Thread 2022: The Highlights From Our Customer Conference

Key takeaways

Paid media is essential for fast growth and visibility in today’s competitive digital marketing world, giving businesses better targeting and measurable results. The best paid media agencies use technology, custom strategies, and transparent reporting to drive real business growth, with Hunter Digital leading through a data-driven and client-focused approach.

Key points:

Paid media allows brands to reach the right audience quickly with targeted and testable campaigns.
Top agencies blend creative work & media buying, access exclusive ad features, & use proprietary analytics to get measurable results.
Industry specialization helps agencies deliver more effective strategies faster by understanding unique client needs.
Clear communication, customized planning, frequent reporting, and ongoing optimization are must-haves for successful partnerships.
Hunter Digital stands out with its real-time data, multichannel expertise, and relentless focus on performance and transparency.

Topic

Key Insight

Why It Matters

Action Items

Paid Media Importance

Accelerates growth and delivers measurable marketing results.

Agency Specialization

Agencies with industry experience customize strategies for better outcomes.

Not all campaigns or industries are the same.

Choose an agency with direct experience in your sector.

Core Capabilities

Top agencies blend creative, data, platform access, and transparency.

These factors separate leading agencies from the rest.

Look for agencies with these strengths when vetting firms.

Hunter Digital Approach

Uses proprietary analytics, ongoing optimization, and open reporting for growth-focused work.

Provides transparent, results-driven marketing partnerships.

Prioritize agencies offering data-driven, honest service.

Evaluating Agencies

Asking about customization, reporting, team, & past success reveals agency fit.

Ensures you hire a truly effective marketing partner.

Always ask key questions to assess agency capability.

Why Paid Media Is the Backbone of Modern Digital Marketing

Paid media is now the core engine behind fast growth and visibility for brands. Whether your business is new or already established, digital marketing is too competitive to rely on organic progress alone. Paid media lets you put your brand in front of the right people, on the right platforms, at the right time.

Here’s the simple truth: Companies investing in paid media see faster results. You can target specific audiences, test and scale creative ideas, and get new customers—all with measurable results. As a digital marketing agency, we’ve watched businesses double or triple their revenue after launching campaigns built on data and performance. No guesswork. Just proof that paid media works.

What Makes an Agency One of the Best Paid Media Agencies

Top paid media agencies do more than run ads. They combine technology, creativity, and proven strategy to build lasting growth for their clients. The best agencies know how to match digital marketing tactics to each client’s goals and industry.

Why does that matter? Because not every campaign or client is alike. An eCommerce clothing brand needs something different from a B2B SaaS company. The best paid media agencies understand this—they customize everything, from ad copy to budget splits, based on your business.

From my experience at Hunter Digital, successful paid media comes down to six main strengths:

Integrated creative and media buying—so your ads not only look good, they actually convert.
Access to beta ad features and exclusive partnerships with Google, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, and more.
Proprietary analytics platforms for real-time insights and quick pivots when results change.
A proven track record of real, measurable ROI.
Custom strategies for each industry.
Transparent reporting and reliable communication.

Agencies praised on industry lists—like these top-rated paid media shops—all share those traits.

Categories of Paid Media Agencies and Why Specialization Matters

Answer first: Not all paid media agencies offer the same thing, & choosing one with experience in your industry can cut your learning curve in half.

Specializations you’ll find in the market:

Enterprise and Fortune 500: Focus on complex, cross-channel buys and advanced analytics. Key for big budgets and global brands.
SaaS and Performance Marketing: Optimize long sales cycles, lead generation, and audience nurturing with laser-targeted search engine marketing and multi-step retargeting.
eCommerce and Direct Response: Maximize every ad dollar to boost sales, lower CPA, and unlock paid social and Google Shopping tactics.
Creator Campaigns: Pair brands with trusted influencers, perfect for Gen Z and those who want authenticity at scale.

At Hunter Digital, we’ve worked with clients across these categories. But no matter the industry, our approach is always data-first and growth-focused. If the numbers aren’t moving up, we’re not finished.

1,400+ marketers joined us live in New York City and tuned in virtually for Thread 2022, our inaugural conference for conversational commerce.

Thread was an action-packed two day event. We discussed all things conversational commerce, and hosted over 20 breakout sessions and peer roundtables, with plenty of opportunities to network and learn from the brightest minds in marketing.

We shared our vision for the future of conversational commerce

Our Co-Founder & CEO Brian Long took center stage for our Thread keynote to discuss the state of messaging today, where we see the space going, and our blueprint for building toward that future.

We launched some big new products, features, and integrations

To achieve our vision for the future, we’re committed to building new products and features. We shipped a ton of updates and enhancements to our platform this year—all to help you maximize your business goals. Here’s a quick overview of what launched at Thread:

LiveSMS™, real live chat, powered by SMS (and an extension of Attentive Concierge™).
Text-to-Buy with Shop Pay, to convert browsers to buyers faster on mobile.
Attentive Email, including our Magic Composer, to create multi-channel, multi-message campaigns directly within our platform.
Enhanced compliance features, including Attentive Litigator Defender and Attentive Enhanced Audit Assistant, for even better protection against lawsuits.
The Attentive Consumer Passport, to bring all of your customer data together in one place.
25 new best-in-class integrations, including Salesforce Commerce Cloud (currently in open beta), WooCommerce, Loop, and Friendbuy.

We learned from the inspiring marketers and entrepreneurs at brands we love

Many of our amazing customers joined us at Thread to share their brand stories and industry expertise:

Luxury performance brand Athletic Propulsion Labs told us all about how they’re delivering luxury experiences with SMS.
SPARC Group talked about why compliance was critical in their decision to move to Attentive for their portfolio of brands, which includes Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Forever 21, and Lucky Brand.
Reformation shared the strategies they use to drive 963x ROI from text messaging, and brought us behind-the-scenes of their viral SMS campaign.
We heard from a panel of marketing leaders at Patagonia, CB2, and SPANX about why it’s essential to stay curious and embrace innovation to prepare your business for the future.
Executives from Mented Cosmetics, Boston Proper, and LIVELY took the main stage to discuss how they’re weaving conversational commerce into the customer relationship.
We had breakout sessions led by customers (including Apotheke, Crocs, Goodr, Chicos, and Bath & Body Works), and our partners from Ometria and Simon Data, covering topics like retail trends, agile marketing strategies, loyalty and retention, using email and SMS together, and so much more.
We brought together marketers for roundtable conversations to share learnings and advice on preparing for BFCM, global expansion, personalization, and everything in between. (And, of course, we took plenty of notes.)

We also hosted two fireside chats with industry luminaries:

Bobbi Brown, Makeup Artist and Founder of Jones Road Beauty

Brown talked about launching her iconic brand in 1991, and how she’s taking a unique approach to marketing, product development, and customer communications with her latest venture, Jones Road Beauty.

The beauty industry titan also discussed how having a digital business lets her personally connect with customers to educate them about makeup, saying, “I like to teach people how to do things, and I like to empower and inspire. The best way to do that is with a video, with an email, with SMS—you reach people where they are.”

Taraji P. Henson, Actress, Producer, Author, and Entrepreneur

Henson shared lessons she’s learned throughout her career—from her rise in Hollywood to starting her own hair care line, TPH by Taraji, to advocating for mental health and founding the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation.

For Henson, pursuing new ideas is about finding the right entry point and filling a void for something that people need, advising fellow entrepreneurs, “If you have a dream—if you have something that you feel like the world is missing—go for it.”

Written by Attentive (Author: Keri McGhee)

Link to Original Blog: https://www.attentive.com/blog/conversational-commerce-customer-conference