When Meta’s ad platform went awry during the witching hours of Sunday morning, some advertisers saw it overspend beyond their daily budget caps.
Marketers, especially those at small direct-to-consumer brands, started frantically emailing account reps and sharing war stories on Twitter about how much they were affected.
But on the Meta front, the response was muted. Some people internally seemed unaware that anything had even happened. Perhaps they were focused not on the account fire, but one that loomed even larger in their minds: layoffs, with another round of cuts happening a day after the bug.
Since senior editor James Hercher broke news of the system error, he outlined why it happened and why advertisers shouldn’t expect much besides ad credits. Though that may not be a welcome solution for some marketers whose overspending made their monthly balance sheet go awry.
While brands lost money, Meta will ultimately lose more by the way it reacted, Hercher says. Meta lost the pulse of its customer base, which has been getting increasingly frustrated with bugs and MIA account support.
Improving representation with targeted health care marketing
Then, we turn to how health care marketing is trying to offer more nuanced portrayals of its customer base in advertising. Mistrust in the health care field is high, from Black people aware of historical atrocities like the Tuskegee syphilis study to people who worry a doctor’s appointment could expose their undocumented status.
Health care marketing tends to take a low-risk approach to marketing because of privacy concerns and legal concerns, but it also needs to consider this mistrust. Having people on agency teams who reflect the audiences being served will improve representation – and avoid those cringey marketing moments.
As a companion to our series on health care marketing, senior editor Hana Yoo shares what she’s learned about representation and targeting in this tricky market.
