10 Things we’ve learned at Golden Hippo after spending over $1B (of our own money) on online media:

1. “They must see your ad 7 times before they buy” is the biggest line of B.S. in advertising history

2. No matter how long you’ve been doing this, what you think will work is often wrong

3. Great ad ideas can come from anyone - and often do. Some of our best ad ideas have come from people in totally different departments

4. Pushing something hard because it’s what you “want” to work (for branding purposes or whatever), never works

5. Nothing will cost you more money over time than a “just ok” converting ad campaign

6. Leading with a benefit can do well, and leading with curiosity can do well. But Benefit + Curiosity = magic

7. Your ad must match what comes next. Don’t turn the curiosity or benefit knob further than your landing page delivers, or you’ll be wasting clicks

8. Most ad agencies suck and will leave you disappointed. Build in-house if at all possible

9. “Influencer marketing” is for companies that like burning money

10. Your customer cares literally zero about your company, your story, your brand, or even your product. What they do care, is what it can do for them. Don’t fight this, embrace it.