When was the last time you opened a social media app? Caught up on your favorite show on a streaming platform? Scrolled through a website page on your desktop or phone? You’re doing at least one of these activities (if not three all of them) right now, right?
Don’t worry, our goal here isn’t to call you out on your daily screen time: it's to point out that all three of these digital engagements provide prime opportunities for advertisers to connect with you via video ads. Whether it’s via CTV (which is dominating this year’s TV upfronts), social video (did you know that US TikTok users spend almost an hour per day on the platform?), or good old display (in 2021, video accounted for more than 50% of display ad spend), video ads are an increasingly popular way to reach audiences.
Of course, most marketers don’t need to be sold on the value of a well-thought-out digital video advertising strategy. Production aside, one of the biggest challenges advertisers face in the realm of video lies with measurement. To employ an effective approach, advertisers must tap into the multiple types of digital video and navigate various platforms, each of which offers different measurement capabilities. As a result, it can be tough to know which metrics to track and tougher still to gain a holistic view of video ad performance.
If you’ve got a bad case of measurement malaise, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a look at four critical metrics you can use across all types of digital video—video completion rate (VCR), engagement, cost per completed view (CPCV), and viewability—and break down how each one should play into your performance evaluation process.
VCR is the legacy metric for measuring digital video. It's a number that answers the question, “What percentage of my video plays were viewed all the way through?” If your VCR is high, you know that a good number of viewers have consumed your brand story in its entirety. Plus, it’s a good indication that your ad is engaging enough to capture and maintain people's attention.
However, it’s important to note that evaluating success via this metric will look different depending on the inventory source. On CTV, for example, advertisers can expect 90% VCR or above. For 15-second pre-roll ads or ads on a video platform like YouTube, on the other hand, 20-40% is more common. And, the percentage will decrease the longer your ad is.
VCR is a legacy metric for a reason, and a solid choice for evaluating ad performance. However, it’s often not the best metric to use when evaluating social video ads, as social platforms simply don’t optimize towards users completing videos. Think about it: The whole idea of a social video feed is that it’s quick and scrollable, encouraging users to consume as many videos as possible (it’s the dang algorithms that are to blame for those late-night hours lost to TikTok and Instagram Reels, not us!). In this environment, alternative metrics such as engagement may prove to be a better fit.
Engagement quantifies the number of interactions or quality of interactions users have with your digital video ad. On social media, engagement is measured via clicks, likes, comments, or shares.
In a survey of over 500 digital video marketers across the world, engagement was the metric most frequently ranked as “important.” And while it has a place in measuring performance across all types of digital video, it’s particularly impactful in environments like YouTube or social feeds, where there’s more opportunity for interactivity. Due to the scrollable nature of these spaces, advertisers will want to focus less on whether consumers were able to view their entire brand story, and more on whether their content earned viewer’s clicks.
Advertisers will always want to understand the efficiency of their spend, especially during times of economic upheaval. So it makes sense that CPCV, which calculates the cost you’re paying for each completed view of a video, is a metric that advertising leaders want to check in on when evaluating campaign performance.
However, CPCV numbers don’t vary much from video to video, especially within a programmatic initiative. It’s true that ads run in places like Hulu will be more expensive because you’re paying for that premium environment, but even in the context of premium video spaces, your CPCV won’t fluctuate too much. It’s hard to pull relevant insights from numbers that are the same across the board, which is why CPCV works best as a complementary metric: It’s a good number to keep an eye on, but you’ll want to bolster it with other numbers like VCR or engagement to get a more nuanced picture of how your ads are performing.
Like CPCV, viewability is a solid metric to include in your reporting because it provides reassurance about the effectiveness of your spend. Specifically, it reassures advertisers that they are paying for impressions where at least half of an ad’s pixels are viewable: The IAB defines a viewable impression as one where at least 50% of the ad’s pixels are visible in a browser window for one continuous second or longer. In this way, it’s an important part of a holistic digital video measurement approach.
But like Nina Simone and Wilco, Viewability can be a bit misunderstood. See, your viewability percentage represents the number of viewable impressions out of the total number of measurable impressions. If you’re thinking, “But aren’t all impressions measurable?”, well, we’re glad you asked! There are, in fact, some cases where an impression pixel isn’t deemed measurable—for example, if a pixel isn’t firing properly, then the ads associated with that pixel won’t end up being measured.
What does this all mean for you? Essentially, it just means that your viewability percentage is actually the percentage of viewable impressions within the percentage of measurable impressions, as opposed to overall. This by no means compromises the value of the viewability metric—it's just something to be aware of when pulling insights from your reporting.
Now that we’ve covered the value of four key digital video measurement metrics, it’s important to remember that the key to effective digital video measurement lies not just in the knowledge of when to prioritize certain metrics, but in the ability to pull data and assess performance holistically, across multiple digital video types and platforms.
For this, marketers often seek out tools like an automated, holistic reporting dashboard, which not only makes it possible to assess the effectiveness of your ads using the same metrics across multiple platforms and video types, but it saves them from the tedious, error-prone time suck that is manual reporting—not to mention the inherent discrepancies that tend to pop up whenever you’re relying upon multiple analytics sources (which are regularly as high as 20% when pulling from third-parties). Platforms with built-in holistic reporting capabilities can consolidate data across many channels and platforms, giving marketers a bird’s eye view of digital video advertising performance across common metrics such as VCR, engagement, CPCV, and viewability.
There you have it: Once you understand the uses of VCR, engagement, CPCV, and viewability across types of digital video, it’s a whole lot easier to assess which metrics to prioritize in specific cases. And with holistic analytics dashboards, marketers can improve the quality of their data and have more time to strategize around how to best leverage this powerful channel.
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Of all the digital advertising channels, video just might be the most complex—and measurement isn’t the only aspect to master! Check out our guide to learn everything advertisers need to know about making the most of this rapidly changing, highly engaging medium.
Turbulence around holiday shopping appears to be the unwanted gift that keeps on giving. Recent years have been marred by supply chain disruptions, inflation, and widespread economic uncertainty (not to mention a pandemic and international conflicts), foiling many holiday shoppers’ plans. And though we hate to be a Grinch about it, it’s beginning to look a lot like this year’s holiday season will bring more of the same.
Wondering how the nuances of 2023 consumer behavior will impact holiday spending and see what advertisers can do to optimize their investments for Q4? Read on to find out (and to get some industry-specific recommendations for automotive, higher education, CPG, and cannabis brands!)
While this holiday season will likely include some undesired economic turbulence, the good news is that shoppers and advertisers alike now have a few years of comparable experience under their belts.
Like last year, price—which encompasses not just sticker price, but also factors such as coupon availability, perceived value, and/or the promise of free shipping and free returns—will be top-of-mind for consumers, more than a third of whom are buying less than they were six months ago. Customer loyalty is still the goal—especially in a world where 20% of customers produce 80% of your profits (s/o to the Pareto Principle!) But with economic uncertainty coloring all aspects of the holiday shopping experience, it's more important than ever for marketers to test their messaging, see what is resonating with consumers, and then make data-informed decisions as they implement and optimize campaigns.
Additionally, customers starting their holiday shopping earlier in the year is another trend that’s showing no signs of stopping. Last year, October e-commerce sales increased by almost 10%, thanks to pre-holiday season promotions like the Prime Early Access sale. As a result of promotions like these, plus consumer concern over shipping delays, low inventory, and higher prices later in the year, the holiday season now effectively spans all of Q4.
Finally, online shopping continues to gobble up a bigger slice of the holiday pie, with holiday retail e-commerce sales expected to grow by 11.9% this year. But brick-and-mortar is still very much in the game—in fact, in 2022, in-store holiday spending rose above $1 trillion for the first time ever.
Now that you’re aware of the biggest general holiday shopping trends impacting the 2023 season, let’s get into some industry-specific learnings:
For decades, automotive consumers have been trained to take advantage of great offers from automotive brands around this time of year. As a result, there are more in-market auto shoppers during the holiday season.
Rising interest rates and the microchip shortage continue to put pressure on the industry, but there are differences from this time last year that should deliver more advertising investment: vehicle availability is improving, and new electric vehicle brands, models, and tech are fueling massive buzz for the industry as a whole.
To best connect with automotive consumers this holiday season, advertisers should take advantage of increased site visits with retargeting, using purchase intent data to build audience segments (since purchase intent signals are strong drivers for life stage changes and major purchases like auto), and tapping into the football season by targeting premium CTV sports inventory with PMPs.
- Jim Zabel | VP, Client Development - Auto
While there may be temptation to lighten advertising spend during Q4 when rates are a little higher, higher education marketers should refrain from doing so because the holiday season is crucial for recruitment!
For prospective undergrads, many families have important conversations about their future over the holiday break. Plus, the target market for undergraduate campaigns is likely spending way more time on TikTok and CTV over the holidays, since they’re on a break from school and have more time on their hands. These channels are always good ways of meeting this audience when and where they are, but even more so over the holidays.
- Kara Klein | Director of Client & Media Services
If you’re a CPG advertiser, you've been building brand awareness all year long, and now is the time to help those investments pay off by focusing your advertising efforts on driving to purchase. Digital shelf optimization and point of sale activation are musts, and when it comes to media efforts, brands should prioritize screens and channels that meet consumers when and where they’re in a purchase mindset. This could look like using QR codes on CTV, placing “Add to Cart” CTAs on display ads, tapping into e-commerce opportunities within TikTok or Meta and, of course, leveraging retail media networks and their point-of-sale capabilities.
And here’s a bonus tip for CPG challenger brands: Make your dollars work smarter by concentrating on less crowded spaces, where your message will stand out, and by utilizing platforms with first-party shopper data to identify high-value shoppers or lapsed purchasers. And for brands large and small, be mindful of distribution and make sure that if you have messaging in-market, you’ve also got ample product on your shelf.
- Ashley Thorn | Director, Client Development
In a market that’s growing more and more saturated, cannabis and CBD brands would do well to take up some space this holiday season. Investing in increased holiday spend will allow brands to not only reach their typical audience, but also cast a wider net to reach consumers looking for that perfect gift—and/or for help mitigating holiday stress.
These audiences are not the typical cannabis customers, so competitors will be less likely to target them, allowing your brand to own the space. Complement these efforts with promotional codes to encourage users to try something new. Then, after the holiday season, be sure to retarget holiday shoppers with loyalty messaging and promotions to encourage repeat purchases.
- Jane Frye | Director, Client & Media Services
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While it may seem like Q4 is eons away, now is the time for advertisers to get started on their holiday campaign planning. Want to make sure you’re able to make the most of the seasonal opportunity? Our 2023 Holiday Advertising Checklist covers everything marketers need to know to enjoy a successful Q4.
Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don't have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 7/7/23 - 7/13/23 to stay ahead of the curve:
Retail media is forecast to account for more than one-fourth of US digital ad spend by the end of 2027. Check out the IAB's comprehensive guide—and we do mean comprehensive, to the tune of 48 pages long—to learn about the opportunities available in the space, as well as how to navigate its challenges.
This rebound is either an indication that the industry has rediscovered its momentum, or proof that agencies are forced to continually add more folks to their teams to deal with an overly complicated media landscape. It’s also worth mentioning the forecasts that automation and AI could replace 33,000 advertising agency jobs by 2030—which sounds scary—so check out Benedict Evans’ AI and the Automation of Work for a more optimistic (read: less scary) take on how AI will impact labor.
Since generative artificial intelligence’s dramatic public debut last fall, there’s been a lot of buzz around how best to regulate it, within an advertising context and beyond. Comedian Sarah Silverman’s recent lawsuit against OpenAI and Meta—in which she alleges the companies “copied and ingested” her copyrighted work to train their AI bots—underscores the need for regulation.
We know, it’s only July, but we wanted to be the very first to offer you a holiday gift: The ultimate checklist to help with your holiday campaign planning, buying, and reporting this year. From key dates to plan for, to how to make the most of your data, to setting up your measurement and reporting systems, this helpful resource covers everything advertisers need to ensure a happy Q4.
Show off your marketing chops with our question of the week. This week’s hot topic: digital advertising regulation.
Which country temporarily banned ChatGPT earlier this year over data protection and privacy concerns?
Get the answer, plus a deep dive into the latest updates on digital advertising regulation, right here.
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From vibrant billboards in urban centers, to point-of-purchase screens, to digital screens at EV charging stations, digital out-of-home advertising is everywhere.
Also known as DOOH, the channel allows advertisers a unique opportunity: Connect with consumers when they’re on-the-go, in contextually relevant environments, when they may be less reachable on their personal devices. And, thanks to the inherent benefits of digital technology, it lets them do so in a way that allows for targeting, tracking, optimizing, and measuring the success of those campaigns.
DOOH is an emerging channel—and one that’s quickly gaining steam. As such, more and more advertisers are embracing it as part of their larger omnichannel media strategies to reach audiences in key moments of impact. In this guide, we explore how savvy marketers can make the most of the DOOH opportunity. We dig into the latest trends, insights, and research to help advertisers leverage the power of place in their DOOH campaigns.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
Ready to level up your digital out-of-home advertising expertise? Fill out the form to download your copy of the guide today!
What comes to mind when you think of summer? Perhaps it’s watermelon slices after an afternoon spent with your beach volleyball crew, popsicles enjoyed while sitting on the edge of the pool, or campouts and picnics with friends and loved ones (and s’mores in abundance—duh!)
This time of year, the holiday season tends to be the furthest thing from most people’s minds. Then again, advertisers aren't most people. Before we know it, we’ll be rounding out September. Halloween will be just around the corner, with many other major holidays close on its tail. For digital advertisers looking to rock their holiday campaigns this year, a bit of planning amidst the summertime fun can go a long way in setting those campaigns up for success.
Read on to learn more about why advertising teams should start their holiday campaign planning now, and how this planning can ensure the months ahead are filled with merriment rather than mayhem.
If you take one lesson away from all this, make it this one: don't wait to get started!
Seriously. If you feel like this year has already flown by, buckle up—because the “holiday season” is creeping up earlier each year. This is driven in part by the growth of e-commerce, as well as shifts in consumer behavior. More and more shoppers are concerned about prices increasing as the holidays get closer, product availability, and potential shipping delays, leading them to begin their holiday shopping earlier in the year. For digital advertisers, this means it is essential to plan proactively for holiday campaigns.
“But what exactly should we plan for?” some advertisers might wonder. Though this will vary depending on the goals, scale, and complexity of your campaign(s), here are some broad questions to consider:
These questions are a great place to start. But they’re just that—a place to start. Luckily, for those looking for more, we’ve got you covered.
When it comes to holiday campaigns, intentionality and proactive planning pay off greatly in the long term. And conducting that planning in an organized and strategic way makes the process both fruitful and efficient.
So here’s our early gift to you: An ultimate holiday advertising checklist to help with your planning, buying, and reporting this year. The checklist covers everything you need to know (and do!) to ensure a successful holiday season, including key dates to plan for, how to make the most of your data, considerations for short and long-term goals, setting up your measurement and reporting systems, and more.
To sum it up: With this checklist, your holiday campaigns are sure to be elf-ing amazing.
Fill out the form to download your copy today!
Omnichannel personalization: It’s every advertiser’s goal, but one that’s not easy to achieve (thanks a lot, media complexity, data silos, the identity crisis, the list goes on...)
A personalized, cross-channel advertising strategy is even more important when people start shopping for the holidays: With increased competition and consumers feeling the stress of the season, advertisers need precise placements and sharp creative to reach their target audiences. To curate impeccable user experiences during this critical time of year, marketers need a deep understanding of how to succeed on each of the channels they plan to leverage, as well as a savviness for how to use them together to create a holistic experience throughout the customer journey.
To help you succeed with both of these tall tasks, we called on seven Basis experts to share their top recommendations for holiday advertising on programmatic display, paid search, paid social, connected TV, audio, and digital out-of-home. Read on to learn everything you need to know about using these channels effectively in your holiday advertising campaigns:
Things change considerably in Q4 and especially around the holidays, so advertisers must expect the unexpected and come with fresh and engaging creative. The market becomes very saturated, so CPMs tend to increase, which in turn reduces your share of voice. To combat this, you ideally need two things: larger budgets, and new exciting creative with strong calls to action.
Tactic-wise, programmatic display pairs well with all other channels, regardless of your goals. For example, you could take your search keyword list and use it to generate a custom contextual tactic to really hone in on relevant content programmatically. Depending on your overall strategy, display can aid in general awareness that will boost site traffic and even organic site traffic over time. Programmatic channels can also help build retargeting pools quickly and aid in conversion-based campaigns.
Google is expected to roll out some new AI features this year, either pre-Q4 or during the holiday season, so that’s something to keep an eye on this year. This will be the first holiday season where advertisers can take full advantage of a lot of the new artificial intelligence features that have hit the marketplace in the past year, so that’s exciting. It’s important to start testing and learning about these new tools as soon as possible. You don't need to spend a lot of money—just testing and dabbling will be really useful in terms of learning how they operate.
Another thing to watch out for—with all channels, but particularly search—is a holiday shopping season that is going to start in August and September. With the chip shortage and shipping delays that marked holiday shopping in recent years, consumers are going to be researching and buying earlier to ensure they get their gifts on time. So budget-wise, it’s important to make sure you’re considering that timing. There’s a lot to be said for planting seeds earlier in the year given this shift in consumer mindset.
In terms of how it fits into an omnichannel campaign, search is always going to be a nice component of any mid- or upper-funnel approach. During the holiday time period, people are spending so much money on all channels that you want to be able to maximize the reach of your TV, radio, and programmatic buys with search and social. Trying to align your buys—even with something as granular as time of day—to curate experiences is a great way to achieve that. For example: Let’s say you're watching a TV show at 8pm and you see a certain brand’s commercial, then you do a search and see that same brand, and then you go to Facebook and see that same brand. Those are the kind of seamless experiences advertisers should be going for—meeting consumers when and where they are engaged.
Social feeds are cluttered with ads and promotions in Q4, which can lead to users feeling inundated. It’s important to ensure that your ads feel authentic to the platform and relevant to your target audience. For example (and this is relevant regardless of the time of year), advertisers have to be cautious when it comes to repurposing creative content for paid social ads. Sometimes it can work, but other times it’s clear that the brand has repurposed creative from another channel or medium and it doesn’t translate as well or feel as authentic to the social platform, which can negatively impact performance.
TikTok has made a big push into the e-commerce space, with products like Video Shopping Ads (currently in beta), in addition to integrations with third-party shopping partners such as Shopify. It’s estimated that TikTok will gain just under 10 million social buyers in 2023, so there’s a lot of opportunity for brands to tap into these users that are engaged and open to making a purchase. 82% of TikTok users say they’ve discovered a small or medium business on the social platform before seeing them elsewhere, so TikTok continues to be a strong channel for garnering awareness and engagement and pushing users through the funnel throughout the customer journey. Brands should pair paid and organic content on the platform to stay top of mind with users.
It’s also important for advertisers to diversify their budget and strategies across social platforms. Advertisers shouldn’t put all of their eggs into one basket (i.e., social platform), and should instead leverage several social platforms to create a full-funnel, multi-platform social strategy.
Finally, as important as Q4 is to many businesses, advertisers should be sure to keep “Q5” in mind. While Q4 brings increased competition and rates, the rates typically drop significantly in Q5, the post-holiday timeframe. Advertisers should plan to remain active in the period between Christmas Day and into the beginning of January in order to capitalize on promoting post-holiday sales and taking advantage of more efficient CPMs.
As connected TV continues to grow in popularity—not only among consumers but also among advertisers—brands have to be aware of greater competition and, consequently, higher prices on the channel, and that will be especially true over the holidays.
Knowing how expensive it is to run CTV over the holidays, it’s important to make sure you’re putting your advertisements where they’re going to resonate the most with your audience. So to maximize the efficiency of your CTV spend, I’d recommend leveraging contextual targeting—and, specifically, using segments that are specific to the medium.
Also, make sure to diversify your inventory. So many people are advertising in the run up to the holiday season that a lot of PMPs will have remnant inventory. Hulu, for example, totally sells out, so if you were to put all your eggs in the Hulu basket, you’re not going to be in a good position. That’s why it’s important to leverage multiple inventory sources and multiple PMPs during Q4.
The last thing I’d recommend is leveraging QR codes in your ad creative to help bring audiences to your brand’s website. It’s a great way to get more users from the awareness stage to consideration.
With more consumers on the road, in the air, and taking time off to spend with family and friends over the holidays, audio is a great way to stay connected and in the ear of your target consumer, wherever they may be.
Ratings and listenership increase across all forms of audio during this time of year, podcasts included. Podcasts are continuing to see steady growth and gains in popularity, so keep them on your radar as you begin building plans for the 2023 holiday season. Research shows that digital audio ads are actually the most under-invested media used when compared to consumer time spent versus the share of ad spending received, so that presents a huge opportunity for brands.
With a large majority of the US adult population still tuning into terrestrial radio, streaming can serve as a great complement to its traditional counterpart by extending reach across the market and helping to build brand awareness. If budgets are tight, know that audio tends to be one of the more cost-efficient options to activate as well as to produce. If you’re looking to add audio into your plans, pairing it with a visual medium to help bring your brand story full circle would be wise.
As one of the digital advertising industry’s fastest-growing channels, DOOH would be a savvy addition to any omnichannel holiday campaign.
When it comes to leveraging DOOH around the holidays, best practices include:
And don’t overlook the power of creative! Our partners at VISTAR shared that, with advertisers now increasingly able to measure a DOOH campaign’s impact on site traffic and conversion, there’s a big opportunity to use that measurement data to optimize creative messaging. Lean into data-driven creative like dynamic creative or anamorphic creative to make a bigger splash this holiday season.
As marketers know all too well, there’s a whole lot that goes into planning for holiday advertising campaigns (when on Earth are we supposed to do our own holiday shopping?!) If you’re looking for an easy way to make sure you’ve covered all your bases, check out our holiday advertising checklist!
The automotive sector was forced to slam on the breaks back in 2020, when a semiconductor shortage brought some serious roadblocks that’ve had lasting effects on the industry (OK, OK, we’ll pump the brakes on the car puns!) Shortages of some chips may continue through this year and next, but the situation has significantly improved, with global car production up by 3% year-over-year.
Still, the semiconductor shortage isn’t the only development driving change in the industry—there are plenty of other trends for auto advertisers to keep up with. To get a pulse on what automotive advertisers can do to adapt to these changes and thrive in this moment, we met with Jim Zabel, Basis Technologies’ VP of Brand and Agency Development – Auto—an auto marketing veteran who has worked on both the brand and agency side during his 25-year career, contributing to brands like Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, and Volkswagen.
Read on for Jim's top insights for auto marketing in 2023:
Jim Zabel: The first one is expanding your marketing spend beyond search and social. Investing in those channels is still a wise choice, and for most automotive brands, they make up a majority of digital media spend. But marketers need to take a look at when they start to see diminishing returns. I don’t see automotive clients leveraging programmatic as much as they could, so that’s an opportunity to leverage that tactic more effectively.
Another big one is the use of first-party data and audience modeling. Obviously, this is a big deal as we face the prospect of losing third-party cookies in Chrome next year, plus there’s a clear consumer sentiment for more privacy-friendly advertising practices. But even beyond that, a first-party audience is typically going to be your highest-performing audience, and there are a lot of new tools and tech that allow marketers to better collect and extend their first-party data.
Finally, there are some new and exciting attribution capabilities that auto advertisers should be taking advantage of whenever they can. Take Basis Technologies’ partnership with Polk Automotive as an example: Polk provides audiences to Basis users through LiveRamp IDs, and we can then target those audiences with our Basis ad ID. Then, based on the exposed audiences, we can match back actual sales and vehicle registrations to the individuals we targeted and gain learnings on what ads and channels are resonating with specific audience segments. Overall, attribution is a great space to keep an eye on, because there are a lot of new capabilities that you can take advantage of.
JZ: One of the biggest things I’ve seen proven out time and time again is that brand awareness raises all lower funnel metrics. There's really no substitute for telling your story, and telling it well. Marketers should keep investing in content that details their brand and product stories and crafting those stories based on the pain points and aspirations of their target audiences. Tapping into the automation, efficiency, and targeting offered by programmatic is a great way to ensure you’re then activating the right channels and reaching high value consumers to make sure that those messages reach the right people at the right time.
JZ: One of the biggest things that comes to mind is automotive market intelligence. Data that helps dealers acquire vehicles, price, and manage their inventory has been around for well over a decade. To date, dealers have used these solutions to improve vehicle sales velocity and profitability.
What’s newer is that AI and machine learning tools can now also make recommendations around optimal advertising spend. For example, these tools might recommend to a dealer or agency that, instead of discounting a vehicle by $2,000 to sell it, they instead spend $500 on advertising and discount that vehicle $500, thus saving them $1,000. Soon, every single campaign will have this kind of intelligence informing it, in addition to first-party and other third-party audiences that you can layer on. There’s a real shift here, where it’s going to be the norm to deploy budget in real time, in an automated fashion, towards a vehicle based on its value in the market and the right audience that is ready to buy.
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Looking for a deeper dive into the automotive space? Check out Jim’s article on how automotive marketers should address pent-up consumer demand.
And if you’re interested in working with experts like Jim, connect with us to learn how our media strategy and activation services can rev up your campaigns.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? This month, Robert Kurtz, Basis’ Group VP of Search Media Solutions, and Colleen Fielder, Group VP of Social Media Solutions, compiled all the latest news, trends, and resources for easy access.
Thousands of subreddits went private this month as users protested Reddit's decision to eliminate free API access for developers, replacing it with a pay-as-you-go model. The protest has seen more than 8,400 subreddits going dark, including major communities like r/funny and r/gaming. While the initial 48-hour blackout is over, some subreddit communities are considering extending the protest indefinitely in response to the company's dismissive response to user concerns.
Reddit maaaay be in for a fight.
Reddit has introduced new ad options, including Contextual Keyword Targeting, which allows advertisers to associate specific keywords with their brand and reach users engaged in relevant discussions, which expands an advertiser’s reach beyond specific communities. Additionally, Reddit is launching Product Ads, which provide product descriptions, pricing information, and a “Shop Now” call to action, aiming to generate direct shopping activity on the platform.
Google is integrating ads into its conversational generative AI platform, Search Generative Experience (SGE), which allows users to converse with Google about their interests and needs. Google can now insert ads that are tailored to the user's specific interests into these conversations. For example, if a user discusses plans for a vacation, Google could insert an ad for a travel agency. Some privacy advocates have raised concerns about the move, arguing that it could lead to a bombardment of unwanted ads. However, Google says this is the latest step in its ongoing effort to make its advertising more personalized, relevant, and engaging.
Thanks, Google, don’t mind if we do!
Google Marketing Live focused on artificial intelligence, with various announcements around integrating AI into Google Ads. Conversational AI can now be used to create campaigns within Google Ads, while Google Search Generative Experience will integrate search and shopping ads. Google PMax and Google Product Studio introduced AI-generated assets and images for campaigns, and Google Merchant Center Next will replace the current Merchant Center. Additionally, new features include brand restrictions in broad match, AI in Smart Bidding, and two new campaign types: video views and demand generation. These AI-driven updates aim to provide better automation, control, and time-saving benefits for advertisers.
TikTok has introduced Open Applications, an audition-like process that enables brands to find creators with unique stories and connections to their brand and provide more collaboration opportunities. Brands can filter and screen applicants based on criteria such as demographics, follower count, and relevant experience, as well as invite specific creators to apply. Verification of a TikTok Creator Marketplace account is required to use this feature.
If you’re going to audition, make sure you stand out.
Meta is developing various generative AI tools to stay on top of emerging trends and capitalize on major shifts in technology. One is a new AI chat option on Instagram that allows users to ask questions and receive advice from an AI system within any direct message. This feature aligns with Meta’s goal to incorporate generative AI into social apps and serves as a starting point for more advanced AI functions in the future.
Meta recently introduced updates to its Performance 5 best practices during last week's Performance Marketing Summit. The framework includes actionable strategies to enhance ad performance, such as simplifying account structure, utilizing automation tools, differentiating creative by audience, utilizing the Conversion API for improved measurement, and implementing Conversion Lift, A/B testing, and marketing mix modeling. Several companies have already seen positive results from implementing these practices, including increased purchases, improved return on ad spend, and reduced acquisition costs.
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Well, that flew by—can you believe that the first half of 2023 is already in the rearview mirror? There’s never a dull moment in the digital advertising world, but these past six months have seemed particularly eventful. From the explosive emergence of generative AI, to social media turbulence, to convergent TV and the writer’s strike, advertisers have had more than enough to keep track of.
To help you make sense of Q1/Q2 and prepare for Q3/Q4, we called on three Basis Technologies experts to share their biggest takeaways from the start of 2023, and to share their predictions for the next six months.
Basis Technologies: What trend do you expect to dominate the conversation in the advertising world in the second half of the year?
Kelly Boyle (Group VP, Client Strategy & Insights): Artificial intelligence will continue to be a hot topic. Marketers, agencies, and ad platforms will continue to experiment with the fast-growing technology, testing out its use in everything from creative development to product features.
BT: How do you expect ad spend to shift in the next six months?
KB: We've seen an increase in ad spend thus far this year, and that’s expected to continue. Connected TV and streaming will continue to grow as a focus for advertisers, as video continues to capture more of consumers’ attention and as a result of the turbulence we’re seeing in linear TV.
Basis Technologies: Google recently announced that it will disable third-party cookies for 1% of all Chrome users in Q1 2024. With only six months to go until then, what's your sense of how prepared advertisers are for the impending loss of cookies in the world’s most popular browser, and what are the most important things they need to do to prepare?
Zach Moore (SVP, Digital Media Operations): Generally, I’d say there’s more acceptance of Google’s timeline at this point, given that they are slow rolling the migration of users over to the Privacy Sandbox and seem to be taking a more cautious, realistic approach (versus the previously-rumored hard shutdown for all Chrome users). Marketers now have some idea of how they’ll be impacted—namely, when it comes to targeting, attribution, frequency management. On the measurement end, many have really started to dig into modeling-based approaches, along with panel/survey-based measurement, understanding how cohorts may be useful, and getting more comfortable with tools like privacy compliant data sandboxes.
Basis Technologies: What were the biggest advertising-related regulatory updates in the first half of the year, and how are advertisers adjusting in response?
Derek Zolner (General Counsel): Privacy continues to be front and center. In the first half of 2023, companies had to prepare for four different state privacy acts (California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia) that became effective on either January 1 or July 1, 2023. Companies that had already done the work to comply with the first California law (the California Consumer Privacy Act, aka CCPA) could largely adapt that foundational work to the new statutory requirements.
BT: What will be the biggest regulatory challenges facing advertisers in the second half of the 2023?
DZ: More privacy. Five states (Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, and Texas) have passed consumer privacy laws in 2023, and a handful of others are poised to do so as well. The continued proliferation of these differing state privacy laws underscores the need for a federal privacy law with one unified set of compliance obligations.
Additionally, AI is taking over the world, and this includes the regulatory space. As lawmakers continue to come to grips with the strength and scope of AI, I expect that they’ll make some attempt at regulation, but struggle to find a meaningful way to address these increasingly powerful tools.
Farewell, Q1 and Q2! If you’ve taught us anything, it’s the importance of embracing agility in order to weather all the paradigm shifts characterizing the digital advertising space this year. Here’s to a successful, and hopefully somewhat less turbulent (hey, we can dream!) second half of 2023!
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