Are the Outcomes in the Room with Us?

Lately, it feels like “outcomes” are the hottest buzzword in marketing and media. Everyone’s talking about them, everyone’s optimizing toward them, and everyone’s nodding like they know exactly what they mean. But let’s pause for a second: what even is an outcome?

We’ve started patting ourselves on the back for being “outcomes-driven.” It sounds impressive, but when you dig deeper, it’s not always clear whether we actually know what outcome we’re chasing—or if we even have access to it. In many cases, “outcomes” mean sales or revenue. And it should! For far too long, we’ve been optimizing for clicks, impressions, or arbitrary engagement metrics—things that feel measurable but don’t always move the business needle. Focusing on real outcomes forces us to align our work with what truly matters: driving impact that the organization can see and value.

But let’s get real: how many media buyers actually get that data? How many of the people pulling levers on campaigns even see the results of their work in a meaningful, measurable way? And even if these media buyers did receive this information, would they know what to do with it? Far too few media buyers have ever had the opportunity to get educated in incrementality and causal impact and even how to navigate Shopify.

There’s a disconnect here. We celebrate optimizing toward outcomes, but our industry structures often mean the outcomes themselves are siloed. The revenue data sits with the finance or sales teams, while media teams still operate on proxies. I’ve been a media buyer for 13 years and only this year, for the first time in my career, am I working with brands who truly give me access to all the “outcomes” data I need to do my job properly.

That said, there’s reason for optimism. Marketecture is hosting a conference called Age of Outcomes (Oct 27, NYC), and I’ll be curious to see how they treat the topic. Hopefully, it will spark conversations about closing the gap between intent and measurement, and help us all think more clearly about what being truly “outcomes-driven” means. It’s a chance for the industry to move forward together, with outcomes that are not just trendy words, but tangible, actionable realities.

My final plea: When you’re getting all your team members in the room to talk about those all-important outcomes, take a look around and ask, “Is our media buyer here, too?”

Reluctantly yours,

AL