From the dot-com crash to the pandemic, periods of economic instability have shown a clear pattern: when fear sets in, marketers shift spend from brand awareness to performance-based channels, as leadership teams demand to see measurable ROI.
CFOs scrutinize budgets, and anything that can't be clearly tied to revenue often ends up on the chopping block. That means brand marketing and vague metrics like reach and impressions give way to hard performance KPIs like conversions, revenue, and ROAS.
Now, marketers are facing the same challenges as ad budgets come under pressure. Marketers today need to do more with less — and be ready to prove it.
In our latest webinar, industry leaders Jason Fairchild (our Co-Founder & CEO) and Morgan Scarnato (Executive Director of Strategy at Modifly) unpacked how today’s smartest marketers are adapting through performance-focused strategy, outcome-driven optimization, and AI-enhanced personalization — particularly on the fast-maturing channel of Connected TV (CTV).
If you missed it, keep reading for the main takeaways, or watch the full webinar on demand.
To thrive in today’s climate, marketers must plan for results. Outcome-driven advertising starts by identifying the business outcomes you need, whether that’s new customer acquisition or increased ROAS. Once you define success, every channel, creative, and optimization tactic can be aligned to it.
This outcome-first mindset requires a change in how marketers build strategies. Morgan outlined three essential principles:
Pro tip: Start with your most important business outcome, then work backwards to identify KPIs and build a strategy that ties each channel and message to that goal.
The biggest game changer for marketers is AI-powered performance marketing. Not only is AI making campaigns faster, but it’s also making them smarter, more precise, and more accountable.
It helps unify customer data, drive hyper-personalization, and dynamically optimize creative to resonate with individual segments. From predictive audience modeling to real-time creative testing, marketers can now deliver the right message to the right person at the right time — at scale.
AI-powered tools also empower marketers to run geo-lift studies, A/B tests, and other scientifically valid models to isolate the true incremental impact of their spend, connecting ad exposure to real business outcomes.
And we’ve seen it first hand. tvScientific’s proprietary ML technology helped a remodeling company cut its cost-per-lead from $120 to $33. Additionally, Modifly ran an AI-driven campaign for a home goods brand that drove nearly 7,000 additional unit sales in just four weeks, achieving nearly 2x ROAS.
So where should marketers apply these smarter, AI-powered strategies? One of the most overlooked (but high-potential) channels is CTV.
With over 100 million US households streaming ad-supported content, CTV has become a powerful performance channel. It combines the reach of traditional TV with the targeting and measurement of digital. And right now, it’s a buyer’s market: CPMs are down, giving marketers a rare chance to gain share while competitors pull back.
CTV also integrates seamlessly with personalization and performance strategies. With advanced targeting, dynamic creative, and outcome-based optimization, brands can drive full-funnel results — from brand awareness to conversion.
To quote Jason, “Disruption opens doors that stability keeps shut.”
While budget pressure and market uncertainty are real, they also create opportunities for those bold enough to act. Whether you’re navigating CTV for the first time, leaning deeper into AI optimization, or simply trying to prove value to your C-suite, one thing is clear: outcome-driven marketing is the future.
If you want to dive deeper into this topic, watch our webinar on demand.