Performance marketing
MarTech is your source for performance marketing content. You’ll find a variety of up-to-date and authoritative resources, including the latest news, tactic-rich tutorials, and the latest data to help you work smarter and make better decisions.
What you read here is written by our experienced in-house team of editors and research professionals, and subject matter experts from leading brands and agencies.
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5 brands whose small actions drove big returns
AXA, Suncorp, Idomed, Heineken, and Molson got big business results from small creative ideas, showing a different model for earning attention.
Marketers know what improves paid media ROI, but underinvest in it
New research found marketers invest in targeting, AI, and creative while neglecting the post-click experiences they say drive paid media ROI.
Open source made MMM cheaper, not easier
Free tools have lowered the cost of marketing mix modeling, but data quality and human expertise remain the biggest barriers to success.
Advertisers may finally see who really touches their bid requests
IAB Tech Lab's proposed SupplyChain v1.1 update could give advertisers a clearer view of every company that touches a programmatic bid request.
How to sustain creative testing without adding headcount
Build a repeatable system for creative experimentation using pre-vetted freelancers, modular briefs, and automated workflows.
The hidden fragility of performance marketing
The pursuit of measurable efficiency can leave brands vulnerable when competitors, platforms, or AI reshape customer discovery.
Marketing measurement is breaking under its own complexity
More tools, more channels, and more data have left many marketers struggling to connect activity to outcomes.
Marketing silos are the symptom, not the problem
Campaign-based execution created disconnected teams, tools, and data. AI is enabling a more unified operating model.
5 reasons branding belongs in your GTM strategy
From sales alignment to customer retention, a clear brand strategy helps companies grow faster and compete more effectively.
Why scaling creative is really a leadership challenge
Automation can increase output, but creative effectiveness depends on operational discipline and strategic clarity.
Why performance marketing needs more than ROAS
Return on ad spend can’t explain growth. Here’s how to evaluate marketing’s true contribution to business outcomes.
AI rewards brand meaning and punishes everything else
As AI reshapes discovery, brands built on transactions lose ground. Use this prompt to test and strengthen your brand’s visibility.
What happens when sales drives your content
Sales input is valuable, but without a clear strategy, content becomes fragmented and hard to scale. Learn a better approach.
Marketing that pleases everyone converts no one
Safe marketing gets approved but ignored. Learn how bold, tension-driven messaging challenges buyers and prompts action.
A 6-step AI workflow for building better seasonal campaigns
Turn scattered inputs into clear campaign strategy by combining CRM data, research and structured prompting into a repeatable system.
Your most efficient campaigns might be limiting your growth
Chasing better ROAS often reduces reach and future pipeline. Here’s how to optimize for growth instead of just efficiency.
Why performance marketing stops working
Most brands optimize conversion while neglecting demand. Here’s what happens when the pipeline runs dry and how to fix it.
Why CMOs struggle and how aligning with CFOs changes everything
Marketing drives value, but proving it is the challenge. Here’s how CMOs can align with finance, improve attribution and earn lasting credibility.
Why emotion data is changing how ads get tested
Emotion data reveals how audiences actually respond to creative, helping brands fix weak messaging before spending millions on media.
Brands that win are clearer, not louder
Your marketing may look desperate — and everyone can tell. Brands that chase relevance and attention often end up signaling nothing at all.
The path to purchase just got dramatically shorter
Holiday data shows consumers deciding faster than ever, pushing marketers to build frictionless, trust-first experiences that convert in a single moment.
Performance marketing is being rewritten by AI
From targeting and media buying to creative testing and attribution, AI isn’t just helping marketers — it’s doing the work, faster and smarter than ever.
How to demonstrate marketing ROI in a way the C-suite trusts
Executives want business impact, not dashboards. Present marketing ROI through revenue influence, efficiency trends and predictability.
The in-house vs. agency debate misses the real paid media problem
Performance rarely fails because of talent. It stalls when strategy, visibility, and accountability break down.
B2B software marketing takes a turn with consolidation of review sites
Review site consolidation is a lot to digest. Let's break down the G2 acquisition so you can protect your intent data strategy and keep your pipeline steady.
How AI agents shaped the record-breaking 2025 holiday season
Salesforce data shows where AI agents drove growth, conversion and efficiency during the holidays — and what marketers should do next.
3 incrementality testing mistakes — and how to avoid them
Incrementality testing only works if it drives decisions. Here’s where teams go wrong and how to use tests to guide spend and optimization.
Omnicom’s mega-merger doubles down on media — at creativity’s expense
The IPG merger strengthens Omnicom’s media engine, but fast-growing brands show why attention — not inventory — drives momentum.
What efficiency-first martech gets wrong about creativity
Efficiency metrics show output and speed, not creative health. Martech needs new ways to measure how technology impacts people and ideas.
5 marketing lessons hiding inside Disney’s merchandising engine
Disney still monetizes attention at scale, but cracks are showing. Here’s what it teaches us about demand, familiarity and erosion.
Rethinking marketing creativity in compliance-heavy industries
Regulated industries don’t have to limit creativity. Workflows, AI guardrails and compliant content frameworks can help you move faster with less risk.
The real reason marketing budgets get cut — and how to stop it
Stronger modeling and disciplined measurement help marketing earn credibility where it matters most.
How the new attention standards turn feeling into data
The IAB and MRC’s new attention guidelines help marketers measure the emotions that drive memory and impact.
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
AI’s value is measured in outcomes, not adoption
AI powers every marketing workflow — but impact matters more than adoption. Prove performance by measuring lift and validating causality.
Acquisition gets the attention, but loyalty drives the results
Marketers chase new leads, but real ROI comes from retention. See how automation, onboarding and rewards can turn loyal customers into lasting growth.
How a website redesign drove 120+ leads and 1,400% more traffic for a B2B manufacturer
See how strategic content, branding and lead tracking upgrades turned a stagnant website into a growth engine for a contract manufacturer.
Closing the gap between creative and marketing performance
Creative and performance teams have long operated in silos. Now, AI is bridging the gap — turning emotional storytelling into data-driven, real-time results.
Marketing results don’t add. They multiply and synergize.
Traditional metrics can’t capture how campaigns interact. Test for multiplicative and synergistic effects and rethink paid media measurement.
It’s time to move on from multi-touch attribution
MTA promises precise measurement, but delivers complexity and confusion. It's time to replace it with incrementality testing and MMM.
CFOs want hard numbers, not brand vibes
Brand spend is no longer safe. Marketers must defend it with data, strategy and CFO-ready evidence — or watch it disappear.