We’ve been hearing about robots taking over humans’ jobs for decades in almost every professional specialty imaginable, including industrial factories, the legal industry and, of course, advertising. 

Yet here at Albert, we believe in human-machine collaboration (AKA advertising technology). There are some tasks that only humans can do, so outsourcing the rest to machines helps us do them better. But what makes a great collaboration? You know, the kind that generates significant results, that make advertisers the new stars of their companies? 

To find out, we talked to our very own Product Solutions Manager, Nir Huberman. Nir has been in the industry for about a decade and a half. At Albert alone, he spent the past 12 years climbing his way up from head of optimization to head of product and, then, to VP of product solutions, so he has tons of behind the scenes knowledge. Here are his top requirements for machine-advertiser collaborations that will increase your bottom line in 2023. 

1) Create a Holistic, Omnichannel Marketing Operation 

If your marketing departments work in silos, you’re not alone. Too often, companies separate teams per channels, platforms or strategies. They have different departments for Google, TikTok, direct marketing, digital marketing – you name it. It’s understandable, as every part of marketing requires its own specialization. But no channel or platform exists on its own. 

What you do on one platform impacts how customers experience your brand elsewhere, online or off. Just as importantly, the data you generate on one platform can help you optimize results everywhere else you operate. 

Therefore, after working with leading brands from across the world, Nir suggests unifying your entire marketing operations. This is especially useful when working with machines. You already have a machine that can process lots of data, plan and execute a complex strategy… You might as well make the most of it and let it optimize your entire marketing results across channels. 

2) Combine Paid with Organic 

Nir recommends taking your holistic marketing collaboration even further by combining paid with organic into one plan. 

“As a strategic business, you want to use your paid efforts to empower your organic efforts – brand awareness, direct communications, loyalty programs, email, etc,” he says. “When you strengthen your customer base, you create a business that’s objectively healthier,” he explains. 

3) Plan Way Ahead 

“If I give my machine a $100,000 budget in November and don’t tell it there’s this thing called Black Friday, it’ll likely blow the entire budget before Black Friday. The same goes for annual planning,” Nir says. 

“Look ahead at your entire year. This is my budget, these are my KPIs, these are my strategic dates, milestones and promotions across the year. Strategize on an annual level, and your advertising machine will work much more efficiently,” he says.  

4) Set Undisputed Success Metrics 

The most critical part of collaborating with machines, according to Nir, is getting clear on your KPIs (key performance indicators or success metrics). Often, we want… 

=> Leads, but also to… 

=> Limit how much we pay per click, but also to… 

=> Determine our lead to sale conversion rate, but also to… 

=> Use multiple tools to measure the same metrics, but also… 

… it’s a sure way to set ourselves to fail, or at the very least, leave ourselves without an accurate measurement we can use to strategically predict future success. 

“Understanding what’s actually essential for the business and being specific are prerequisites,” says Nir. “When I tell a machine to rely on Google Analytics, it pulls all the data and studies the process there. If I change things a week later, I lose everything the machine has learned and need to start training it from scratch,” he says. 

5) Conduct Ongoing Monitoring 

Another key requirement when choosing and working with AdTech is your ability to monitor its activity and impact how it will move forward. “Don’t just set it and forget it, or come back a month later,” Nir says. 

Sure, your advertising machine relieves a lot of your previous duties, but your help is still needed. “Look at how your campaign is going at a high level, and if something looks off, talk about it with your account manager or make changes in the software. Maybe you need a specific integration, for example. Either way, without your feedback, it’s hard for the machine or its providers to help you, because there are things only you and your team know,” Nir says. 

6) Choose Great Tools 

Nir stretches the significance of choosing tools that actually support your goals. Once you figure out your long term and short term KPIs – remember to be specific and consistent – make a list of everything you want to accomplish with the type of tool you’re looking to add to your toolbox. 

“There are many tools that help you run campaigns. Usually, they recommend what’s best to do, or you set a test and use the tool to better understand your audience. We built Albert to both plan and execute campaigns. Among others, it builds a budget, manages your creative assets, stops what doesn’t work, continues what does, and so much more,” he says. You need to understand what’s missing from your current arsenal of team members and software products, and only then go out and get it. 

7) Trust the Process 

“Think about autonomous cars. There are many driving aids, but there isn’t a car where you get in, tell it to take you to the office, and that’s it. You still have control over the car. You can still make changes. But you need to trust the car to take you where you need to go. Yet people are scared. And it’s hard for them to let go of control in campaigns too. For some, there’s a big fear to let go of a large media budget. For others, they think they can drive the campaign better than other humans or machines,” Nir says. 

“We see this with Albert. Sometimes, people don’t give it enough creative materials to allow it to efficiently optimize, or give it too many restrictions,” he says. Again, it’s important to stay on top of what your machine is doing, to monitor it, give feedback and make adjustments when necessary. You’re in charge of teaching it how to serve your campaigns best. But simultaneously, you’ve got to let go and let it do its thing if you want it to thrive. 

Is There Really a Robot You Can Trust to Combine Departments, Plan Ahead, Execute Campaigns, Optimize as it Goes and Leave You with Full Control? 

Yep. It’s called Albert. 

We built it to be an AI marketing solution that’s basically your self learning ally – with over 200 skills. To give you an idea of what you can expect with Albert: 

=> You give it your KPIs, creative assets and analytics. 

=> It plans and executes your advertising strategy. You don’t have to choose which one to automate. 

=> It takes your creative assets and restructures them in a wide range of ways, so it can run countless tests across channels. 

=> You get protection mechanisms – both an account manager and a campaign monitor – to prevent unwanted mistakes. 

=> You get lots of automation, but still maintain control to verify Albert focuses on what matters most for you. 

It’s like getting more time, or an extra team member. Click here to learn more, let go of day to day tasks, and focus on business driving moves.