TLDR:
Meta’s layoffs have led to the replacement of account team members with AI, impacting advertisers who feel they are not receiving the premium service they are paying for. Marketers are resigned to the fact that they have to work with the changes until another platform outperforms Meta. The automation of account teams and services, as well as the lack of communication from Meta, has left advertisers feeling frustrated and dissatisfied. Meta’s long-term goal is to automate as much of its ads business as possible, leading to a shift in focus towards AI and systems rather than dedicated account teams.
Key Elements:
- 20,000 job losses at Meta have shaken up the marketing teams of advertisers
- Advertisers are not receiving the premium service they believe they are paying for
- Meta’s automation of account teams and services, as well as the lack of communication, has left advertisers feeling frustrated and dissatisfied
- Meta’s long-term goal is to automate as much of its ads business as possible
Getting urgent emails from CMOs is just part of the daily grind for agency execs, but one note recently caught the attention of an agency exec more than usual. The client was irate because their entire Meta account team had been overhauled and downsized without their say. They felt they should’ve been consulted, given their significant ad spend, which the agency exec declined to share. Once the CMO had cooled off, they confided in the agency exec that they had never even worked directly with their previous account manager at Meta. The agency exec’s response was straight to the point: they said that talking to a live human at Meta wasn’t necessary for every issue – just something that would be nice to have.
It’s safe to say that those 20,000 job losses at Meta last year definitely shook things up at that CMO’s marketing team, a brand that the agency exec declined to name. As the agency exec explained: “The client was really upset by the change – even though the [Meta] team wasn’t being fully automated [but downsized].”