Digital Advertising Trends to Look Out For in 2021 with Eric Stockton
with Shane Barker
In this episode, Shane Barker welcomes Eric Stockton from Perfect Audience to dissect the dynamic shifts in digital advertising for 2021. The duo examines how businesses are rethinking budgets, testing creative strategies, and leveraging retargeting to maximize ROI. With digital trends accelerating, Eric provides practical tips to avoid common mistakes and optimize ad campaigns, offering fresh perspectives for marketers navigating a rapidly evolving online landscape.
Today's guest...
Eric Stockton
Eric Stockton is the Director of Marketing at SharpSpring, a leading provider of powerful marketing automation solutions tailored for B2B success. With over two decades of experience in direct marketing and demand generation, he has consistently helped companies – from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises – grow their revenue and customer base worldwide.
Before joining SharpSpring, Eric held key leadership roles in top marketing organizations, orchestrating campaigns that combined email, content, and automation strategies. His hands-on approach and data-driven mindset have led to record-breaking lead generation and measurable ROI for a diverse range of brands and industries.
Widely regarded as a thought leader, Eric shares insights as host of the B2B Hustle show and is frequently sought after for industry panels and conferences. His commitment to innovation, coupled with a deep understanding of emerging trends, has established him as a trusted resource for marketers looking to drive meaningful, long-term growth.
Episode Show Notes
In this episode of The Marketing Growth Podcast, host Shane Barker sits down with Eric Stockton, the general manager of Perfect Audience, to explore the evolving landscape of digital advertising as we look back on 2021. Eric dives into how the digitalization trend is reshaping marketing strategies, emphasizing that the shift toward online channels isn’t a temporary fix but a lasting change. He explains how companies, especially in e-commerce and B2B sectors, are rethinking their budget allocations amid post-2020 challenges. Eric shares actionable advice on testing different components of advertising campaigns—from landing pages and ad creatives to email marketing—underscoring the importance of focusing on core KPIs rather than getting lost in vanity metrics.
Shane and Eric also highlight the power of retargeting, describing it as a low-hanging fruit that can dramatically boost ROI when executed correctly. They discuss the pitfalls of relying solely on automated solutions without the right strategy and the necessity of continuously optimizing campaigns. This engaging conversation offers valuable insights for marketers looking to pivot, refine their approach, and achieve sustainable growth in a competitive digital landscape.
Brands mentioned
- Perfect Audience
Welcome to the Marketing Growth Podcast. I’m your host, Shane Barker. In this episode, Eric Stockton, the general manager of Perfect Audience, is back with us to discuss the state of digital advertising in 2021. He will also offer digital advertising tips for running successful ad campaigns and point out mistakes you should avoid.
So I want to switch gears a little bit and talk to you about the state of digital advertising in 2021. We were obviously sneaking up on 2021—I think everybody’s pretty excited about leaving 2020 behind for a million, maybe even two million reasons. Let’s talk about digital advertising and what trends you’re seeing, especially since you guys can see all the data behind the scenes. What are you seeing for 2021?
Eric Stockton
I think the digitalization trend is definitely not going away. You’ve got a lot of companies growing like gangbusters, especially on the e-commerce side, and we’re starting to see more B2B budgets coming back, which is really encouraging. Back in March, people were cutting back and recalibrating, and events had mostly disappeared. Now, everyone’s budgeting carefully and trying to shift most of their marketing activities online. We get a lot of questions at Perfect Audience like, “I’ve got $100,000 in digital ad budget next year—how do I allocate that?” We’re here to help guide them with some basic insights based on what we see behind the scenes—what’s working and what’s not.
That’s awesome because it’s much needed. I do a lot of work with the SBA and the SBDC, helping businesses pivot during these challenging times. With limited budgets during COVID, it’s all about where you spend your money. So what would you say to any marketers looking to succeed with digital advertising in these challenging times? Can you give them some pointers?
Eric Stockton
I think there are two things to highlight. One is that you have to be testing. If you’re not testing, you’re just throwing money at a problem and asking for trouble. You need to understand your core KPIs and test each lever point to optimize your campaigns. You don’t need huge budgets for testing—it’s more about having the right mindset for experimentation. There’s a saying that you overestimate what you can do in a year and underestimate what you can do in five years. I used to run experiments at Marketing Experiments with a simple compounding effect spreadsheet, testing micro improvements on landing pages, ads, and email campaigns over several months. The compounded results were amazing.
The second point is to focus on the core KPI drivers of the business. In digital advertising, we often get lost in vanity metrics like click-through rates or CPMs. Instead, concentrate on the one, two, or three metrics that truly drive new leads, conversions, or sales. Use a bottoms-up approach when planning your strategy. I’m a huge fan of the Pareto rule—focus on the 20% that really moves the needle, and you’ll be shocked at the impact.
Great insights. Eric, since we’ve been talking about succeeding with digital advertising, I want to take a moment to talk to our listeners. If you’re looking to create digital marketing campaigns that deliver a great return on investment, you can count on my team to help you out. Hire us for content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, and other services. For more details, check out shanebarker.com.
Now back to the conversation with Eric: what are some of the major mistakes you’ve seen in 2020 that marketers are making? I have my own list, and 2020 has been an odd year—between COVID, the political climate, and everything else—but what mistakes do you see that make you want to poke your eye out or go drink another beer?
Eric Stockton
Well, I’ll just leave my advertising hat on for a second. One thing I see is that people are underutilizing retargeting. It’s not meant to be just a checkbox in Google Ads. Retargeting is the lowest-hanging fruit with the highest ROI, especially in inbound or lead gen funnels. If you have traffic, that’s where you start—getting back in front of prospects who have already seen your brand and message. Too many people let the algorithm run without optimizing, and that’s a big mistake.
I recall a campaign from about nine months ago where we were retargeting a whole group of users without excluding those who weren’t working. We were just throwing money at the wall and ended up blowing through a couple of thousand dollars before I realized it was silly. Everything should drive back to a KPI, and I missed that in this case. It was a wake-up call.
It’s funny when you talk about your own campaigns and the things you could have improved. I was thinking about how our own retargeting might not be up to scratch. Even though we get a lot of traffic to our website, it’s clear we’re not doing retargeting the way we need to. It made me laugh—and also cringe—because I know there’s a huge opportunity there. When I reviewed Perfect Audience, I realized we were missing a chance to really optimize our retargeting. I might have to go back and review that again, and maybe even reach out to you for some help.
Thanks, Eric. I’m sure our listeners have learned a lot about digital advertising from today’s conversation. Let’s give them some time to absorb it all for now—it’s a wrap. I also wanted to discuss retargeting with you, but we’ll save that for the next episode. Eric will be back on the Marketing Growth Podcast soon. Stay tuned.
00:10
Introduction to Shane Barker and Eric Stockton
00:29
State of Digital Advertising in 2021
02:39
Shifting Marketing Strategies and Budget Allocation
05:00
Focus on Key KPIs for Driving Business Growth
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