award-winning campaign Measurement & attribution FAQs about media planning & buying Learn tested-and-proven methods of media planning and buying for outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. What is media planning? Media planning is the strategic process of determining where, when, and how to deliver marketing messages to target audiences. It's about making informed decisions on channel selection, budget allocation, timing, and creative deployment to achieve specific business objectives. Think of it as the blueprint for your marketing investment. A strong media plan answers critical questions, like: Which channels will reach your ideal customers most efficiently? How should budget be distributed across awareness, consideration, and conversion tactics? What frequency and timing will maximize impact without wasting spend? How can we build creative, unique activations that stand out from our competition? Media placement choices aren't guesses; they're based on surgically precise audience data points gathered from multiple sources. What elements does a full-funnel media plan need? Budget, Timing, and Scope of Work Category background / business challenge. What problem are we solving for? Objectives. What specific campaign key performance indicators (KPIs) are we working toward, and how will they solve our business challenge? Insights. Define the target audience(s). Gather competitive insights. What media does the target audience consume? What research can inform our strategy? Strategy. What will be the key elements of our plan? How will we space out activations throughout the given timeframe? How will paid media collaborate with earned media, owned content, and other agencies? Execution. Make the idea come to life! Monitor performance and adjust in real time. Measurement. What are the results? Did we meet our KPIs? Did our KPIs accurately align with business goals? What did we learn for the next campaign? Timing Considerations Media planning is a marathon, not a sprint When times are tight, many marketers feel the pressure to close the sale and place a disproportionate emphasis on short-term performance metrics -- that's understandable! But be careful not to lose sight of your long-term brand equity. While the immediate ROI metrics can look attractive and seem to reinforce this approach, we caution marketers not to get short-sighted and overlook the importance of long-term brand-building. This mistake is called short-termism. Short-termism is the marketing fallacy of focusing too heavily on acquiring new customers and activating sales, at the expense of building long-term customer retention and loyalty. The most successful media strategies balance immediate performance goals with long-term brand building. Track leading indicators that signal future performance, not just lagging metrics that report yesterday's results. Invest in understanding how different tactics work together over time, not just in isolation. 'Always-on' vs. Spend spikes Being consistent with your brand media spend over time is imperative. But being evergreen isn’t simply doing the same thing all year — it’s about adapting to consumer behavior and business cycles so the brand remains relevant off-season. A “set-it-and-forget-it” media campaign that simply repeats the same content or messaging all year can get stale. Audiences’ needs, contexts, and attentional bandwidth change throughout the year; what worked during a product-launch window or seasonal peak may not resonate mid-year. Constant presence without variation can erode brand identity, rather than reinforce it. Brands and their media teams should lean on data-driven signals and adjust the strategy in real time by shifting budgets, pivoting messaging, or launching new offerings. Balance tentpole moments (for brand-building impact) with strategic always-on presence in high-intent channels (retail media, search) and advanced measurement (brand lift studies, multi-touch attribution, incrementality testing) to see the strongest results. Example: This plan depicts paid media running throughout the campaign timeline but mixing up the formats and spend levels around tentpole moments. Brand vs. Performance Media Combine brand and performance under one scientific brain The old divide between brand and performance marketing is quickly dissolving, but the tension between immediate results and long-term value creation remains. Smart media planning finds the right balance for your specific business context. Performance marketing delivers measurable, trackable results. Direct response tactics drive immediate conversions, generate leads, and produce clear ROI metrics. These campaigns justify their existence through attribution models and conversion tracking. Brand marketing builds mental availability and emotional connections that compound over time. It creates the conditions for efficient performance marketing by reducing friction in the purchase decision. Strong brands enjoy higher conversion rates, lower customer acquisition costs, and greater pricing power. But these benefits often appear months or years after the initial investment. The optimal brand-performance mix depends on several factors: your market position product category customer lifetime value (CLV) purchase frequency, and competitive intensity. New brands typically need heavier brand investment to build awareness and consideration. Established players might shift more budget toward performance tactics that convert existing demand. Unfortunately, most brands underinvest in brand building. They over-index on performance tactics because the results are visible and immediate, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that slowly erodes long-term growth potential. The metrics look good quarter over quarter, but customer acquisition costs creep up and market share stagnates. Click to learn real case studies of brands that built equity effectively vs. those that didn't. The solution isn't abandoning performance marketing. It's integrating brand and performance tactics into a unified, full-funnel approach where upper-funnel brand activities amplify lower-funnel conversion efficiency. Test different budget allocations. Measure impact across multiple time horizons. Find the mix that balances short-term results with sustainable long-term growth. The age of AI product discovery and agentic buying demands an integrated, full-funnel strategy. Here's how to build it. Omnichannel marketing: New paths to purchase The linear marketing funnel is dead. Modern consumers don't follow predictable paths from awareness to consideration to purchase. They zigzag across channels, devices, and touchpoints in patterns that seem chaotic but reveal underlying logic when you know where to look. Someone might discover your brand through a podcast ad, research options on their phone during lunch, compare features on a desktop at work, and finally purchase on a tablet at home three weeks later. Or they might see social ads for months, ignore them completely, then convert immediately after receiving a promotional email. The variations are endless. Omnichannel media planning acknowledges this complexity. Instead of forcing customers into predetermined funnels, it creates multiple paths to purchase across interconnected touchpoints. Different channels play different roles for different customers at different moments. Click to learn several new models for mapping consumer behavior that evolve beyond the linear funnel. Omnichannel media planning requires several capabilities: Consistent messaging across channels. Adapt creative to each platform's format and context while maintaining brand coherence. Cross-channel measurement. Track customer journeys across touchpoints rather than evaluating each channel in isolation. Flexible budget allocation. Shift resources toward channels and tactics proving most effective for specific customer segments. Media channel convergence accelerates these needs Social media is becoming social commerce. Streaming TV ads are now shoppable CTV. AI Chatbots are the new search engines Social and Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are now discovery hubs The boundaries between awareness, consideration, and conversion channels blur as platforms compete to own entire customer journeys. For 2026, expect paths to purchase to shorten as channels become more integrated and AI-powered personalization becomes more sophisticated. Example of award-winning omnichannel media campaign Exverus by Brainlabs' "Premier Nutrition: Winning Prime Day" campaign was awarded a WARC Effectiveness Award for Best Path to Purchase in 2024. The campaign demonstrated ingenious tactics for successfully bridging social media with e-commerce, making Premier Protein shakes one of the top-selling items on Amazon for 3 years in a row! Learn more below: Measurement & Attribution They say, "What gets measured gets managed," but measuring full-funnel media effectiveness remains one of marketing's hardest problems: attribution models break down in omnichannel environments; privacy regulations limit tracking capabilities; platform-provided metrics serve platform interests more than advertiser needs. Effective measurement requires a multi-layered approach that combines different methodologies to build a complete picture of media performance. No single metric or model tells the whole story. Start with business fundamentals. Revenue, customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), market share of voice (SOV). These north-star metrics connect media activity to actual business outcomes. They should anchor all other measurement efforts. Impressions and CPMs are just vanity metrics. Learn to track your paid media investment's real impact on overall business growth. Layer in channel-specific performance metrics. Click-through rates, view-through rates, engagement metrics, conversion rates. These tactical indicators help optimize individual campaigns and placements. But resist the temptation to over-optimize channel metrics at the expense of business outcomes. Add incrementality testing to understand true causal impact. Geo-tests, holdout groups, and controlled experiments reveal which tactics actually drive incremental results versus simply capturing existing demand. This is where you separate correlation from causation. Here's an example: We ran a clean incrementality study in the 2026 Gotta Habit campaign, isolating our media as the causal driver. Click to learn more. Implement marketing mix modeling to understand how different tactics work together and inform strategic budget allocation. These statistical models analyze historical performance across all channels to quantify each tactic's contribution and interaction effects. Learn how AI powers MMM for comprehensive looks at campaign results, plus when to use MMM vs. MTA (multi-touch attribution). Complement quantitative measurement with qualitative insights. Brand tracking studies, customer surveys, and market research provide context that numbers alone can't capture. They explain the why behind the what. Brand lift studies are a scientific approach to measuring your upper-funnel media's impact on real business demand creation. The measurement environment will continue evolving throughout 2026. Privacy-focused attribution models, AI-powered analytics, and cross-platform measurement solutions promise to improve data quality and insight generation. But the fundamentals won't change. Great measurement requires clear business objectives, rigorous methodology, and honest assessment of both successes and failures. FAQs about media planning and buying How much should I budget for media planning? Media budgets vary widely based on: company size industry growth stage competitive intensity As a general framework, B2C companies typically invest 5-15% of revenue in marketing, with media representing the largest portion. B2B companies often spend 2-10% of revenue. High-growth startups may invest 20-40% or more to capture market share. Work backward from your customer acquisition cost targets and lifetime value to determine sustainable spending levels. Which media channels should I advertise on in 2026? Media channel selection depends entirely on where your target audiences spend time and how they make purchase decisions. That said, several channels show particular strength heading into 2026: Digital Advertising Channels Retail media networks for driving sales, even for non-CPG brands Connected TV (CTV) and Digital Audio for reaching broad audiences Influencer / Creator partnerships for trust-building Paid Search and Social for capturing high-intent demand The way to differentiate from what all your competitors are already doing (especially if you don't have the budget to outspend them) is to think outside the box and build creative campaigns that stick in people's minds better than a digital ad. Experiential Marketing Campaigns Gen Z shoppers have been skipping digital ads since they were born. They grew up in a world where social media and technology are ubiquitous, making it harder for traditional advertisements to capture their attention. Experiential marketing is about creating immersive experiences that engage consumers on a deeper level. Photo Credit: Habit Burger & Grill / Yum! Brands. Click to learn how Habit embedded itself into Los Angeles culture by joining Dodger Stadium and becoming a home base for fans. Contests & Sweepstakes Get your target audience engaged and excited, rather than passively consuming ads they likely won't recall later. Contests and sweepstakes with enticing incentives get people involved and emotionally invested in your brand more deeply than with your competition. Here's an example of an Adweek award-winning contest campaign we ran for former client Stella & Chewy's: Click to read more about how this massively effective campaign worked! How do I prove media ROI to C-suite executives? Connect media activities directly to business outcomes using clear attribution and incrementality testing. Report in business language (revenue, customer acquisition, market share) rather than marketing jargon (impressions, reach, engagement). Show both short-term performance and long-term brand building impact. Use control groups and holdout testing to demonstrate causation, not just correlation. Be honest about measurement limitations and uncertainty rather than overstating confidence in attribution. Is it cheaper to hire a media agency or buy media in-house? The right model depends on your resources, expertise, and strategic priorities: In-house teams offer greater control, brand intimacy, and agility. Agencies provide specialized expertise, cross-client insights, and scalable capacity. Many successful brands use a hybrid approach: in-house strategists and planners who set direction and manage performance, with agency partners providing specialized capabilities in areas like creative production, platform expertise, and advanced analytics. Learn more here. How often should we revise our media plan? Media strategies should be revisited quarterly at minimum, with major strategic reviews annually aligned to business planning cycles. Tactical optimizations happen continuously, with real-time adjustments daily or weekly and always-on refinements monthly. The key is distinguishing between strategic pivots (which require careful consideration and cross-functional alignment) and tactical adjustments (which can happen quickly based on performance data). Don't confuse motion with progress by constantly changing strategy without giving tactics time to work. Learn why media plans need time to accumulate growth, like an investment account, rather than day trade. What role does AI play in media planning? AI excels at tactical optimization, pattern recognition, and processing large datasets. It can: predict performance personalize creative, and identify audience segments at scales impossible for human teams. But AI doesn't replace strategic thinking. Humans still need to set objectives, define brand positioning, understand market dynamics, and make judgment calls that require business context. As a Brainlabs agency, we operate under a philosophy of Real Intelligence - the optimal blend of artificial and human intelligence that enables brands to connect directly with consumers. Using Brainlabs' proprietary Cortex AI system, we bring the most cutting-edge technologies to growth-stage brands worldwide. Ready to build a full-funnel media strategy that delivers results? At Exverus by Brainlabs, we combine strategic planning, data-driven optimization, and cross-channel expertise to help brands navigate the complexity of modern media. Let's talk! For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news; subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter here. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

Efficiency KPIs aren't bad, but efficiency without effectiveness is just cheap media. If you've been measuring marketing and advertising campaigns by the same media metrics for several years — or if your analytics docs still have Google+ goals — it's time for an update. With data coming in from so many different channels and sources simultaneously, understanding the true impact of your media campaigns can be tricky. The goal of most ad campaigns is to drive sales, so the number of clicks or video views is inadequate if they don't lead to actual conversions. Why traditional marketing metrics fall short Traditional metrics like clicks, impressions, and view completion rates are now just distractions. ROAS and last-click metrics can be misleading because they capture a narrow slice of the journey, often overstating the role of addressable channels and understating long-term brand impact. This doesn't mean traditional marketing metrics are wholly meaningless. Clicks, impressions, and views are still indicators of reach and engagement, which do play a role in building brand awareness and nurturing customer relationships. But they should be complemented by advanced measurement strategies that provide a more in-depth understanding of your campaign's true impact on sales and overall business success. Traditional upper-funnel metrics like impressions and cost-per-mille (CPM) have served as foundational measurements in digital advertising, but they suffer from several key limitations: Measure potential exposure rather than actual engagement Don't account for viewability or attention quality Provide no insight into brand perception changes Can be artificially inflated by bot traffic and fraudulent activity Click to learn best practices for baking brand equity into your media planning & measurement from the outset. The hidden cost of efficiency as a KPI Efficiency feels fiscally responsible, but in media planning, it's often a trap. When marketers prioritize efficiency — CPMs, CPCs, lowest-cost reach — they often end up cutting quality. They end up with cheaper impressions, lower-impact placements, and less relevance; which means wasted budget. Efficiency isn't bad — but efficiency without effectiveness is just cheap media. It's tempting to optimize for what's easiest to measure instead of what actually grows the business. But, as WARC data proves out, performance marketing alone costs more in the long run because the brand becomes less memorable, creating the dreaded "doom loop." How can attention metrics improve your paid media campaigns, and are they worth the cost? Set SMART goals for all your media campaigns That trusty old mnemonic still holds water when it comes to planning your paid media campaigns for the upcoming quarter or fiscal year: Specific — Exactly what is your business objective? What specific marketing objectives will ladder up to it? What actionable items will you take to fulfill those objectives, and why? Measurable — If it gets measured, it gets managed. Determine the appropriate KPIs for each tactic and gather industry benchmarks so you know if your strategies are effective or not. Achievable — Are your goals realistic? It's good to aim high, but unrealistic goals set you up for unnecessarily negative results. Look at historical data and competitor analyses. Relevant — Will your campaign ideas effectively serve your short-term and long-term business goals? Are your metrics measuring the right variable? Time-Bound — Set clear parameters around the timing of your campaigns and check in midway. Measure short-term KPIs earlier and long-term KPIs later. When it comes to advertising, focusing too closely on short-term gains is like day trading — the quick returns might grab headlines, but they usually lack staying power. Sustainable business growth requires pairing performance with building brand equity, brick by brick, just like you'd invest in a retirement account. Establish KPIs for each touchpoint in the journey By choosing the right KPIs for each channel in your media campaign, you can evaluate whether your paid media investments are paying off and how to optimize them going forward. Top of Funnel — Brand lift, visibility, & attention metrics Brand awareness, consideration, and purchase intent Brand preference and message association Active attention time and viewability duration Scroll velocity, audio engagement, interactive events Note: Raw impressions and CPMs still have a role, but must be paired with quality signals. Brand lift studies illuminate the full sales impact of your performance media. Mid Funnel — Engagement & consideration metrics Average time on page, pages per session, video completion rates (VCR) Social media shares and saves MQLs, email engagement rates, newsletter subscription retention AI chatbot or calculator usage, sample/demo requests, wishlist additions Media (or marketing) mix modeling tracks the compounded effect of each channel down the funnel to long-term business growth. Lower Funnel — Conversion & revenue metrics Conversion rate, customer acquisition cost (CAC), ROAS Customer lifetime value (CLV) — the often-overlooked imperative A closer look: Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) The total revenue a business can expect from a customer throughout their entire relationship, minus the costs of acquiring and serving them. Think of it as calculating the long-term profitability of a customer relationship instead of focusing on one-time transactions. Gather marketing benchmarks for comparison To establish your campaign benchmarks, look at trusted third-party sources. Good metrics and benchmarks should derive from: Historical Data. Analyze past performance trends to set a baseline for future expectations. Your own data is always the most relevant starting point. Industry-Wide Data. Understand where you stand compared to competitors. Sources like EMARKETER, Nielsen, Numerator, and Statista publish reliable benchmarks by industry. Platform-Specific Benchmarks. Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and other media channels offer their own sets of benchmarks so you know what performance is typical in those environments. Partner/Vendor Guidelines. Useful, but remember there may be a conflict of interest — vendors often aim to portray high performance. Triangulate against independent sources. Media mix modeling or multi-touch attribution? Both serve important purposes. Learn which is best for analyzing your media campaign. Analyze and report The marketing benchmark analysis cycle begins with regular performance reviews where teams assess current metrics against industry standards using executive dashboards and team scorecards. During these reviews, conduct gap analysis to identify variances from benchmarks, which should be documented in structured variance reports. Use trend identification to spot patterns over time, displaying these in trend analysis reports that help contextualize current performance. Finally, translate insights into resource allocation and action planning, supported by ROI assessments and budget impact reports — creating a continuous feedback loop where reporting directly informs the next round of analysis and decision-making. At Exverus, we hold quarterly health checks with all our clients and provide quarterly business reports (QBRs) so they know exactly how their ad spend is performing. We're agile and nimble enough to quickly pivot or reallocate budget as needed mid-campaign. Exverus VP of Analytics Joshua Edelman contributed his expertise to this 2026 EMARKTER report about the state of MMM adoption. What is dual cadence measurement? CTR, ROAS, and CPM fluctuate constantly due to seasonality, creative fatigue, platform changes, and broader market dynamics. Most weekly swings are not strategy signals — they're media metrics noise. The metrics that actually indicate future revenue operate on a longer cycle: brand equity, consideration, share of voice. These are quarterly by design. Brand lift, MMM, and awareness tracking need time to become directional. Across our client base, we regularly see weekly signals contradict what longer-term measurement proves, so teams end up cutting the very investments that drive growth! The answer is to have two separate measurement tracks running; that's the dual cadence: Weekly check-ins for pacing and delivery, spend efficiency, creative signals, early indicators of issues Quarterly reports for brand lift and awareness, share of voice, CAC trends, MMM and incrementality Assign each KPI a timeline before launch - define what decisions it informs and when it will be read. And make brand health non-negotiable. Include at least one forward-looking metric in every QBR — awareness, consideration, or brand lift. Learn tested-and-proven methods of media planning and buying for outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. Translate media metrics for the C-Suite Media still gets misread by the C-suite. Most media strategies are presented in terms marketers understand: impressions, reach, CPMs. But CFOs and CEOs speak a different language - one of margin, revenue, market share, and risk. Smart marketers know this and adapt. They frame media in business terms, not marketing metrics. They tie campaigns to top-line goals. And they get more buy-in, bigger budgets, and better results because of it. For your next executive presentation, rewrite one slide to frame media performance in C-suite terms. Replace a ROAS metric with an incrementality or brand lift metric. See what happens! Advanced measurement strategies may not guarantee a successful campaign, but they provide a more nuanced understanding of ad performance; and that nuance separates brands that grow from brands that guess. For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news, join our free weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

Where smart media buyers are spending in podcasts, radio, video, & gaming Key Takeaways: Audio ad spend is failing to keep pace with listening time, with US adults averaging 2 hours 44 minutes of daily audio consumption per EMARKETER — creating a competitive opening for brands willing to move budget into audio before the space gets crowded. Gen Z listening behavior is platform-agnostic and multi-device, favoring YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music simultaneously, which means single-platform audio strategies are no longer sufficient to reach this audience. Spotify and Apple Music are integrating technology to let podcast creators publish video once across both platforms with unified monetization, reshaping the video podcast landscape by tier and potentially offering lower CPMs on emerging shows versus YouTube's established creator base. Audio advertising is expanding beyond traditional formats into retail media networks (like Lowe's in-store audio) and non-intrusive in-game placements, giving brands new contextually relevant touchpoints at the moment of purchase intent or during gameplay. Learn tested and proven methods of outsmarting the competition with agility, brand positioning, and creativity. The audio consumption vs. ad spend gap We've been sounding the alarm on the value of Audio Ads for years: Audio taps into a deep, built-in trust between listener and host/artist Reaches precisely targeted audiences by interest, location, demographic Provides detailed analytics from radio, streaming, or podcast platforms But fresh data from EMARKETER shows that Audio ad spend is not growing nearly as fast as actual listening time is - US adults now spend an average of 2 hours 44 minutes listening to audio content per day! That's a huge competitive gap your brand could fill. This gap is your competitive advantage. While most brands sleep on audio, listeners are there—engaged, in personal moments, every single day. If you can move budget into audio while the landscape is still less crowded, you're ahead. Why podcasts, streaming ads, and programmatic audio are essential marketing channels; and how to buy them efficiently. What is Gen Z is listening to these days? Gen Z's audio habits are rapidly shifting as streaming, social discovery, and multitasking reshape engagement. They're not behaving like older cohorts. Gen Z particularly loves YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music for discovering new music and listening to (or watching) their favorite podcasts—and they listen everywhere they go. This matters because it's not just about podcasts or music anymore. For Gen Z, the format is almost irrelevant; the behavior is "always on, across multiple devices." If your target is Gen Z, single-platform plays won't cut it. You need to show up wherever they're listening—which increasingly means video format, not audio-only. Source: EMARKETER Video podcast wars: Spotify vs. Apple vs. YouTube YouTube has been steadily rising as the world's top media platform for video podcasts (aka vodcasts) for its powerful algorithm, ad targeting, and social promotion capabilities; but creators had to upload separately to YouTube, manage different revenue streams, and deal with separate analytics. So, Spotify & Apple Music have teamed up to tune it out. Spotify is integrating Apple's technology to let creators publish video once and reach both platforms simultaneously, with unified monetization starting later this year. This removes friction for smaller and mid-tier shows, which are likely to consolidate around the Apple-Spotify ecosystem because the barriers are now lower. What this means for your audio strategy: The video podcast landscape is fragmenting by creator tier. Emerging partner programs on Spotify and Apple will have different reach profiles than established YouTube channels—and potentially lower CPMs as creators are still building audiences there. If you're targeting emerging voices or specific communities, these partnerships might offer better unit economics than YouTube's established creator base. The ubiquitous video platform is now America's #1 home for podcasts. Learn how your brand can benefit from its reach, engagement, and loyalty. What's new in audio advertising integrations? Audio is converging with other channels to create entirely new opportunities for brands. Two groundbreaking developments are reshaping the way we think about digital audio advertising: Retail media gets a soundtrack The retail media revolution has found its voice – literally. Lowe's introduction of in-store audio advertising to its retail media network (RMN) marks a significant evolution in the space. This innovation allows brands to reach shoppers at the precise moment of decision-making, creating a direct line of communication when purchase intent is at its peak. Imagine if customer browsing the tools section could hear a strategically timed message about your premium paint brand. These contextually relevant audio messages can influence purchasing decisions in real-time, adding a powerful new dimension to retail media strategies. Early tests have shown promising results, with brands reporting increased consideration and sales lift from these targeted in-store audio campaigns. We foresee more RMNs to follow the example in the future! Exverus' Sean Edwards spoke at MediaPost Live about how we successfully promoted an Entertainment brand via Audio Ads In-game audio is non-intrusive Gaming audio advertising (think mobile games) is also maturing. Rather than interrupting gameplay with video ads, audio messages play seamlessly in the background. This respects the user experience while maintaining high engagement rates – a win-win for both brands and gamers. How brands can adapt their omnichannel commerce strategies to meet consumers everywhere Actionable steps for brands in 2026 1. Seek podcast partners in the Spotify Partner Program Don't assume all podcast ad buys are equal. Advertisers can seek podcast partners enrolled in the Spotify Partner Program. Compare reach, CPMs, and conversion rates before reallocating material budget. Let data, not speculation, determine the split. The shift toward easier cross-platform distribution means partner networks are solidifying now. Lock in early if you find the right shows. 2. Consider a partner like iHeartMedia for a unified buy If you're looking for reach at scale, iHeartMedia owns both terrestrial radio and hundreds of digital podcasts—all in one central buying platform. They have a new partnership with TikTok creators, too, which opens up Gen Z distribution without fragmentation. Digital streaming may dominate music and podcasts, but AM/FM radio is still king for news and sports. Learn how to build it into a high-performing, full-funnel media plan. 3. Don't discount AM/FM Radio Radio captured an impressive 64% of ad-supported audio listening time among US adults in Q2 2025, per Edison Research, beating podcasts and streaming for time spent. If your brand's audience includes anyone outside the 18-34 bracket, radio deserves budget. Cost-per-impression is often lower than podcasts, and reach is enormous. At Exverus, we’re passionate about helping brands navigate these emerging channels to drive measurable results. Let’s explore how audio could amplify your next paid media campaign in 2026 and beyond. For more media buying tips, campaigns, and agency news, join our free weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. AI Disclosure: We use AI models to quickly consolidate information from top industry sources and combine it with our real-world expertise. Every word drafted is carefully reviewed, edited, and confirmed by human eyes and hands for accuracy and quality. All information on exverus.com has been executive-approved and is updated daily.

Your consumers are never without their phones, so make buying your brand a breeze. Here are a few tips for winning at mobile commerce. Real quick, do you have your phone nearby? I do! Your future customers do, too. We’re all tethered to our mobile devices these days, making them one of the most effective ways to reach your target consumers. In fact, Statista reports that the majority of retail website traffic now comes from mobile devices! That means countless opportunities to reach shoppers in a purchasing mindset and persuade them to choose your brand. Smart advertising campaigns are no longer conceptualized and then later “optimized for mobile” – they’re built with mobile in mind. What is m-commerce, and how does it differ from e-commerce? Mobile commerce (or m-commerce) is a subset of e-commerce that specifically uses wireless or handheld electronic devices for buying and selling goods and services online. M-commerce can take place in a mobile web browser or in an app, and it allows for payment via digital wallet or contactless payment in addition to manual credit card data entry. According to Adobe Analytics, 56.4% of U.S. online holiday transactions in 2025 were completed on a smartphone, up from 54.5% the year before. That means brands need to build their e-commerce stores with mobile in mind from the start and make mobile shopping as seamless as possible, or they'll lose out to the competition. What are some popular mobile advertising formats? Mobile advertising refers to any form of digital advertising that appears within a mobile or handheld device. The creative possibilities are endless, but a few of the most impactful forms include: Display (or Banner) Ads Display ads must be designed for mobile users, which means eye-catching designs and interactive user experiences. Our award-winning mobile marketing campaigns have included rich media, tappable location maps that guide people to physical stores, and fun AR filters that consumers love adding to their photos. Native Ads Most of us are primed to visually recognize and skip over advertisements that stand out from the content we're looking at. Native ads blend in with the surrounding content so viewers will read them without disruption. Audio & Video Ads Video ads are extremely effective on mobile devices because they combine two forms of attention: sound and motion. They provide an opportunity to convey your brand's personality through creative visuals and sonic branding. Audio is a highly trustworthy, memorable medium with less competition from other brands than crowded platforms like Social. Click for Lexi's comprehensive guide to buying media on YouTube Augmented Reality As mentioned above, AR-infused ads can make your brand stand out from the stream of static and video ads, especially for apparel and home goods. Customers want to see how items will look in their space before purchasing, and with AR tech, you can give them the visuals they need to make a decision in real time. Branded App In your own proprietary, controlled environment, consumers (current and future) can shop, get advice, and access new releases instantly. Give app users access to exclusive community deals that make them feel like part of an in-group. 58% of shoppers say an exclusive offer would increase their likelihood to purchase. 82% say it would increase how often they shopped with a brand. Gamification Turning a digital ad into a quick, fun puzzle or quiz increases user engagement exponentially. What's even better: offering a reward for ad engagement or offering purchase credits for in-app game participation can build long-term customer loyalty. Learn how we drove over 1 million app downloads in 3 months for "The Chosen" Again, the possibilities for successful m-commerce campaigns stretch as far as your imagination. Gather a healthy sample of consumer data so you know who your audience is and what they want, and you can build an impactful campaign that serves your consumer well. This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.

We made Premier Protein the top-selling item on Prime Big Deals Day twice - but how could we hold onto our top spot in 2025? The Challenge Premier Protein (PP) had been a category leader in the past, but in 2025, our market position was in real danger. The protein craze in America brought a stampede of challengers nipping at our heels; marketing budgets were being slashed across the board, and brand loyalty was at an all-time low among Millennial and Gen Z consumers. The old playbook wouldn’t work anymore - we needed to think of something truly innovative if we were going to win without increasing budgets. From July-September 2025, we were challenged with staving off the competition, driving immediate sales, and refreshing the PP brand’s image with a new logo and seven new product launches. Instead of replicating old tactics, we tested new ones. Our media plan had three main objectives across the funnel, each with distinct KPIs: Build Equity: Lift overall brand awareness among target audience +7pts or more Test Social Reach innovation, aiming for 10% more efficient video views than concurrent Meta campaign Increase July’s Prime Day sales by at least 20% YoY We targeted everyday health enthusiasts and fitness-seekers, plus GLP-1 users in need of daily protein. The Social Reach Solution Paid Social had always been a strong mid-funnel performer for PP, but in a year when TikTok’s future in the US hung in the balance, and global social media use plateaued, we couldn’t rely on social platforms’ off-the-shelf tools – we invented new ones. Exverus VP of Planning & Strategy Tasha Day oversaw the campaign build, and VP of Performance Marketing Hillary Bram pioneered an adtech collaboration: We partnered with video ad-tech provider SeenThis to develop a first-to-market ad unit called Social Reach, which takes a brand’s existing vertical video assets and spreads them across SSP PubMatic’s premium open web Display slots. This would deliver our top-performing social videos beyond the walled gardens with lightning-fast speed, using adaptive streaming technology. If it worked, it could exponentially increase our reach at no additional creative cost. Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest would run as part of a larger, omnichannel plan that included CTV, Audio, Search, and Retail Media. Results When it came time for quarterly reports, the halo effect created by our social-centered strategy blew us away. Exverus VP of Performance Marketing Hillary Bram initiated the partnership with SeenThis to develop Social Reach at no additional production cost. Our Social Reach test achieved 3.3MM more completed video views than the Meta Ads running during the same period, at half the cost of Meta’s benchmark ($0.03 per click vs. $0.06) - in other words, Social Reach outperformed Meta by 50% efficiency! At the bottom of the funnel, July’s Prime Day campaign delivered exceptional results, achieving a remarkable +31% increase in daily sales average compared to 2024 and an impressive 4.85x return on incremental investment. These outstanding results underscore the power of coordinated paid media strategies during high-stakes retail events. And yes, Numerator confirmed Premier Protein shakes were the #1 selling product on Prime Day for a third straight year! For more media tips, campaign case studies, and industry analyses; subscribe to our free Paid Media Insights newsletter here.

Exverus by Brainlabs launched a sprawling, upper-funnel media play in just three weeks Exverus by Brainlabs is spreading Club Pilates' message of inclusivity and belonging with a broad-reach brand awareness campaign. OCTOBER 7, 2025 (LOS ANGELES, CA) -- Club Pilates, the largest network of Pilates studios globally, launched its first national brand campaign from independent creative agency Zambezi and media agency Exverus by Brainlabs. "Pilates for Every Body" is running paid media across Broadcast, CTV, Social, Search, Audio and Out-of-Home; as featured in LBB Online. Club Pilates is an exciting account win for Exverus by Brainlabs, adding to its robust roster of CPG / health and wellness brands like Premier Protein & Dymatize, Theralogix supplements, and Habit Burger & Grill. The "Pilates for Every Body" campaign balances two goals: reassert Club Pilates' leading spot in the market by utilizing wide-reaching media to build brand salience, and re-engage consumers in the consideration stage with personalized, addressable media at scale. "Our communications framework is built around the message that people of all types can incorporate pilates into their fitness routine for physical and mental health," says Exverus Media Director Vanessa Pinzon. "We're scaling that message while making individuals feel seen and spoken to directly." As Pilates becomes more popular, it's being swept into a fast-paced, filtered fitness culture—one that celebrates aesthetics over authenticity. But as the century-old practice takes off into the pop-culture stratosphere alongside a prevailing image of the ideal body, Club Pilates and Zambezi reinforce the true power of Pilates, a practice built on strength, healing and accessibility. The “Every Body Club Pilates” campaign sends a pointed message that Pilates is intended for everybody, no matter their age, body type, or activity level. “Since 2007, we’ve opened our doors to all bodies, all ages, and all abilities—whether you’re just starting out in Pilates, new to movement or simply seeking strength,” said Amanda Croce, Chief Marketing Officer at Club Pilates. “We believe the practice isn’t about looking a certain way—it’s about feeling better, moving better, and belonging.” The campaign debuts today during The View where it will continue to run through the end of the year, in addition to Good Morning America, GMA3, and General Hospital. About Exverus by Brainlabs Founded in 2014, Exverus by Brainlabs is a global, independent media agency building growth-stage brands through full-funnel media planning, traditional and programmatic advertising, retail media & e-commerce, paid search, paid social, and analytics. Our data-driven media plans combine precise market research with creative ideas to confidently allocate every ad dollar for the maximum return. Named for the Latin phrase "from the truth", Exverus by Brainlabs is dedicated to transparency and long-term client trust. Learn more at exverus.com. About Club Pilates Founded in 2007, Club Pilates is the largest Pilates brand by number of studios, designed with the vision of making Pilates more accessible, approachable and welcoming to everyone. Based in Irvine, CA, Club Pilates has appeared in both Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 and Fastest-Growing Franchises nine years running, Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5000 lists multiple times, and was honored with Forbes’ Best Customer Service Award. Club Pilates offers extensive training certification for its instructors, including its 500-hour training program. Club Pilates is headquartered in Irvine, CA and part of the Xponential Fitness family of brands, a leading curator of boutique health and wellness brands. To learn more about Club Pilates, visit https://www.clubpilates.com. For more media buying tips, agency news, and case studies, subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter.

We don't do this work for the trophies. But when an industry as demanding as media planning stops to say this campaign was something special, we're not going to pretend it doesn't mean something. So, we're proud to share that Exverus by Brainlabs has been named a winner of the 2026 MediaPost Planning & Buying Award in the Pharma/Health/Wellness Thercategory for our "Wellness Women Can Trust" campaign on behalf of client Theralogix. The award was presented at the annual MediaPost Planning & Buying Awards ceremony on April 15, 2026, at The University Club in New York City. The Brief: Do More With Less Theralogix has been developing rigorously tested, affordable nutritional supplements — focused on fertility, uterine health, and menstrual regularity — since 2002. The brand deserves to be found. The challenge in Q2 2025 was that women searching for health information online were drowning in conflicting, often misleading advice. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, women's health remains severely underresearched, and declining public trust in institutions since the COVID pandemic has made it harder than ever for science-backed brands to cut through the noise. Our mandate was aggressive: improve Social ROAS by a minimum of 50% quarter-over-quarter, launch Google Performance Max at a $3 ROAS, and grow overall brand sales at least 10% year-over-year. The twist? We had 18% less media budget than Q1 to do it. Congratulations to Media Director Georgia Schreiner (2023 AdAge Media Planner of the Year), Senior Media Planner Jillian Telman, and every specialist across search, social, programmatic, analytics, and ad ops who made "Wellness Women Can Trust" a campaign worthy of that name. The Strategy: Full-Funnel, High-Precision This is exactly the kind of brief that makes our team lean in. Rather than chasing reach with a scatter-shot approach, we built a precision media plan anchored in audience intelligence — reaching the right women with the right message at the right moment in their health journey. According to EMARKETER, search behavior is being fundamentally redefined by generational shifts. Social platforms today aren't just discovery channels; they're search engines and points-of-sale simultaneously. We built a media plan that treated them that way, diversifying across social commerce, search, programmatic, and emerging channels to maintain a balance between brand building and performance without sacrificing either. Learn more about how to reach digital-savvy consumers everywhere they search and shorten the path to purchase. The Results: Unprecedented Performance In three months, the numbers didn't just hit targets. They redefined them: Meta ROAS more than doubled quarter-over-quarter ($4.66 → $9.77) TikTok Search ROAS surged 293% Google PMAX generated $107K from 1,217 new customers at a 4.3 ROAS, clearing the $3 objective Web traffic grew 20% while cost-per-view dropped 3.55%, despite the smaller budget Overall purchases rose 18%, ROAS lifted 21%, and annual sales grew 19.5% YoY — nearly double the goal The bottom line: In one quarter, with less money, Exverus delivered 19.5% year-over-year sales growth for Theralogix — nearly double the target — by building a diversified, full-funnel media plan that met women where they actually search, discover, and buy. What this means for our clients This win (our latest in a long line that includes 8 Adweek Media Plan of the Year awards, 3 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year honors, and 3 Cannes Lions finalist recognitions) reflects the talent of the entire team who brought this campaign to life. For our clients, it's a signal of something more important than hardware: it means the thinking, tools, and team we bring to every engagement are being measured against the best in the industry — and coming out on top. Most importantly, we helped real women find a supplement brand that actually delivers on its promises. That's the work that matters. Exverus Senior Manager of PR & Communications Michelle Andrade accepted the award onsite on behalf of the media planning & buying teams. Frequently Asked Questions What is media planning? Media planning is the strategic process of determining where, when, how, and to whom a brand's advertising should appear across paid channels — from paid social and programmatic display to search, native, streaming, and beyond. Done well, it's not a logistics exercise. It's a creative act: one that requires deep audience insight, disciplined data analysis, and the ability to connect the right message to the right person at the right moment in their decision journey. Learn how growth-stage brands can outsmart the sleeping giants with smaller budgets but bigger ideas. What is the MediaPost Planning & Buying Award? The MediaPost Planning & Buying Awards are an annual competition recognizing excellence in media strategy, planning, and buying across categories including social media, performance media, native marketing, and health/wellness. The awards are based on the belief that the process of planning and buying media is as creative and impactful as traditional advertising creative development. Exverus by Brainlabs won the Pharma/Health/Wellness category at the 2026 Awards for the "Wellness Women Can Trust" campaign, created for nutritional supplement brand Theralogix. What results did the Theralogix campaign achieve? In Q2 2025, the campaign delivered: Meta ROAS that more than doubled quarter-over-quarter, a 293% surge in TikTok Search ROAS, 18% growth in purchases, a 21% ROAS lift, and 19.5% year-over-year sales growth — on 18% less media budget than the prior quarter. What is Exverus by Brainlabs? Exverus by Brainlabs is a Los Angeles-based, full-funnel media planning and buying agency. Founded in 2014, Exverus was acquired by global digital agency Brainlabs in 2025. The agency manages over $100M in annual media spend and has earned recognition as a three-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year (Media), an eight-time Adweek Media Plan of the Year winner, and a three-time Cannes Lions finalist. Ready to talk about what precision media planning can do for your brand? Let's connect.

Key Takeaways: The Gotta Habit Meal Deals' share of total Habit sales in test markets rose 18.6% versus pre-campaign baseline, statistically significant at 99% confidence. Control markets with no media support showed no comparable lift, pointing to the campaign as a driver of the sales increase. Habit Burger & Grill reported 7% system sales growth and 5% same-store sales growth in Q1 2026, one of its strongest quarters in recent years. The Challenge: Balance value with price In 2026, deal-seeking visits account for close to a third of all restaurant traffic - among the highest rates tracked in decades! Habit Burger & Grill felt that pressure directly. The brand needed a value offer strong enough to compete on price and built to protect the "Fresh Like That" positioning it had just introduced. Our media team built the ad campaign behind Habit's Q1 2026 Gotta Habit Meal Deals, a tiered $6, $8, and $10 bundle offer that ran across 15 states, spanning established California markets and newer expansion territory. We set out to prove something specific: that an ad campaign could move sales in a five-week window, in a category that was largely stuck. Creative agency Optimism BH designed the Gotta Habit ad campaign The Strategy: Measuring for causation We designed the campaign around a controlled incrementality study, running live inside the media flight itself. Sales performance in five key test markets running Gotta Habit Meal Deals was measured against comparable regions receiving no media support at all. That structure let us attribute any lift directly to the campaign. A full-funnel channel mix, balancing upper-funnel reach with lower-funnel conversion, supported the test while keeping the plan focused on long-term brand health and short-term sales simultaneously. The Results: Ad campaign proves its own value In just 5 weeks, the Gotta Habit Meal Deal's share of total Habit sales in test markets rose 18.6% above pre-campaign baseline, at 99% statistical significance. Meanwhile: Control markets with no media investment showed no comparable trend, which points to the campaign itself as a driver of that lift. Our creative testing surfaced a genuine surprise: Music enthusiasts, an audience outside Habit's traditional fast-casual targeting, posted the strongest view-through rate of any segment tested, 8% above benchmark. That finding is now shaping how we think about audience expansion for Habit beyond the category's usual playbook. And the impact extended past the test markets: Habit's parent company, Yum! Brands, reported that the Habit division grew system sales 7% and same-store sales 5% in Q1 2026, one of the brand's strongest quarters in years! Why it matters Most fast casual brands running a deal can point to redemption counts or a short-term traffic bump. But few can show what an ad campaign actually contributed versus what would have happened anyway. Building a controlled test into a live, full-funnel ad campaign gave Habit a repeatable framework for evaluating future value plays against real, measured lift. About the Director Named Ad Age Media Planner of the Year in 2023, Georgia Schreiner brings 15 years of experience in marketing & advertising to her role as Media Director at Exverus by Brainlabs. She began her career at Havas Media Group in Chicago before relocating to Colorado and rising through the ranks of automotive marketing. In addition to her Advertising degree from University of Illinois, Georgia holds certifications from The Trade Desk Edge Academy, Google Ads Search, Meta Media Professionals, Amazon Sponsored Ads, and Insperity Leadership Training.

How our Megabrand ad campaign helped Voodoo Ranger outpace the craft beer field The Challenge: Competition brewing New Belgium Brewing's wild child, Voodoo Ranger, was facing a storm of competition from challenger brands crowding the craft beer category. The brand needed more than another standard media buy to defend Voodoo Ranger's spot at the top of the charts. They needed a full 360 campaign built to match the brand's edgy, adventurous identity at scale, across every channel where their audience actually spent time. The Strategy: An ad campaign on every screen New Belgium brought us in to bring that identity to life across a fully digital, 360 media campaign. Working with Voodoo Ranger's visually striking, edgy creative assets, designed by creative agency Fact & Fiction, we programmatically bought a carefully chosen mix of premium CTV, Snapchat, Reddit, YouTube, and other inventory as part of New Belgium's larger marketing effort. The Results: Mega beer sales! The Megabrand campaign surpassed all of New Belgium's goals for the year. Cross-channel ad awareness rose 44%, brand favorability rose 23%, and business sales grew 26% year-over-year, with the product line surpassing its full-year sales targets. Our work was recognized industry-wide. It won Best Alcoholic Beverage Marketing Campaign at the 2024 MediaPost OMMA Awards, and Adweek Media Plan of the Year for Best Use of Programmatic Media. Live Rangerously! About the Director As Associate Media Director at Exverus, Shelby’s media planning team (currently serving New Belgium & Bell's Brewing and Right Guard) combine fresh, creative ideas with sharp, precise data for industry-leading results. Shelby's work ethic and expertise have earned Adweek Media Plan of the Year, MediaPost OMMAs, & The Drum Awards. She previously ran media strategy for McDonald’s, Corona & Corona Hard Seltzer, plus entertainment properties across multicultural audiences. For more media buying news and tips, subscribe to our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter.