2018 will be here before we know it, and along with it, a whole new set of marketing and advertising trends to follow. We know what you’re thinking, “how can we plan when the industry changes daily?” Luckily, there are ways to predict what best practices are going to stick around for a while, and today, we’ll dive into a few of those predictions and how we can all prepare for them.
Build Relationships
Thanks to a deeper understanding of digital psychology, the verdict is in: relationship marketing is key when it comes to reaching customers who will convert. Not to mention, the rise of Artificial Intelligence in 2018 means “the human touch” is more important than ever before.
According to MediaKix, 85% of Generation Z uses social media to learn about new products, while AdWeek points out that 77% of the young audience likes when ads show real people in real situations (and 67% dislikes ads that make life look perfect.) Even if Gen Z isn’t technically your audience, we can all learn from them in 2018.
The takeaway: To best speak to your audience, try rounding out your marketing strategy with meaningful (avoiding pushy and salesy) messaging in your advertisements and on social media.
Shine A Spotlight On Mobile Ads
We all know that, when done right, programmatic advertising can save serious pennies when it comes to targeted, precise online ads. (The ability to reach your customer and ONLY your customer? Sign us up!) However, mobile formats are becoming increasingly important to keep in mind. Let’s take a look.
eMarketer reported that in 2017, almost 80% of programmatic ad spend is being put towards mobile formats – and that number is expected to rise to 85.2% by 2019. What this means is that approximately 8 in 10 people are spending their online time on their mobile device, therefore, seeing your ads on mobile most of the time as well.
The takeaway: The research speaks for itself; mobile ads are important. Keep this in mind when uploading creative and choosing display formats.
Avoid Bias and Maintain Audience Attention
Earlier this year, the UK put a ban on gender stereotyping, sparking a world-wide conversation on this issue in advertising. (We even conducted a survey on this recently; check out the results.) This type of forward-thinking contributes directly to keeping your audience on your side; perhaps one of the most important things to consider when running programmatic advertisements.
There’s a fine line between serving your ad to your customer just enough for them to remember you, and serving it so much that they start to lose trust in your brand – ultimately resulting in customers lost.
The takeaway: Keep the entire customer experience in mind when running your campaigns – all the way from the language used, to updated creatives, to frequency shown – to keep their attention.
All things considered, it seems like one of the biggest themes overall for the coming year is ensuring a human-like voice is maintained, and that might be just what you need when it comes to reaching and maintaining the attention of your target audience in your programmatic campaigns.
Speaking of humans, our award-winning support team is here to help! (See what we did there?) Head over to our support center to check out all of our educational resources and, as always, a conversation with us is just one click away.
