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Audio has always had the feel of an intimate medium, that trusted voice conversing directly with us one-to-one. But digital innovation has changed how we think of audio as an entertainment vehicle and overhauled how we engage with it every day.
Where once the only control we had over audio was changing the radio station or popping in a new tape or CD (or LP), digital audio now gives us seemingly endless choices right at our fingertips. People today are using digital audio to soundtrack their lives, flowing in and out of audio experiences that reflect who they are, what they’re doing, and how they’re feeling in the moment—whether it’s workout time, focus time, party time, bedtime, or downtime.
Perhaps no other channel offers authenticity, connection, and flexibility the way that audio does. And this, in a nutshell, is why brands are increasingly inserting themselves into the audio conversation. The emergence of audio as a mainstay in media plans, alongside developments within the space (including concepts like sonic branding and voice interactivity), is a top digital advertising trend to watch as we move through 2023. But what consumer listening habits can marketers tap into to drive performance? Just how effective are audio ads, really? (Hint: very.) And where exactly are consumers tuning in? (Hint: everywhere.) Here, we’ve compiled a collection of stats that answer all these questions and more, helping advertisers separate the signal from the static noise and craft audio strategies set up to make a buzz.
A perfect storm of circumstance and opportunity is propelling digital audio into the marketing spotlight. You have younger generations coming of age and placing higher importance on audio as they look to alleviate screen time. You have brands embracing the idea of advertising on a cost-effective channel where they can command share of voice (amongst many other benefits). And you have new technology making audio content in all its guises much more accessible and personalized. It’s a medium that has long been overlooked...until now.
Over the last couple of years, few stories in digital media have been more compelling than the rise of the podcast. After a blitz of spending and high-profile acquisitions, the podcast market appears to finally be slowing down, but the podcast advertising market is an entirely different story, with the medium still largely underleveraged and undervalued. Listenership is still rising, albeit more slowly, and technology continues to add more layers of contextual targeting and flexibility to podcast advertising, signaling more opportunities for brands on the horizon.
Cutting through the metaphorical noise has always been a major challenge for brands as they compete to connect with audiences, and that challenge keeps growing as attention spans shrink. In audio advertising, though, marketers have a powerful ally in the battle for engagement—an outlet that can dynamically link ideas and narratives to help create an emotional association between the brand’s message and the listener.
The streaming audio ecosystem is dominated by a few key brands. Spotify is the top dog in the market, one of the most widely used digital products in the US and a powerful presence in broader culture. But the likes of Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, SiriusXM (parent company of Pandora), and iHeartMedia all retain a huge presence in digital audio. Fluctuating economic conditions and price increases at several streaming services (including Apple Music and YouTube Premium, with Spotify potentially joining them soon) are colliding to ease some of the breakneck growth from the past several years.
Digital audio is ubiquitous and unique. Playlists and podcasts are providing the soundtrack to peoples’ lives, and brands looking to build strong, lasting connections with their audiences must find ways to penetrate those spaces. The good news is that advertisers already have a plethora of tools at their disposal to develop strategies that lean into consumer listening habits—and when it comes to future innovation, there’s a lot to look forward to.
If these numbers are any indication, the audio advertising revolution is really only just getting started.
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Want more insights on the power and potential of this channel and how it can impact your media plan? Check out our Audio Advertising Guide.
Looking for top programmatic advertising trends for 2024? Check out our post here.
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Digital advertising is recalibrating.
It seems like at every turn, there is something new, unpredictable and unfamiliar. Content platforms are adding commerce, and commerce platforms are adding content (and ads), all in an effort to boost revenue. Meanwhile, privacy enforcement is heating up, online platforms might lose essential legal protection, and consumer behavior continues to transform.
Amidst all that change, though, there is one reliable constant: programmatic, a medium that, at this point, touches pretty much every facet of digital marketing. Its penetration in digital display is forecast to reach a massive 91.1% in 2023 (up from 90.2% last year), and it’s growing in other maturing media formats, too—the likes of connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home (DOOH), and digital audio.
Not that this is surprising. At a time when marketers are scrutinizing budgets and searching for operational efficiencies against economic headwinds and increased complexity, investing in programmatic makes perfect sense. And even despite the turbulence caused by the loss of the third-party identifiers upon which programmatic was built, the medium is standing its ground as advertisers embrace a raft of new, versatile, privacy-friendly targeting solutions.
By all indications, 2023 is set to be (yet another) dynamic year in programmatic advertising. Here, we’ll dive into seven programmatic trends that are set to shape the programmatic landscape and explore some of the ways advertisers can capitalize on those trends to power growth.
Our everyday lives are jampacked with technology—in 2022, the average US household was equipped with 22 connected devices—so it’s increasingly important for brands to serve up unified cross-channel experiences. Consumers today are watching TV while on their phones one minute, then listening to podcasts while working on their laptop the next—and they expect a seamless advertising experience across all of them.
Adjacent to that, brands have less and less time to win consumers’ attention. Gen Z and millennials, in particular, have grown up in the short-form video worlds of Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube—they won’t hesitate to skip past content and ads that don’t engage them from the get-go.
All this is to say: marketers have it tough.
To combat the challenges and complexities, marketers will need to nail the fundamentals. Powering programmatic media performance entails complicated processes, so advertisers should look to evaluate whether they’re taking advantage of the resources already at their fingertips. That means stewarding budgets responsibly, investing in campaign planning, maintaining media hygiene, optimizing optimizations, and, critically, embracing technology that breaks down silos and accelerates digital media execution. Adopting a passive position in these areas will only expose marketing organizations to crisis and lead to strategies defined more by fire drills than brand values and needs.
The macro trend within the TV landscape is clear—streamers are slowly dethroning linear TV:
Consumers are increasingly tuning into the biggest screen in their homes digitally. And, in the fight for their time and wallets, streaming platforms have been busy—finalizing mergers, securing content rights, and rolling out ad-supported tiers in pursuit of subscriber growth and diversified revenue streams.
Amid these forays into the world of advertising, the streaming platforms are placing an emphasis on how they’re enabling ads via intentional partnerships (think Fox and Magnite, Netflix and Microsoft, Roku and Nielsen, and NBCUniversal + iSpot). This is creating consolidation across a complex ecosystem, unifying some of the fragmentation and opening opportunities to execute digital TV investments more cost-effectively—and programmatically. Indeed, in 2022, 74.4% of CTV ad dollars flowed through programmatic pipes, and that number is expected to rise to 78.6% by 2024.
The development of programmatic in CTV naturally depends on how the various streaming providers want to monetize their vision for ad-supported environments. But programmatic affords vastly more flexibility than upfront or scatter markets, so where there is inventory available, it should continue to gobble up market share.
There’s no question that digital audio is growing in importance, commanding an increasing share of our day and engaging audiences in ways few channels can. It’s an absorbing, emotional, and different experience—and one that drives results (75% brand recall rate, anyone?). It’s also got reams of untapped growth potential. Podcasting advertising alone is estimated to be undervalued by as much as $40 billion relative to other channels. Clearly, it’s time for advertisers to get involved in this opportunity.
The numbers around digital audio make for some compelling reading: Podcasts are projected to account for 5.1% of total time spent with digital media in 2023 (up from 4.7% in 2022). Music streaming has increased 27.5% from three years ago and averaged 1 hour 56 minutes in daily listening time in H1 2022. The penetration for digital audio is currently 78.5% of internet users. And that’s just scratching the surface.
The programmatic share of digital audio ad spending continues to deepen and is estimated to hit 23.2% this year. In times when audiences can be oversaturated with visual advertising, audio offers a great way to diversify programmatic budgets, evolve omnichannel strategies, and reach a highly targetable (and mobile) audience in a brand-safe environment. Those that embrace this medium as a soundboard for creativity and lean into expanding consumer listening habits will likely set themselves up to cut through some of the marketing noise in 2023 and beyond.
If you’re looking for innovation, you may want to get up and get out of the house.
Indeed, some 47% of US agency and ad execs think digital out-of-home (DOOH) is developing the most innovative ad opportunities, behind only social media and mobile. And with TV and radio audiences fragmenting under the force of digital, DOOH is helping advertisers fill the one-to-many void.
Traditionally, DOOH media owners have sold their inventory via time-limited packages that promise a minimum share of voice or number of playouts, essentially guaranteeing budgets per campaign. But as more and more screens pop up across cities worldwide, programmatic DOOH is prospering. Back in 2020, only 6.9% of DOOH ad spending in the US was transacted programmatically, but that share is forecast to rise to 22.6% this year, then 29.0% in 2024.
It’s quite profound growth, and it’s easy to understand the drivers behind it. By tapping into a range of real-time data such as live sports scores, weather fluctuations, traffic updates, or local in-store retail discounts, advertisers can create dynamic messaging and capture the attention of large, relevant audiences. Programmatic DOOH also opens the door to unique creative through full motion video, social media engagement, syncing and touch screen interactivity, augmented reality, QR codes, and more.
While undoubtedly a nascent medium, DOOH is gaining traction through its versatility and ability to successfully drive brand awareness—solidifying itself as a fixture in marketers’ omnichannel media mix.
Google may well have pushed back the deprecation of third-party cookies from Chrome until 2024, but advertisers should understand that between 50 and 60% of signal fidelity from third-party identifiers has already been lost through the actions of other platforms and browsers (such as Firefox, Safari, and Brave). In other words: we’re living in the cookieless future right now.
This, coupled with expanding regulations and stricter enforcement of existing data protection laws (eyes on you, Sephora and Kochava!), necessitates immediate privacy-forward action from stakeholders across the entire advertising ecosystem. Everyone has a role to play: Adtech itself needs to help activate tactics, consult on solutions, and facilitate partnerships; publishers must create a positive CX to empower quality data capture; and brands should be implementing compliance frameworks and advanced data management systems.
What does this mean for targeting and measurement in programmatic? In short: we’re still very much in the innovation and trial stage. New proposals are entering the market all the time and existing solutions that have taken a back seat for a while are garnering renewed attention (hello, contextual targeting!) Eventually, once publishers and advertisers have run their tests, the industry will likely coalesce around a small selection of agile and scalable options. But the point here is don’t sit around and wait for the problem to go away. The time to act is today!
Over the past two years, brands of all sorts have been launching retail media networks (RMNs), opening new real estate for ad placements and promising the proliferation of their privileged first-party data. The revenue success of Amazon has awoken others to the opportunity, with Walmart, Target, and Kroger getting particularly active in ramping their retail network and advertising capabilities. CVS, Walgreens, Dollar General, Ulta Beauty, Petco, eBay, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Marriott, and Dick’s Sporting Goods (to name just a few) have also gotten into the game.
The growth of RMNs in the US could equate to $45.05 billion in ad spending in 2023, and the ripple effect of this evolution is significant. The ability to match unique customer IDs and ad impressions to SKU sales—all in a privacy-protected way—is compressing the marketing funnel and creating a paradigm shift in digital advertising not seen since...well, the rise of programmatic! All signs suggest the space is likely to scale, and with retailers inking deals with publishers, DSPs, and SSPs that want in on the action, the implications could be far-reaching across programmatic and beyond.
They’re still in their early days, but RMNs are certainly something to watch carefully and leverage accordingly.
It’s been a tumultuous time for social networks—so much so that The Atlantic recently questioned whether the age of social media is indeed ending. The growing levels of social ad spending would indicate not, but there are undoubtedly some interesting, shifting dynamics at play.
In 2022, we saw:
TikTok has been a shining light, but even this golden child of social media should watch its back with emerging competitors like BeReal gaining traction. The key to the future of social is essentially Gen Z—the changing of the social guard is founded upon this generation embracing a social experience rooted in more interaction, entertainment, and authentic communication. Sixty percent of US teens also report that feeling “welcome and safe” is more important than a space to speak freely online.
2023 will be a year for recalibration in social circles as the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter look for new ways to kick-start their businesses. Marketers should look to the younger cohorts for a glimpse into where they should be making sound social investments.
The advertising industry is poised to undergo a digital sea change in the year ahead. And the micro world of programmatic will be in the thick of it. Defining and reaching audiences, what those audiences care about, the channels and tactics employed, and how performance is measured—it’s all changing. Marketers who can stay agile and nail the basics will be in the best position to navigate all the headwinds the industry is running into, and perhaps even turn them into tailwinds!
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Want more tips and tricks to navigate the year ahead? Check out all our 2023 trends content designed to help you stay ahead of the curve.
The following is adapted from Basis Technologies’ guide, Meeting the Moment with Advertising Automation. To get even more advertising automation-related insights and statistics, download the guide today.
“Give consumers a thoughtful, tailored advertising experience and they will buy more, develop more loyalty, and share their positive engagement with others.” A simple concept in theory, yet one that's extremely difficult to execute.
Delivering a great customer experience depends on a range of factors, including speed, convenience, consistency, and approachability. The big one, though, is the human touch—creating real connections by making technology feel more human and meeting people in their moment, where they are, and on an individual level. In a word: personalization.
Personalization can take many shapes and forms, and digital advertisers can tap into a range of personalization tactics that can run throughout the entire journey to purchase. In today's campaigns, brands are compelled to move beyond a blanket targeting approach and instead create content that caters to their audience’s unique experiences and meets them on their preferred channel. And consumers are increasingly demanding it: 73% of all buyers (including both B2B and B2C) say they expect companies to understand their unique needs, while just over half (56%) expect offers to always be personalized.
When done manually, omnichannel personalization strategies can be incredibly cost sapping and time consuming, relying on a host of disparate platforms. This model was once the only one available, but it’s inadequate for an era where marketers need the ability to easily modify and customize creative assets with audience-specific language, calls-to-action, real-time messaging, visuals, and products. Further exacerbating these challenges is consumers’ recent reevaluation of businesses’ roles in society, with stakeholder capitalism becoming an increasingly major factor in purchasing decisions. Modern consumers want more than just personalized experiences—they want empathetic and authentic ones, with 62% saying they feel an emotional connection to the brands they buy from the most.
Marketers who are looking to successfully incorporate personalized moments into their advertising experiences—and find the greater flexibility, efficiency, and scalability required to implement them—need three things: a strategy to streamline planning, technology to effortlessly control campaigns, and data-driven measurement. Fortunately, there is one existing solution that offers all that (and more): digital advertising automation.
Across every industry, from automotive to education, financial services to retail, technological developments in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled advertisers to create more personalized content while leaving antiquated manual techniques behind. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) systems activated by advanced data management infrastructure can automatically build thousands of digital ads that vary in real-time for product-based retargeting, creative personalization, audience segmentation, and customer journey enhancement. By adopting this workflow automation, media buyers have more time to focus on these types of strategies and ensure they are crafting messaging that better targets unique segments. The end results: more conversions, loyalty, and revenue.
Geo-targeting campaigns
Feed-based product campaigns
Sequential storytelling
Behavioral prospecting
Geo-targeting campaigns
Contextual targeting
Sequential storytelling
Behavioral prospecting
The very meaning of the term personalization has evolved quite a bit over the last decade. Indeed, until relatively recently, the concept of personalizing content equated to simply inserting someone’s first name in an email or basic push notification.
However, personalization today is a different animal—much more complex, much more challenging, and much more pervasive. To get it right, and at scale, advertisers need to first get their data house in order before layering on top various automation functionalities that can empower them to go from rigid linear storytelling to something markedly more dynamic and engaging.
Want to learn more about advertising automation? Check out our guide and see why automation is essential to the future success and long-term growth of the media buying industry.
In the world of digital media, there are many different channels and tactics available to advertisers today. Each brings their own value and opportunity, as well as complexities. Two of the most commonly used channels are programmatic display advertising and paid search advertising. Advertisers often focus their efforts and budgets here, as both channels are well established, with a history of proven results.
According to eMarketer, paid search ad spending is expected to continue growing in coming years. Paid search is estimated to make up 29.5% of overall digital ad spending in 2023, and over $136 billion dollars in the U.S. alone by 2026.
It’s important to note, however, that the rate of entry for net new advertisers to this channel is quite low. Rather, most advertisers are established in the paid search space and continue to find real value in performance as evidenced by advertisers’ continued investment.
How is search sustaining YoY growth? Paid search continues to evolve along with the digital media industry as a whole. The last two decades have brought forth many advances in paid search—including updates to ad formats and layouts, targeting tactics, and capabilities.
One of the most recent enhancements is the power of machine learning through expanded bidding strategies, audience-based targeting, and responsive search ad formats. The introduction of machine learning in paid search has proven to be extremely valuable and allows for personalization and relevance at scale.
You may be thinking to yourself, "Audience-based targeting and machine learning must be similar to programmatic display." And you’re right—they are! Both channels are based on real-time bidding and go well beyond the KPI of driving traffic.
Instead, they drive performance with remarketing and look-a-like targeting. Additionally, both can scale. If you’re an advertiser with a limited budget, consider the targeting definitions—audiences, geography, or keywords—to ensure the budget aligns with the demand.
While there are similarities between programmatic display advertising and paid search, understanding the difference between the two and when it makes sense to use one and/or the other, can lead to more robust, strategic, and successful media plans.
Programmatic display advertising and paid search are inherently different in how they operate. Display advertising provides the opportunity to cast a wide net, proactively reaching people across the web, in more of a "push" approach. Display advertising is often thought of as the go-to media channel for building brand awareness, and usually considered an upper-funnel tactic. Impressions hold high value.
Paid search, on the other hand, uses a "pull" approach, with consumers searching for your product or service directly. Paid search is driven by intent only and plays a key role in targeting hand-raisers, requiring advertisers only pay for clicks. For this reason, clicks hold more value than impressions. This key difference is the driving force behind the power of paid search and the value it brings to advertisers.
Knowing that paid search operates as a pull approach, it is unique in the way that advertisers can reach an audience in the moments that matter most: ideally, when a user is raising their hand to inquire further about a product or service.
Despite the common misconception that paid search is solely a low-funnel tactic, with the right strategy and campaign set-up, advertisers can reach an audience at any stage of the consumer journey or media funnel. Whether a consumer is just beginning their research using non-branded keywords, or already ready to convert and using a branded keyword, a strategic, well-built paid search account can create touchpoints throughout the entire consumer journey.
Paid search drives results for various campaign objectives, or KPIs. Whether the goal is to generate leads, sales, phone calls, in-store visits, or other custom actions, the immediacy of results and the opportunity to optimize quickly is extremely valuable in paid search.
Advertisers may notice results within hours after launch and (depending on scale) may begin making optimizations early on, in order to drive efficiencies. Testing strategies are easily deployed within paid search campaigns to better understand several factors that drive campaign performance.
Advertisers are likely to test ad copy, bidding strategies, audience search trends (days of the week or hours of the day), and more. Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it channel. Instead, it requires ongoing optimizations, which in turn provide strong results.
While paid search is not as wide-reaching as display advertising, it allows advertisers the opportunity to maximize their returns by utilizing a combination of machine learning and human intelligence to reach audiences. Studies show that programmatic display advertising, partnered with paid search, provides powerful results and an overall performance lift.
Marketers commonly lean on attribution tools to measure how clicks from search and display advertising work together to drive performance and compare effectiveness across both channels. Tools such as Skai, Google’s Search Ads 360, or even Facebook’s Attribution Measurement Tool help de-duplicate conversions across search, display, and other ad platforms.
At Basis Technologies, we don’t recommend using one channel over the other. Tweak your strategy and shared learnings between the two, particularly around audiences and messaging—and you’ll have the optimal tool to drive success!
Learn more about Display Advertising with Basis Technologies
Over the past 10 years, programmatic in-housing has often been positioned as a magic remedy to aging business models that struggle with massive complexity and a lack of transparency. The growing importance of first-party data, real-time personalization capabilities, uncovering hidden opportunities for optimization, and greater clarity around fees are just some of the reasons why brands pursue this proactive, hands-on approach to media buying.
Yet, for all the hype around the movement and all the promises it offers, there are also numerous tales of marketing organizations that had to put the whole in-housing process on ice because they found it was too lengthy, too expensive, too complicated, and/or too political to pull off.
In the latest episode of our AdTech Unfiltered podcast series, founder of UpLevel Digital Media Consulting and Presidential Innovation Fellow, Raashee Gupta Erry, breaks down some of the considerations brands must make when weighing up whether to bring programmatic media buying in-house.
Here are seven of Raashee’s most keen insights:
(Answers have been edited for clarity.)
"I feel like there is this behavior of in-housing functioning as a trend. It has its ups and downs. It was really popular five to seven years ago when RTB and all these different ways of programmatic buying came into the picture. Then the pandemic hit, and I think a lot of excitement died down because people were just trying to survive—businesses were trying to stay afloat. There's also a lot of behavior change happening from the consumer adoption standpoint.
“It's a mixed bag today because there are so many future-forward changes that the market is going through, with data privacy being a very big component of that. There have been some major headwinds from both the technology side as well as the regulation side.”
“You have to operationalize your in-housing efforts to suit the landscape that you're in. And it's not just media buying. It's not just bringing people in-house, cleaning tools in-house, or bringing a transactional channel in-house. It has to be looked upon from an entire spectrum of how data is intersecting your organization—how data is flowing and outflowing.
“I've heard that some brands who had totally converted to in-house programmatic are now taking a step back. Other folks are starting to take baby steps towards it. Some people are mature. I just feel with data privacy, it becomes even more important to first understand how the data sits in your organization, how the channels are connected (or not connected), and who your players and partners are. That's when you want to take another look at it.”
“It starts with the problem/solution discovery. You have to go down to the brass tacks—to the bare minimum. You need to ask fundamental questions: ‘What are your challenges? Why are you thinking of in-housing? Why do you think it will work for you? What are some of the other solutions that you've considered?’ It’s important to do a feasibility check on all of these, because a lot of times clients might be looking at in-housing as a shiny object, or they might be looking at in-housing as a way to cut costs.
“We ask those hard questions and have a sit-down moment. We conduct an analysis on their existing state and then really understand what they’re trying to change and what the problem is. Sometimes, the answer is in-housing. Sometimes, it might be a hybrid solution. Sometimes, it might be chopping it up in small chunks and doing one part at a time. It really varies.”
“In-housing, in general, is an expensive venture in many ways. It takes time. It takes energy. It's costly. It’s disruptive to the normal organizational flow if a company has been working with agencies for a long time and then, suddenly, they want to stop that and bring things in-house. It does create a ripple effect, and it does slow down the operations—or at least make them different or disrupt them.
“We really have to be thinking about things like: ‘What's their aptitude? What's their tolerance level? What does the marketing lifecycle in their organization look like? What are their key moments, and what are their downtimes and when is the right time to do it?’ So, it really is a lot of questions at a very early stage.”
“Different organizations will be at different stages and on different scales of in-housing. Depending on where they are in the process, and what scale of in-housing they want to do, the stakeholder participation varies.
“When I did in-housing as a brand marketer, we wanted to bring this tech stack of DSP and DMPs in-house and still have our agencies operationalize it. At that point in my conversations around the table, I was talking with IT, I was talking with CRM folks, and I was talking with finance, legal, and product, because all these folks had either a direct or an indirect influence on the programs that we were going to run through the programmatic pipes. It was really important for us to bring them on board—to understand what their needs are. What are the security limitations, for example, from an IT standpoint? What are the data challenges from a CRM standpoint? HR also comes into play here, because in-housing requires you to staff up a team. A lot of conversations need to be had.”
“This, again, starts with early staged conversations in the discovery phase. ‘Why is this idea appealing to you? What are you trying to change by bringing things in-house? Do you have a fundamental problem in that you have a matrix organization and hence you need to operate a certain way? Or is it a need for speed? Or is it that you are sitting on a lot of personal data that you don't want to be sharing outside, and data privacy and security is an important component to your operations?’
“It’s important to ask those questions to then come to an understanding of what's the right balance between in-housing and outsourcing. It could be that you outsource components that are a little more standalone, as opposed to channels that are super intertwined with each other. Or you're outsourcing the operations, but you are owning the relationships, the contracts, the data, and the tech stack, and you are enabling your agency partners to be the operators of your systems. Or are you going all-in and having everything in-house, contracting in-house, having your tech relationships in-house, and hiring internally?
“One area where agencies provide a lot of value is shared learnings—they're always doing a lot of different things, and they’re constantly on top of changes. So how important is that education? How important is that outside thinking? How important is that outside-out-of-the-box creativity for your business?”
“This area is only going to get more complex, and it ties directly into media because we are seeing a lot of headwinds in terms of technology changes with cookieless solutions out there—all the browser changes and the mobile changes as well as a lot of regulation changes.
“It really is important, because data is at the center of all the media that we do in the digital world. It's important for the brands to at least understand what the privacy world looks like, the different roles that people play, GDPR and CCPA, data transfer requirements, and the data sharing and selling restrictions. Who is doing what on your behalf is very important, so even if you do in-housing, or outsourcing, you need to be aware of this and ask tough questions of all your partners and all your teams internally so that you can have a truthful, trustworthy relationship with your customers. Because once a data breach happens, customers are not thinking, ‘This is the middle party that lost my data.’ It's going to be, ‘XYZ brand lost my data!’”
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To learn more about the state of programmatic in-housing today and the important role of data in the process, check out Raashee and Noor’s full conversation here.
Wondering which programmatic buying approach is right for your brand? Our Programmatic Readiness Quiz can help! In just three minutes, you’ll discover whether outsourcing, hybrid, or in-house programmatic ad buying is the best path for achieving your team's goals.
Every once in a while, something new comes on to the scene that sends shockwaves through the media and marketing landscape as we know it. The introduction of Facebook in 2004. The launch of the iPhone in 2007. The emergence of AR through Pokémon GO in 2016. These paradigm-shifting events—and there are many more besides—all fundamentally transformed how brands think about their go-to-market strategies. Today, if we are to believe the hype (and the billions upon billions of investor dollars that are fueling the phenomenon), it appears the metaverse is well-positioned to become the next “big thing” to join that esteemed list.
In digital advertising circles, the metaverse is one of the most noteworthy trends of the moment—and with good reason. For one, there is all the forecasts and research: many are writing about the possible reach and highly lucrative potential of this nascent medium. One recent study by Bloomberg Intelligence estimates the global metaverse revenue opportunity could approach $800 billion in 2024. Another by Gartner predicts that by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse.
Then there is the constant stream of dialogue around the subject. Be it stories exploring how heavyweight tech companies like Meta are going all-in on taking the metaverse mainstream, or news about major metaverse-related acquisitions and funds, there is a noise across the industry that is growing louder and louder.
For many (if not most) brands, the sensible approach to the metaverse right now is to learn, observe, and wait for the concept to become more tangible, as it is still far too soon to know which investments will be viable in the long term. But for those looking to be early adopters in the space, there are a few initial metaverse solutions that indicate potential use cases for advertisers. Although this medium will not be replacing the way we interact digitally any time in the near future, by exploring it now, brands can help take part in determining how this new reality unfolds.
At this moment, it’s difficult to pin down an exact definition of the metaverse because, for the most part, it does not fully exist. Some of the basic building blocks are already in place, including 3D gaming, blockchain technology, and virtual and augmented realities, while other necessary technologies are emerging all the time—like 5G internet, for example, or more intelligent hardware, or non-fungible tokens.
What we do know is that the metaverse is a place where the physical and digital worlds coalesce; a shared, interoperable, and collaborative virtual universe rendered in three-dimensional form. Many advocates see the metaverse as the natural evolution of the internet and smartphones, but rather than interacting via keyboards or touchscreens, users are immersed in dynamic, participatory environments that make them live actors in cyberspace. It is a concept that promises to transform the way people connect with one another, and it has the potential to disrupt a raft of everyday activities—from gaming and sports to business travel and education, and everything else in between.
So, just how can digital marketers start tapping into the metaverse?
One great place to look for guidance is the video game industry, where marketers are already exploring how the social aspect of virtual realities can enhance brand engagement and create fresh avenues of data collection. Of course, not all video games fall into the metaverse category, but some of the most prominent ones today showcase core metaverse attributes such as personalized avatars, multi-player modes, and the ability to interact with fellow gamers in real-time. Roblox, Fortnite, Decentraland, Somnium Space, and Animal Crossing are a handful that tick all these boxes, making them ripe grounds for marketers looking to experiment with both paid and organic activations.
Let’s breakdown three of the most popular approaches brands are adopting:
Gucci was one of the first big names to plant an early flag in the metaverse, teaming up with Roblox to create a virtual, two-week-long immersive art installation titled The Gucci Gardens. Inside this dreamy experience, users could wander around multiple themed rooms that paid homage to famous Gucci campaigns, throughout which they could try on and purchase digital Gucci items such as bags, clothes, and sunglasses. This time-limited campaign became a viral success after select in-game NFTs went Roblox limited (aka only available on the platform for a limited time and in limited quantities), and it ultimately helped Gucci gain some valuable early exposure for both its brand and its products before Roblox’s very young user demographics—i.e., the next generation of consumers.
Other companies have taken this concept of temporary activation in the metaverse one step further by building permanent in-game spaces. Vans, for example, has created a virtual interactive skatepark it has called Vans World, where fans can go to socialize, take on daily challenges, and acquire exclusive Vans gear. Nike, too, has entered the fray with NIKELAND, a digital arena inspired by the company’s real-life headquarters that offers users the chance to compete in various mini-games and check out new product offerings.
Together, these examples symbolize how forward-thinking brands are beginning to address changing consumer behaviors and deliver new, meaningful experiences. Marketing organizations today are typically meeting their audiences on their website and social media channels (or, in the retail sphere, in-store). But as we hurtle towards Web 3.0, these virtual in-game worlds may be one of the calling cards of the future. With this new touchpoint in their arsenal, media buyers can do a host of valuable things, including:
Obviously, not every brand needs to create its own distinct micro world, or even has the means to. Indeed, many are testing the metaverse waters with something more modest.
Case in point? Just look at the fashion and beauty industry, where numerous heavy hitters are attempting to revolutionize their go-to-market strategy by creating virtual flagship destinations accessible through VR headsets. Lancôme, Nars, Charlotte Tilbury, and Dior represent just a small sample of those tapping into this trend, and initial consumer perceptions look promising. The ability of these immersive stores to mimic real-life retail spaces and facilitate the effect of browsing is an extremely attractive proposition for consumers and brands alike. Today’s standard 2D e-commerce interface—typically based around a grid model—is great for purposeful shopping if consumers know exactly what they’re looking for, but it is not necessarily conducive to discovery or inspiring spontaneous purchases. Consumers don’t always go shopping because they need something specific; sometimes, they do so simply to peruse what’s on sale, keep abreast of the latest trends, or learn about new discounts. Virtual 3D stores can encourage these things in ways traditional websites cannot.
In certain metaverse realms, opening such virtual hubs is becoming a huge business. Platforms like The Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium Space are all virtual worlds that specialize in this area, offering users opportunities to buy or rent digital real estate with cryptocurrency. Celebrities, companies, media agencies, art galleries, and countless others are rushing to snap up parcels of land in these metaverses, and some of the numbers involved are mind-boggling. For instance, Swiss fashion house Philipp Plein hit headlines recently with the news they had bought a plot of land in Decentraland worth a massive $1.4 million. And they’re not alone: Adidas, Care Bears, Samsung, and even more buttoned-up brands like JPMorgan Chase have all opened virtual spaces on these platforms.
What these pricey endeavors embody is a deep commitment to an enduring virtual presence. They are evidence that some brands don’t see the metaverse as some passing craze, but as something that is here to stay and worth investing in.
Away from the glamor and glitz of world-building, there are other, more subtle opportunities for media placements in the metaverse through in-game advertising. This is not exactly a new concept: even going back 15 to 20 years, advertisers had the ability to show ads relevant to the moment in virtual settings. One of the most famous examples was when Barack Obama purchased ad space in a number of games from Electronic Arts to support his first election bid.
The same idea exists now, only it has been expanded into the metaverse. Companies like Bidstack and Anzu enable game developers to showcase ads within their worlds, offering sponsorships on advertising hoardings within sports stadiums or on digital billboards that dot the streetscapes in Roblox City. In good news for advertisers, gamers are actually fairly receptive to seeing brands as they roam about in the metaverse, yet they would expect product placement to be relevant to their environment—just like in the real world. Particularly for smaller brands, this type of metaverse advertising is a chance to get their foot in the door without having to invest upfront in large-scale projects à la Gucci, Philipp Plein, and co.
As things stand, we are still very much in the early stages of the metaverse, but that will likely not be the case for long. Things tend to move at lightning speed in the tech industry, and there are already a number of opportunities for brands to consider. Understanding and testing implementation now will help marketers get out ahead of the trend.
Want to learn more about how you can prepare for potential advertising opportunities in the metaverse? Check out our webinar.
The digital ad industry has flocked to programmatic advertising in recent years. According to eMarketer, programmatic display spend is expected to reach $150 billion in 2024. And for good reason: Adopting programmatic ad buying into digital strategies has become a necessity for marketers looking to leverage data and technology to target their customers with relevant messages at the right place, right time—and the right cost.
And higher education institutions, facing an increasingly competitive market and needing to find innovative (and cost-effective) ways to bring quality, prospective students to their programs, are the perfect programmatic candidates.
Programmatic is a broad term representing automated technology infrastructure that is happening across media buying through different technologies that are available to us, like a DSP. In plain speak? Programmatic advertising is using technology to help you buy digital media.
Because higher education clients make up a large part of the business at Basis, we understand the unique set of challenges these marketers face. Our teams have worked with a wide variety of higher education clients and institutions, including both undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as online degree programs, and regional and national university campaigns.
Common sets of challenges have surfaced across all programs: the need to increase enrollment, drive qualified applicants to websites, promote awareness of programs, degrees, and certifications, and a lack of visibility into marketing budgets across universities. One of the biggest challenges our clients face is selecting KPIs and knowing how to best consolidate budgets between building awareness and driving enrollments—which are often conflicting goals.
The complexity extends beyond the schools to the students themselves. Prospective students are leveraging a lot of touchpoints, research tools, and devices in their decision-making process. They’re on their smartphones, their desktops, their laptops, and their tablets. Research takes place on school websites, search engines, digital brochures, and social networks. And don’t forget about old school tactics like word of mouth, open house visits, and school tours, and getting recommendations from their friends and family.
As you can imagine, decisions don’t come easily—or quickly. When does that final decision take place? That depends on the student. Some prospective students pick their program months before enrolling, and others make the final call the day before, which makes campaign timeframes more complex and significantly longer than other industries.
This means it’s more critical than ever to deliver the right message to the right consumer at exactly the right time.
That’s where programmatic media buying comes in. However, programmatic advertising knowledge and know-how across the industry varies wildly. Often marketers and higher education clients have plenty of questions about programmatic advertising, specifically around brand safety, cost, efficiency, and its general value and role in the digital ecosystem.
So, how can education marketers and higher education institutions approach programmatic ad buying?
Whether you’re just learning about digital or already have an established digital media plan, there are some common digital best practices, tips, and programmatic strategies that solve for all types of marketing challenges in higher education. We gathered a few below:
1. Engage Prospective Students
Your programs and curriculum are directed at specific consumers, and it’s important to make sure your message is reaching a qualified, prospective student.
2. Drive and Measure Meaningful Conversions
Don’t waste impressions. No matter what business problem you’re trying to solve for, it ultimately doesn’t matter unless you’re able to connect your marketing investment and dollars to measureable business results. Testing, tweaking, and optimizing will bring the most bang for your buck.
3. Don’t Forget About Creative
Programmatic ad buying should not replace personalized messaging. If you’re using the tools correctly, marketers should be able to leverage both data-driven tech and dynamic creative to develop campaigns that stand out.
4. Don’t Limit Yourself
The higher education audience is typically mobile-focused and pretty tech-savvy, making this audience a bit harder to pin down. These individuals gravitate to diverse digital platforms, and they should be able to find you there, too.
With the right digital partner, you can take a programmatic approach and make the grade in every category that matters to your organization. Interested in other Basis resources that will help you understand programmatic and earn the highest marks with your digital strategy? Learn more about the programmatic advertising opportunity with Basis here.
Frequent reporting, quick experimentation, effective optimization, flawless execution.
This is the basic blueprint for success for any digital advertising campaign. Of course, there are great nuances to each stage, but this is essentially what a successful advertising strategy in action looks like.
Two decades ago, this cycle was fairly simple to manage. Marketers only had to concern themselves with building a couple of creative iterations, reaching one device, measuring a handful of cost types (for example, CPM or PPC), and utilizing a few tracking methods. However, today’s reality couldn’t be starker. The explosion of digital intermediaries, coupled with the continued emergence of new channels, has irrevocably changed the media landscape—enabling a proliferation of touchpoints and breeding an environment rife with fragmentation.
To combat these challenges, many marketing organizations have simply added more and more single-point solutions to their technology stacks—the theory being that separate, bespoke systems built to master individual channels or specific devices will ultimately drive the best results.
This tactic was once powerful enough to satisfy consumers who wanted nothing more than the basics, like quality service and competitive pricing. But meeting the needs of today’s consumer is a far more demanding proposition. They assume the promotional code they see on Hulu will be valid both on a website and in-store. They believe if they fill up their basket online and close the desktop window, said basket will automatically transfer to the mobile app. They presume an online chat agent will have full knowledge of the complaint they lodged days ago on social media. As such, unified cross-channel experiences and cross-platform mobility are now overtly baseline requirements for brands.
These evolving consumer expectations—driven by tech-savvy millennials and Gen Z—are perennially pushing marketers to improve the seamlessness of their advertising operation. Those that fail to do so will fall behind the curve.
Consider these statistics:
Together, these numbers highlight just how important it is for brands to embrace an omnichannel marketing strategy that works by breaking down silos and putting audiences at the very center of the advertising experience. By doing this, media buyers can get hyper-granular and more precise with their execution, delivering relevant messages that meet individuals right in their moment. Examples of this in practice might include:
The benefits of this approach are both profound and wide-ranging—heightened operational efficiency, improved customer retention, and increased customer lifetime value, to name but a few.
However, these sizable rewards don’t come easily, and the path leading to them is riddled with complexity. Many companies have attempted to implement an omnichannel strategy, yet few have truly succeeded in constructing a sweeping, unified experience for the consumer. Some don’t even bother initiating the process due to the perception that the effort would demand an unreasonable amount of time and personnel resources, while those that have done so often stumble because of immature implementation methods, competing priorities, slow progress, and spiraling costs. The most significant hurdle, though, is technology: legacy systems designed to run basic single-channel consumer interactions lack the necessary interconnectivity inherent to a true omnichannel experience, which can create massive holes in the ambition for single, holistic campaigns.
The good news for media buyers is that novel solutions are coming onto the market equipped with everything required to nullify all these barriers simultaneously: genuine omnichannel advertising platforms.
This new breed of cognitive technology is a game-changer for advertisers. The omnichannel platform empowers marketers by connecting all the major digital channels—programmatic, site direct, search, social, and connected TV—in one centralized ecosystem, thereby simplifying campaign management and execution. It ultimately consigns the days of multiple single-point solution logins to the past: with omnichannel platforms, marketers can buy programmatic audio inventory, negotiate guaranteed direct page takeovers, and run a series of dynamic carousel ads on Facebook from one interface.
To be clear, this technology should not be confused with omnichannel programmatic platforms that deal solely in the programmatic sphere. An omnichannel platform can do everything those systems can and then some, pulling together all the core components of an omnichannel campaign and adding on top a combination of solutions like workflow automation, integrated reporting, and other AI-powered functionalities built to enhance collaboration and partnership both internally and externally.
By leveraging this type of all-in-one digital media technology, marketers can gain instant access to every tool they need to power data-based growth and unlock massive time-saving benefits that can transform the way they communicate and engage with consumers.
For marketing organizations large and small, the practice of data consolidation has never been more important. It is the key to building the kind of data-driven culture that’s fundamental to success in a severely fractured industry. Data itself is a dynamic asset, and marketers rely heavily on its accuracy to run effective programs that drive overarching business goals. Unfortunately, many still find themselves perpetually handicapped by incomplete analytics, where siloed data lies scattered in a mix of disparate systems, email chains, Excel spreadsheets, and other communication channels such as Slack or Teams. These limitations are time-sapping and inefficient and make it nearly impossible for marketing organizations to maximize ROI.
With the implementation of an omnichannel platform, marketers can remove such hindrances from their day-to-day by activating a system of record that automatically consolidates, aggregates, and stores campaign data in one centralized hub.
It is a move with two major advantages.
First, it presents a better investment in human capital. By effectively untying talent from tedious, task-oriented manual data cleaning processes, marketing leaders can unleash their team on more meaningful strategic initiatives that create real impact—a shift that’s likely to open a direct path to employee fulfillment (and retention).
Second, it promotes better collaboration. When data consolidation is the working model, all groups under the marketing umbrella can see valuable data sets that would have otherwise been sitting inaccessible across multiple venues. This simplification of campaign intelligence can ultimately unlock synergies and reveal unforeseen opportunities for interoperability.
Creative type A resonated well in California but performed poorly in Michigan. Customer Y browses online but always moves to in-app before purchasing. Prospect Z was in a campaign targeting utility buyers but actually purchased a luxury product. Creative type B converts 75% more from Forbes over Yahoo Finance.
When organizations adopt an omnichannel platform equipped with a robust reporting engine, they can give their marketing and media buying teams unprecedented granular visibility at scale. In simple terms, this analytical architecture can surface real-time correlations and customer behaviors that were previously invisible to the naked eye. It automates the process of merging disconnected reports and displays them in dynamic, interactive dashboards that break down media performance on both micro and macro levels.
This type of omnichannel platform can radically change the day-to-day working lives of media buyers and analysts. No more manual data stitching. No more missing spreadsheets. No more guesswork required. Everything automatically unified. With this technology in their arsenal, organizations can essentially do six hugely important things:
The actionable intelligence this reporting engine can provide is startling. It enables campaign optimization on levels that are virtually impossible to reach without it.
A 2021 survey revealed the majority of advertisers use seven platforms in a typical day and nine platforms over the course of a typical ad campaign. The findings are evidence that for all the incredible progress the industry has seen around digital processes and the development of AI-powered support—particularly over the last 10 years—there has been a stark lack of any proportionate upgrade to the technology and procedures designed to help marketers manage it all.
Omnichannel platforms remedy this growing imbalance. By deploying campaigns across all programmatic, site direct, search, social, and connected TV channels from one singular interface, media buyers no longer need to bounce around between multiple disparate systems in order to simply do their job. The real-world implications of these efficiency gains are massive—shortened workflow processes allow marketers to be nimbler with their movement of media weight and can help them adapt digital spend around unplanned events more quickly to improve profit margins. Whether it is uploading new media to a specific channel, iterating on creative within existing assets, altering the segmentation of targeting parameters, or pulling entire omnichannel campaigns from the market, procedures that once took days—or even weeks—now take mere hours.
All of this increases a brand’s ability to keep pace with the forever-changing demands of consumers and deliver impactful advertising that flows freely across channels.
Today, success with omnichannel marketing is not the daunting, seemingly unachievable aspiration it was. An omnichannel platform makes it all possible by providing marketing organizations with all the functionalities they need to create a customer-centric, journey-focused approach that is now so vital in the fight to win hearts and wallets.
The data shows that the demand for seamless experiences is high and utilizing multiple disconnected single-point solutions simply won’t meet them. It is now up to marketers to evolve with the times and deal with these expectations head on. This all-encompassing technology is the starting point.
Programmatic advertising is firmly on the path to becoming the default framework for digital media buying. Even when the world has had to press a large pandemic-shaped reset button, the medium has proven flexible and effective enough to continue asserting its profound dominance over the landscape.
Back in early 2020, facing a wholly unfamiliar reality, marketers were forced to scramble as they sought to determine what mechanisms would most effectively support their advertising efforts in the “new normal.” While programmatic ad spending was initially hit hard because brands could simply pause campaigns instantaneously, it rebounded quickly to continue growing at double-digit rates year-over-year. In 2022, eMarketer predicts that a shade more than 90% of digital display ad dollars will be transacted programmatically, with the dollar volume of programmatic display close to doubling the 2019 figure ($115 billion and $61 billion respectively).
These are not insignificant milestones and point to the fact that opportunities for expansion and refinement within the programmatic sector still abound despite its prevalence and popularity. With connected TV (CTV) adoption showing no signs of slowing down, the digital out of home (DOOH) market back and booming, and the use of audio platforms rising rapidly, advertisers are awash with new programmatic inventory to better connect with their audiences.
Naturally, venturing into these emerging forums will present novel technical and strategic challenges, ones that will sit alongside broader industry goings-on—most notably those pertaining to the impending deprecation of third-party cookies and the growing prioritization of consumer privacy. To help marketers strategize and structure their organizations to embrace the next stage of programmatic evolution more effectively, we’ve compiled a list of the latest trends within the space that point to where 2022 priorities ought to lie.
With the removal of third-party cookies from Chrome lingering just over the horizon, 2022 will be a make-or-break year for the development of new identifiers and technologies that can either reimagine the concept of tracking codes or replace them entirely. This is very much a watershed moment for the advertising industry—one in which organizations must seize the opportunity to become more transparent with their audiences. It is vital that new identity solutions put consumers in the driving seat and empower them to control how, when, and where their data is used.
These changes, of course, do not need to incite any panic. The end of targeted campaigns is not upon us. Programmatic advertising—even in the absence of many once-relied-upon persistent IDs—will continue to give media buyers access to publishers and placements, with contextual targeting likely re-emerging as an integral piece of the puzzle.
There is actually a huge opportunity here for savvy brands to deepen their relationships with consumers in ways cookie-based tactics never truly allowed. Recent research by Deloitte Digital exploring emotion-driven engagement revealed consumers prefer contextually sensitive brand experiences since they tap into their more immediate concerns, rather than over-relying on past behavior or browsing habits. By embracing the use of contextual data in programmatic campaigns, marketers can foster meaningful connections with consumers that inspire and frame the depth of brand loyalty and brand advocacy.
A mere decade ago, only a handful of brands were managing their own programmatic ad buying. Today, however, the story is considerably different. A 2020 IAB report dissecting the general state of programmatic found more than two-thirds (69%) of marketing organizations globally have partially or fully brought their programmatic campaigns in-house in a bid to remove the medium’s black box aura.
The primary driver behind this trend is a desire among brands to strengthen consumer bonds and control first-party data and operational functionalities that relate to both legal and regulatory compliance. In other words, advertising teams want increased transparency into the buying process. At a time when consumer sentiment changes like the wind, media buyers must be closer to the action with direct access to the raw, real-time data they need to react in the moment, create relevant content at a faster clip, and run off-the-cuff A/B testing. In-housing programmatic comes with other benefits, too, not least monetary savings and resource efficiency. By cutting out managed service fees and eliminating associated data consolidation and integration costs, advertisers have more dollars to throw at campaigns and more time to optimize strategies. The end result: greater ROI.
The process is not all rosy, though: it can often be many years in the making and extremely complex, involving much more than just a deal with a DSP provider. Business leaders need to think about the set-up, change management, data centralization, tools, and talent (which is scarce). You can learn more about the nuances associated with this subject here.
With the worlds of TV and digital gradually coming together over time, more and more consumers have chosen to unplug from traditional linear TV options and embrace online streaming—a move that’s fueled the connected TV phenomenon. Then, as the pandemic gripped the world and forced people to spend more time at home, the media landscape was set perfectly for CTV adoption to soar to new heights and, now, what was once a “nice-to-have” programmatic channel is unequivocally a “need-to-have."
Programmatic's penetration of the CTV arena reached a massive 70% in 2021 and it is expected to surpass 78% by 2023. However, while there is undoubtedly momentum here, there are still some obstacles to further growth. Unlike, say, mobile app advertising, where the vast majority of inventory is available within just two operating systems—iOS and Android—the CTV space is infinitely more fragmented in terms of different devices and providers where an ad could be displayed. Think streaming sticks (Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Android TV), games consoles (PlayStation, Xbox), and Smart TV devices (Samsung, LG, and other manufacturers), each of which have distinct standards and advertising capabilities. In 2022 and beyond, programmatic CTV has huge potential, but to maximize campaign success, advertisers must carefully consider where they are serving their ads and which devices to embrace.
Following what has been a challenging period for the medium, digital out of home is spiking again as advertisers search for creative ways to target consumers who are back on the go. US DOOH spending will reach $2.58 billion in 2022, and with more and more digital advertising screens dotting cities across the country (and the world), programmatic looks poised to take an even a bigger slice of that pie in the future.
The appeal of investing in programmatic DOOH ads is multi-faceted. First, they offer the obvious benefits of wide reach, being impervious to ad blockers, and dwelling in non-invasive environments. And second—and perhaps more importantly—this media newcomer should be a major beneficiary of the cookieless future due to its alternative means of audience targeting and the opportunity it presents for contextual marketing to come to the fore. To put it another way, PDOOH is not executed on a one-to-one basis, yet rather one-to-many. Brands employing this technology can tap into fluctuating societal, cultural, and environmental trends in real-time, and reach consumers en masse with relevant ads as they navigate their daily journeys.
It also opens up new creative opportunities, great examples of which include when Renault bought OOH inventory to promote its latest electric car whenever air quality dropped below accepted levels, or when Flonase ran DOOH campaigns anytime pollen levels rose in target areas. Brands that adopt PDOOH have an opportunity to create meaningful, head-turning experiences that leave a marked impression on consumers. There is no doubt that this channel is emerging as a compelling disruptor to brands and advertisers looking to develop their presence during uncertain times.
After a decade that’s been dominated by visual media, audio advertising has surfaced as an important outlet for brands. It is a channel that empowers marketers to evolve their omnichannel strategies naturally through its capacity to reach highly targetable and mobile audiences in brand-safe ecosystems where screens are removed from the equation.
In recent years, fatigue from spending too much time glued to our smartphones has become real. More than half of millennials and Gen Z—the holy grail of advertising demographics—say audio represents a welcome escape from too much ongoing ocular bombardment. These sentiments have become tangible as well, with eMarketer predicting that, per day, listeners will spend 97 minutes with digital audio—nearly a half-hour more than the average user will spend on social media (70 minutes). Unlike their visual equivalents, audio ads are served one at a time in places where consumers are not typically connected to a screen—be that listening to a podcast during their commute, listening to a playlist during a workout session, or unwinding with Pandora after dinner. In essence, audio ads are both unique and highly valuable as they offer premium environments and an effective way to fill otherwise untouchable voids in the user’s buying journey.
Beyond that, programmatic audio offers remarkable granular targeting capabilities. Media buyers can tap into a range of advanced audience segmentation parameters, including location, point of interest, device, weather, user, agent, format, genre, day parting, mood, and more. Through this channel, the ability to engage a user in the right place, at the right time, and within the right context becomes just that bit more accessible.
Compelling, insightful, captivating creative is one of the foundational pillars of effective advertising, but, for a host of reasons, this age-old connection has been badly severed. Unprecedented technological advancements over the last 10 years have led many advertisers to shift focus toward media optimization as opposed to creative optimization: smarter targeting, omnichannel expansion, algorithm hacks, and evermore granular reporting have all become top priorities... often leaving creative behind as an unfortunate casualty.
It is an approach that has bred general content erosion and brand dilution. Without any creative spark, performance ceilings become much lower, and regardless of how good advertisers are at maximizing media outcomes, they will never be able to mitigate the shortcomings of ads exhibiting underwhelming creative. This is particularly pertinent with the cookieless future looming. The digital marketing industry as a collective must now reappraise all the levers that contribute to driving results and no area is riper for improvement than creative delivery.
This is not to say advertising teams should constantly be creating new swathes of creative concepts. Instead, they should focus on building a library of assets and then tweak and refine them depending on the nuances of their targeting strategy. By generating a high volume of creative iterations, programmatic marketers can better react to market changes, tailor their messaging for audience personalization, and A/B test on every channel they are invested in. They will essentially be able to stay one step ahead of the competition.
Advertisers today must navigate an ethical minefield on a permanent basis. While programmatic brings untold opportunities to the table, it also presents some perpetually evolving challenges—namely ad fraud, concerns around brand safety, and ads appearing in disreputable contexts.
Consider these statistics from a 2020 survey by the Brand Safety Institute:
What these numbers highlight is the value consumers now place on how and where brands intersect with society. As such, it is more important than ever that digital messages appear in safe, trustworthy, and suitable environments—not just to avoid risk, but also to effectively reach the right audiences. Ultimately, this is a call to action from consumers: “Be proactive about where you put your ads, or we’ll take our business elsewhere.”
The fact that this phenomenon is actually influencing buying decisions has pushed it to the top of the marketing priority queue. The industry has made tremendous improvements in this area over the last two years, with top DSPs integrating brand safety mechanisms into their platforms, but agencies and brands must continue to be scrupulous in their programmatic media planning to ensure brand suitability is upheld day in, day out.
If 2020 was marked by uncertainty and 2021 was all about the rebound, 2022 is the year programmatic marketers can return to focusing on growth initiatives and begin capitalizing on the opportunities that have sprung from the pandemic—specifically, the rise of connected TV, digital out of home, and audio advertising. Now is the time for advertisers to stare down the challenges they face and implement media solutions that are going to really move the metaphorical needle.
If you’re looking to level up your programmatic game, check our Programmatic Readiness Guide, which breaks down the barriers to success with the medium.