The Arts as a Wellness Industry
The Age of Andromeda
AUTHOR:
Aly Gomez
In 2024, Meta introduced Andromeda—their machine learning update that rocked the world of digital advertising and shifted how everyone used Facebook and Instagram.
Shortly thereafter, they coined a new catch phrase to describe the change to marketers, widely sharing that “creative is the new targeting.” (You can read our original post about the announcement here.) Whether you have heard this catch phrase over the past few years or not, its impact has echoed throughout your own scrolling experiences and deeply influenced the way your ad dollars generate results.
What Does It Mean for Marketers?
Meta reports that creative decisions drive, on average, 56% of ROI.
That means that the images, videos, and words you use in your ads are accountable for the majority of your results, for better or for worse.
How so? In the old days, we used to be able to “outbid bad content” to an extent. We could get ads in front of potential audiences using a strategic setup and structure, and from there allow the ad to do the job of selling or converting a ticket buyer.
But today, the platform is actively gatekeeping our ads from people they know won’t respond well to them. They know so much about what Person A likes and how it differs from Person B, that they are holding your ads back from portions of your target audience if Person B won’t respond well to the video, based on past behavior.
Fences Still Matter, But They’re Not Enough
Think of pulling targeting levers like building a fence. You’re setting the parameters of your audience: geography, age, interests. But within that fenced-in area lives a vibrant, messy community of individuals, each with their own tastes and triggers.
If you promote just one piece of creative—say, a beautifully designed key art image for a new play—you’ll reach the circle of people who already respond to polished key art. Everyone else? You’ll miss them.
Different people need different doors into your story. And you need different ads and angles to help spread out your Venn diagram and reach more of your desired audience inside the fence you’ve drawn.
For example:
- Some might respond to a polished visual
- Some need a first-person, casual video that feels native to their social feed
- Others are looking for humor, education, nostalgia, or emotional storytelling
To maximize your reach (and your return), you need to feed the algorithm a diverse set of creatives that connect with the many micro-communities within your fence.
How to Diversify Your Content
While Meta states that creative diversification is now a best practice, there is no exact “right way” to do it. Here is how Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra approached the assignment, with ads crafted by their in-house team and Capacity, combined:
You can read more about creative diversification in our case study with University Musical Society (UMS).
Need Help Navigating the Age of Andromeda?
Capacity is here for you. Reach out now to start the conversation.
