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The Covid 19 pandemic has had an enormous and disruptive impact on marketing. Despite this, it is important to analyze what the future of digital marketing and advertising spaces holds. The clearer these trends are to marketers, the higher their chances of outshining the competition. Roman Vrublivskyi, chief commercial officer at Smart-Hub.io shares what are the new adtech trends reshaping the digital marketing space and what trends are currently bringing in the best results. Let's find out.
The Covid 19 pandemic has had an enormous and disruptive impact on marketing. Despite this, it is important to analyze what the future of digital marketing and advertising spaces holds. The clearer these trends are to marketers, the higher their chances of outshining the competition.
Going into the future, what are the new adtech trends reshaping the digital marketing space? What trends are currently bringing in the best results? Let's find out.
1. Programmatic ads are tilting more towards CTV and dynamic creatives
Experts estimate that TV spending will hit $19.10 billion by 2022. As a result, brands can use programmatic targeting to send more relevant messages to consumers.
Based on user and campaign data, programmatic advertising algorithms target the right audience. Programmatic advertising uses new methods and formats to make advertising more interactive and personal. Here’s how it works.
Interactive ad formats
Playable ads and rewarded ads are two popular mobile ad formats.
These ads are designed to work with in-app ecosystems. They can entice mobile device users by providing value or an engaging experience. A playable ad could be a fun mini-game that runs alongside another app (oftentimes a mobile game).
On the other hand, users who watch rewarded ads get something in return such as in-app rewards, free premium features, content, etc. This is usually one of the app publishers’ marketing options.
Dynamic ad insertion (DAI) and Connected TV (CTV)
DAI allows advertisers to place ads in linear, live, or VOD content while changing the creatives on the fly. Marketers should consider this technology as it reduces the lag in passing ad messages, improves reporting, and personalizes video experiences.
In contrast, connected TV uses the internet to deliver programmatic ads to internet-connected devices such as smart TVs and game consoles. Because of this, connected TV is one of the fastest-growing ad delivery channels. Experts say $9 billion in CTV investment is imminent.
2. Using DOOH and virtual assistants to increase ad projection
Multi-channel campaigns outperform single-channel campaigns, with a 300% success rate. This explains why advertisers choose a diverse media mix and innovative media like DOOH and ads in virtual assistants.
The Digital Out of Home (DOOH) channel in the form of billboards and giant multimedia screens is used to advertise products and services. They may be in public places like shopping malls, roads, subways, to draw in customers. Static screens can’t respond to real-time events. However, dynamic screens can provide customers with real-time updates on new brand outlets or recommend alternatives if their favorite restaurant is fully booked.
Integration of ads into VAs
Virtual/voice assistants allow users to search and run errands without touching their devices. Voice shopping is growing due to virtual assistants that enable voice search for products and services.
Analysts predict voice shopping will generate $40 billion by the end of 2022, proving its revenue potential (2 billion dollars it is making currently). In fact, every fourth American uses voice assistance to make a holiday purchase.
Voice assistants can help users interact with brands. This technology will soon allow users to access many businesses and stores, as well as keep them informed of promotions, benefits, and other useful information about a brand. Using these shopping assistants clearly benefits both parties.
3. Mobile and voice-activated ads are widely used
As the pandemic spread and people were forced to quarantine at home, advertisers began focusing on mobile and voice search experiences. Advertisers can use zero-click search results, voice search, and extended snippets to answer customers queries
Notably, the use of voice assistants has increased significantly globally. According to a Think with Google report, 27% of mobile users use voice search regularly.
Using voice assistants allows for quick purchases, which is ideal for multitasking parents. People will continue to search with a voice even after the pandemic. As a result, advertisers have an opportunity to optimize voice search advertising. The advertising industry is now using geodata and programmatic audio to create highly effective campaigns.
4. Ads without cookies and the rise of contextual and first-party data
In order to track individual visitors' preferences, websites use cookies. Advertisers can target specific customers using collected data. A world without cookies means marketers will soon need to find new ways to deliver ads and track campaign performance.
As a result, marketers must work to earn users' trust. In the post-cookie era, protecting users' privacy is critical. Here’s how it’ll be done.
Contextual ads and first-party data
Contextual advertising can help marketers survive cookie-less. Because it appears on semantically relevant websites, it does not require cookies. Marketers will be able to better target customers using first-party data collected in CRM systems.
Alternative ID solution and data collection methods
Marketers can adopt alternative ID solutions to target cohorts. Partnerships with publishers who provide 2nd party data will also be needed.
5. In-house programmatic and outsourcing will streamline workflow
In Europe, 86% of brands use in-house programmatic fully or partially. Brands are taking this approach to increase transparency regarding media budgets. However, the "black box" issue arises from the inability to track advertising budgets across supply chains.
White-label advertising technology reduces development costs and time by nearly half for brands with limited resources. Finding and retaining top ad tech talent is difficult for growing companies. Therefore, strategic activities must be kept in-house while technical and support functions must be outsourced.
Optimizing ad performance, interacting with clients, and maintaining the platform can all be done by an outsourced ad operation. It also saves time and money by avoiding the usual HR challenges of hiring, training, and retaining office employees.
6. Using social media and short videos
The popularity of video-sharing social media has increased demand for video content. By 2022, programmatic video ad spend will exceed programmatic display ad spend in the US.
Platforms like TikTok, which allow users to easily share videos, have fueled the popularity of "unfiltered" content. This means that if you want to connect with your customers' values or solve their problems, you'll need rich content.
The use of social media has enabled more human connections than ever before. Videos, in addition to being easily digestible, engage the visual senses. Mobile video advertising is the future. More practical use of a product is demonstrated in these ads. These video ads will be available throughout the customer journey via organic search, social media, paid media, and eCommerce websites.
Top 2022 ad tech trends to watch
We have discussed the ad tech trends that will reshape the post-covid era; they are short-long term trends that will rule the reshape programmatic advertising in the post-covid world. Now let’s look at immediate trends that will define programmatic advertising in 2022.
Mobile gaming ad
While mobile gaming has traditionally relied on subscriptions and in-app purchases (IAPs), we are increasingly seeing advertisements in games. In 2022, developers will be able to diversify their revenue streams by using programmatic ad displays.
Advertisers need both a large reach and an engaged audience. These two are easily found in mobile gaming. Statista estimates that nearly 2.6 billion people played mobile games in 2021, and that number will rise to 3.07 billion by 2023. This is more than a quarter of the world's population.
An average gamer spends an hour per day gaming. indicating an engaged audience for mobile games. According to IAB UK's Head of Research, over 62 percent of gamers accept the advertising value exchange. Ads are acceptable in exchange for other gaming values. In-game advertising has a high engagement rate, which is good news for advertisers.
Gaming accounts for 43% of smartphone usage. Mobile gaming is an effective way to target and acquire new users.
Programmatic advertising with AI and ML
While AI/ML has been a hot topic for ad tech solutions in recent years, it has all chances to become mainstream in 2022.
Programmatic advertising is an automated system where ad spaces are exchanged for advertorials via an auction. AI could improve programmatic efficiency. As a result, AI/ML algorithms are ideal for programmatic systems' automated and real-time functions.
AI algorithms can also process large datasets quickly. AI can serve personalized ads to large groups of people based on their data and preferences. AI can also help lower costs while increasing conversion rates.
Display ads on wearables
In 2022 more people adopt wearable devices. It will pick up in 2022 as more people adopt wearable devices. Statista estimates that the wearable market is promising, with shipments reaching almost half a billion in 2020, boosted by the development of 5G technology. More growth is expected in the future, as the wearable market is still far from reaching the saturation point.
Wearables such as smartwatches, wristbands, monitors, and fitness trackers can capture real-time location, health, and lifestyle data. In turn, it's a great way to personalize campaigns and increase engagement.
To sum it up
The pandemic has compelled advertisers to invest in programmatic, mobile programmatic, interactive user experiences, privacy, and innovative advertising. To stay relevant, brands and advertisers must keep up with evolving ad tech and consumer behavior. The major post-COVID advertising trends are listed above. What do you expect the future of advertising to be?
