Experience

My 10-year-old daughter keeps asking what I actually do. 

It usually pops up on ‘Bring Your Kids to Work’ day, when she sees my team staring at monitors. 

I tell her we take money – just like her pocket money, but digital – and turn it into more money for our clients. 

It’s called ‘performance advertising’. And it’s the biggest buzz there is.

I hate the words ‘ad spend’. Sounds like tossing cash into a bonfire. 

I call it ‘ad investments’ because that’s what it is to me.

No Series 7 needed, but I swear, I treat every digital advertising dollar like it’s coming out of my own pocket. 

My team handles over $250 million in ads on Google, Meta, and DV360. That’s a lot of zeros. If we blow it, we can’t just pretend it never happened.

So, yeah, I feel like a fiduciary – even if the law doesn’t say I am. And I always have skin in the game. 

Let’s dig into why this gets my blood pumping.

Reflection

Performance advertising caught my attention back in 2003. 

I liked outsmarting someone else late at night, for a cheaper click or lower CPM. 

Yes, it was basically me versus some stranger on the internet, each of us trying to snag an order. 

A neuroscientist might say it’s just dopamine in the brain. Fine. I call it an adrenaline rush. 

You spend (invest) campaign money. Watch the results. Tweak. Repeat. 

If you’re wrong, there is nowhere to hide. No sugarcoating. 

Digital advertising is like … life: calculated risks, quick feedback, constant learning. 

Either you keep growing, or you fall behind. 

Managing bigger budgets only amplifies your highs and lows

And that has had me hooked on Performance Advertising: both the thrill of exceeding RoAS and the fear of wasting a brand’s money.

So how can this madness help your own career?

Action

Let’s be direct (and a bit ruthless) about leveling up your brand’s digital advertising investments:

Step 1, Leave your Comfort Zone: Ad investments are a brand’s largest controllable expense. So treat the client’s money like it’s your own. Don’t just ‘spend’ it. Invest it to learn more about what works. .

Step 2, Learn by Testing: The difference between mediocre and top-tier media traders – or CMOs? Belief in always getting better. Let the algos do the grunt work; you and your team must do next-level creative thinking. What new test ideas will you come up with to justify the extra investment?

Step 3, Create Exceptional Value: Most marketers talk about testing but rarely do it well. Why? Because A/B testing is hard. Test aggressively, relentlessly, and I promise, you will see RoAS climb. That proves the ‘investment’ is worthwhile – and gets you more budget. And more buzz. 

Step 4, Enjoy the Buzz and keep on getting better: Be ruthless about getting continuous improvement from your performance ad investments, or someone else will do that in your place. 

(Btw, the above 4 steps follow my Return on Marketing Career (RoMC) framework - to learn about RoMC, read this post.)

References

eMarketer projects in the US, global digital ad spending will exceed $600 billion by 2024 – this isn’t Monopoly money.

A Harvard Business Review study shows companies that treat digital advertising like an investment (not a budget line) can see a 20% higher ROI.

Gartner finds that brands using structured test-and-learn approaches grow revenue up to 15% faster.

Forrester highlights that continuous optimization in digital marketing drives better long-term brand impact.

Bottom line? Real data backs up the idea that treating ad dollars like investments – plus a relentless testing approach – leads to higher RoAS, and higher online revenues from the same ad investments.

And it’s scientifically proven to be more fun too. Journal of Neuroscience research indicates dopamine spikes in high-risk, high-reward work – like performance ads

If you’d like to discuss your career journey with me one-to-one, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or message me on LinkedIn.

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