Throughout 2012 the advertising industry was forced to develop and evolve incredibly quickly, with new technology and platforms driving massive shifts. So what will 2013 hold and how will this play out across the year?
Digital advertising entrepreneur and Founder of RadiumOne, Gurbaksh Chahal, has made his predictions of what trends we are likely to see in 2013. In particular, Gurbaksh foresees market consolidation among ad tech companies, with a swathe of strategic acquisitions and large companies purchasing entire digital platforms to obtain a foothold in the market.
Not only this, but he also believes we will see significant maturation of advertising strategies by brands that begin looking beyond vanity metrics, such as likes and mentions, to metrics which capitalise on engagement to drive genuine sales leads. Combined with the continuing growth of mobile as an advertising destination, Gurbaksh believes that 2013 has the potential to be a landmark year for the industry.
Top-Five Trends in Advertising for 2013
During the past decade I’ve seen numerous changes in the digital advertising industry, and the next year will be no exception as brands push the envelope and seek new ways to connect more fluidly and intelligently with consumers. The increased attention on mobile, consolidation in the sector, and emergence of vertical social networks are among a handful of the game-changing events that will take place in 2013.
Throughout 2012 the advertising industry was forced to develop and evolve incredibly quickly, with new technology and platforms driving massive shifts in the industry’s focus. 2013 looks to be no different, with new trends which will shape the digital advertising market and refine the strategies that digital marketers use in the next 12 months.
These are the key trends Gurbaksh Chahal sees appearing over the next year:
1. Increased Consolidation in the Advertising Industry
In recent years, online advertising has become an overcrowded and fragmented industry. As predicted by Luma Partners & Barclays, the market is headed for consolidation as strategic acquirers attempt to differentiate their offerings based on the latest and greatest ad tech innovations. Some of these incumbent acquirers will look to extend their existing offerings and become a one-stop resource for advertising spend, while others will move into the sector by acquiring entire digital platforms outright.
2. Mobile Ad Receptiveness on the Rise
Mobile has become an increasingly user-friendly experience over the last few years with the proliferation and evolution of the smartphone. According to a recent study conducted by RadiumOne, 47% of Generation C (18-34 year olds) respondents indicated they have clicked on a mobile ad in the past 3 months, with 54% percent making a purchase from their mobile device in the last 6 months. Backed by the power of LTE and 4G, next-gen mobile networks will support even more robust creative online experiences for brands.
3. Brands Will Move Away from Vanity Metrics Towards Actual ROI
With the over-abundance of unstructured data in the form of tweets, likes, comments, and mentions, brands have been hard-pressed to determine how to measure social metrics in a meaningful way. While tweets and likes measure engagement with a brand, advertisers have yet to determine how these social indicators deliver actionable data that drive ROI. In 2013, advertisers and brands that can translate engagement into customer acquisitions will emerge as the leaders.
4. Multichannel Becomes a Reality, Not Just a Buzzword
According to a recent Google study, 77 percent of respondents use another device while watching TV, and 90 percent use multiple screens sequentially to accomplish a single task. These multichannel viewing habits present an untapped opportunity for advertisers to develop and optimize cross-platform campaigns. For example, television and other premium ads can be used to increase overall awareness and interest coupled with digital, banner, and mobile ads that pick up where these left off with a targeted call-to-action. In 2013, RadiumOne expects multichannel ad campaigns will become the norm, accompanied by a corresponding increase in technologies that help brands quickly evaluate, engage and measure multichannel performance.
5. Vertical Social Networks Emerge at an Even Greater Scale
With over 1 billion users on Facebook’s platform, RadiumOne expects the social media giant will start charging users for access to its popular newsfeed feature, as the noise to signal ratio widens. If this occurs, vertical social networks that specialize in specific industries or utilize niche social technologies will emerge as winners in the next year. Consumers will move away from generic social sharing platforms and gravitate towards more specialized, category specific venues to connect and share with friends. We’ve already seen this with Instagram for unfiltered pictures, Tumblr for microblogging, and Pinterest for photo inspired collections.