Category: Trends

Navigating Q4 Advertising Challenges in an Election Year: A Strategic Guide for Marketing Decision Makers

Posted on by Coegi

Navigating Q4 Advertising Challenges in an Election Year: A Strategic Guide for Marketing Decision Makers

As Q4 approaches, marketing teams must act swiftly to prepare for one of the most challenging periods of the year. This quarter, already notorious for increased competition and rising advertising costs, is further complicated by the pressures of an election year. Early preparation and proactive conversations with clients and partners are essential to secure the necessary resources and ensure your campaigns stand out in a cluttered marketplace. Without taking these steps, you risk being outpaced by competitors and missing key opportunities. To help you navigate these complexities and execute a successful Q4 advertising strategy, we’ve compiled expert insights across our departments at Coegi.

Challenge 1: Increased Ad Costs and Cluttered Marketplace

In Q4, advertising costs typically soar, driven by heightened demand from brands eager to capture consumer attention during the holiday season. The upcoming election amplifies this pressure, as political campaigns flood ad spaces, making it even more challenging for brands to make an impact.

Our Advice:

  • Use Historical Data Wisely: While it’s essential to look at past performance to set benchmarks, data from previous years might not fully capture the dynamics of an election year. Instead, refer to 2020 data where possible, and adjust for inflation to set more accurate expectations. This approach will help you budget effectively without underestimating the cost surges.
  • Tailored Creativity: The marketplace will be cluttered with ads, both commercial and political. To cut through the noise, it’s crucial to tailor your creative assets to resonate with your target audience. Personalization and relevance are key—ensure that your messaging is sharp and speaks directly to the consumer’s needs and desires at this time of year.
  • Fraud Prevention: The political season is often associated with increased ad fraud. To protect your budget and ensure that your ads reach genuine audiences, implementing robust fraud prevention measures is essential. Without these precautions, your ad spend could be wasted on fraudulent traffic, reducing the overall effectiveness of your campaigns.

Challenge 2: Inventory Shortages and Early Sell-Outs

One of the most pressing issues during Q4, especially in an election year, is the early sell-out of premium ad inventory. With brands and political campaigns vying for the same spaces, securing inventory becomes increasingly difficult.

Our Advice:

  • Secure Inventory Early: To avoid missing out on critical ad placements, start negotiating direct partnerships and Private Marketplace (PMP) or Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) deals as early as possible. These agreements can provide you with the premium inventory you need while reducing the risk of being edged out by competitors. Early action is your best defense against the last-minute scrambles that can lead to missed opportunities.

Challenge 3: Managing Increased Workload and Risk of Errors

The fast-paced nature of Q4 often leads to increased workloads for marketing teams. With so much at stake, the risk of human errors—whether in campaign execution, budgeting, or creative adjustments—can escalate.

Our Advice:

  • Leverage Project Management: Effective project management is critical during this hectic period. Our operations team emphasizes the importance of identifying potential bottlenecks and managing individual workloads to prevent burnout and mistakes. Project managers should keep a close eye on timelines and ensure that tasks are distributed evenly across the team. By maintaining a clear view of everyone’s workload, you can mitigate risks and keep campaigns running smoothly.
  • Implement Automation: Automation tools are indispensable for managing time-sensitive tasks efficiently. Whether it’s setting up automated creative swaps or using platform rules to schedule out rapid changes, these technologies can save precious time and reduce the stress of manual updates. By automating repetitive tasks, your team can focus on strategic decision-making, ensuring that your campaigns remain agile and responsive throughout the quarter.
  • Focus on Value: When the pressure is on and you’re unsure where to begin, always start with the task that will deliver the most value. It’s easy to get caught up in trying to complete everything to perfection, but this mindset can lead to paralysis. Remember, progress is more important than perfection. By prioritizing high-impact tasks, you can keep your team moving forward without getting bogged down in the details.

Conclusion

Q4 presents a unique set of challenges, especially during an election year. However, by understanding these obstacles and preparing accordingly, marketing decision-makers can turn potential pitfalls into opportunities for success. From anticipating higher ad costs and inventory shortages to managing workloads, preventing ad fraud, and leveraging automation, the strategies outlined above will help your brand navigate the complexities of Q4 with confidence. By adopting these insights, you’ll not only survive but thrive during this critical period, ensuring that your marketing strategy is both effective and resilient.

For personalized advice tailored to your brand’s specific needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team for a consultation. Let’s work together to make this Q4 your most successful yet.

 

Social: 

Social Media Strategy for Q4: Creating Opportunities for High Engagement

Key Changes to Anticipate in Q4:

  • Rising Ad Costs: Expect significant increases in CPM, CPA, and CPC metrics due to heightened competition and end-of-year spending. Many businesses push to allocate remaining budgets, driving up costs across social platforms.
  • Increased Engagement Rates: The holiday season often sees a spike in social activity as consumers engage in online shopping, connect with loved ones, and participate in festive events.

Tips for Managing Q4 Social Media Strategy:

  1. Early Planning: Start your campaigns early to secure ad space before costs rise further. Early preparation can help you lock in more favorable rates and ensure your content is ready to go live when needed.
  2. Continuous Optimization: Regularly optimize your campaigns to maximize ROI. Keep a close eye on performance metrics and be ready to make adjustments as necessary.
  3. Budget Allocation: Allocate a larger portion of your advertising budget to Q4 to accommodate the expected cost increases. Proper budgeting is crucial for staying competitive.
  4. Content Strategy:
    • Seasonality & Relevant Messaging: Tailor your content to reflect the season and resonate with your audience. Utilize holidays or cultural events to create a personal connection with users, increasing the likelihood of engagement.
    • User Experience: Make your call-to-action (CTA) clear and prominent, ideally within the first few seconds of a video ad. Ensure the user experience is seamless and intuitive.
    • Leverage AI: Utilize platform algorithms and AI capabilities to precisely target your audience. Stay ahead by testing and adopting new features, such as Meta’s Advantage+ tools, to improve your KPIs.
    • Genuine Imagery: Incorporate user-generated content and influencer partnerships to create authentic connections with your audience. Genuine content is more likely to stand out and resonate.
    • Diverse Ad Types: Use a variety of ad formats to capture your audience’s attention. Offering multiple content types increases your chances of engagement.

Search: 

Q4 Search Strategy: Navigating Industry-Specific Trends

As we approach Q4, the search landscape becomes increasingly competitive, with trends varying significantly across different industries. Here’s what to consider when planning your search campaigns:

Anticipated CPC Trends:

  • Industry Variance: CPC trends differ widely depending on the industry. For retail, expect a surge in CPCs as competition intensifies around key dates like Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Retailers often increase their budgets to capture year-end spending, driving up auction prices. Conversely, industries like financial services may experience a drop in search activity during the same period, potentially leading to lower CPCs.
  • Demand-Based Channels: Search advertising is heavily influenced by consumer demand. As inflation rises and economic pressures increase, consumers may be less likely to search for high-cost or luxury items, leading to fluctuations in CPCs. The demand-based nature of search advertising means that CPCs can vary significantly depending on how willing consumers are to make purchases during this time.
  • Google’s Role: There’s ongoing concern among advertisers that Google might be artificially inflating auction prices, contributing to CPC increases. While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact impact, this is a factor worth monitoring.

Best Practices for Q4 Search Campaigns:

  1. Ad Copy and Keyword Adjustments:
    • Seasonal Promotions: Adjust your ad copy to reflect seasonal deals and promotions, especially around key shopping events like Black Friday. Incorporating keywords related to sales and promotions can help capture more traffic.
    • Action-Oriented Messaging: As search terms become more intent-based towards the end of the year, ensure your ad copy includes strong calls to action that align with consumer purchasing behavior. Refresh your ad copy to reflect holiday themes and urgent calls to action. Highlight promotions, limited-time offers, and unique selling points to stand out in search results.
    • Ad Extensions: Utilize all relevant ad extensions, such as sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets, to provide additional information and increase your ad’s visibility and click-through rate.
  2. Budget Allocation:
    • Flexible Budgeting: Expect higher CPCs, especially in industries where competition peaks in Q4. Allocate your budget accordingly, ensuring you can compete effectively during high-demand periods.
    • Industry-Specific Strategies: Tailor your budget and bidding strategies based on industry trends. For example, healthcare might see an uptick in competition as insurance companies ramp up their Q4 campaigns.
  3. Keyword Strategy:
    • Focus on High-Intent Keywords: Prioritize keywords that indicate strong purchase intent, particularly those related to holiday shopping and seasonal events. This will help capture consumers who are closer to making a purchase. Consider increasing your budget for branded keywords as competition rises.
    • Negative Keywords: Use negative keywords strategically to filter out irrelevant traffic and reduce wasted spend. This is especially important during high-competition periods to ensure your budget is used efficiently.

Programmatic: 

Programmatic Strategy for Q4: Optimizing for a High-Competition Landscape

Key Changes to Anticipate in Q4:

  • Increased Costs: The competition for ad inventory intensifies, leading to higher CPCs and CPAs due to increased demand. 
  • Shift in Consumer Behavior: Consumers are actively searching for holiday deals and making purchase decisions, which means higher intent traffic but also requires more sophisticated targeting and messaging.

Tips for Managing Q4 Search Strategy:

  1. Budget and Bidding Adjustments:
    • Flexible Bidding: Implement flexible bidding strategies to adapt to real-time changes in the competitive landscape. Utilize automated bidding tools to maximize efficiency and ensure your ads appear in high impact when it matters most.
    • Budget Allocation: Allocate more budget to high-performing, high-precision targeting segments and adjust your spend throughout the quarter based on performance data. Also consider exploring emerging channels and tactics where there may be a higher volume of whitespace.
  2. Planning for the Political Season:
    • Inventory Scarcity: Be prepared for potential inventory shortages and increased costs due to political campaigns. Adjust your bids and targeting to avoid overspending during peak political ad periods.
    • Geographic Targeting: Fine-tune your geo-targeting to focus on areas less impacted by political ad spend. This can help maintain efficiency and reduce competition for your target audience.
  3. Monitoring Market Dynamics:
    • Inflationary Pressures: Keep an eye on how economic factors like inflation are impacting consumer behavior. In markets where consumers are less willing to spend, you might see reduced competition and potentially lower CPCs, which could present an opportunity to adjust your strategy.
  4. Post-Holiday Analysis:
    • Data-Driven Insights: After Q4, conduct a thorough analysis of your programmatic campaigns to identify key trends and insights. Use this data to refine your strategy for the upcoming year, ensuring continuous improvement and optimization.

Ethical AI and Data Privacy: The Cornerstone of Modern Marketing

Posted on by Coegi

Tenured marketing leaders have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of AI in our industry. AI has revolutionized how brands understand and engage with their customers. From predictive analytics to personalized content creation, the possibilities are endless. However, with great power comes great responsibility. It’s critical to proactively integrate ethical AI practices and data privacy compliance into the core of your marketing operations to ensure you are maximizing the technology while minimizing the risk involved.

Our Three-Pillar Approach: Privacy, Security, and Transparency

At our agency, instituting ethical AI practices and compliance with data privacy regulations is integral to all our AI-driven initiatives. We recognize that as technology advances, so must our commitment to responsible use. Our approach is built on three key pillars: Privacy, Security, and Transparency.

Privacy: The Foundation of Trust

We begin by assessing and classifying all data and documents according to their sensitivity level. This allows us to implement the Principle of Least Privilege, ensuring that staff members only have access to the data necessary for their specific roles and responsibilities. By limiting access, we minimize the risk of unauthorized data exposure or misuse.

This granular approach to data management not only protects our customers but also streamlines our operations. It allows us to maintain the delicate balance between leveraging data for insights and respecting individual privacy.

Security: Extending Best Practices to AI

We’ve taken the robust IT principles and SOC 2 compliance standards typically applied to traditional data systems and extended them to our work with generative AI. This includes:

  • Authorized Access Requirements: We have stringent protocols in place to determine who can access AI systems and for what purposes, reducing the risk of misuse.
  • User Authentication: Multi-factor authentication and regular credential updates are mandatory to verify the identity of users interacting with our AI systems.
  • Data Loss Prevention & Encryption Standards: We employ robust encryption for data both at rest and in transit. Our data loss prevention strategies ensure that sensitive information cannot be accidentally or maliciously exported from our systems.

By applying these enterprise-grade security measures to our AI operations, we’re creating a secure environment that fosters innovation while protecting sensitive information.

Transparency: Building Trust Through Openness

We believe in being open about our use of AI. This means communicating to clients and stakeholders about where and how AI is used in our processes. We also ensure that AI-generated content is distinguishable, maintaining the authenticity of human creativity where it matters most.

This transparency not only builds trust with our customers but also helps us stay accountable to our ethical standards.

Evolving with the Landscape

Our ethical AI framework is not static; it evolves with the technology and regulatory landscape. We regularly review and update our policies to align with the latest developments in data protection laws such as GDPR, CCPA, and others relevant to our international operations.

Beyond policies and frameworks, we invest in ongoing training for our team to ensure everyone understands the importance of data privacy and the ethical implications of AI. This cultivates a culture where responsible AI use is not just a policy, but a shared value.

The Future of Ethical AI in Marketing

As we look to the future, it’s clear that the successful marketers will be those who can harness the power of AI while maintaining the highest ethical standards. By prioritizing privacy, security, and transparency, we’re not just complying with regulations – we’re building a foundation of trust that will drive long-term success in the AI-driven marketing landscape.

The path forward requires constant vigilance, adaptation, and a commitment to ethical practices. But for those willing to invest in responsible AI use, the rewards – in terms of customer trust, brand reputation, and innovative capabilities – are well worth the effort.

How Search Engine Insights Fuel Growth Marketing

Posted on by Allie Haupt

Most think of search as purely an activation channel that captures demand and defends the brand’s presence on the SERP, but it’s actually an intent-driven data goldmine. Search can be leveraged as the eyes and ears for a brand to gain insights on audience motivations and pinpoint their stage in the conversion journey. These insights should be translated into holistic channel mix planning, media measurement, and competitive research to build an informed growth marketing strategy.

The big picture

Picture it: All of your brand’s digital (and even traditional) media gets completely turned off for a month. What do you think would happen to demand? The brand’s search volume would likely take a noticeable hit since search effectiveness diminishes without the push of brand messaging from efficient reach channels like streaming TV or social media. Similar to social listening, search serves as a behavioral listening tool that captures consumer engagement with brands throughout their conversion journey. For example, if someone sees a connected TV (CTV) ad that piques their interest and addresses a current need, the logical next step is searching for the brand to learn more and potentially convert. This scenario highlights the critical relationship between paid media channels and brand demand – as advertising amplifies a brand’s offering across channels, consumer demand grows. By using search lift as a KPI, we can analyze demand pre and post marketing initiatives to understand the directional impact on total sales.

Why it matters

Using search analysis as a key indicator of consumer demand lays a foundation for a growth marketing strategy. First, it can identify untapped opportunities and whitespace to better align media investment and messaging based on seasonality and emerging keyword trends. For example, if a financial brand consistently observes search demand peaks during tax planning season, they can heavy up their digital presence with a branded search investment that will effectively capture consumer demand and drive them to convert. 

Analyzing search lift after a media initiative launches can also help uncover how the channel mix and messaging strategy impacted brand awareness and interest, informing future channel investment. Non-clickable environments, such as CTV, can be challenging to showcase the impact on driving conversions, but using search demand provides directional insight into a holistic view of your marketing efforts.

Applying search insights to maximize your marketing ROI:

  • Real-time optimization: Analyzing search trends offers a cookieless measurement and attribution solution that not only measures the impact of paid media on driving brand awareness and purchase intent, but also informs real-time campaign optimizations. Examining branded search lift, the increase in search volume of branded or related keywords, after a marketing initiative launch can inform campaign optimizations, including:
    • Audience targeting refinement to maximize reach and allocate media spend toward the highest performing segments to drive ROI
    • Messaging strategy optimization based on consumer searches, dynamically tailoring the messaging to align with their preferences and needs
    • Marketing budget reallocation to channels driving the most effective search lift 
  • Competitive intelligence: Search trends can give you a peek behind your competitor’s curtain to learn what initiatives they are amplifying or what audiences they are reaching. By analyzing the peaks and valleys of competitor search trends, you can identify whitespace to capture the attention of potential customers who are actively searching for a related product or service. Get started by:
    • Analyzing competitor messaging strategies to identify ways to differentiate your brand and highlight the value of your offering
    • Increase media investment during the valleys of a competitor’s search trends to capitalize on the lower competition efficiently, grow share of voice, and gain a spot on audiences’ consideration sets
    • Develop a targeting strategy aimed to engage with movable audiences who have been exposed to your competitor but aren’t yet loyalists
  • Demand forecasts:  Search demand insights can be leveraged far beyond marketing strategy development and execution – it can also inform broader business implications, such as:
    • Supply chain logistics – ensure efficient operations with production and staffing levels based on consumer search demand
    • Seasonality indicators – uncover your customer’s most important needs and preferences to inform your brand’s messaging strategy to engage them with relevant content

The application of search engine insights goes way beyond SEM channel activation – it’s a treasure trove of intent-based data that should be used at every stage of marketing strategy development and execution to effectively align with consumer demand and preferences.

How AI is Transforming Contextual Targeting

Posted on by Savannah Westbrock

AI is revolutionizing the way ads are matched with online content, transforming contextual targeting from basic keyword matching to a sophisticated understanding of user intent and content relevance. This evolution highlights the shift towards more dynamic, personalized advertising strategies that leverage AI to enhance privacy and precision in reaching audiences.

Executive Summary:

  • At the onset of contextual targeting, the human-led analysis of keywords was mired with campaign scaling issues and imprecise targeting due to the lack of semantic signals resulting in engagement with users in an irrelevant context. (source)
  • With advancements in AI technology, namely natural language processing, contextual targeting has become a precise and privacy-centric targeting solution.
  • Identity deprecation has driven users to not only want, but expect personalized brand engagement. Contextual targeting can create a tailored one-to-one experience by seamlessly integrating brand messaging with the content users are actively engaging with.
  • Contextual 2.0 enables content analysis beyond text-based signals – AI can now efficiently analyze the content and context of video, audio, and images, and metadata in real-time. Advancements in natural language processing improve the accuracy of contextual targeting through improvements in sentiment, semantics, and theme analysis.
  • The future of contextual will see continuous improvements in semantic analysis accuracy and unprecedented scalability, especially as marketers increasingly incorporate contextual targeting as a core element of their brand strategies amidst cookie deprecation.

Mastering the Cookieless Future: Leverage Retail Data for Unmatched Customer Engagement

Posted on by Coegi

In the cookieless marketing era, the decline of third-party cookies opens new doors for marketers to leverage retail data, transforming marketing with personalized, engagement-driven messaging. This shift to analyzing customer behaviors and preferences via retail data not only enhances campaign effectiveness and loyalty but also fuels predictive analytics for strategic planning in product development and inventory. As traditional reliance on third-party cookies becomes obsolete, retail data stands out as a vital tool for building deeper customer relationships and driving business success

First-party retail data guides the way for gaining strong insights into customer behaviors and preferences, which are vital for enhancing personalization and developing tailored loyalty programs. Its use breaks through the limitations of traditional marketing, allowing businesses to understand customer segments more profoundly and anticipate future trends. This level of insight is critical for crafting effective, personalized marketing strategies, shifting the focus from mere transactional interactions to building lasting, data-driven customer relationships. In a cookieless future, leveraging retail data is key to staying ahead in areas like product development and inventory management, ensuring that brands not only adapt but thrive in the new marketing landscape.

The strategic utilization of retail data is crucial, going beyond merely recognizing its value. This is supported by a national survey from The Trade Desk Intelligence, which shows 91% of U.S. advertisers plan to maintain or increase their investment in retail data, to drive overall business success.

Unlocking the Power of Retail Data: How Enhanced Insights Lead to Personalized Marketing Triumphs

In today’s marketing world, retail data is crucial for creating highly personalized campaigns that truly understand customer desires and behaviors. It involves deep analysis of various data points, from purchasing habits to browsing patterns, offering a comprehensive view of customer preferences and behaviors.

This depth of insight allows for more than just tailored marketing messages; it enables behavioral and interest targeting. Marketers can segment audiences based on their actions, such as frequent purchases of a particular product category or regular browsing of certain content. Similarly, interest targeting becomes more refined through analyzing data points like search queries, product views, and content interactions. This approach ensures that marketing efforts are not just personalized but also highly relevant to each customer’s unique interests and behaviors, leading to more effective campaigns and a stronger connection with the audience.

This approach results in marketing that feels more like a personalized conversation than a generic broadcast. This tailored strategy leads to higher engagement and conversion rates, as customers encounter content that aligns closely with their individual experiences and needs, striking a chord that transcends mere attention-grabbing. This marks a fundamental shift in how marketers connect with their audience, paving the way for campaigns that are deeply personal and rooted in a thorough understanding of customer behavior.

Forecasting the Future: How Enhanced Predictive Analytics Shape Strategic Marketing and Decision-Making

Armed with a wealth of data like historical purchases and customer interactions, marketers are not just looking at what’s happening now. The spotlight is now on retail data, especially when it comes to predictive analytics. They’re using this data to power models that predict what customers might want next. It gives marketers a peek into future consumer trends and behaviors based on solid, data-driven insights from the past.

Marketers build predictive models on the concrete foundation of past customer data to anticipate shifts in consumer preferences and market dynamics. It’s about staying one step ahead in the game. Whether it’s product development or inventory management, predictive analytics provide invaluable foresight. Marketers can now predict emerging customer needs, ensuring that new products hit the mark and inventory levels are just right – no more guessing games.

Personalized marketing, empowered by predictive analytics, revolutionizes marketing by tailoring efforts to future customer needs, enhancing relevance and engagement. This strategy not only improves marketing effectiveness but also bolsters customer loyalty and guides SEO content strategies to align with future trends. Essentially, leveraging predictive analytics with first-party data equips marketers to create more impactful, forward-looking marketing strategies.

Data-Driven Bonds: Transforming Retail Data into Lasting Customer Loyalty and Trust

Retail data is driving the creation of deeper, more impactful customer relationships. ‘Data-Driven Bonds’ represents a strategic revolution, where retail data is not just supportive but central to forging enduring loyalty and trust with customers.

At the heart of this strategy is enhancing customer experiences through the insights gathered from first-party data, ranging from purchase history to direct feedback. This approach is more than just habit tracking; it’s a deep understanding of individual customer preferences, thereby establishing a foundation of trust and strengthening brand loyalty.

The strategy goes beyond traditional, one-size-fits-all loyalty programs to personalized experiences aligned with each customer’s unique needs. This personalization elevates loyalty programs from transactional tools to key components of the customer journey, enhancing repeat business and fostering long-term loyalty.

Embracing the Future: Navigating the Cookieless Landscape with Retail Data

Retail data opens up a treasure trove of opportunities for deeper customer insights, personalized experiences, and predictive analytics. This shift is a strategic evolution, positioning brands to not just understand but also anticipate customer needs, forging stronger, trust-based connections.

In this new era of marketing, customer-centric strategies define the approach, with personalization and predictive insights actively driving engagement and loyalty. As we navigate this cookieless landscape, leveraging first-party data is not just about adapting. Marketers need to transform every customer interaction into deeper engagement and lasting loyalty. The future of marketing lies in creating not just transactions, but meaningful relationships powered by data-driven insights.

4 Digital Marketing Trends Sparking Strategic Growth in 2024

Posted on by Coegi

Welcome to the ever-evolving realm of digital marketing, where change is the only constant, and marketers sometimes feel like they’re surfing a wave that just won’t quit. As 2024 quickly approaches, it’s not enough to simply predict the next wave – marketing teams must master the art of riding it. Plan to seamlessly weave them into your strategies and create a digital ecosystem that resonates with your audience. 

The Digital Marketing Revolution of 2023: Strategic Imperatives for Growth and Connection

As we gear up to embrace the trends that will define the upcoming year, it’s equally crucial to cast a retrospective glance at the lessons learned and trends witnessed in the past year; exploring the currents that have propelled us to this point and laying the groundwork for the strategic surf ahead.

Content Grounded in Research and Careful Planning

In 2023, content ceased to just exist – it delivered purpose. Meticulously crafted, research-backed content seized consumer attention, proving quality and relevance outshine brevity. Consumers devoured content across various formats, from extended TikTok videos to long-form articles, reaffirming that quality and relevance surpass brevity. The results are clear – dedicate resources to content that educates, entertains and supports customers.

Consumer Insights Unlock Growth

In 2023, first-party data emerged as the primary driver of marketing success. As Coegi’s President emphasized, harnessing consumer insights from owned properties unlocks substantial value. He even threw in a friendly reminder – having first-party data without a strategy is like having a toolbox without a plan. The time is now to get strategic, tap into the goldmine of consumer insights to personalize experiences. The growth implications are immense.

Retail Media Reshapes Strategy

The emergence of retail media took center stage as a primary driver for digital marketing campaigns. Only gaining substantial emphasis in the past two or three years, its trajectory transformed. 2023 marked its seismic rise from the experimental budget line to the backbone of consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketing campaigns.

We are at a pivotal juncture where it’s essential for brands to adopt omnichannel strategies, placing retail media at the forefront and shifting social media into a more supportive role. The strategic imperative is clear – retail media first.

Breakthrough Digital Marketing Trends Poised to Captivate Customers in 2024

AI is Revolutionizing Digital Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved beyond a buzzword; it stands as a transformative force elevating your marketing success. Like a strategic genie, AI delivers hyper-personalization, automates rote tasks, and unlocks data-fueled consumer insights on demand. 

With 80% of marketers witnessing a positive impact, it’s clear that AI has transitioned from being a nice-to-have to a must-have. It’s imperative to harness the power of AI immediately and integrate it deeply into your marketing strategies. With AI transforming the marketing field, it’s vital for marketing teams to focus on essential integration areas to maintain a competitive advantage in this dynamic market.

  • Sentiment Analysis for Personalized Experiences: Implement sentiment analysis powered by generative AI into your marketing strategy to craft personalized customer experiences. Employ advanced algorithms to customize content and recommendations based on individual preferences, thereby enriching user engagement and satisfaction.
  • Instant Service Bots: Embed smart AI chatbots to engage customers with responsive, personalized interactions, boosting satisfaction.
  • Strategic Insights Arsenal: Unlock actionable intelligence by unleashing algorithms on unused data to sharpen targeting and segmentation.
  • Automate Routine Tasks: Free up talent by using AI to eliminate repetitive tasks like email workflows and social media scheduling through automation. By automating these repetitive processes, your team can redirect their efforts toward high-impact, strategic initiatives, boosting overall productivity.

By activating AI across these four areas, you not only free your teams to focus on high-value strategies but also unlock the potential for more meaningful interactions with your audience. The result? Immediate opportunity to better serve customers and outpace the competition. 

The First-Party Imperative: Winning Customer Intelligence to Fuel Growth

With the looming threat of cookies getting the boot in 2024, your first-party lists are about to become the MVPs of your marketing strategy. Far beyond lifeless lists, rich first-party data fortifies marketing strategies by enabling immersive personalization and forging enduring consumer bonds.

With consumers increasingly expecting hyper-relevant brand experiences, first-party data serves as rocket fuel – when artfully collected through value-driven relationships. This inside track on customer truth unlocks a multi-faceted competitive advantage. First, intimately understand your customers. Then, engage them in a relationship – not a transaction. With consumer trust earned, responsive audiences readily share information and preferences. 

Activate a systematic first-party data blueprint using these five high-impact strategies to own your consumer connection: 

  • Optimized Website Forms: Ensure that your website features user-friendly forms that encourage visitors to willingly provide information. This could include newsletter sign-ups, account registrations, or surveys.
  • Omnichannel Data Integration: Break data silos by connecting data collected from various touch points – website, social media, email interactions – to build a comprehensive customer profile. This integrated approach provides a more holistic view of your audience.
  • Consistent Data Updates: Establish consistent triggers that encourage users to update their preferences regularly, keeping data current amid evolving consumer needs and preferences.
  • Interactive Content Experiences: Compel users to self-identify through polls, assessments, calculators, and other diagnostic tools woven into the consumer journey.
  • Incentivized Programs: Implement loyalty programs, discounts, or exclusive access in exchange for customers sharing their information. This not only encourages data collection but also fosters a sense of value for the customer.

The rewards are immense for brands centralizing first-party data – enhanced segmentation and targeting, future-proofed marketing strategies, and customer experiences driving satisfaction through relevance. Integrating first-party data into your digital marketing strategy is a strategic move that unlocks a wealth of insights and enhances your ability to connect with your audience on a personal level. Prioritize first-party data collection and usage. Your personalized approach will thank you later. 

Retail Media Reshapes the Digital Landscape

Retail media has solidified its status as a disruptive marketing powerhouse. By engaging shoppers at the point of purchase, retail media delivers hyper-targeted ads without relying on unstable third-party data.

As consumers increasingly discover and purchase products through retailers, these platforms will reshape strategies. Insider Intelligence predicts a noteworthy surge of 28.6% in retail media ad spend for the year 2024, reaching a substantial total of close to $60 million. For marketing teams mapping out 2024 plans, retail media can no longer be an afterthought. Its trajectory as marketing’s predominant disruptor means integration must become a strategic pillar to lift visibility and results.

The time is now for you to lean into retail media’s unmatched ability to connect with high-intent users through relevant ads and premium placement. Integrating retail media into your 2024 strategy is a pivotal step toward enhancing visibility, engagement, and, ultimately, the success of your marketing initiatives. Here’s a few things to consider when planning your strategy.

  • Strategic Platform Selection: Strategically identify and invest in dominant retail media platforms where your audiences are actively discovering and purchasing. Commit resources to owned properties with the most traction. 
  • Point-of-Purchase Activation: Engage shoppers with contextual messaging and offerings to breakthrough the clutter at that crucial instant at the digital shelf where decisions are made.
  • Acknowledge Consumer Behavior: Continually realign efforts to acknowledge where consumers are demonstrating shopping behavior shifts. Tailor your strategy to align with these preferences.
  • Strategic Adoption: Approach retail media as an urgent marketing imperative – not a tactical experiment – fusing it into the very fabric of 2024 plans to lift brand visibility and engagement.
  • Utilize Direct Engagement: Harness retail media’s unparalleled avenues to deliver tailored brand messaging that resonates at the individual level based on each platform’s unique consumer DNA.
  • Performance Optimization: Regularly measure and analyze the success of your retail media initiatives. Track metrics such as visibility, engagement, and conversion rates to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy.

In 2024, marketers are experiencing rapid growth and strengthening their brand’s distinct value by integrating retail media into their strategies.

The Social Commerce Boom

As consumers increasingly take to social platforms to discover and purchase products, social commerce has emerged as retail’s new normal..

With social media shopping revenue expected to surge to $1.2 billion by 2024, brands must prioritize integrated social commerce to effectively engage audiences. The numbers signal that the time has come for social platforms to transform from casual scrolling to frictionless buying destinations. Find several strategies below to embrace social commerce effectively in 2024:

  • Optimize for Shoppable Posts: Break down barriers between discovery and purchase by enabling integrated product exploration and payment functionality for platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
  • Influencer Commerce Alliances: Activate influential brand ambassadors to connect target consumers with products through embedded social commerce capabilities and exclusive offers. 
  • Exclusive Social Promotions: Drive urgency and action by giving social followers unique access to exclusive promotions and discounts available only on owned social properties. 
  • Performance Intelligence Infrastructure: Utilize analytics tools to track and analyze the performance of your social commerce efforts. Measure key metrics like conversion rates, click-through rates, and customer acquisition costs to refine and optimize your strategy.
  • Seamless Cross-Channel Integration: Ensure a seamless integration of social commerce with your overall multichannel strategy. Align your social media efforts with your website, email marketing, and other touchpoints for a cohesive customer experience.

By seamlessly intertwining social media and direct sales, marketers are not only streamlining the customer journey but also tapping into the rich tapestry of trust and engagement woven within social communities.

Key Takeaways for Your Marketing Strategy

The digital marketing landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift powered by disruptive technology and shifts in consumer behavior. As the course ahead is chartered, new frameworks must emerge across five pivotal domains – AI, first-party data, retail media, and social commerce.

Marketing leaders must be able to realign strategies, budgets and teams to activate these trends in order to gain a durable competitive advantage and build future-proofed growth models. Complacency poses grave risk. Effective leadership recognizes the need for bold and decisive action in response to changing circumstances, and with marketing currently experiencing a significant transformation, that moment is undeniably now.

The window of opportunity is immediate; build your vision and begin navigating uncharted waters armed with five navigational pillars able to elevate relevance, engagement and profitability in your decidedly digital future.

Navigating the Evolving Digital Video Landscape: 2024 Trends and Strategies for Marketers

Posted on by Coegi

In the digital realm, we’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative power of converging technologies and evolving consumer preferences. The intensifying battle for user attention, the ubiquity of smartphones, the proliferation of streaming services, and the growing appetite for immersive, personalized experiences have propelled video to the forefront of content consumption, surpassing text-based alternatives.

2023 saw video marketing become the cornerstone of engagement, revolutionizing business connections. This surge showcases diverse content and devices catering to personalization, authenticity, and educational value, making video king in marketing strategies.

Video & The Consumer Consumption Landscape 

Imagine captivating a global audience of 3.5 billion by 2023. That’s the video revolution unfolding before us, and the screen time speaks for itself: Americans spend over 7.5 hours glued to screens daily, devouring video content with unmatched fervor. Marketers are chanting in unison: video reigns supreme in social media marketing. Over half (54%) have named video as the sovereign ruler, with its unmatched ability to enthrall audiences, educate them, and spur them to act.

 

Smartphones have become the go-to device for digital video consumption, embraced by 69% of U.S. adults. This shift away from traditional television is fueled by the widespread adoption of 5G connectivity, with nearly one in four smartphone owners streaming videos on the go.

 

While mobile video remains significant, connected TVs (CTVs) are poised to take the lead with video accounting for 90% of CTV content. This trend will reshape the digital video landscape by 2025, with CTV video, social video, and YouTube taking center stage. Subcategories like SVOD and TikTok will further solidify the dominance of CTV video and social video.

The Impact For Marketers: Digital Video Advertising Spend & Strategy

The global video advertising landscape is experiencing a seismic shift, propelled by user consumption patterns. With an expected video ad spend reaching a staggering $180 billion by year-end 2023, it’s clear that video is king. The United States leads the charge, with a significant portion of that budget allocated to search and social video ads. Both channels exhibit a strong mobile bias, while their presence on CTV remains limited.

 

But this is changing. CMOs are discovering the undeniable power of video, with a 24.74% increase in brand lift and recall, 21.71% improved user experience, and a whopping 40% boost in brand perception. This translates to a more engaged and informed audience, ultimately driving brand awareness and loyalty. While video’s direct sales impact sits at 15.65%, its ability to nurture leads and build trust makes it a vital tool for marketing teams. This is evident in the fact that 68% of marketers track engagement, and 51% now measure lead generation and conversion rates, recognizing video’s true value beyond just views and likes.

 

2023 witnessed a critical development in this evolution: a wave of CTV adoption across diverse industries, with retail, health & wellness, and CPG leading the charge. By 2027, retail media spending on CTV is projected to reach $8.64 billion. Yet, a crucial challenge remains: our lagging migration to CTV. Despite consumers spending a whopping 25% of their time on the platform, advertisers are underinvesting, allocating a mere 9.5% of digital ad budgets.. Concerns about limited inventory and premium pricing are holding us back.

 

It’s time to overcome these hurdles and unleash CTV’s potential. By collaborating and harnessing its power, we can reach target audiences where they are and achieve unparalleled success in this transformative era. The video advertising landscape is ripe for innovation and growth. By embracing the full potential of video across platforms, we can unlock unprecedented opportunities to engage with audiences and build lasting brand connections.

Trending: AI-Powered Digital Video Creation & Personalization

In the competitive landscape of 2024, AI-powered personalization and audience insights can elevate your video marketing campaigns to new heights of engagement and effectiveness:

Key Takeaways for Marketing Professionals

  • Embrace AI-driven personalization while prioritizing authenticity: Audiences are craving real connections, not manufactured perfection. Refine your content to resonate on a deeper level, but steer clear of anything inauthentic. Micro and nano-influencers who spark genuine conversations are your secret weapon. And remember, transparency is key – be upfront about AI’s role in crafting your message. This authenticity is your golden ticket to engagement, trust, and brand loyalty.
  • Utilize AI for efficiency, not replacement: Automate tasks and gain insights, but don’t let it replace human creativity. High-quality creative content remains essential for impactful marketing campaigns.
  • Craft personalized video journeys with AI-powered insights: Analyze customer data and deliver hyper-personalized video content, tailored to individual interests through dynamic elements, interactive experiences, and customized recommendations. It allows you to lean into using an inclusive approach by going beyond surface-level metrics while driving engagement and fostering loyalty.

Unleashing Innovation through Experimentation

  • Streamline your video production process & elevate your marketing videos with AI-powered platforms, empowering you to easily create engaging videos. These platforms can be used to create videos from text, add AI-powered voiceovers and avatars, and craft captivating social media videos.
  • Harness the power of AI-powered creative effectiveness platforms to revolutionize your campaign planning, video testing, and media planning. These platforms utilize advanced technologies like facial coding, eye tracking, and computer vision to provide unparalleled insights into your target audience’s behavior and preferences.
  • Foster inclusivity by leveraging AI-powered dubbing tools to unlock global audiences, enhance accessibility, and expand your video’s reach by removing language barriers through dubbing, subtitles, and captions.

Trending: Cross-screen, Cross-channel Advertising Solutions

As audiences divide their attention across various devices and engage in multitasking, marketers must reimagine their video advertising strategies to win them over:

Key Takeaways For Marketing Professionals

  • The rise of Netflix and Prime Video’s ad-supported tier: As CTV advertising gains traction and linear TV struggles to find its footing, Amazon’s Prime Video ad-supported tier is set to fuel a surge in ad spending. This presents marketers with a wealth of new diversification opportunities using multi-platform video ad campaigns to engage with a broader audience.
  • Distinguish your brand and engage viewers with premium-produced video ads: UGC’s authenticity and relatability can be highly effective, but its production quality often falls short of premium video content’s polished and refined aesthetic. As streaming TV continues dominating viewing habits, marketers should prioritize premium video content to capture attention and drive results.
  • Fragmented media consumption necessitates a multi-screen marketing approach: With 5G technology enabling seamless video delivery, marketers can now craft engaging ad experiences that adapt to individual viewing habits. By leveraging an omnichannel approach, you can ensure your message reaches the right audience at the right time, maximizing the impact of your campaigns.

Unleashing Innovation Through Experimentation

  • Streamline the shopping journey by incorporating shoppable CTV video ads: Seamlessly integrate product information and purchase options within your video ads, enhancing engagement and driving immediate conversions.
  • Tap into the massive audience consuming live sports online: As digital platforms compete for your ad dollars, unlock premium inventory with NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube. Reach paying subscribers, traditionally targeted by major brands, with the precision of digital advertising. YouTube’s “multi-view” expands this inventory, offering even more targeted ad placements.
  • Long-form video investments drive exponential returns: Let performance, not production value, guide your video investments. Embrace a data-driven, multi-platform approach, and repurpose the content that truly connects.

Trending: Embracing Interactivity, Live Streaming, and Format Diversity

Marketers should strategically embrace the versatility of vertical and horizontal videos, strike a balance between short-form and long-form video content, and engage audiences in an interactive and immersive modern world:

Key Takeaways For Marketing Professionals

Unleashing Innovation Through Experimentation

  • Incorporate AR elements & VR experiences: Overlay virtual objects and graphics onto real-world scenes to create an interactive and immersive storytelling experience. Transport viewers into a virtual world where they can interact with your brand’s story and products in a fully immersive environment.
  • The Synergy of Branching Narratives and Gamification: By allowing viewers to choose their own path and incorporating engaging gameplay elements, you are enhancing viewer engagement, collecting valuable data, personalizing product recommendations, and fostering deeper connections. 
  • The powerful trifecta: Live shopping experiences, combined with horizontal and vertical video formats, and creator content, can create a powerful video advertising strategy that resonates across platforms and drives meaningful engagement with their target audience.

Digital video has emerged as a formidable force in the modern online world, offering marketers an unparalleled opportunity to captivate audiences and foster meaningful engagement. Marketers who fail to incorporate video into their strategies are forfeiting a valuable opportunity to connect with their target audience.

By embracing the evolving trends and unleashing innovation through experimentation, marketers can effectively navigate the ever-changing digital video landscape, establish deeper connections with their target audience, and achieve their marketing goals in 2024 and beyond.

5 Social Advertising Trends for 2024

Posted on by Allie Haupt

Advancements in technology and evolving consumer behavior are continuously shaping the social media landscape, presenting brands with an opportunity to evolve alongside the consumer to meet brand goals.

Users are no longer looking to social platforms as only a way to connect with friends, but rather as a mechanism for shopping, searching, and enjoying entertainment.

So what should your brand focus their social media strategy on? Keep reading to discover our top five social media trends for 2024 and tips on how to effectively incorporate them into your strategy.

Social Media Trend #1: Growth of Influencer Marketing

Investment in influencer marketing is expected to see strong growth in the next few years due to its effectiveness in building trust and authenticity for your brand. In 2024, there will be an increased focus on leveraging short-form UGC videos, testing out generative AI, and mindfully selecting creators that foster a diverse and representative social media community. 

What You Need to Know:

Influencer Marketing Tips:

  • Establish clear goals and measurable KPIs before selecting a content creator. For example, if your influencer marketing goal is to drive increased engagement, select a creator that has a loyal and highly engaged audience.
  • Collaborate with content creators that align with your brand’s tone and have a follower community with interests that match your product or service offering.

To learn more about tap into creators for your marketing strategy, check out Coegi’s guide to influencer marketing. 

Social Media Trend #2: Paid Subscription Models

Global governments are continuing to hold social platforms accountable for adhering to user privacy regulations. With the increased regulations, social platforms are looking for solutions to maintain an optimal user experience, including offering paid monthly subscriptions for users to opt out of ads. 

What You Need to Know:

Paid Subscription Model Tips:

  • Influencer marketing is going to become important in a paid subscription model since the content will not be categorized as an ad. Use this time to start honing your influencer marketing strategy to learn what works best for your brand.
  • Organic social will be another effective way to reach users in an ad-free environment. Focus your efforts on building your brand’s following across social media platforms and learning what content resonates well with your core audience.
  • While the development of paid subscription models is currently focused on the EU market, other markets may follow. Be sure to keep up-to-date on the latest platform releases.

Social Media Trend #3: Generative AI

AI had a large impact on the marketing industry in 2023 and is expected to continue with increased momentum in 2024 as social platforms continue rolling out AI features. From AI chatbots directly integrated within the platforms to audio generation tools, the way users and marketers engage with social media will be in a constant state of change.

What You Need to Know:

  • Due to strong user engagement with Snapchat’s My AI, the platform is looking for ways to leverage the chatbot to boost advertising.
  • Meta released two Generative AI tools for audio creation – AudioCraft to create audio and music from a text prompt, and Voicebox to assist with editing audio.
  • Meta AI is a virtual assistant – including 28 familiar individuals, such as Snoop Dog and Kendall Jenner, that users can interact with across Meta platforms.

Generative AI Tips:

  • Generative AI is going to elevate the importance of brand’s maintaining authenticity. As deepfakes and AI assistants circulate across social platforms, users will look to brands to be a source of truth and familiarity.
  • Create internal guidelines and policies for the usage of AI to ensure it is being used ethically and responsibly.
  • Read our article – Do’s and Don’ts of Using Generative AI for Creative – for more information on how to effectively use AI.

Social Media Trend #4: Social Platforms Utilized as a Search Engine

Social media platforms continue to serve a dual purpose, namely among younger users, to connect and engage with friends and to utilize as a search engine for finding products and services. This shift in consumer behavior should be accounted for when planning your marketing strategy.

What You Need to Know:

Social Search Tips:

Social Media Trend #5: AR/VR Advancements

Gone are the days of one-dimensional internet usage as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology advancements are spurring an “immersive internet.” Users are seeking a more engaging experience across the web and social platforms, giving brands an opportunity to better meet their audiences’ needs and preferences.

What You Need to Know: 

AR/VR Tips:

  • Leverage Pinterest Try on product pins to enable users to virtually try on products wherever they are, increasing engagement and attention.
  • Meta augmented reality ads create an engaging and unique experience where users test out products and interact with your brand.
  • It’s important to keep your brand’s product catalog on social platforms updated so users can virtually engage with your brand and build affinity.

If you want to discuss how to apply these trends and tips to your marketing strategy in 2024, reach out to schedule a discovery call with the team at Coegi.

The Drum – Prepare for the ‘Trough of AI Disillusionment’: H2 2023 Predictions

Posted on by Elise Stieferman

As we hit the second half of 2023, The Drum brings you a tasting menu of Drum Network leaders‘ predictions, from AI disillusionment to… fungal growth and changes for pet owners. Elise Stieferman, director of marketing and business strategy, Coegi predicts that “AI will be H2 2023’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: both hero and villain for marketers, depending on expertise and perspective.” Learn more from Elise and other industry leaders in this article on The Drum.

View the article

2023 Digital Marketing Trends Reshaping the Industry

Posted on by Coegi

 

Looking for ways to advance your digital marketing in 2023? Learn Coegi’s top tips and trends for programmatic marketing as we enter the new year.

On this episode of The Loop Marketing Podcast, Coegi’s President, Sean Cotton, and VP of Marketing & Innovation, Ryan Green, discuss the top digital marketing trends for 2023. Listen, watch, or read below to learn how to level up your advertising campaigns this year.

 

2023 Digital Marketing Trends & Predictions Podcast: Edited Transcript

Elise: Today we are talking about 2023 digital marketing trends and predictions. I’m joined by Sean Cotton, Coegi’s President, as well as Ryan Green, Vice President of Marketing and Innovation. 

I want to start by talking about if your viewpoints to marketing have seen a big change over the year. Ryan, do you wanna start us off?  

Ryan: The thing that I think has changed the most is how important content actually is to media. For several years, we’ve really talked about campaigns – campaign numbers, IOs, and target audiences. But, what’s important going into 2023 is the merging of media, audience, and automation with the content and the message. Those need to be thought of together now, and they have to be part of the media buy.

Leaning into publisher and influencer relationships – sometimes as the creative agency in some ways, right? I think this happened during the pandemic. it was hard to go to production to build an old school campaign. But, you were able to create content. You were able to write. You were able to leverage influencers. And the media agencies started to do a lot more of the work there. So that’s really changed my viewpoint this year.  

Elise: Sean, what about you? Any changes to your personal viewpoints over the last year for marketing?  

Sean: My thoughts are closely related to Ryan’s. At the beginning of last year, there were still a lot of effective things that could be done around audience. And there still is, but that signal is becoming weaker with privacy laws and regulations. 

In 2022, we saw the impact of our audience targeting capabilities lessen – which we expected. So in 2023, we need to continue to lean into research and content as Ryan was discussing. By using tactics such as influencer marketing, we can make sure we’re really engaging our best customers throughout their journey and not relying on the easy button.  

Elise: Right, the audience signal is weaker, so the content has to work even harder to stop the scroll. Plus, personalization is going to change quite a bit.  

Ryan: And I think what content is has changed too. We’ve seen success with shorter content. We’ve also seen success with long-form content. It’s not just the trope that the modern consumer has a three-second attention span. That may be their attention span on TikTok. But, that’s not true when people are watching 30 minute videos on YouTube or reading 10,000 word articles. 

The modern marketing campaign needs to take a broader lens on what content is and where it plays in the consumer journey. And then, we need to amplify it to the right audience using automated tools to make the perfect mix and ultimately achieve business goals.  

2022 Year in Review

Elise: I think that’s a good segue to talk about some of the predictions you had at the start of this year. Sean, you predicted there would be more emphasis on social short-form video across multiple different platforms. So how did that play out in 2022?  

Sean: Well, we certainly saw the growth in short-form video production and distribution with the growth of TikTok, YouTube Shorts and so forth. But, I don’t think brands are capitalizing on short-form video and telling their story. Content needs to be tailored for each platform differently. The social media environment with short-form video requires us to be much more agile. 

Sometimes, it’s better to focus less on quality and more on authenticity in terms of content production. So I think part of that prediction came true.  As users, we are engaging more with short-form content. But, brands and agencies are still trying to catch up as to how to capitalize on that to it’s full potential.

Elise: And then, Ryan, you made a prediction that the metaverse and augmented reality and virtual reality were going to be driving factors in brands’ marketing plans. How did that play out throughout 2022?  

Ryan: It hasn’t, at least not for most marketers. It has for gaming. It has in fashion. But I don’t think anybody could have predicted some of the struggles Meta had. There are some Web3.0 things I’m still bullish on long-term. So, if I could revise my  2022 prediction, I would lean in more to retail media. It certainly has come on as a driving force. There’s been a strengthening of signal from retailer point of sale and media networks that advertisers can really lean into. Retail media needs to be a major part of lower funnel plans for CPG brands and a variety of industries.  

Elise: And then you both predicted that the availability of consumer data was going to be more of a force in terms of ad quality and how we measure marketing. I’d like to hear where you think that is heading as we enter 2023.  

Sean: We spoke a lot about incrementality over attribution last year. I was really surprised at how quickly that approach gained popularity over the course of the year. A lot of other marketers were thinking the same way. The beauty of digital has always been that we could tie together touchpoints and show attribution or ROI. I expected it would take a while longer for people to shift. Even going back to the way we used to measure with advanced forms of media mixed modeling and incrementality. 

So, I think that prediction really came to fruition right before our eyes in 2022. And I think moving forward we’ll see savvy marketers become even more skilled. There’s not a lot of doubt about whether it’s the right approach now. At this point, it’s about perfecting that approach and making it more meaningful when we deliver campaign analysis.  

Ryan: I’ve been pleasantly surprised that, even with cookie deprecation delays, brands and advertisers didn’t fall back on click-based attribution. They did still continue to lean into incrementality, even when they had an excuse not to. I think that goes into reliance on audience targeting as well. It’s not just browsers and cookie deprecation, it’s also legal and regulation that’s coming. Sean mentioned news that came out from the EU on Meta today that potentially is going to nullify personal ad targeting – period . If that does become law there, that’s going to have a trickle down effect across the globe. So, it’s good that brands are moving forward with what modern marketing is going to look like.  

Privacy and Regulation Trends for Digital Marketing in 2023

Elise: So, would you say that regulation is a top challenge brands should be looking to tackle in 2023? How should they be looking at the changes in the privacy landscape?  

Ryan: It depends where they’re transacting. They definitely need to be on more alert if they’re operating in the European Union. The United States is still to be determined, but we have stronger regulation coming out of California. So there’s several different angles, but we have an idea of what’s going to shape out. 

It’s actually an opportunity for brands to put a stake in the ground about their values as it pertains to data collection and regulation. They don’t have to wait to be told what to do. They can decide themselves to continue to have great campaign performance while still clearly defining brand safe data collection.  

Sean: And at this point, we should be implementing best practices around data collection, storage, and security on top of our marketing campaigns. If an advertiser was to find themself with first-party data without a strategy for how to use it, I would suggest they reach out to a professional  as soon as possible.  

Retire These Digital Marketing Trends

Elise: I’d like to hear each of your hard-hitting takes on trends that marketers should retire in 2022?

Ryan: This probably should have been done a couple of years ago. The reliance on Facebook as an easy button and as your primary social platform. That needs to go. Not only has the world diversified in where our consumer’s eyeballs are, but there’s well-noted privacy regulations that Meta is the center of. Their stock went down 80% over the past 10 months for a reason – that’s unprecedented. If that’s not a signal to advertisers that maybe that’s not the one place you want to bet on, it definitely should be.  

Advertisers should have been diversifying their social and digital media spend for a long time.  iOS 14.5 was a wake-up call to brands looking at last click attribution. There was so much shift between what the platform reported versus what their backend sales were showing.

There’s not going to be an easy button. It’s challenging to create content that plays well on a half a dozen different social platforms and screens. This is the time when advertisers that do the hard work are going to be rewarded. The ones that want to make it easy are going to be downstream.   

Sean: If I had to pick one trend to retire, I’d point to viewing CTV/OTT video as simply an incremental video strategy. Historically, brands would view linear as the majority of the big screen budget and carve off maybe 5% for CTV/OTT. There’s still a lot of marketers that approach it that way. Whereas if we analyze a CTV/OTT buy versus a linear buy, we can attain greater reach and a more manageable frequency.   

With linear, we often get high frequency to a very small pool of linear TV watchers. And, all the data shows people are cutting the cord. So CTV/OTT should be a central part of advertising on the big screen. It’s measurable and targetable to attain the appropriate reach and frequency goals. Now, linear TV still has its place without a doubt, but they need to be looked at in tandem  

Ryan: And now you’re seeing the Nielsens of the world coming together and measuring CTV and linear TV in the same language. We’re going to transact on CPMs – not on GRPs. That’s a big step towards a more apples to apples comparison. When there’s two different measurements, they end up naturally going to different places. There’s less excuse now, with measurement partners that are able to translate both. You need to lean into that to be effective in 2023.  

2023 Programmatic Marketing Trend Predictions

Elise: What are some other big digital marketing trends for 2023?  

Ryan: One of the big things we’re going to look at in 2023 is the emergence of retail media as a primary vehicle for digital marketing campaigns. Retail media only emerged in the past two or three years with any real emphasis. It was something experimental. But now it could be the backbone of a CPG marketing campaign. Social may become secondary or tertiary to retail media, and that really flips things on its head. 

Sean: One trend would be redefining what performance marketing and media is, especially as we go into a recession. Every dollar matters, so all media needs to deliver some type of performance. Now typically, when you say performance marketing, people think of lower funnel tactics where you can see a direct conversion. But the fact is – every marketing dollar needs to perform. 

There’s pressure on CMOs and CEOs to show return on all of their marketing investment. So, marketers are challenged for all media to perform. Now, you’re going to measure awareness differently than consideration or intent, but there needs to be some sort of accountability. So a trend we’ll continue to see as marketers embrace incrementality, is looking at performance marketing with a wider lens.  

Ryan: I agree with that. One other thing that’s come up this year is sustainability and the effect of digital marketing on our carbon footprint. We are really starting to dive into supply path optimization – having fewer touchpoints from the ad server to the consumer. I think we’re going to see a lot of brands start to demand this across every third-party partner.  

2023 Social Media Marketing Trend Predictions

Elise: To wrap us up, I want to talk about the future of paid social media and influencer marketing. Are there other 2023 social media trend predictions marketers should be looking out for?  

Ryan: There’s never been so much headwind with social. Social media has always been a growth channel, in every aspect. But, you have headline after headline coming in – from Meta’s demise to Twitter now having 70% less staff. And TikTok is not going to run the way that it is forever, with government regulation coming against China there. Even in the influencer space, we’re starting to see Gen-Z and Gen Alpha rebelling against the perfect influencer lifestyle. We’re seeing less time being given to those platforms.  

A lot of those platforms make it very easy to have great reach. In some ways, this actually may be an opportunity to do more on social media. The billions of logins Facebook has are not suddenly going away. And there’s plenty of people that still use these platforms. But there needs to be balance in your social strategy next to other media.

Balance is going to be a calling card for 2023. The brands that go heavy into search and social are going to be at a disadvantage if they don’t think about all the places it takes to garner attention. Attention is still the number one commodity we’re looking to harness as marketers. And we’re going to have to be more creative in how we message audiences and place ads to be competitive.  

Elise: Well, thank you both for being here today and I’m excited to see how these digital marketing trends play out in 2023. 

 

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