MarTech Podcast™: Meta's CMO's Playbook for Digital Marketers

Date: September 29, 2025
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Alex Schultz, CMO & VP of Analytics at Meta

Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation between host Benjamin Shapiro and Alex Schultz, CMO and VP of Analytics at Meta. They discuss Alex’s remarkable career trajectory from eBay to leading global marketing at Meta, the evolving blend of creativity and analytics in digital advertising—especially in an AI-first world—and major themes from Alex’s new book, The Art and Science of Digital Advertising. The episode is packed with real-life insights, philosophies, and practical strategies for digital marketers navigating today’s rapidly changing landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Alex Schultz’s Career Journey

• eBay as a Launchpad:
  • Schultz credits eBay as his “training ground,” learning about various marketing channels and the importance of integrating teams for business growth.

    “eBay was a huge part of how I got where I am today because you just learn so much…” (02:55)

• Joining Facebook/Meta:
  • Schultz joined Facebook in 2007, initially focusing on paid search and direct response marketing, expanding into broader roles over time.
  • Emphasized bringing organizational learnings from eBay to improve operations at Meta/Facebook.

2. Guiding Principles & Leadership Philosophy

• Incrementality is Everything:
  • Schultz highlights the necessity of demonstrating measurable impact, rather than just occupying an important role.

    “Incrementality is everything... The number one thing I focused on is having an impact that I can prove it mattered, that I did my job.” (05:12)

• People Management & Team Development:
  • As Meta's CMO, his focus is 90% on people management: setting strategy, cascading information, developing talent, and empowering his team.

    “My job is to make people more successful. My job is to manage people. My job is to develop people. My job is to help people succeed.” (07:06)

3. Staying Engaged with Marketing Practice

• Schultz stays hands-on by personally engaging in emerging channels like influencer marketing, participating in campaign reviews, and directly advising on tactics and measurement.
• Example: The launch of Ray Ban Meta glasses involved leveraging both major influencers and analyzing performance data.

  “I work with my team and we're buying ads with influencers for direct response... It's about how we select creators, the metrics, the overlap with demographics.” (09:02)

4. Why Write a Book Now?

• Thought Leadership for Practitioners:
  • Schultz explains there’s a need for a practitioner’s book—grounded, readable, and focused on actual marketing practice rather than just thought leadership.
• Championing Online Marketing:
  • Aims to counteract negative public discourse and highlight the positive economic impact of digital marketing.

    “I am sick and tired of there being no positive thing about online marketing in a lot of the general kind of conversation...” (10:40) “Someone needs to be out there saying that growth is good. Marketing drives growth... Our profession is great at driving growth.” (11:24)

5. Marketing Methodology: The North Star Goal

• Schultz discusses the necessity of a clear, overarching goal (“North Star”) to guide all marketing efforts—contrasting eBay’s ambiguity with Meta’s clarity.

  “At Meta... it was super clear. Our goal is connect the world online...” (13:19) “Having a North Star goal... is game changing for moving fast, making decisions and knowing what to do and what not to do.” (14:05)

• Differentiating Goals vs. Metrics:
  • Warns against conflating metrics with goals, referencing Goodhart’s Law.

    “A metric is not a goal. A metric is something that you use to try and describe a goal, make it measurable... when you turn a metric into a goal... you lose something.” (15:25)

6. AI-First Marketing: Opportunities and Challenges

• The Human Edge:
  • Creativity becomes the unique human value as AI handles repeatable tasks.

    “AI isn't going to take your job... Somebody else using AI is going to take your job. So where is the human value? The human value isn't in rote, repeatable tasks, the human value is in creativity.” (18:01)

• Channel-Specific Adaptations:
  • Draws parallels between old and new channels (e.g., direct mail and chatbot marketing) and emphasizes the enduring principles that apply across technologies.

    “The challenging thing... chatting with a chatbot... has a lot more in common with sending a postcard through direct mail than you would originally think.” (19:40)

• AI, Automation, and Avoiding Stagnation:
  • Warns of the risks of letting automated ad campaigns become stagnant (“local minima”), emphasizing the need for active management and ongoing experimentation.

    “Be active in managing it. Don't just sit back and be completely passive. Be engaged.” (23:48)

7. Lessons from Early Internet Marketing

• Shared a memorable eBay case study about uncovering an affiliate fraud scheme, illustrating his hands-on curiosity and technical investigative approach.

  “I remember I was the person who back engineered how it was done... I built something that did the exact same thing on my cocktail site and showed it to them...” (24:51)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Alex Schultz on Incrementality:

  “So many people take a seat on the rocket ship and don't actually try and do anything... Incrementality is everything.”
  (05:12)

• Alex Schultz on The Book’s Purpose:

  “I just want to say marketing is good and online marketing is good... Someone needs to be out there saying that growth is good.”
  (11:24)

• Alex Schultz on AI and Human Value:

  “AI isn't going to take your job... Somebody else using AI is going to take your job. So where is the human value? The human value isn't in rote, repeatable tasks, the human value is in creativity.”
  (18:01)

• Alex Schultz on Avoiding Automation Pitfalls:

  “If you are continually tweaking and trying things... you will actually find out, ‘Oh, is that really, really good or have I actually fallen into a local minima?’”
  (23:48)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:15] - Meta’s generative AI tools & episode set-up
• [02:55] - Schultz’s career arc from eBay to Meta
• [05:12] - Guiding principles: impact & incrementality
• [06:37] - Schultz’s day-to-day as CMO: people management focus
• [08:21] - Staying hands-on with emerging marketing tactics
• [10:40] - Why write a marketing book now?
• [13:08] - The North Star goal philosophy
• [15:25] - Goals vs. Metrics; Goodhart’s Law in marketing
• [17:46] - AI-first era: implications for marketers
• [19:40] - Channel thinking: AI, chatbots, and enduring principles
• [21:36] - Risks and best practices with automated campaigns
• [24:43] - Intellectual curiosity and the affiliate fraud case at eBay

Final Thoughts

This episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes perspective on the merging of art and science in marketing from one of the industry’s most influential CMOs. Schultz’s advice—encompassing leadership, technical experimentation, and navigating the AI era—is invaluable for marketers seeking to drive growth while embracing change.

Key Takeaway:
Even in a world of automation and AI, success in marketing hinges on clarity of purpose, measurable impact, creativity, and relentless curiosity.