Cracking the digital advertising code isn’t about chasing every new trend—it’s about mastering the timeless fundamentals that help you win, no matter what tools the future brings.
After helping dozens of companies in all sorts of industries grow their businesses through digital advertising, we’ve learned a few things. While each platform is unique in its specifics, some commonalities can be applied to any ad platform. That’s what this article is about, because there will be new tools and ways to advertise your business. Understanding the fundamentals will help you evolve and adapt as needed.
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Account structure
Account structure refers to the way you organize your account within an ad platform. It impacts how your ads can be optimized and how your budget is allocated.
For example, in Google Ads, you have campaigns > ad groups > ads. You can use location targeting at the campaign level, but not at the ad group level (although AI Max provides some exceptions to this now). As well, your budget is set at the campaign level. This means, for instance, that if you have a high-profit service but also want to advertise a service with low margins, you’ll want to use campaign-level split to control the cost, allocating more budget to the high-profit service and less to the low-margin service.
The key question you want to ask when it comes to account structure is where do you want budget control. In the example above, you are setting budget control on your products and services (high profit vs low margin). In some cases, location might be a better control for you. For instance, if you advertise in two cities and one city has a vastly larger population, then you’ll want to put more budget into that campaign. In its simplest form, you are putting your money where you have the best chance of making more money.
Whether you use LinkedIn Advertising, Meta Ads or Google Ads, each has different rules around what can be set at each level of the account. Take time before launching your campaigns to consider your goals and how they can be achieved through a robust account structure.
Landing page design & layout
After someone clicks your ad, the next thing they see is your landing page. This is a moment of truth that has a significant impact on your bottom line. In our article on CRO best practices, we provided the 4 pillars of a great landing page:
- Building trust
- Offering fair value
- Having a clear call-to-action (CTA)
- Making the next step easy to complete
Here’s a summary of the pillars; for a more in-depth look, read the full article, where you’ll find specific examples we’ve used for our clients.
Build trust
Trust is about whether a person, based on your landing page, believes you’ll do what you say you’ll do. The keys to building trust are to show social proof and offer a safety net.
Social proof involves demonstrating how others have successfully utilized your product. Social proof can also be about any certifications or awards you have received. Simply, you want to show that others have trusted you in the past and have benefited from that.
Creating a safety net is about showing people that, if something does go wrong, you’ll be there for them. This is typically provided in the form of guarantees and warranties.
Having a clear call-to-action (CTA)
It surprises us how many landing pages, blog articles and product information pages just end. They don’t provide any next step or call to action (CTA). This is equivalent to a salesperson not asking for a commitment for the next step in the process. It’s a missed opportunity.
We like to have multiple tiers of CTAs on our pages. Typically, we’ll have one CTA that is sales-oriented (e.g., “Get a free quote”) and at least one other CTA that is focused on the mid-funnel (e.g., “Download our free ebook”). This method ensures that wherever a person is when they reach your landing page, you’ll have a path for them to continue with you. BTW, you’ll see an example of how we do this at the bottom of this article.
Make the next step easy to complete
You’ve decided to add multiple CTAs to your landing page, but what should they be? The next step in the buying journey should be easy to complete. For example, if the next step in the buying cycle is for the prospect to fill out a form, avoid making it overly long or complex. Only ask for information that you need to facilitate the next step.
Here are a few things to check
- Can my form be made shorter or easier to complete
- Is my ordering process simple and error-free
- Can a visitor easily contact you to ask questions
At this point in the buying cycle, you want to reduce friction. Short and straightforward is better than long and complex.
Your offer
You’ve got traffic to your landing page and have considered all of the best practices for building trust and getting people to convert. Like water in the desert, the last piece of the puzzle is designing an irresistible offer. Here are a few key points to consider.
- Zero in on your audience’s most significant pain point(s)
- Maximize the value-to-cost ratio
- Focus on benefits, not features
- Differentiate from your competition
- Make the offer personal
- Add urgency
Zero in on your audience’s most significant pain point(s)
Whether it’s weight loss or a clean house, people want their problems solved. If you can show them how you’ll make their life better, then you’ll be 80% of the way to creating a great offer.
One of the best ways to figure out what your prospects’ problems are is to ask them: “What challenges do you have when you do x?” This will provide you with clues on what will be persuasive when you build your landing page and ad copy.
Maximize the value-to-cost ratio
Now that you have them emotionally invested in your solution to their problems, you need to make sure that the perceived value is greater than the cost. This comes down to doing some basic math and ensuring that it’s both profitable and valuable.
Pro Tip: Experiment with how you present the cost of your offer. For example, you can say “Buy one, get one” or “Save 50%.” Both have similar financial outcomes, but each has a different perception, and one may work better than the other with your audience.
Focus on benefits, not features
Lead with how your product or service will help the visitor, not what the product does. For example, “these screws can hold 20lbs” is better than “¼” screws.” While the specification can be important for some buyers, they are still looking for the benefit that the feature provides. Here are a few more examples:
Feature: 10-hour battery life.
Benefit: Stay connected and productive all day without worrying about charging.
Feature: 256GB SSD.
Benefit: Launch applications in seconds and enjoy fast file transfers for smoother workflows.
Feature: Noise-cancelling headphones.
Benefit: Focus deeply in loud environments and enjoy your music without distractions.
Feature: All-natural anti-aging serum.
Benefit: Enjoy visibly smoother, younger-looking skin with safe ingredients.
Differentiate from your competition
If everyone sells the same product, your customers will likely choose the one with the lowest price. This is called commoditization. You want to avoid that. To figure out how you are different, ask yourself, “What is something that ONLY my product can do?” This will, hopefully, generate a list of features and benefits that only your product can offer.
Many companies fall back on stating the number of years they have been in business. While on the surface, this may seem helpful, it’s a feature, not a benefit to the customer. The other issue is that it’s easy for competitors to copy. A test to check for this is to swap your business name with that of your competitor and see if it makes sense.
Make the offer personal
When presenting your offer, you want to make it feel like the offer is only for them. Write your page copy as if you are writing to a single person. Other ways to make your landing page feel more personable include:
- Employing dynamic headlines
- Including personal stories
- Customize content for the customer
- Avoiding stock images
- Implementing contextual elements based on data
If you’re able to use marketing automation software or CRM data, this can help you make your landing pages even more personable.
Add urgency
When a visitor leaves your website, it’s much harder to close the sale. Keep the momentum by creating urgency. Encourage the prospect to take the next step immediately.
A sense of urgency can be created in several ways: scarcity and time-based. Scarcity refers to limiting the availability of something, for a digital marketing consultant who may only have room for one more client this quarter. For a physical product, you can display that you only have two more in stock.
Time-based urgency focuses on dates. For example, if you have a sale or bonus offer for early purchases, display when that offer ends. Even if you don’t have a specific sale, you can say the price is good until x. Countdown timers are a great way to display time-based messages.
How can AI and machine learning enhance ad account structure and campaign performance?
AI and machine learning enhance ad account structure by automating audience segmentation, optimizing bidding strategies, and analyzing large datasets for performance insights. They improve campaign performance by predicting outcomes, reducing wasted spend, and dynamically adjusting creative and targeting for higher ROI.
What role does user data privacy play in digital advertising strategy?
User data privacy shapes digital advertising strategy by limiting how data is collected, stored, and used. Regulations like GDPR and CCPA force advertisers to adopt consent-based targeting, reduce reliance on third-party cookies, and invest in first-party data solutions to maintain compliance and consumer trust.
How can landing page personalization improve conversion rates?
Landing page personalization improves conversion rates by matching content to user intent, demographics, or behaviour. Personalized headlines, offers, and calls-to-action increase relevance, reduce bounce rates, and guide users to take action. Dynamic content based on location or past activity drives higher engagement and conversions.
What are the most effective methods for distributing ad budget across channels or funnel stages?
Distribute ad budget effectively by aligning spend with funnel stages: invest more in awareness channels (e.g., social media) early, shift to intent-driven platforms (e.g., search) mid-funnel, and prioritize retargeting or email for conversions. Use performance data, audience behaviour, and ROAS to guide allocation decisions.
How do interactive and video content trends influence landing page effectiveness?
Interactive and video content increase landing page effectiveness by capturing attention, enhancing engagement, and delivering information quickly. Videos boost time-on-page and trust, while interactive elements like quizzes or sliders encourage user action. These formats reduce bounce rates and improve conversion likelihood through immersive user experiences.
Wrapping Up
Digital advertising success lies in getting the basics right: crafting strong account structures, building trust on your landing pages, and presenting irresistible, audience-focused offers. As the landscape evolves, those foundational skills enable you to navigate new platforms, optimize performance, and seize opportunities ahead of competitors. The key is a willingness to test, learn, and adapt your approach while always keeping the user experience front and center.
However, implementing these strategies effectively requires experience, data expertise, and ongoing optimization—not just technical knowledge, but a strategic perspective as well. If you want to drive measurable growth, maximize your advertising spend, and position your business for long-term success, expert support can make all the difference.
Ready to take your paid advertising campaigns to the next level? Partner with a proven SEM consultant to get results-driven strategies, detailed account audits, and hands-on management tailored to your goals. Let’s accelerate your growth together.