How to Create and Manage Paid Media Campaigns with Massive Budgets (+€100K per Month)

In this content, a massive paid media budget is defined as any budget exceeding €100,000 per month. The strategies and tips provided apply to all budgets above this threshold, with a particular emphasis on significantly larger budgets that may far exceed this amount. As the budget increases, the importance of these strategies becomes even more critical.

Running paid media campaigns with large budgets opens up a whole new dimension of opportunities and challenges. These types of budgets demand carefully calculated strategies to maximise results and minimise risks. In this post, we’ll explore some key strategies to optimise these campaigns and drive greater success.

Broaden Targeting for Scalability

Large budgets require broader audiences. Excessive or hyper-specific segmentation leads to audience fatigue and limits scalability. Instead, use more open or broader interest-based targeting and allow algorithmic tools, such as Meta’s Advantage+ audiences, to dynamically optimise reach. This ensures access to a wider pool of potential customers and reduces stagnation in ad performance.

Combat Creative and Offer Fatigue

High exposure frequency accelerates creative fatigue. Frequently refreshing creatives—sometimes multiple times a week—is essential. Diversify formats and styles to maintain stable engagement metrics. Simultaneously, periodically adjust offers or create new ones to maintain relevance. Vary discounts, include guarantees, or introduce novel incentives to keep audiences engaged.

Leverage Speed in Testing

Large budgets provide the unique advantage of fast learning cycles. With accelerated data accumulation, hypotheses regarding creatives, audiences, or offers can be tested rapidly. Having a detailed and pre-planned testing strategy ensures efficient experimentation and minimises time wasted on decision-making.

Adjust ROAS Expectations

Scalability inevitably impacts efficiency. As algorithms exhaust the most qualified prospects, campaigns will reach less responsive segments. A decline in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is natural, so focusing on the business’s absolute returns rather than percentage efficiency reframes this challenge as a growth opportunity.

Simplify Campaign Structures

While it can be tempting to overcomplicate campaigns, simplicity ensures better budget allocation and clearer analysis. Focus on top-performing creatives, products, and audiences. Regular audits of campaign structures help prevent inefficiencies and maintain optimal resource allocation.

High Standards for Tracking

At this scale, advanced tracking solutions become indispensable. Multichannel campaigns require clear attribution. Tools like Hyros, or equivalent solutions, provide additional insights, helping decision-makers assess the real performance of campaigns across complex funnels.

Proactive Management

High budgets demand high vigilance. Even minor inefficiencies can turn into significant losses. Frequent monitoring, combined with an agile response system, ensures issues such as ad disapprovals or delivery inconsistencies are quickly resolved.

Strategic Collaborations with Influencers

For very large budgets, especially those exceeding €1M per month, collaborations with influencers can enhance results. Celebrities or recognisable figures bring credibility and expand the reach and engagement of campaigns. For mid-range budgets (€25/day or less), micro-influencers are often a more cost-effective and targeted alternative.

Personalised Ads for Market Segments

Breaking down your target market into smaller strategic sub-segments and creating ads with creatives, copy, and offers tailored to their specific needs improves relevance and engagement. This is particularly effective in service industries or diverse product lines where personalisation boosts conversions.

Final Thoughts

Scaling paid media campaigns to very high levels requires precision, vision, and adaptability. It’s a balancing act of leveraging the advantages of scale while mitigating the associated risks. For industry professionals, staying agile and data-driven is key to unlocking the full potential of these campaigns.

How to Design Strategic Budgets for Major Clients in Paid Media

When creating budgets for major clients with significant investments, the approach must be meticulous, strategic, and aligned with the client's objectives. This process is not just an administrative task; it lays the foundation for building a solid professional relationship and establishing clear expectations.

The first step is to identify the Paid Media channels to be used. Each channel has unique characteristics and plays a distinct role within an integrated strategy. For instance, Google Ads may be ideal for capturing existing demand, while Meta Ads might work better for demand generation and audience building. This initial analysis not only defines the scope of the budget but also demonstrates a deep understanding of the tools available.

Calculating the budget is more than just crunching numbers. It requires basing decisions on historical data, industry benchmarks, and clear objectives. A significant investment demands well-founded justifications, including return expectations and risk analysis. For example, if the client plans to spend over €100,000 per month, a detailed breakdown of costs by channel and campaign type, along with an optimization plan, is essential.

Defining the overall strategy is a crucial aspect. This step involves structuring a clear approach that the client can understand and visualize. High-investment clients seek transparency and clarity, so it is vital to show how each component of the budget contributes to the campaign's success. This could include the distribution between upper and lower funnel activities and the expected frequency of creative updates.

The campaign structure should be detailed yet flexible, including the investment allocated to each channel and the selected ad formats. Additionally, it is important to explain concepts that the client may not be familiar with, such as the importance of the first 3 seconds of a video or how lookalike audiences work.

Another critical element for large budgets is calculating the time required for management. Managing high-investment projects demands more constant oversight, so including estimated hours and the need for additional team members, such as designers, reflects professionalism. If the budget’s scale requires it, having a second manager dedicated to the project ensures that all aspects are monitored appropriately.

Finally, everything must be presented in a high-quality document. This document serves as a reference and enhances the perception of professionalism. Presenting the budget in a clear, organized, and visually appealing format makes a significant difference in conveying confidence.

Creating budgets for large clients is an exercise in strategy, communication, and foresight. It is an opportunity to establish the groundwork for successful projects and long-lasting relationships.

How to Optimise Your Paid Media Testing Without Wasting Time or Budget

Each test in paid media turns uncertainty into learning: what to test, how to do it, and why the right budget and time make all the difference. Every part of a campaign can drive success, but it can also become a drain on time and resources if the approach isn’t right. So, what elements should you test, and how can you structure an effective routine for doing so?

The first step is understanding which elements have the greatest impact on results. Generally, the order of priorities should be: offer/value proposition, creative, headlines, targeting, format, primary text, call-to-action, and description. This isn’t just theory; it’s supported by performance data. For example, the offer is the backbone of any ad—without a clear and compelling value proposition for the user, no other element can compensate for it.

An effective routine for your testing strategies should include:

1. Define the key element to test: Instead of trying to assess everything at once, focus on a single element. For instance, does the headline effectively communicate the value of the offer?

2. Set clear hypotheses: Define what you aim to achieve with the change and how you will measure success (CTR, CPA, ROAS, etc.).

3. Design controlled variations: Create versions that differ only in the element being tested. This ensures results aren’t diluted by other factors.

4. Allocate an appropriate budget: This is where many uncertainties arise. Tests with very low budgets and/or short timelines tend to produce inconclusive data, mainly due to randomness. Without significant evidence, any decision based on such data will be built on shaky ground.

The issue with low budgets or short timelines is that they undermine the confidence that data can provide. Randomness, as mentioned, can lead you to incorrect conclusions, such as pausing an ad that could have performed better with more budget, time, or optimisation, or believing a winning variation is effective when, in reality, its better performance may have been random. A minimum timeframe of 7 to 14 days is recommended, depending on the volume of data you can gather, which will primarily depend on the budget and time dedicated to the test.

When this methodology is applied consistently, the benefits become much clearer. Optimisation is about building a system of continuous improvement. Ultimately, the real impact of paid media lies in discovering scalable and replicable patterns.

For those seeking sustainable results, the key is making the right changes supported by robust data. Next time you plan a test, ask yourself if the conditions are right for obtaining actionable insights. If they aren’t, it may be better to adjust the variables or postpone the test until they are. What do you think? What has been your biggest challenge when testing elements in paid media?