Picture this: A business that wants more customers, so it keeps hiring salespeople. Each new hire brings a few extra sales at first, but nobody tells them who the others are speaking to. Each keeps their own notes, and each reports results differently.
Soon two of them chase the same customer. A third is pitching something that the customer has already turned down. The manager cannot tell who actually closed the deal, so spending rises while sales level off.
That is what is happening across digital marketing. StackAdapt, our programmatic advertising partner, surveyed 885 senior marketing and advertising leaders for its State of Programmatic Advertising 2027 report. The findings point to the same pattern: more channels, more capability and growth that is not keeping pace.
Channels have multiplied but not as one strategy
According to the report, 83% of marketers have added channels to their mix over the past two to three years. Only 10% almost always run those channels as one coordinated plan.
That leaves 41% of respondents in the gap between the two. They have broadened where they advertise, but they don’t plan, run, and measure it as a single strategy.
42% of marketers estimate that more than a fifth of their programmatic spend is wasted or underperforming because channels operate in silos. The share reporting waste above 30% has not moved since last year’s benchmark, despite all the capability added in between.
Every channel looks good, but revenue stays flat
The clearest sign of disconnected channels is that each one reports results, but overall, the revenue does not increase.
“A new channel often just picks up conversions that would probably have happened anyway. It looks productive in its own report, but it isn’t driving incremental gains.”
Several channels claim credit for the same customer, so the business pays more without growing. Few businesses test for this: only 29% of marketers in the report use incrementality testing, which measures whether activity creates sales that would not otherwise have happened.
The problem starts with how channels are measured
According to the report, inconsistent measurement across channels is the most common cause of wasted budget.. In practice, that usually means every channel is judged against the same metric: immediate revenue.
“Not every campaign is designed to drive revenue right away. Some are building awareness or consideration. When businesses don’t understand the KPIs of each channel and campaign, they cut the ones that don’t deliver immediate revenue, and long-term success suffers.”
Why businesses keep reaching for the next channel
When growth slows, a new platform feels like progress. But there is a contradiction; the appeal of new platforms and a limited understanding of the audience and how they buy.
That understanding covers four things:
- How long the buying journey is,
- How many touchpoints come before a sale
- Which concerns need addressing along the way
- Which channels the audience actually uses.
Without it, a new channel is a guess rather than a strategic decision.
At Loom, we apply the same discipline to our own testing. When we trialled ChatGPT ads for three of our clients, the activity was paused after it failed to deliver incremental results. The current format resembles a sponsored placement rather than a genuine recommendation within the conversation, and for now, that distinction limits its value.
Capture existing demand, then build new demand
For most businesses, the first priority is not a new channel. It is making the most of people already searching for what they offer.
“Most businesses have a search angle that can drive in-market traffic to their site. The goal should be to spend as much as possible on those channels, profitably, before looking elsewhere. Many businesses run display or paid social when they could and should be doing more on search.”
There is an important exception. Some products and services have little existing search demand, so an audience-led channel is needed from the start.
Either way, the principle is the same: every channel needs a defined role and a measure that fits it. Search captures demand and should be judged on revenue. Awareness activity builds future demand and should be judged on reach and consideration.
Growth comes from connection, not more channels
A growth plateau is rarely a sign that a business needs more places to advertise. More often, it is a sign that the channels it already has are working in isolation.
The businesses that move past the plateau are not the ones with the longest list of channels. They are the ones where each channel has a clear role, is measured fairly, and works as part of one plan.
Loom’s ClearThread™ approach is built around this, connecting each channel into one strategy so you can see its contribution as part of the whole.
