In a world of technological disruption, no industry is immune to change—and rapid change at that. Take public relations and marketing, where strategies and tactics once thought “cutting-edge” a decade ago are now outdated. There used to be distinct lines between advertising and public relations, but no more. The lines have blurred, and it’s all about serving up content to connect with your ideal targeted audience.
Below, I’ll break down today’s tricks of the trade for those who—like me—started in business before the digital era.
Precise Audience Data
Back in the day, people in my industry used to buy advertising time on a certain television or radio station, or space in a print newspaper. Because we watched that TV, listened to that radio station and read that local paper, we assumed that our clients and customers did too. And they did: Cable news channels and print publications dominated the news and opinion landscape for decades.
After a little bit of market research, it was clear that an old-school ad could get people to purchase a product or service, especially after a sustained campaign. We would get reports based on people filling out a questionnaire at home about their reading, watching and listening habits. They were called Nielsen Reports, or paper “diaries” that were mailed to households during key rating periods called “sweeps weeks.” People would handwrite (yes, by hand) what they watched, when they watched, which family members were watching on which TV set and for how long. Advertisers and networks depended heavily on those diaries to determine advertising rates and decide which shows to renew or cancel. And marketers used them to figure out how to reach a target audience.
Now, smart TVs can detect what content is playing—either live or streaming. This is called automatic content recognition. Platforms like YouTube TV and Hulu essentially track views, completions, clicks, demographics and anonymized household data to learn more about their audiences—millions and millions of people. Streaming has completely changed how advertisers target and verify those users.
What this means is that advertisers can be much, much more precise when it comes to reaching consumers. Gone are the days of guessing how many people would watch a certain nightly broadcast versus going to the bathroom and missing the ad being shown. Today, the interaction between an ad and the viewer is very easily traceable, to the second. There’s no more guesswork.
Personalization
Today’s precision is a win-win for advertisers and consumers, who end up receiving more targeted advertising that caters to their hobbies or interests. After all, random advertising is far less effective than reaching people with what they really want—and might actually buy. Personalized marketing, with the help of artificial intelligence, is the way to go.
But marketers still need to figure out the ideal customer. This is where customer personas come into play. Based on age, household income, location, lifestyle and other factors, customer personas guide everything in digital marketing. From website visits to past purchases and loyalty program activity, all of these factors paint a powerful picture of the consumer.
For example, let’s say that my agency is working for an outdoor recreation company. We might put together a persona who goes by “Outdoor Olivia,” a 42-year-old resident of Boston, Massachusetts, who is married and works as a lawyer but enjoys going on ski trips with friends and family. Based on Outdoor Olivia’s potential trips to Vermont and interest in ski outerwear, we can reasonably guess—a very educated guess—what she likes and doesn’t like from a spending standpoint.
And we can tailor content to her and many people like her who share commonalities. Scale that, and you have a strong audience for ski gloves or new poles. Whether it’s through a LinkedIn post, a Google search result or a Google Gemini response, we will make sure that all of the Outdoor Olivia types out there know about this one company. Positive reviews on Google, Tripadvisor and Yelp represent other tools in the toolbox, so customers can know, like and trust what is being sold.
Putting It All Together
In the online space, the “everything” approach—from LinkedIn thought leadership to AI-generated responses about ski boots—is what makes a difference. On a regular basis, advertisers can harness technology, study their own data and understand patterns in website analytics, email lists and snapshots of who spends the most money. It makes sense to paint a total picture of the ideal customer, based on the customer persona and through to the actual consumer who clicks “buy.”
The world of marketing has changed forever, but smart advertisers can still get ahead. By using all of the new tools in our ever-evolving toolbox, we get more information that leads to better marketing than ever before.
This article originally appeared on the Forbes Agency Council CommunityVoice in December 2025.
