Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! It’s time to kick off January with our marketing resolutions. 2018 is going to be a year of rapid innovation, so it’s important to stay ahead of the curve. These are the…
3 Big Digital Marketing Trends to Bite into for 2018
Pay Attention to the Way Ad Blockers Affect your Ads
Digital advertising is in hot water right now. According to a PageFair report, 11% of the global internet population is blocking ads on the web and brands aren’t doing well to please consumers.
Many websites are adopting ad block walls to force users into disabling their blocker, but only 26% of users do so. The other 74% prefer to just leave the site to preserve their privacy and ad-free browsing. Ad blocker users actually don’t mind certain ad formats like static banner ads, but have installed ad blocking software to forgo disliked formats like non-skippable video ads.
To add to the rise of ad blockers, Google Chrome (used by >55% of global internet users) is introducing a built-in blocker that filters ads deemed to be annoying or intrusive.
Coincidentally, these are the same ads that users cite as the reasons they install ad blockers. This Chrome feature will debut on February 15th, 2018, and will force advertisers to increase the quality of their marketing efforts.
Even Apple is getting in on the action as they are starting to restrict the tracking and collection of browser cookies. Marketers will have to be wary of the kinds of ads they choose to create, making sure they use formats that are permissible by these new filters.
To reach consumers in more creative (and less intrusive) ways, companies will have to resort to other advertising techniques like product placement. The consulting firm, Accenture, is in the process of developing tools that can seamlessly insert any product into online video, replacing existing labelling with the brand of the highest bidder.
This will allow Accenture to partner with streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon to proactively and retroactively include product placements in content, using complex artificial intelligence to perform these tasks quickly. For all organizations, getting the consumer’s attention will be tougher as there is more competition with decreasing ad space. Advertisers will need to constantly adapt in order to thrive and ensure that ad quality is prioritized over all else.
Use Emerging Technologies to Improve your Day-to-Day
It’s apparent that artificial intelligence (AI) is already starting to evolve from a tool that was used to perform difficult tasks like mass data collection into a machine that can make complex marketing decisions. Drift is a live chat tool that actually nurtures prospects into leads by having real conversations with consumers. Companies like Drift have taken complex AI and made it accessible to brands, who can now work with AI to ease (or even bypass) certain bottlenecks in their business.
Augmented reality (AR) will also be big this year and is predicted to be prominent at CES 2018 (happening right now!). Last year, Ikea used AR to give consumers the power to decorate their homes using their phone’s camera function. As AR becomes more accepted and available among consumers, brands will recognize its ability to cut through bland marketing tactics by being unique and interactive.
Voice-based search is also exploding and is likely to hit its peak in 2018. The two big voice assistants, Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa, were both released at the end of 2016, soared in 2017, and are now going to hit the consuming majority in 2018. Businesses need to understand the way voice search works to properly position their brand accordingly.
Understand how users speak to their voice assistants.
Most of them only provide one result for an inquiry, which means brands are now fighting for one spot instead of a full search engine results page.
Take Advantage of All the Tools Social Commerce has to Offer
Social media is so overwhelmed with advertising that they’ve actually hit a limit. Instagram maxed out their ad inventory and are now adding different methods of marketing to make room for more ad revenue (possibly tampering with the user experience in the meantime). With limited space, auction competition will heat up, with brands paying more to get their ads listed.
Emerging technologies like the ones previously mentioned are also adding new means of commerce. Instagram’s Shopping Tags will see a broader release and use in 2018. The feature allows brands to embed prices and information tags within the images. Instant commerce will also be prevalent in live video, popular for marketers who are looking to create authentic experiences that can connect with consumers.
Marketers and brands alike need to be conscious of these developments as there are several opportunities to expand a business’ reach by using emerging technology. We look forward to the exciting year ahead!