Ah, 2022. Who were we before you came along? Naïve to the digital advertising regulation you’d introduce, ignorant to how Elon Musk would buy and change Twitter, utterly unprepared for how TikTok could make a 37-year old song a top 10 hit.
You’ve changed us, 2022, and we know that your impact will reach far beyond the moment when the ball touches the ground in Times Square this New Year’s Eve. To that end, we wanted to pay our respects by taking a look at the content our readers found most useful as you unfolded. After all, you gave digital marketers quite a lot to think about.
Without further ado, here are our readers’ top ten favorite articles from the past year. Pay attention, 2022: Their selections undoubtedly say something about you!
As the most digitally savvy generation yet matures into adulthood, it’s more important than ever for marketers to understand what makes them tick. Here, learn where Gen Z technology and media use stand today, and see how those habits are predicted to evolve in coming years.
From the rise of CTV and audio to a renewed emphasis on creative, nearly all of the programmatic trends that defined 2022 show no sign of slowing in the years to come. This piece outlines seven of those trends in detail.
Boy, oh boy, was 2022 a big year for digital advertising regulation. Check out this article to get a recap on all the most important developments, plus an explanation of how the latest legislation impacts advertising and marketing professionals.
Connected TV was all the rage in 2022, with ad spend growing by 23% from 2021. To help advertisers navigate the fragmented landscape, this piece offers tips for managing CTV campaigns from start to finish. (PS: Want even more CTV insights? Check out our ultimate guide to CTV advertising!)
“Metaverse”: it was so close to being the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year, but in the end, it just wasn’t a match for “goblin mode”. Maybe next year, metaverse! In the meantime, this piece delves into three of the most popular advertising approaches marketers are adopting in the metaverse space right now.
Again, Google?! The tech giant’s decision to delay third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome to 2024 was one of the biggest news stories of this year. Here’s our POV on what the delay means for digital advertisers.
As you listen to your 2022 Spotify Wrapped playlist, read this to learn all about the rise of audio advertising—what makes the channel so unique, why it’s booming, and what benefits it can bring to your campaigns.
We know we’re preaching to the choir here, but today’s marketing landscape is…a lot. So much so that marketers are using an average of nine different platforms to run a typical campaign! Here, learn about the factors causing media complexity, and get to know the solutions that are poised to usher in a better future for everyone working in the marketing space.
Did we mention that managing marketing campaigns has never been so complex? This piece breaks down why simply adding more and more point solutions to your tech stack only serves to further complicate things, and how omnichannel advertising platforms offer a sustainable solution.
The 2022 midterms were a whirlwind of unprecedented spend and branching out into new(er) channels like CTV and influencer marketing. Here, we explore the top takeaways from Basis Technologies’ annual political advertising survey.
Live sports viewing has changed dramatically in recent years. How can digital advertisers effectively reach and connect with sports fans in this new, disparate landscape? Read this for all the answers.
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To all our 2022 readers: Thanks for spending your time with us this past year! It’s our pleasure to provide digital marketing insights, best practices, and thought leadership to help you crush your marketing goals.
Want to make keeping on top of digital marketing news and trends even easier? Sign up for Basis Scout, a monthly newsletter highlighting new and essential content for digital marketing and advertising professionals.
What rhymes with “one two three” and is making big waves in the advertising industry?
Why, CTV, of course!
It feels like there wasn’t a single week in 2022 when connected TV (CTV) wasn’t in the news: from Amazon acquiring Thursday Night Football rights, to Netflix and Disney+ rolling out ad-supported tiers, to streaming viewership overtaking broadcast and cable in July, and more.
So, what’s with all the hubbub? Does the channel really offer that great of an opportunity?
In short: yes. With more and more people turning to CTV devices for their digital video content (nearly two-thirds of the US population this year), it makes sense that advertisers are upping their spend.
For marketers looking to make the most of this channel, there’s a lot to consider. Luckily, there’s also a ton of resources specifically designed to help you make sense of it all—and this list is the perfect place to start.
Ready to “skip intro” and get to the good stuff? Here we go:
Looking for the lowdown on connected TV advertising basics? Consider this your one-stop shop for all the fundamentals.
CPV and CPCV and VCR—oh my! Just as CTV advertising has exploded over the last few years, so too has the number of terms and acronyms used to describe the channel. For folks who want to both walk the walk and talk the talk when it comes to connected TV advertising, this one’s for you.
We all know that CTV viewership is skyrocketing, with ad spend following in kind—but what are the tangible advantages when it comes to leveraging CTV in a campaign? Here, we break down four key benefits of connected TV advertising.
Are over-the-top (OTT) and CTV advertising the same? Is CTV only good for reaching Gen Zers? For those confused by all the information out there—not to mention, misinformation—this post is here to help.
If you’ve moved beyond the basics and are looking to dive into the nitty gritty of CTV advertising, this piece offers the 411 on best practices and strategies to optimize your CTV campaign from start to finish.
CTV advertising is booming, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its challenges (we’re looking at you, fragmentation!). Here, learn how advertisers can navigate the complexity of the CTV landscape.
Is the game showing on Peacock? Amazon? YouTube TV? ESPN+?? Ah, how the used-to-be simple act of watching sports has changed. This piece offers a deep dive into live sports advertising, especially within the context of the digital future.
In this webinar, Beachfront’s Head of Demand Sales, Katie Long, and Basis Technologies’ VP of Product Marketing, Britni Gallello, unpack what marketers need to know about CTV and how to harness its power.
This comprehensive guide dives into everything marketers need to know about CTV advertising: from best practices and strategies, to trends and forecasts, to key CTV KPIs, and more!
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Keeping a pulse on the latest developments in adtech—from CTV, to identity, to brand safety, and beyond—can be overwhelming. And while many marketers would love to have the time to browse the news each day to stay up to date, it’s simply not realistic for everyone.
If you’re looking for a way to stay in the know, while having time for everything else marketers have on their plates these days, check out Basis Scout. This monthly newsletter recaps the latest and greatest tips, insights, news, and trends in the advertising industry—so you don’t have to go searching.
(Blog cover image: What DALL-E 2 produced when given the prompt, “A beagle celebrating the New Year while reading its favorite stories on an iPad”.)
With 2023 fast approaching and 2022 slowly fading in the rearview, we wanted to take a look back at some of our favorite blog posts from the year that was! Read on to see just a taste of our advertising and marketing industry coverage from 2022—and check out the Basis blog to see all the rest!
Advertising Opportunities in the Metaverse
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” in marketing and entertainment—even if, at this moment, it does not fully exist. For many 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. Check out this post to learn all about how digital marketers can start tapping into them.
Climate Change and Sustainability Advertising: Tips, Dos, and Don’ts for Digital Marketers
Reports on the trajectory of climate change are growing ever more dire, with targeted carbon emissions goals looking increasingly out of reach barring swift and major regulatory and/or corporate changes. In the face of this, organizations continue to tout their climate pledges and roll out marketing campaigns—or, depending upon who you ask, PR stunts—demonstrating their commitment to environmentally-friendly values and practices. But many sustainability-minded consumers are making it clear that they aren’t buying what your brand is selling. And with consumers increasingly looking to corporations for leadership on the climate crisis, the old methods of green marketing just aren’t good enough. To help brands navigate this sensitive territory, this piece lays out some of the dos and don’ts of climate- and sustainability-focused advertising.
Why Contextual Targeting is Having a Moment in Digital Advertising
The forthcoming “cookie-pocalypse” threatens to wreak havoc across the advertising industry, and many marketers are responding like birds: either running around in panic like chickens, or pretending the crisis doesn’t exist and burying their heads in the sand, ostrich-style. Clearly, neither is sustainable, but are there any solutions out there that can help marketers get back to acting like humans? Oddly enough, the most practical one may be staring us right in the face: contextual targeting. And look, we get it: a lot of people are (quite understandably!) uninterested in hearing more about contextual targeting. It’s been around for a while and, candidly, it’s kind of boring. But in rare and exceptional instances such as this, old + boring doesn’t necessarily have to = bad. Just ask baseball fans, or anyone in the middle of a riveting game of Monopoly! Read this to learn all about contextual targeting, how it works, and why it’s a surprisingly great solution for today’s digital advertiser.
Everything You Need to Know About Programmatic In-Housing
Throughout programmatic advertising history, brands have largely entrusted its execution to agencies and trading desks. But today, in a world of unforgiving consumers and constantly shifting market dynamics, many brands are searching for an alternative to the traditional brand-agency model as they look to gain greater transparency into their media buys, more holistic control over their data, and greater assurance of compliance with privacy regulations. The result: programmatic in-housing. So, just how has the in-housing trend evolved to date? What forms can programmatic in-housing take? What are the benefits and challenges for brands? And what does the process really entail? This piece answers all these questions and more.
Listen Up! Here’s What the Podcast Boom Means for Digital Advertisers
People listen to podcasts everywhere. No, really: Recent data shows that most listening happens on smartphones, which means that listening can occur virtually anywhere: in the car, on a walk, at home, at work, on the way to a first date, hiding in the bathroom to avoid a terrible first date, in the 24-hour donut shop you always go to after a bad date...you get it. As such, podcast ads provide marketers with a captive audience—ripe for high engagement—at any time, and in any place. But despite the growing popularity of podcasts, podcast advertising is still an underutilized and undervalued opportunity. This piece examines how (and why) podcast advertising can help marketers cut through the noise—pun very much intended!
It’s been a rough couple of years, to say the least. As a leader at Basis Technologies, Lois Castillo, our Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, is constantly thinking about how to support our people in the context of global stress, trauma, and burnout. And she’s not the only one: Many leaders today are wondering how to support their workforces through times of turbulence, and how to broaden their leadership skills to support their employees who have experienced a tremendous amount of harm and hurt during these unprecedented times. It’s a journey we’re all on together, and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. However, this piece is a great starting place, featuring few useful strategies Lois has learned in her time as a DEI leader.
Going Deep on Live Sports Advertising Opportunities
Tuning in to live sports used to be so simple—and we’re not even talking about 50+ years ago, when that meant “going to the game” or “turning on the radio.” As recently as the 2000s, when it came to sports broadcasts, there were the major networks, ESPN, an occasional game on one of the Turner channels, and that pretty much was it. Today, sports leagues are scattering their broadcast rights around like digital Johnny Appleseeds, adding to an already-complex CTV and streaming video environment and creating new challenges for advertisers and consumers alike. In light of these dramatic shifts, how can digital advertisers effectively reach and connect with sports fans? Read this to learn all about it.
The Weird, Wonderful World of Geotargeting and Location Targeting
What’s the weirdest museum you’ve ever been to? How about the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin? Or maybe you’re hoping to visit the Museum of Bad Art in Dedham, Massachusetts? And don’t forget the British Lawnmower Museum in Southport, England (not to be confused with the Reel Mower Museum in Bluff Point, New York). While quirky destinations like these are fun for townies and tourists alike, creative marketers can also benefit from understanding the significance of such local attractions—especially in today’s industry, which is slowly but surely transitioning toward more privacy-friendly methods of serving tailored messages to consumers. This post explores some of the different geo-based targeting strategies that can help advertisers connect with their audiences wherever they are.
How Advertisers Can Succeed During Uncertain Times
From interest rate hikes, to an impending recession, to supply chain shortages, new economic complexities are impacting consumers’ daily lives and shifting their behaviors. And when consumer behaviors change because of what’s happening in the world, so too must marketers. Advertisers who quickly lean into an altered marketplace set themselves apart from those who see themselves as victims of unmanageable change. This piece evaluates the ever-changing economic landscape, its implications for marketers, and tactics advertisers can use to adapt to all the new complexity.
4 Adtech Horrors to Avoid This Halloween (and Year-Round)
Horror movie fans, this one’s for you. Inspired by classic tropes from fright flicks, this post highlights four horrors that can jump scare marketers during the digital campaign process and provides some helpful tips on how to steer clear of them altogether. Just think of us as the friendly neighbors who, upon hearing that you’re thinking of purchasing a certain decrepit mansion that goes on the market every few years, refer you to a different realtor.
Media Complexity in the Marketing Landscape
Speaking of complexity: As if recruiting wasn’t enough of a problem on its own, complexity in digital marketing and media presents additional crises for brands, agencies, and publishers alike. Transparency, speed, and cost-efficiency are all hindered by a rapidly expanding list of channels, formats, technologies, and solutions—all of which require new skill sets, guidelines, rules, and standards for marketers to learn. To solve these colliding dilemmas of staffing, transparency, speed, and cost-efficiency, the advertising industry must better understand their underlying causes. This post dives into the factors causing this complexity, and explores some of the solutions poised to usher in a better future for everyone working in the marketing space.
TikTok by the Numbers: Stats and Facts for Digital Advertisers
The TikTok era of social advertising has arrived. The short-form video app has blown up the model of what a social network can be, and it is increasingly a must-buy for a growing number of advertisers. In this post, we explore the evolution of TikTok through a collection of stats and facts that we’ve curated just For You. We cover the good and the not so good as we try to paint a picture of how (and why) the platform has become social media’s golden child.
Four Pro Wrestlers Whose Day Jobs Needed Digital Advertising
In the mid-1990s, professional wrestling was filled with wrestlers whose characters were defined by their day jobs: a garbage man, a circus clown, and even a federal tax agent. Today, marketers in these real-life industries use digital advertising, not dropkicks, to improve their bottom lines and meet their business objectives. Kind of makes you wonder: If these wrestlers were around today, would this era of digital advertising help them to attract and earn enough business to stay out of the ring? Check out this one-of-a-kind post to learn about four former professional wrestlers whose “day jobs” would have benefited from today’s digital advertising ecosystem.
Connected TV: Fact and Fiction
With more and more people using connected TVs each year, it’s no surprise that ad spend has exploded in kind. Of course, as marketers strive to make the most of the connected TV advertising opportunity, it’s likely they’ll encounter an overwhelming amount of information and recommendations. But as the adage goes, you can’t trust everything you read—especially on the internet. So for all the advertisers who want to separate fact from fiction when it comes to connected TV: This (delightfully GIF-filled) piece is for you.
Brand Safety and Avoiding Controversy in Digital Advertising
Brand safety is, unsurprisingly, increasingly top-of-mind for advertisers everywhere, but it’s of particular importance to programmatic advertisers. The automated nature of programmatic media buying lends itself to situations where, if you aren’t careful, your brand could end up placing an ad next to some very, very controversial or undesired content. Want to steer clear of negative headlines? The post examines some of the ways digital marketers can protect their brands and avoid controversy.
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Be sure to bookmark the Basis blog to enjoy even more great adtech coverage in 2023! And while you’re getting ready for the new year, check out all of our 2023 trends content so you can stay ahead of the curve.
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 12/2/22 - 12/8/22 to stay ahead of the curve:
Please note: our Scouts will be off duty next week, but be sure to check back on 12/22 for the next edition!
Google threatens to kill off cookies, and AI threatens to end...Google? Newish AI platforms that generate conversational responses and epic (or sometimes not-so-epic) avatars seem to be the next step in a more automated future. This piece breaks down what’s going on behind the hype.
That’s right, we’re almost at the 2022 finish line! Burnt out and in need of some creative inspiration (or just want to enjoy some first-class video ads)? Look no further than this roundup of the year’s best work.
If only we could leave all the changes and challenges facing advertisers here in 2022...alas, next year promises both in droves. But where there is change, there is also opportunity. This report highlights those opportunities and clarifies how advertisers can best capitalize on their potential.
'Tis the season for endless Christmas cookies, decadent hot cocoa, and copious holiday feasts—but some advertising agencies are trimming down. This week, Magna and GroupM released their ad spend forecasts for 2022 and 2023 and, though they still predict growth in the year ahead, it’s lower than initially forecasted.
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA)’s effort to audit the US programmatic advertising industry has been rife with complications and controversy (and understandably so, given the nature of programmatic advertising itself). Here, peek behind the curtain into the ANA’s attempt to give marketers some transparency into their programmatic budgets.
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Each month, Basis Technologies’ Programmatic 101 series tackles a different facet of programmatic advertising—from best practices for buyers, to competitors in the space, to trends you should know.
Thanks to consumer demand for both privacy in advertising and relevant and personalized ad messaging, contextual targeting is having a moment. With 61% of advertisers expecting to see an increase in buy-side budgeting for contextual-based campaigns, it's important for marketers to understand how this targeting method works, as well as the benefits it offers.
Ready to get clear on all things contextual? Let's dive in:
Contextual targeting is a tactic that allows advertisers to target according to the content of a webpage, instead of according to user IDs or behavioral data. Contextual segments are categorized based on the keywords found in the digital spaces where consumers spend time, or the topics that characterize those spaces. For example, if you’re served an ad about paint products while reading an article about the best way to paint smooth walls, you were served a contextual ad.
Contextual targeting can be utilized for a full funnel strategy: It's often leveraged to drive awareness of a new brand or product, increase creative engagement, and drive traffic to an advertiser’s website.
When an advertiser uses contextual targeting, the content of the ad aligns with the content of the website. In contrast, behavioral targeting leverages a web user's past browsing behavior to serve relevant ads.
For example, if you Googled "holiday gifts for my dog," and were later shown an ad for puppy pajamas, that ad was served to you via behavioral targeting.
Let's dig into some of the top benefits of contextual targeting:
Unlike other types of targeting that prioritize user behavior or past website actions, contextual targeting focuses on content, which allows advertisers greater control over where their ads show up—and more importantly, where they don’t show up.
Consumers are more comfortable with contextual than other forms of targeting, as it's easy to understand how the ads are served, and feels like less of a privacy violation as a result. As marketers prepare for the eventual demise of third-party cookies, contextual targeting offers a tried-and-tested, cookie-free solution that brands can (and should!) start testing and refining now.
Contextual targeting is more cost-efficient than behavioral targeting when it comes to cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-viewable impression (vCPM), and cost per thousand impressions (CPM). This targeting tactic can also offset the higher data fees that come with first- and third-party data.
Contextual targeting is a fantastic solution for advertisers trying to reach audience segments that are unique or hard to define based on website actions. For example, if you're a hot dog brand trying to find relish enthusiasts or a cannabis brand who wants to reach indie festival attendees, contextual targeting allows the granularity needed to build these custom segments.
As a result of more and more advertisers tapping into this tactic, contextual is evolving. Publishers are using technology to decipher the context of both images and videos in order to add additional scale for advertisers, and advertising platforms are leveraging AI to understand the sentiment of online articles to further help brands decide where they should run their display and video ads.
The takeaway for advertisers? This targeting tactic isn't going anywhere—and it will continue to develop and mature as we move towards a more privacy-friendly world.
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Want to become even more of a contextual targeting expert? Get certified with AdTech Academy's contextual targeting certification!
The financial services industry is undergoing massive disruption.
The growing presence of innovative fintech and big tech companies, rising consumer demand for more efficient ways to manage finances, and tightening regulatory attitudes—not to mention inflation and rising interest rates—are all impacting how media buyers can operate in the finserv landscape. To chart a path through the current fog of uncertainty and position for a bright future, financial marketers should lean on smarter operational efficiency and focus on regulatory compliance.
Here are two trends to watch for:
The advancement of targeting and measurement mechanisms will impact channel planning within the prospect ecosystem in a big way. Take connected TV (CTV), for example—a channel that has historically been used for awareness and enhancing brand perception. Now, as we move into 2023, financial institutions that can pair sound data utilization infrastructure with advanced measurement capabilities will set themselves up to bifurcate CTV strategies in a way that delivers both awareness and acquisition. And this can just be a starting point—it is an approach that can easily expand into programmatic, video, social, and other addressable media vehicles.
Another significant area of interest in financial services is the intensifying scrutiny on targeting mechanisms within digital media. This comes on the back of a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ruling that holds digital advertisers and service providers liable when digital media targeting may violate practices outlined in the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). It highlights the need for finserv companies to be in lockstep with their agencies to ensure they are reviewing and approving audience targeting strategies with the same rigor as communications and messaging.
So, what should finserv advertisers be thinking about heading into 2023? In short: by harnessing the right measurement technology and taking a customer-obsessed approach to targeting, financial institutions can maneuver to gain a competitive advantage and win consumer trust.
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Want to learn about some of the macro trends affecting digital marketing more generally? Check out our 2023 Trends Report to stay ahead of the curve as you plan for the year ahead.
There’s no getting away from it: the restaurant and dining industry has a tough road ahead.
A perfect storm of labor shortages, rising costs, and supply chain issues has created an extremely difficult operating environment. Brands will need to be careful when addressing these challenges, doing so in ways that avoid dampening what valuable consumer demand there is.
In such an unpredictable landscape, how can (and should) restaurant and dining advertisers plan ahead? Here are three places to start:
Thoughts differ on whether inflation will affect the restaurant category in 2023. While some research shows consumers want to cut back on dining out, other sources, including consumer surveys, indicate the opposite. This suggests that consumers may trade down from more expensive, “fine dining” establishments and instead turn to lower-priced options like quick-serve restaurants (QSRs) and fast-casual outlets. As a result, getting people in the door will cost a bit more, but once they’ve come through, you should invest in retargeting and retention strategies to get them back and increase frequency.
In 2020, many consumers embraced food and grocery app adoption for the first time out of sheer necessity. Now, two-to-three years on, it’s an ingrained behavior. To take full advantage of this, advertisers should put a spotlight on their apps—give them some dedicated attention—and ensure they are meeting consumers’ in-app needs and expectations. In doing so, diners will be more likely to download it, use it, and, over time, develop brand loyalty.
Moving forward, balancing in-store versus online will be increasingly important. Digital ordering campaigns are currently experiencing higher average order values (AOVs), meaning you’re getting more bang for your buck when you invest in advertising strategies designed to get consumers to order online. Both restaurants and consumers are expected to continue to rely upon digital ordering in 2023, so it would be prudent to have online-first strategies in place across the board.
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Want to learn about some of the macro trends affecting digital marketing more generally? Check out our 2023 Trends Report to stay ahead of the curve as you plan for the year ahead.
It’s plane plain to see: Travel is taking flight once again!
As other verticals are reconsidering their ad spending, travel is maintaining its momentum, with brands upping their digital ad budgets by 22.5% in 2022 and expected to increase them by another 20.0% in 2023 (and then a further 15.3% through 2024). Although this growth is obviously pegged against a dramatic Covid-fueled collapse in 2020-2021, no other industry is projected to amplify its advertising investment comparatively to travel over the next two years.
The reason? Brands are continuing to tap into pent-up travel demand. Last year, travel-related movement around the US only partially returned to normal with the Delta and Omicron variants disrupting many vacation plans and preventing travel’s full circle rebound. Today, though, digital travel sales are back to where they were pre-pandemic.
Still, there are plenty of obstacles that may yet rear their heads—including rising gas prices, inflation, and economic uncertainty—so it’s important for travel advertisers to stay aware of macro factors and be ready to pivot accordingly.
When it comes to trends to know for the year ahead, there are three standouts:
It’s no secret that green initiatives are a hot topic in travel. Seven in 10 consumers have avoided a travel destination or transportation option due to skepticism around its commitment to sustainable practices. With such high stakes, supporting and actively engaging in eco-friendly and ethical practices can no longer be an afterthought for travel brands. Those that make bold moves now and then market their activities in a way that is thoughtful and genuine (i.e. no greenwashing) have the potential to become leaders in this niche—but extremely important—subset of the travel industry.
Travel advertisers should also look to prioritize digital promotions, influencer campaigns, and loyalty programs to keep consumers engaged during key windows of opportunity. The latter will be especially critical in response to increasing cost of living pressures. Brands have an opportunity to show empathy by acknowledging economic stressors affecting spending behaviors and demonstrating how they can add value in different ways. And, as a bonus, this will help foster long-term brand loyalty among price-conscious consumers.
The travel industry has traditionally been a non-conformist when it comes to its spending distribution across ad channels and formats, and that trend will continue into 2023. Indeed, less than 40% of all digital ad spending in the US will go to search ads in 2023, yet for the travel industry, that share is projected to sit at 55.2%. Travel’s emphasis on search is a logical consequence of how consumers plan their trips—typically doing so through multiple phases of research incorporating dozens of websites. Media buyers will need to maintain a strong search presence in order to capture audience attention as they poke around, and they should emphasize video placements on those platforms to help reignite people’s wanderlust.
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Want to learn about some of the macro trends affecting digital marketing more generally? Check out our 2023 Trends Report to stay ahead of the curve as you plan for the year ahead.
B2B marketing has been going through a digital transformation for over a decade now. But during the pandemic, digital platforms became nothing less than critical to the survival of businesses, allowing them to continue connecting with buyers and consumers.
This need was, and continues to be, reflected in the shifting patterns of ad spending. In 2019, 71.0% of B2B advertising investments went to traditional media outlets. By 2024, however, that share will drop to 51.0%, and trend lines suggest this number will slip below 50% for the first time ever in 2025. Even as staples of pre-pandemic B2B activity have returned—think trade shows, conferences, speaking engagements, etc.—budgets for digital have still been steadily increasing.
Here’s how those industry shifts translate into B2B advertising trends in 2023:
Workers are returning to US offices at the highest rate since they were temporarily shuttered in 2020—a movement playing out against a backdrop of falling infection rates and intensifying “back-to-office” efforts from business leaders. There are geographic nuances to this, though, and corporate policies vary considerably. Case in point: East Coast professionals are returning at higher rates than their West Coast counterparts—research shows traffic to offices in downtown Manhattan increased by 53% over the 12-month period ending July 2022, while offices in downtown Los Angeles only saw a 21% visitation growth in that time.
What does this mean for advertising? In short, targeted audience strategies and an omnichannel media presence will be key to reaching business decision-makers wherever they’re working.
With digital channels like video, connected TV, and podcasts now seeing mass adoption, how can B2B advertisers continue to innovate? One way is to focus on new ways to distribute branded content at scale. LinkedIn Document Ads, for example, allow advertisers to promote long-form content directly in their audience’s LinkedIn feeds (and they’re compatible with lead generation forms). Savvy B2B advertisers should also keep a watchful (but far off) eye on emerging technologies—are there opportunities to experiment with your B2B products and services in extended reality or the metaverse? Use cases there could include virtual events and conferences, remote assistance, and immersive training.
With an economic slowdown in the forecast, spending plans should account for growth while focusing on optimization and resilience. B2B media buyers should look to invest in more relevant and reliable customer data to help sharpen audience targeting strategies and shift budgets into higher-yielding tactics with proven value. The outlook for 2023 will ultimately demand technology that is fine-tuned for efficiency, which equates to increasing the use of machine learning and algorithmic decision-making.
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Want to learn about some of the macro trends affecting digital marketing more generally? Check out our 2023 Trends Report to stay ahead of the curve as you plan for the year ahead.
