There are no items in your cart
Add More
Add More
| Item Details | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Most businesses don’t lose money on ads because their creatives are bad or their targeting is off.
They lose money because they’re using the wrong paid channels for their business stage. Some platforms are built for awareness.
Some are built for scale.
And a few quietly print money if you know how to use them. Most founders and marketers are actively searching for answers to questions like
Below is a realistic ranking of paid ad channels from a performance marketing and business perspective, based on how they actually behave once real money is involved.
If the display hasn’t shown any lift within 30 days, it’s not warming up it’s just not working.
Display ads fail because the internet has trained users to ignore them. Unless you already have strong brand recall or you’re using display purely as a support channel (like cheap retargeting), expecting conversions here is unrealistic. This channel is not broken it’s just widely misused.
Your script matters more than targeting.
Audio ads work on repetition and familiarity, not urgency. If your business relies on impulse conversions, this will feel disappointing. But if you’re building mental availability over time, audio can quietly support your other channels just don’t expect last-click miracles.
You’re buying certainty, not performance.
Guaranteed deals make sense when where you appear matters more than what you get back immediately. For most performance-driven businesses, this is overkill. For regulated industries or reputation-sensitive brands, it can be justified but only with clear expectations.
If it doesn’t work in 7 days, move on.
Snapchat feels attractive because costs are low, but low cost doesn’t equal high value. Unless your product is culturally relevant to Gen Z and your creatives feel native, this channel quickly becomes a distraction rather than a growth lever.
My 2 cents:
Native doesn’t sell products it sells curiosity.
How to use it properly:
Native ads reward patience and long-form persuasion. If you send traffic directly to product pages, you’ll lose money. If you guide users through education, context, and trust-building, native can quietly scale in the background.
My 2 cents:
Great for brand lift terrible if you expect last-click ROAS.
Reality check:
CTV shines when you evaluate success holistically search lift, branded queries, and conversion assist. If your business needs immediate revenue proof, this channel will feel uncomfortable. If you’re building long-term demand, it earns its place.
My 2 cents:
Views don’t equal sales.
Why most brands fail here:
Influencer marketing breaks when brands confuse reach with relevance. The real unlock is treating creators as creative partners and then amplifying what works through paid ads. Without that layer, you’re gambling.
Verdict: Expensive clicks, valuable conversations.
Best case: B2B, SaaS, consulting, enterprise services.
Biggest pro: Unmatched professional targeting.
Biggest con: High CPCs kill impatient marketers.
My 2 cents:
Content beats targeting here.
How to win on LinkedIn:
The platform rewards thought leadership, not aggressive selling. Brands that educate, challenge, or provoke perform far better than those running generic lead forms. Think conversations, not conversions.
My 2 cents:
If your MMP setup is weak, nothing else matters.
Why this channel is powerful:
Once attribution is clean, in-app ads offer scale that few channels can match. But without proper tracking, optimization becomes guesswork, and guesswork is expensive.
My 2 cents:
You’re competing with creators, not brands.
How to approach TikTok:
Treat it like a content platform first and an ad platform second. The faster you test and iterate creatives, the more forgiving the algorithm becomes. Slow brands struggle here.
My 2 cents:
This amplifies demand it doesn’t create it.
Why it works:
Retargeting DSPs win because they focus on known intent. But they’re not a starting point they’re an accelerator. Without top-funnel volume, there’s nothing to amplify.
My 2 cents:
Feeds are the real targeting.
How to think about it:
Google’s automation works best when you feed it quality signals products, creatives, and conversions. When that foundation is strong, these campaigns quietly outperform manual setups.
My 2 cents:
Your message is usually the problem not targeting.
Why Meta still wins:
Meta succeeds because it blends scale, intent signals, and creative distribution better than almost any platform. Brands that constantly refresh creatives and refine messaging dominate here.
My 2 cents:
Queries matter more than keywords.
How to maximize it:
Search rewards structure and clarity. Brands that understand user intent not just keywords consistently outperform competitors who chase hacks.
My 2 cents:
Automation builds businesses. Broadcasts just send emails.
Why this sits at #1:
Paid ads create attention. Email and automation capture and compound it. Tools like Omnisend turn one-time visitors into long-term customers through abandoned cart flows, post-purchase journeys, and behavior-based automation. This is where businesses are built not just campaigns.
There is no universally “best” ad platform. There is only: