Fueled by personalization & targeting, dark marketing is transforming the brand marketplace, making it difficult to get a coherent view of what‘s happening from the consumer‘s perspective. Marketers have few tools to measure advertising across social media platforms or assess the competitive landscape. The increasing number of data sources makes it difficult to understand how exposure & engagement are affecting brand building & market performance. Through a partnership with technology company BrandTotal, we will discuss the core analytics required for Media, Brand Measurement, Consumer Insight and Strategy teams to achieve higher ROI in social media marketing. Examples will be shared of how paid social media competitive intelligence in the current era of COVID-19 supports data-driven decision making throughout the marketing lifecycle from Planning to Execution to Measurement.