Paid media offers one of the fastest ways to promote a business event and get the right people to take action.
Event campaigns are not just regular ads with a date added. They need a dedicated strategy, setup, budget, and audience targeting to succeed.
From webinars and product launches to open houses and local promotions, you’ll get better results by treating your event like a stand-alone campaign.
Here’s how to approach it with paid search and social ads that drive participation.
Here are common examples of business events that can benefit from paid ad promotion:
For an “event,” we generally look for a special, notable activity outside of normal business, with a limited time for engagement.
Each event should have its own dedicated campaign. This gives you more control over:
Don’t try to squeeze event ads into your evergreen campaigns. Keep it separate so you can measure impact clearly.
A separate budget prevents your main campaigns from losing momentum. Even a small spend focused on urgency and high-intent audiences can produce a strong ROI.
Add event details directly into your ad copy, such as headlines or descriptions in responsive search ads (RSAs), and use the pinning feature to lock critical details into place.
For higher control, create an entirely new custom ad built specifically around the event message.
Use promotion assets in Google Ads for sales-driven events that include a discount or monetary offer.
Double-check each platform’s documentation to confirm which features are available and how they are currently labeled.
Screenshot by author, June 2025
After creating a new campaign for your event and allocating its budget, there are several other factors to consider when promoting events.
Event ads need clear details upfront:
Use direct headlines and don’t leave room for interpretation. Test countdown timers (Google) in your ad copy to build urgency.
Check out Microsoft Ads, which has a great explanation on how the countdown feature works.
If you’re offering discounts or early-bird pricing, clearly state it in both the headline and description.
Below is the Google Ads example of setting this up in a headline and steps to implement.
Screenshot by author, May 2025
The timeline for event promotion is mission-critical. Some events only require a few days of promotion, while others may need weeks or months of preparation.
Plan around three phases:
Also, confirm your ad platform’s scheduling limits. Google ends ads at 11:59 p.m. of the advertiser’s time zone. Some let you choose a specific time (in 24-hour format).
The location targeting will be largely determined by the event’s real, physical location, but there are a few things to consider.
Depending on the density of the customer base, location targeting will vary for each advertiser. Match the event’s scale to your location settings:
For example:
With national targeting, you may want to prioritize budget allocation to major metro areas. Another approach is to review your customer purchase data for trends in revenue or return on investment (ROI) by location.
Your existing keyword list or audience segments may not apply to an event. Build targeting around:
You don’t need to be directly involved in the event to benefit from event-driven ad traffic. You can also capitalize on events related to your business to gain extra exposure.
For example, if a local wedding expo is happening in your area, a florist or event planner can run campaigns targeting attendees who are searching for event services during the show.
This strategy works for:
Set up a parallel campaign with relevant offers or content that aligns with the audience’s mindset during the event.
Event campaigns deserve more than a last-minute or a generic ad slot.
With a strategic approach, they can build brand awareness, generate leads, and leave a lasting impression.
By setting up a dedicated campaign, writing clear and timely messaging, and using specific targeting, you’re setting the stage for better results.
Even if you’re not hosting the event, there are still ways to show up and be seen.
Put your event in the spotlight. When you run it like a pro with paid media, the results speak for themselves.
More resources:
Featured Image: PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock
Serena Williams shed new light Thursday on the forthcoming podcast she’s co-hosting with her sister Venus, which debuts in August on X.
Speaking at Stagwell’s Sport Beach during Cannes Lions, Williams discussed the personal motivations behind the show, which was announced in June, and previewed the show’s tone and topics.
“When Venus and I were playing tennis, social media was different,” she told Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, during the panel. “People didn’t get to know us—now we have the opportunity to do that.”
She said the show would be more open and cover topics like Black maternal health, women’s sports, business, and motherhood.
A longtime investor and founder of a venture firm, Williams said the podcast will spotlight female entrepreneurs and disruptors in sports and culture.
She cited Jeanie Buss’ $10 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers as a perfect example of a subject matter that she would like to have explored on the show. She also stressed that the show would center its conversations on positivity, partly in response to criticism Williams faced during her career.
“When you’re a female entrepreneur, you work harder because you get fewer opportunities and so many no’s,” Williams said. “I feel like my whole life I’ve been going against the grain.”
The show will premiere on X before expanding to other audio platforms, and will feature interviews with “visionaries, creators, and rulebreakers,” according to an earlier press release.
Produced by Serena’s Nine Two Six Productions, the podcast joins a growing slate of original content on the platform, including shows from Khloé Kardashian and live WNBA games.
Notably, the launch marks the second time in recent months that a member of Serena’s household has struck a distribution deal with X.
Her husband, Alexis Ohanian, co-produced The Offseason, a docuseries on NWSL players, which premiered on X after traditional streamers passed due to creative control concerns.
Ohanian declined to share commercial details during ADWEEK’s Brandweek event in September. He pointed to Yaccarino’s tenure at NBCUniversal, where she led ad sales—including at marquee franchises like the Olympics—as a key reason for the decision.
As a distribution partner, X offers several key advantages. It has massive scale, reaching roughly 600 million monthly users, and—unlike many of the subscription-based streaming services—viewers can access it for free.
Still, the social network has had missteps on this front before. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sued X in August, arguing that billionaire owner Elon Musk refused to pay him after a content deal with the social media platform fell apart.
And while Musk has expressed his aspiration for X to host more original video programming, the network has yet to produce a signature series. The second season of The Offseason will not stream exclusively on X, Ohanian said at the time.
Williams did not mention the overlap during the panel. Instead, when elaborating on why she chose X as the host platform for the show, she pointed to its value as a platform for uninhibited expression.
Williams also has a substantial following on X, with more than 10 million followers.
“It’s a place where you can be real and get feedback on your thoughts,” she told Yaccarino.
The brand’s distinctive asset is “binds”, strips of their bespoke typeface distorted to appear like ropes or leather, adding a subtly erotic edge to the campaign without nudity. The ability to suggest and entice is key in WMH&I’s arsenal of text based playfulness. “The ‘binds’ are a visual representation of Jane Grey’s psychological control,” says Mark. “Always taut, the binds emanate directly from Jane when present in the scene or act as her omnipresent control when she’s just off camera.” Aiming to disarm an audience of willing “subs”, this text-based experimentation dabbles in the dark arts of mind tricks and manipulation.
WMH&I investigated the interests of sexually submissive men when figuring out the brand identity for Jane Grey. Thanks to extensive psychological research into the minds of submissive males and the practitioners of BDSM, WMH&I could confidently traverse their desires, wishes and lust in order to create a brand identity that spoke to them rather than merely advertising sadomasochism. “Finding the tension in their attitudes led us to our audience’s insight; the Jane Grey sub seeks submission not as humiliation, but as self actualisation,” says Daisy. “They are worthy and confident enough to explore their truest desires, they just need a little nudge from someone like Jane.” The typeface itself carries an air of confidence with sharp edges and sleek line work, but more importantly – the typography intimately interacts with their campaign’s professionally photographed scenes of shibari, wax play and branding (literally, through the use of tattoos).
“In terms of advantage, all of our work is audience centric, if we were just creating beautiful designs we would be a team of artists not creatives,” says Daisy. Through the art of brand identities, WMH&I offer audiences not just a place of belonging, but introspection and character-building – using “taboo” subjects and shattering preconceived notions. After all, in today’s landscape of erotic media making a comeback, there may be no better time to flirt with the possibilities of raunchy typeface.
TikTok will remain operational in the U.S. through September 17, as negotiations over a potential ownership deal continue.
President Donald Trump issued a third executive order delaying enforcement of the TikTok ban, giving the Chinese-owned platform another 90 days to operate in the U.S.
The move was confirmed in a White House briefing and TikTok’s official statement.
The extension allows continued access while the administration attempts to broker a U.S.-based ownership deal.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the extension is meant to keep TikTok operational during negotiations.
Leavitt said:
“He’s making an extension so we can get this deal done. He also wants to protect Americans’ data and privacy… and he believes we can do both at the same time.”
Trump announced the order on Truth Social, continuing his pattern of last-minute executive actions.
TikTok briefly went offline in January when the congressional ban first took effect, but was reinstated.
This marks the third extension since the ban was passed by Congress. The second came in April when a deal seemed near, until China withdrew support following Trump’s tariff announcement.
By pausing enforcement, the order enables platform distributors and infrastructure providers to continue working with TikTok during negotiations.
TikTok acknowledged the extension with thanks:
“We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support… as we continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office.”
Support for a TikTok ban is softening. According to Pew Research data:
TikTok’s ongoing availability gives marketers continued access to its audience.
Still, uncertainty persists. Marketers using TikTok should:
TikTok’s situation remains fluid, but the platform’s growth and political momentum suggest a negotiated outcome is likely, rather than an abrupt shutdown.
Featured Image: Charles-McClintock Wilson/Shutterstock
Marketers, and B2B marketers in particular, often face criticism for focusing on vanity metrics. Vanity metrics are numbers that are easily measurable and look good on paper but don’t directly correlate to business outcomes or provide actionable insights.
Let’s take a closer look at seven common vanity metrics, why they’re considered weak and what you can use to replace them.
Why it’s weak: More traffic sounds good, but it doesn’t tell you if the visitors are the right people, engaged or moving toward a conversion. Irrelevant traffic is, well, irrelevant.
Why it’s stronger: Conversion metrics tell you what percentage of your website visitors are completing a desired action (e.g., filling out a form, downloading a resource, requesting a demo). You can identify which channels deliver high-quality, converting visitors by segmenting conversion by traffic source (organic search, paid ads, social media, referral).
Where to find conversion data: Google Analytics or other website analytics platforms. You’ll need to set up goals or conversions within these platforms.
Why it’s weak: A large follower count doesn’t necessarily translate to brand advocacy, engagement or sales. Many followers can be inactive, bots or simply not your target audience. “Likes” are a low-effort interaction and don’t indicate genuine interest.
Why they’re stronger: This metric focuses on how many leads or actual customers your social media efforts generate. For B2B, this might involve tracking form submissions from social ads, website visits from social media that lead to a demo request or downloads of gated content shared on social platforms.
Where to find them: Native social media analytics platforms (e.g., LinkedIn Analytics, X Analytics, Facebook Business Suite), Google Analytics (using proper UTM tagging for social campaigns), CRM systems (integrating social lead forms).
Why it’s weak: A high open rate might seem positive, but it doesn’t guarantee engagement with the content or action. Many email servers and clients auto-open emails for security reasons, and users might open an email and immediately close it without reading or clicking.
Why they’re stronger: CTR tells you your audience found your content compelling enough to click on a link in the email. Measuring the conversion rate from those clicks (e.g., lead magnet download, webinar registration, sales inquiry) directly ties your email efforts to business outcomes.
Where to find them: Email marketing platforms (e.g., HubSpot, Mailchimp, Salesforce Marketing Cloud).
Why it’s weak: The number of downloads doesn’t tell you if the content is read, if it’s resonating with the target audience or if it’s contributing to lead nurturing and sales. It tells you the content was downloaded, that’s all.
Why they’re stronger: This focuses on the quality of leads generated from your content. An MQL is a lead deemed ready for further marketing nurturing, and an SAL is an MQL that the sales team has accepted as worthy of its time. This indicates that the content is attracting genuinely interested prospects who fit your ideal customer profile.
Where to find it: CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), Marketing Automation Platforms (e.g., Marketo, Pardot). These systems allow you to track a lead’s journey, including content downloads and subsequent actions that qualify them.
Why it’s weak: Generating a large volume of leads without proper qualification can overwhelm sales teams with low-quality prospects, wasting time and resources. Not all leads are created equal.
Why they’re stronger: These metrics measure the effectiveness of your lead generation efforts in producing actual sales opportunities and ultimately closed deals. The lead-to-opportunity rate shows how many of your generated leads progress to a sales opportunity, while the opportunity-to-win rate indicates how many of those opportunities become customers.
Where to find them: Your CRM system is essential for tracking the progression of leads through the sales pipeline.
Dig deeper: Build a winning marketing attribution framework
Why it’s weak: Impressions merely indicate how frequently your ad was displayed. It doesn’t tell you if anyone saw it, paid attention, or took action. It’s a measure of reach, not engagement or impact.
Why they’re stronger: CPA tells you the average cost of acquiring a new customer through your advertising efforts, directly linking your ad spend to business outcomes. ROAS measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising, providing a clear picture of profitability.
Where to find them: Ad platform analytics (e.g., Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Facebook Ads Manager), integrated with CRM and sales data to calculate actual customer acquisition and revenue.
Why they’re weak: While seemingly indicative of engagement, a long time on a site could mean a user is struggling to find information, or they left the tab open. Many pages visited could indicate a user is lost, not necessarily engaged.
Why they’re stronger: A high bounce rate on a critical landing page could suggest the content or messaging is failing to resonate with the audience, or the page isn’t guiding them to the next step. Tracking the completion rate of key user flows (e.g., visiting a product page –> adding to cart –> checkout) provides insight into how effectively your website is guiding users towards conversion.
Where to find them: Google Analytics, other website analytics platforms.
Dig deeper: A guide to attribution models in GA4
Game design and development is one of the most exciting fields in the creative sectors today, and it’s constantly evolving. Real-time development software like Unreal Engine and Unity are allowing developers to take visual fidelity to cinematic levels for consoles and PC, and there’s a booming market for innovative indie games for mobile.
It’s an area that increasingly involves crossover skills that are in demand in other disciplines too, since some of the same tech is also revolutionising movie VFX, animation and brand design. That makes one of the best tickets into the industry the National Film and Television School (NFTS). Widely recognised as one of the world’s best film schools, the NFTS also provides industry-standard programmes in game design, from short courses to a fully fledged Masters in Game Design and Development, whose alumni have gone on to work at major studios.
(Image credit: National Film and Television School)
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(Image credit: National Film and Television School)
(Image credit: National Film and Television School)
As AI search redefines visibility, brands must shift from ranking to relevance. This is where leadership must step up.
The post Aligning The CIO, CFO & CMO For Search‑Driven ROI appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Snapchat is betting that AI-powered ad tech might finally help it shrink the distance between itself and the platforms that have long outpaced it.
Last month, the mobile messaging app launched its first major iteration of an AI-powered suite of tools called Smart Campaign Solution — akin to Google’s Performance Max or Meta’s Advantage+ — to support advertisers, but particularly SMBs.
While the tools are still in test mode with a select group of advertisers, chief business officer Ajit Mohan believes the combination of having more performance driven capabilities has the potential to put Snapchat into the tier one platform bracket.
“My theory has always been that if there is intent and finally we’re showing results, that’s when the money will move, and hopefully we’re starting to do that,” said Mohan.
That hope, he continued, rests on a specific kind of advertiser — one that’s already disillusioned with the returns they’re getting from Meta and Google and is actively looking for an alternative. Snap doesn’t think it has to beat the incumbents outright. It just has to give enough underwhelmed advertisers a reason to test and shift.
“In some ways, Meta and Google have become the equivalent of broadcast television; you can’t get fired for putting money there anymore,” Mohan said. “Yet the consistent message I hear from clients and agencies is, ‘We’re too reliant on them’.”
That reliance has less to do with love for the incumbents and more to do with the lack of credible alternatives. Snap knows this all too well. Its audience has never really been the problem; its ability to turn that audience into measurable, repeatable performance for advertisers has.
This latest push is an attempt to change that narrative not by beating Meta or Google at their own game but by giving advertisers a reason to try something else. Whether that’s enough to shift ad dollars meaningfully is still an open question. But Snap seems to think a window is opening.
“Is the last 15%, 20%, 30% of the investment going to Meta and Google getting you the same return as the first 5% or 10% or should you be using that [last bit of investment] and moving into a platform that can deliver better results?,” said Mohan. “I think that’s where we need to break through the inertia, because it’s [hard] work to deal with so many platforms.”
But the tide is starting to turn it seems.
Over the past year or so, Mohan said, smaller advertisers have been shifting more of their budgets to Snap from its larger rivals.
“They’re the most demanding advertisers because they won’t move [their ad budgets] unless there’s a [worthwhile] reason to move,” he said. “But I also think there’s still a huge opportunity for us to reintroduce ourselves to large clients, and nudge them to be more thoughtful about shifting spend in a way that they say they have been wanting to do for a while.”
Even so, the long game is still about pushing Snapchat to the larger advertisers — the ones who say they want to diversify but haven’t made the leap. Mohan thinks the company now has a better case to make. The question is whether the market is finally ready to listen.
https://digiday.com/?p=581353
Throughout human history, artists have found clever ways to create without going broke. Vincent van Gogh was known for painting over old canvases, and Jean-Michel Basquiat skipped the canvas altogether, choosing to paint on doors, windows, refrigerator parts, and discarded wood he found on the street. This resourcefulness later became a signature part of his aesthetic, inspiring a new era of DIY artists eager to express themselves with found material. Even Michelangelo wasn’t above using leftovers – he carved David from a massive block of marble that had been sitting around, rejected for 40 years by richer clients. Not bad for a piece of scrap.
This make-it-work attitude is still going strong, with plenty of young creatives today finding innovative ways to keep making their art on a budget. Take Gints Zilbalodis, the 31-year-old animation director behind Flow, which recently took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. He pulled it off with a small team, a tight budget, and a whole lot of ingenuity. Gints first taught himself 3D animation using Autodesk Maya, then switched to Blender in 2019 using early beta and alpha versions of the free software. While still in his early 20s, he made his first feature film, Away, entirely on his own, which gave him the confidence to take on Flow next. He put together a proof-of-concept teaser featuring the film’s animal characters, then started production when the funding came through and he found his first technical team.
After five-and-a-half years of learning, experimenting, and pushing through challenges, Flow finally made its big screen debut in March 2025 – and went on to earn around $36 million at the box office. Gints’ story proves it’s not about using the most expensive tools – it’s about vision, creativity, and having the guts to push through. “With a smaller budget there are limitations, but that can also lead to creative solutions,” he says. “I think that it’s very exciting that independent animation is being recognised which will allow more films like this to be made.”
Keeping up-to-date on industry Google Ads benchmarks is crucial to help answer questions you might get from clients or exec such as:
Questions like these come up all the time, especially when budgets are tight and performance dips even slightly.
But unless you’ve got fresh benchmark data on hand, these conversations are usually filled with guesswork, vague assurances, or worse, outdated reports that no longer reflect how competitive today’s ad landscape really is.
Wordstream by LocaliQ recently updated its Search Advertising benchmarks for 2025, compiling real data from thousands of Google and Microsoft Ads campaigns across 20 verticals.
The data consists of data points from thousands of campaigns in both Google and Microsoft Ads for some of the top industries. Some of the top industries include:
While these benchmarks are a starting point, it’s important to note that many factors go into setting benchmarks that are attainable for your business.
We hope this data is useful for you to help level-set expectations and goals for your business, and get a sense of how you stack up to the competition.
In this report, you’ll find benchmarks for Search campaigns in Google & Microsoft Ads for:
Let’s dig into the data.
Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025
The average click-through rate for Google & Microsoft Ads across all industries averaged out to 6.66% over the last 12 months.
Compared to when the company first started gathering data in 2015, the average CTR for search ads was minimal at 1.35%.
The business category that boasted the highest CTR was Arts & Entertainment, with an astounding 13.10% CTR.
At the other end of the spectrum was Dentists and Dental Services at a 5.44% CTR.
The CTR metric should be analyzed as only one indicator of performance, not the end-all-be-all when trying to determine if your ads are doing well.
The widespread in CTR performance is influenced by:
High CTR doesn’t always mean high performance, though. Sometimes it just means your ad is click-worthy, not necessarily that it’s converting. That’s why CTR should be viewed as one piece of the puzzle, not the whole picture.
If your CTR is low compared to your industry average, tools like Google’s Quality Score can help pinpoint the problem areas, from poor ad relevance to weak expected click-through rate.
Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025
The average cost-per-click for Google and Microsoft Ads across all industries over the past 12 months averaged $5.26.
While the Attorneys and Legal Services showcased one of the lowest CTR categories, it also boasted the highest average CPC. In 2025, the average CPC for this industry came in at $8.58.
This average is unsurprising, given the higher-than-average cost of acquiring a customer.
On the lower end of the spectrum, the Arts & Entertainment industry had the lowest average CPC at $1.60.
Similar to analyzing the CTR metric, average CPC is just one performance indicator.
For example, your ads may show a low average CPC and a low CTR. This could mean your bids aren’t high enough to be competitive in the market, and you may want to consider raising bids.
On the other hand, if you have a higher-than-average CPC, you’ll want to monitor these more closely to ensure you can prove your return on ad spend/investment.
Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025
The average conversion rate across all industries for Google and Microsoft Ads in the last twelve months was 7.52%.
The average conversion rate is calculated from the number of leads/sales you get divided by the number of clicks from your ad.
When looking at the data from 2025, the average conversion rate varied highly across industries.
On the high end of performance, Automotive had the highest conversion rate at 14.67%, followed by Animals and Pets at 13.07%.
The industries that had the lowest conversion rate included:
When looking at these industries and the products they sell, these conversion rates make sense.
Furniture is a high-ticket item for many customers. Users do a lot of research online before making a purchase. Not only that, but because of the price tag, many customers end up purchasing in stores instead of online.
While the conversion rate may be low in this particular industry, it’s more important than ever to be able to measure offline conversions, such as in-store visits or purchases.
In the apparel industry, new brands seem to pop up every day.
If you do a simple search for Nike sneakers, the number of sellers and resellers for these types of products has skyrocketed in recent years.
The amount of competition can directly contribute to a low (or high) conversion rate.
Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025
The average cost per lead across all industries for Google and Microsoft Ads in the last twelve months was $70.11.
The average cost per lead is a core KPI that advertisers should keep a pulse on when analyzing performance.
It remains one of the most scrutinized metrics by marketing and finance teams alike.
It’s no surprise that certain industries have a much higher CPL compared to other industries. Some of the factors that can influence CPL include:
On average, the CPL across all industries reported was $70.11.
The Attorneys and Legal Services industry had the highest CPL out of all industries at a whopping $131.63.
However, while the CPL may be high, many businesses in that industry find that well worth the investment, considering their return on each individual they represent.
Those industries with lower-priced products and services likely have a lower CPL goal.
The industries that showed the lowest CPL in 2025 were Automotive Repair, Services & Parts at $28.50, followed by Arts & Entertainment and Restaurants & Food at $30.27.
Compared to last year’s data, 13 out of the 23 industries reported an increase in CPL.
Data from LocaliQ benchmark report, June 2025
While the last few years have seen such a large fluctuation in CPL due to the record inflation and economic instability, the year-over-year changes in CPL have mellowed out a bit.
Benchmark reports are exactly that: benchmarks. They’re not scorecards, and they don’t account for your specific brand, audience, goals, or tech stack.
So, if your numbers don’t perfectly align with the averages, it doesn’t mean you’re underperforming.
If you’re looking to make progress in the second half of the year, try following the tips below:
Make sure to check out Wordstream by LocaliQ’s full report on benchmarks and tips to improve your campaigns.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
