Many industries have undergone massive changes during the 21st century, and that is certainly the case where digital media and advertising are concerned.
Digital advertising trends are always a hot topic, particularly with regards to understanding how to get the right message in front of both new and existing customers.
Many people complain that they find digital ads intrusive, a factor that further clouds the landscape for anyone involved in promoting goods or services.
Whether you use a digital marketing agency like SportsHabit.com or manage your advertising activities in-house, it is essential to be au-fait with the latest trends in the sector.
Read on as we look at some of the latest developments in digital advertising and find out what industry experts have to say about them.
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Video Content Essential to Advertising
Social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have provided businesses with the opportunity to become more creative with their advertising activities.
In a world where it is tough to grab someone’s attention, short videos are increasingly being used over text-based marketing content.
Its visual nature leads to a greater level of brand recall, and studies have shown that video content is more likely to be shared than text.
According to Binoj Nair, B2C Marketing Director at Canon Middle East, the rise in popularity of TikTok highlights the widespread appetite for video consumption.
“Videos aren’t just a great way to engage people and grab their attention – they go a long way in improving your SEO and website rankings,” said Nair.
“Video content can significantly increase brand visibility and drive more web traffic, thereby increasing the website ranking on various search engines.
“Most search engines have already started to focus on video content (over all other types of content) and rank them higher.
“For example, in the case of Google, it has been estimated that if you have a video on your brand’s landing page, you’re 50% more likely to rank on Google’s first page.”
Programmatic Advertising is Evolving
IPONWEB director of business development in APAC, Niraj Nagpal, says that brands and agencies must think differently about programmatic advertising in the future.
Programmatic advertising has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, with businesses leveraging its automated bidding procedure for ad space to their advantage.
Display ads were previously the most common form, but video ads have become the ‘go-to’ medium for many advertisers over the past couple of years.
Programmatic ads generally appear across a wide range of platforms including websites, social networks, digital signage, and television.
While programmatic will continue to play an integral role in advertising, Nagpal believes that the way it is utilized will evolve moving forward.
“It is because we’re in such a rapid change that programmatic is not a one-size-fits-all strategy,” said Nagpal. “Programmatic will change and no longer be a way to buy media, it’ll just become digital advertising.
“While you have special agencies doing programmatic for you, or as a function, that’s going to go away, it’s going to be digital buying using programmatic as the backbone.
“The winners and losers in this space are going to be partners and agencies and brands that have a higher degree of nimbleness and adaptability.
“If the year 2024 has taught us anything, it is that there’s no certainty and that the only certainty that there’s going to change.
“Brands and agencies that lean into that change are going to be the ones that are really going to prosper.”
Socially Conscious Brand Building
Brand building has always been an essential part of any digital marketing strategy, and that trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
Building a strong brand helps consumers to feel positive about your business, thus ensuring that they remain loyal over a long-term period.
However, the factors that people perceive as crucial for brands are changing, particularly when it comes to how they operate in the wide world.
Roha Daud, the brand consultant in wellness and food sustainability, believes that consumers are much more socially conscious that was once the case.
She says that companies must learn to embrace this ethos by engaging more in topics like mental health, inclusivity, social justice, and the environment.
“The rise of socially conscious consumers is only expected to grow with Gen Z now moving toward adulthood and nearing their entry into the formal workforce,” she said.
“They’re known to be the most well-educated generation yet, and one that mirrors similar values to those of millennials, including their outlook on climate change, racial equality, feminism, educational and professional equality, and much more.
“Brands need to realize that they need to go well beyond just lip service and do the work on creating an honest social impact. Based on a poll conducted by Forbes in 2019, 88% of consumers want to support brands that have social causes aligned with their product/service.
“Aside from it just being something ‘nice’ to have on your mission statement, it’s now also incredibly profitable.”
Voice Technology on the Rise
Voice tech has been tipped to be one of the ‘next big things’ in marketing as businesses latch onto its exciting capabilities.
Smart devices such as Alexa have become commonplace in households across the world in recent years, providing users with easy access to information on demand.
James Poulter, CEO, and founder of Vixen Labs says that advancements in voice tech could transform how goods and services are advertised and purchased over the next few years.
“I see voice and shopping as one of the great new frontiers as we look into 2024 and beyond,” he told SoundHound.
“We need to find secure ways of giving people opportunities to shop safely, whilst allowing them to immerse themselves in the brands that they know and love from home, via their smartphone headphones or in their cars.
“Out-of-home advertising is set for a new revolution as we move to “invocation marketing” in the future, no longer focused on remembering complicated URLs or trying to get people to follow social handles.
“We can now use invocation marketing materials to drive shopping behaviors immediately through voice across every device and surface.”