Have a conversation with any agency right now and you are bound to hear a common line. "We're letting the algorithm learn and optimize," or "The algorithm will figure out where to allocate spend best." In short, the algorithm will figure it out. A lot of the time, they're right. Meta and the other platforms now do real heavy lifting on the back-end with AI, and an agency's job is shifting. But there are instances where the statement rings true, and plenty of instances where it's clear that algorithms aren't quite there yet.
Where the Algorithm Earns Its Reputation
Meta's algorithm is extraordinarily powerful, and when it's working across a database of nearly half the world's population, its targeting capabilities are wildly impressive. What's fascinating is how it uses the creative input to match your message with the perfect user, the person who sees themselves in your imagery or resonates with what you're saying.
With the latest algorithm evolution, brands are intentionally featuring different customer personas, so every segment of their audience sees someone they feel aligned with. The algorithm handles the rest, finding more people who behave the same way, think the same way, believe the same things, and are up against the same problems, then serving them creative they instantly see themselves in.
This is the part worth handing over to automation, as few media buyers can manually find those pockets of people at that scale.
Drawing the Line on YouTube Automation
YouTube is home to 2.7 billion monthly active users. That's roughly a third of the planet, and the second most visited social platform after Facebook. Yet only around 10% of brands in most categories are advertising there so far, which means there's real ground to take for early movers.
YouTube's algorithm sits under the Google umbrella, but it carries its own set of nuances. Some of Google's AI automation works brilliantly for Search but then falls short the moment you apply it to YouTube.
Here's what usually happens, a brand asks its agency to diversify across Google and YouTube, and the agency bundles both under one automated umbrella, traditionally called Performance Max. The missing link is that YouTube's real power lies in its targeting capabilities and the visibility it gives you into how specific segments respond to your individual video ads. That data disappears the moment YouTube runs inside a Performance Max campaign. When set up and run manually, YouTube lets you reach nuanced audiences you genuinely can't find anywhere else, which is exactly what makes it worth doing properly.
So this is where the yes-and-no on automation gets crystal clear. Manual targeting on YouTube is a resounding yes. And handing your creative to the platform's AI is a firm no, and here's why.
We recently reviewed a prestige beauty brand's live YouTube ads and found videos running that no one at the company had ever seen. On AI autopilot, the platform had pulled their logo, grabbed mismatched imagery from their website, and paired it all with eerie stock music that felt nothing like their brand. Cases like this aren't a one-off. We keep finding YouTube ads the platform has essentially built by itself, with internal teams none the wiser. Meta does the same, though most agencies know to switch the AI creative suggestions off.
Right now, staying in the driver's seat where it counts is about retaining visibility on exactly what's driving results and why, and keeping creative entirely in your control.
Staying Ahead of The Curve
This is a topic that's forever evolving, and quickly at that. A brand leader's job is never done and now added to your plate, is staying on top of a moving target – a constant stream of platform changes and AI-driven features rolling out faster than most teams can absorb. Here are our some of the latest updates from Meta and YouTube worth taking a look at:
Firstly, YouTube shares the latest on how brands, agencies, and creators are leveraging the platform.
And secondly, this is an interesting interview that explains how the Meta Alogorithm is working right now.
Author: Effie Asafu-Adjaye
Effie Asafu-Adjaye is the Founder of Beautiful Sparks. Beautiful Sparks helps beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands become known, loved and remembered through sharp positioning, strategic storytelling, and campaigns that connect with the right customers. Read more about Effie here. Linkedin.
