I took this picture above as I was headed to Dallas for business meetings this week. I was ready to board my Southwest Airlines flight at Midway in Chicago. As most of us who travel regularly know, each airline has its own tiered system for boarding their plane. For Southwest Airlines, a glance at the gate screen shows how their boarding process is broken into clear tiers: Preboard, A-Group, Extra Time, and so on. Each tier represents a specific value proposition for passengers — from the convenience of early boarding to securing a better seat or simply waiting for your turn in C-Group.
I paid extra to secure “A-Group” for my flight to be able to get on the plane early to get myself a window seat (Being able to see outside keeps me calm when flying). However, about 35 people boarded ahead of me and I believe most of them didn’t pay extra to do so as I did. It got me thinking about the cost and value of my “A-Group” ticket.
Now, think about your paid digital advertising strategy currently being executed. Similar to Southwest's boarding tiers, your tactics — whether programmatic, pay-per-click (PPC), or paid social media — each have distinct value drivers. Over time, however, the perceived or actual value of these tactics may have shifted. This is why conducting a digital media audit, at least once a year, is critical for middle-market brands seeking to maximize ROI and plan effectively for the year ahead.
What Is a Paid Digital Advertising Audit?
A paid digital advertising audit is an in-depth review of your paid ad campaigns across platforms (Google, Meta, Snap, DSPs/Programmatic channels, etc). It evaluates performance metrics, targeting efficiency, data usage, pixel placements and attribution, budget allocation, and creative effectiveness. Much like reviewing the value of each Southwest boarding tier, an audit helps you determine whether your investments align with your goals and whether some strategies need to be prioritized over others.
Why Perform an Audit Now?
As the year wraps up, most marketers are setting budgets and strategies for the coming year. Performing an audit now ensures that your decisions are grounded in current data, not outdated assumptions. Here’s why timing matters:
Changing Value Perceptions: Just as a frequent flyer might reevaluate the worth of A-List Preferred status, marketers may find that a previously high-performing tactic — like PPC or programmatic retargeting — is delivering diminishing returns. Trends, audience behaviors, and platform algorithms shift throughout the year, making a periodic review essential.
Budget Optimization: The end of the year often means tighter budgets. By auditing your campaigns, you can identify underperforming tactics and reallocate funds to higher-value channels, ensuring every dollar spent contributes to your business goals.
Planning for 2025: Data from your audit can inform your strategy for the next year. For example, if your paid social campaigns are driving significant brand awareness but falling short on conversions, you might decide to adjust your messaging or explore other platforms or channels to fill the gaps.
What Can You Learn from an Audit?
When marketers take the time to evaluate their campaigns, they often uncover surprising insights:
1. Audience Alignment Issues
· Targeting Errors: The audit may reveal that your ads are reaching audiences outside of your ideal demographic or geographic areas.
· Segment Overlap: You might find that different campaigns are targeting the same audience segments, leading to wasted impressions or budget cannibalization.
2. Ad Fatigue
· If your audience has seen your ads too many times (high frequency), this could result in diminishing returns. An audit can help identify where ad fatigue is affecting performance and suggest creative refreshes.
3. Platform Performance Gaps
· Some platforms may consistently outperform others. For example, Facebook may deliver better results for one objective (e.g., brand awareness), while Google Search excels in conversion-focused campaigns.
4. Inefficient Spending
· High CPA (Cost per Acquisition): The audit may reveal that some campaigns are costing more to convert than they should.
· Underperforming Keywords: In PPC campaigns, you might find certain keywords are spending heavily without delivering results, indicating they should be paused or adjusted.
5. Attribution Challenges
· You may discover that certain channels are being undervalued because of poor attribution models. For instance, first- or last-click attribution might not give credit to top-of-funnel tactics like display or video ads.
6. Landing Page Ineffectiveness
· Poor-performing landing pages can be identified as bottlenecks. Even if your ads are driving clicks, a suboptimal page experience (slow load times, confusing layouts, or weak calls-to-action) can kill conversions.
7. Compliance Issues
· An audit can reveal if any of your campaigns are unintentionally violating platform policies, such as improper ad copy, unsupported claims, or missing disclosures (e.g., for financial or health products).
8. Missed Opportunities for Advanced Tactics
· Retargeting Gaps: You may find that you’re not fully leveraging retargeting campaigns or that retargeting audiences are outdated.
· Lookalike Audiences: Your audit might suggest opportunities to create lookalike audiences based on high-performing segments.
9. Ad Creative Trends
· You can identify which creatives (images, videos, headlines) resonate most with your audience and which fail to capture attention.
10. Benchmarking Insights
· Compare your campaign performance against industry benchmarks. If your CTR (click-through rate) or ROAS (return on ad spend) is significantly below average, it’s a clear sign that adjustments are needed.
11. Seasonal or Time-Based Trends
· An audit can uncover temporal insights, such as better performance during specific times of the day, week, or year, helping you optimize ad scheduling.
12. Missed Integration Opportunities
· Some campaigns may lack synergy with your overall marketing strategy, such as failing to integrate paid ads with organic efforts, email campaigns, or offline marketing tactics.
13. Tracking and Analytics Issues
· You may find tracking pixels, tags, or conversion events are improperly configured or missing, leading to inaccurate reporting.
14. Budget Allocation Imbalances
· An audit may reveal overinvestment in underperforming campaigns and underinvestment in high-performing ones, pointing to better budget allocation strategies.
15. Emerging Competitive Insights
· Auditing competitor performance (via tools like Google Auction Insights or social benchmarking reports) can reveal where your brand is falling short or where new opportunities are opening up.
By uncovering these issues, a paid digital advertising audit ensures you’re running the most efficient and effective campaigns possible while eliminating waste and uncovering new opportunities to drive growth.
Final Boarding Call
Southwest's boarding tiers help travelers assign value to their priorities, whether that’s an early boarding position or a budget-friendly option. But these programs and their perceived value are constantly changing. Similarly, your paid digital advertising audit allows you to assess the value of each tactic within your digital advertising strategy.
As we close out the year, take the time to conduct a comprehensive audit of your paid digital advertising. It’s your chance to ensure that every dollar invested in 2025 will be set to deliver your brand's desired outcomes. Just as passengers feel more confident knowing their boarding tier aligns with their needs, you’ll feel confident knowing your advertising strategy is optimized for success.
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