No Media Waste and Massive Results | Kelly Heilpern

David McBee: Hello and welcome to Simpli.fi TV, the web series and podcast for agencies, marketers, media buyers, and business owners. I'm David McBee. Our guest today is Kelly Heilpern, Chief Strategy Officer at Ammunition. With experience on both the agency and brand sides, Kelly drives growth and success for clients and internal teams at Ammunition. Since joining as the first employee in 2017, Kelly has helped Ammunition become one of the southeast's fastest growing agencies recognized by Inc. Magazine in 2024 and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The agency's innovative work includes brands like LG, Mitsubishi Electric, and Georgia Pacific. Kelly, welcome to Simpli.fi TV. Kelly Heilpern: Thank you for having me. David McBee: Kelly, I understand that ammunition leverages Programmatic Media, which makes me so happy. So I would just like to jump right in and ask you, how do you think programmatic advertising is going to maintain its edge in targeting audiences precisely even as privacy laws tighten and limit traditional methods like social media and paid search? Kelly Heilpern: Yeah, it's a great question. I think that when we think back to even modern media and the way that we think about the digital 2.0 world, you used to be able to log into Facebook and essentially say, "I want to reach David and he's got a golden retriever that we know is a female." And you could get this very deep analytical perspective around niche targeting, and privacy laws have made that certainly more complicated specifically for search and social. So we turn to programmatic as really this ever evolving growing platform that allows us new tactical ways to really capture and engage our target audiences. And then the targeting parameters are actually very unique and I think that they are growing over time versus feeling like they're more limited in our interactions. So programmatic has really established itself as a massive role within all of our media plans, whether that be kind of from the prospecting side of the funnel or even lead generation. I think that there are really tactics, placements, and targeting opportunities through programmatic that could let you hit all areas of that marketing funnel. David McBee: You make a really good point. I joined Simpli.fi 10 years ago, and back then we basically did display ads using behavioral targeting or using online data. And now we're using location data for geofencing. We're using demographic data that tells if a person owns a truck or has a three-car garage. It's come so far and it's a funny thing to think that privacy laws are tightening, but our abilities are actually expanding. Do you have any particular favorite targeting tactics? Kelly Heilpern: Oh, that's super tough. I think that it's really unique based on the audience and based on the client, and I think that that's what makes programmatic so powerful, right? So for a client that might be attending a massive trade show that's very important to their business, knowing that the user was actually there geographically and that we can reach them as a follow-up to that show with display ads, native ads that can contextualize their presence at the show and their connection with the brand, I think that that puzzle piece has become very unique and something that we're able to leverage for a lot of clients. But I think the power of CTV and NGO targeting as a whole, I think that those offer really unique opportunities, especially thinking about the role of AI within programmatic, more in the personalization of the media that the user, the viewer is going to engage with, that that feels custom to their interaction, their location, what they've been browsing in order to find. I think that media can often get a bad rap around the Big Brother narrative versus we're now helping personalize and contextualize the ads that you're seeing so that they're always relevant to you and then you can choose to engage with them in the time that kind of fits your particular needs. David McBee: I love that you brought up the Big Brother narrative. Sometimes people ask me what I do and I tell them and they're like, "Oh, you do the creepy ads." Kelly Heilpern: [inaudible 00:04:29]. David McBee: And I'm like, "The internet is free, thanks to me. You're welcome." At least the ads that you have to see are relevant to you. So I'm so glad you brought that up. I think that's coming to CTV as well. I think we're going to be in a world where when we watch television, the ads are more relevant to us. Are you guys leveraging CTV at your agency, Ammunition? Kelly Heilpern: We are, yeah. I think that the CTV is super powerful. The number one thing that it does is it makes television advertising much more attainable for clients, especially that might have a more unique or niche target audience to not only be able to tie in the advertising to the user, but to contextually place that during a program, a network that might help make that even more relevant. All of those layers from a targeting and reach perspective, I think, have been super effective. David McBee: That's an exciting time. So, all right. A lot of agencies are selling tactics kind of in silos, right? They'll run a Google AdWords campaign and they'll measure that results, or they'll run a social media campaign and they'll measure its results. They'll run programmatic. You know where I'm going with this, right? Do you think that's a good practice or is there a better way of blending the tactics in your opinion? Kelly Heilpern: Yeah, I think first you have to think about what is the core business objective that we're trying to meet. And that's what every media plan should essentially be derived from. For some clients, that might be full funnel that's going to leverage multiple tactics. And for some it might be really heavy prospecting and so we might lean more into a programmatic environment. But I think that when there are multiple platforms, channels, strategies being used, it's essential to not only look at that individual performance and understand how is that aligning to estimated KPIs, benchmark KPIs and what we thought was going to deliver for the client from a success standpoint, but how is that full picture really coming together in order to represent and meet the overall objective, right? Because digital media, one of the greatest things about it is that it is so flexible and we can understand that this particular native ad, whether it be creative or placement or target audience is performing significantly better than version B. And so we might lean into from a spend allocation standpoint, diverting spend from other platforms or other tactics in order to support those initiatives. So yes, I think that all the silos are great and being able to understand unique performance for each is important, but I think that whole picture and stitching that whole story together is what leads to the most effective. David McBee: I'm going to throw you curveball. Kelly Heilpern: Okay. David McBee: At Ammunition, do you have individuals that do each of those tactics? Or do you have one person that is a subject matter expert on the client that's doing everything? Or how do you navigate that silo process? Kelly Heilpern: Yeah, we lean towards the latter in your example where we're kind of expecting our media team to not only be planners and buyers, but to be strategists as a whole. So they are included in onboarding meetings with the client from the very beginning so they can understand the strategic insight into what makes the client better and special and different, and how we can uniquely target their audience in a way that is going to matter to them and help that client, that ad, whatever it might be, really stand out. So the media planners and buyers really look for what is the right opportunity, right way to reach to meet those client objectives across multiple executions. David McBee: I'm starting to get a sense of how Ammunition's won all those accolades that I mentioned in your bio. That sounds like a great practice. All right, so the future, what trends are you witnessing? Where do you think the future of digital media is headed? Kelly Heilpern: I'm a freak for contextual targeting. I think that what that offers the user, what that offers the clients that we serve is massive, the value that that can present. We talked about Big Brother and the sense of what that means to an audience that may not understand all of the analytics and data that goes behind it, but I think the reason we're all so starved for focused attention is because there has been this history of just bombardment of ad space. No matter where you're engaging, you can't drive down the highway or get on your phone or get on your laptop, whatever that might be, without having to be targeted with something. So if that's going to be there, why don't we make it relevant to you? Why don't we make it useful? And I think turning kind of that B2B versus B2C approach on its head to where we're all consumers at the end of the day, right? So how can we help understand what's going to drive you, where is that going to be most effective, and how can we make sure that when you do interact with that piece of media, that ad that placement, that it feels relevant and it's welcome versus a distraction or something that's bothersome. And I think that not only contextual targeting, but I think media today is very focused on being thoughtful in our intent to reach our audience versus this batch and blast of the past. David McBee: Are you able to share any examples of how you have used contextual effectively at Ammunition? Kelly Heilpern: Yeah. We recently ran an ad for a client of ours, or a campaign I should say, that was focused on the storm surges that are happening in the Southeast as of late. Their platform speaks to insurance adjusters, remodelers, contractors who aim to help homeowners get back on their feet faster after those types of disasters. So we were looking for contextual targeting around specifically the geotargets of those areas, who's looking to make those improvements based on who's been affected, and then really personalizing those ads for not only the professional audiences that can help solve the problem, but the homeowners who were affected. And that created, I mean, essentially no media waste and massive results in driving the adoption of the product that helps generate help faster. David McBee: No media waste and massive results. I love that. That's great. All right, well we are about out of time, and I like to ask all of my guests before I let them go. Do you have a favorite podcast or is there a book that has been instrumental in your success? Kelly Heilpern: Oh, I have to thank my husband for this one, The Prof G Podcast by Scott Galloway. I think that he's an awesome speaker and I think that there's relevant context in the political space, economic space, and then just kind of the digital environment that we live in. And having that full circle context into how those three worlds interact together has been really helpful in kind of navigating emerging trends across all spaces that really impact media landscape and the world around us in general. David McBee: We'll have to check it out. All right, so how can people get in touch with you or follow you on social media? Kelly Heilpern: Definitely visit ammunition.agency, the Ammunition website. And you can follow us @ammunitionteam on Instagram. David McBee: Thank you so much for being my guest today. Kelly Heilpern: Thank you for the time. David McBee: And thank you guys for watching Simpli.fi TV. Please help us out with a like, a comment, review. Be sure to follow or subscribe to be informed about new episodes. Simpli.fi TV is sponsored by Simpli.fi, helping you to maximize relevance and multiply results with our industry-leading, media buying, and workflow solutions. For more information, visit Simply.fi. Thanks for joining us today. I'm David McBee. Be awesome and we'll see you next time.