Successful media campaigns have a lot of moving parts. Yes, buying the right ad space is important, but if you really want to launch a full-funnel campaign the right way, you’ll need to orchestrate research, messaging, creative assets, review processes, targeting and measurement into a cohesive, high-performing strategy. Like we said, it’s a lot!
Whether you’re a start-up with a lean team or an established company with a lot of internal decision-makers, the launch process can be complex. Here are two common pitfalls to avoid, plus one essential strategy for a successful media campaign.
Pitfall 1: Not identifying who’s weighing in and when.
Before creating assets or purchasing media, it’s essential to ensure everyone is aligned. Many campaign delays (and reworks) happen because decision-makers are looped in too late or not at all.
Lay the groundwork to avoid issues by identifying key individuals early. Who will need to give feedback? When do those approval checkpoints need to happen? Those folks might include:
- Marketing managers to ensure alignment with positioning and goals
- Product or service leads to validate accuracy
- Creative teams to align tone, voice and brand standards
- Compliance or legal, especially in regulated industries
- Operations or analytics for implementation support
In our experience, having decision-makers in the room when aligning on the campaign and media strategy sets everyone up for success and avoids surprises down the line. It also creates cross-departmental collaboration from the beginning, so you’re all working toward a shared goal.
Tip: Ask key players, “What does success look like to you?” so you can build a strategy that supports their objectives from the ground up. If you find conflicting goals, you can flag them and generate solutions early.
Pitfall 2: Ignoring best practices and keeping creative identical across channels.
Every platform has its own language, rules and rhythms; and the best creative works because it’s built for where it shows up. Instead of treating platform guidelines, brand requirements or regulatory considerations as constraints, treat them as strategic inputs. When you align your creative approach with channel-specific best practices, you’re not just following the rules, you’re amping up clarity, relevance and performance.
This is especially critical when you’re working across multiple platforms or with segmented audiences. A one-size-fits-all approach to creative rarely delivers insightful or strategic results. What performs on LinkedIn (think: professional tone, thought leadership and bold text visuals) might fall flat on Meta, where motion, simplicity and emotion get engagement. Meanwhile, the character limits of Google Display ads demand efficiency in copy and design.
Start by mapping your creative variations to both audience segments and platform behaviors. Build assets that can be tested, tailored and iterated upon by channel. Use each platform’s unique strengths and limitations to inform the format, message and even the visual execution.
For example, platform behavior was a key strategic input for a recent digital campaign for THREE, a small business insurer. On LinkedIn, where insurance agents consume career development content, we deployed Spotlight Ads with personalized messages about leveling up their sales. On Meta and other platforms, we used eye-catching animation, sound effects and gamified messaging to connect with ambitious owner-operators. Each platform’s targeting capabilities and audience expectations informed not just where we showed up, but how.
By viewing best practices not as barriers but as creative filters, you ensure your ideas show up the right way, in the right place, for the right audience.
Related reading:
Essential strategy: Analyze from hour one, not day thirty.
Too often, teams think of a campaign launch as the finish line. In reality, it’s the starting gun. The first 72 hours after launch can make or break the trajectory of your campaign. Underperforming channels and strategies could quickly use up your budget, so knowing your KPIs and monitoring them early is essential. Here’s what we focus on during that critical window:
- Verifying pixel and conversion tracking
- Monitoring budget pacing across channels
- Identifying any platform learning phase issues
Tip: Treat launch week like a test-and-learn sprint. Build in daily touchpoints and plan for hands-on monitoring instead of “set it and forget it.” After the learning phase (about one week), you can start to identify areas to make creative, audience and bid adjustments to continue maximizing delivery.
Great campaigns don’t just “go live”— they’re built to perform.
A strong media strategy is more than targeting and tactics. Successful media campaigns are the result of thoughtful collaboration, creative flexibility, operational rigor and early performance insight.
Every organization has its own approval structures, platform mix and messaging needs. The key is knowing how to bring all of those moving parts together without sacrificing momentum or results.
If you’re preparing for a launch and wondering whether your team is set up to execute it smoothly, these tips are a good starting point.