The Aroluxe Team spent the week in New York for AdWeek to learn about the newest marketing strategies.
These were our takeaways:
1. Targeting is Getting More Sophisticated
The way marketers think about targeting has changed. No longer is just targeting demographic data good enough. Now targeting has shifted to include things like brand affinity and lifestyle habits or changes as well. You can track who has stepped foot on an auto lot, and exclude the people who work there. New marketing considerations can and should be taken to maximize the chance of a purchase or conversion with each advertising dollar spent.
2. Advertising is Getting More Data Driven
With marketing analytics becoming more and more sophisticated, you can no longer win someone over with a good sales pitch. People want impressions, clicks, and real-time trackable purchases as their KPIs. You need to show them numbers. But analytics are still messy. While data is getting more and more accurate, expect slight discrepancies, depending on what program you’re using. Things like programmatic buys are still fairly recent, so some kinks along the way are expected.
3. AR and VR Are the Way of the Future
Holograms… virtual grocery shopping… virtual John Hamm… oh my! AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) technology have the ability to create personalized and interactive experiences. Remember how everyone went crazy for Snapchat’s face filters? Marketing innovations using similar technology will become more and more common. And while sometimes we think of VR as an experience like being in a video game, more and more brands are finding ways to use it for market research. Where do you look, what do you pick up in a grocery store? This is just one practical example of how brands might start incorporating virtual reality in product research.
4. Facebook and Google Continue to Reign
Any marketer is familiar with social media ads and pay-per-click search advertising. Facebook and Google still reign in digital advertising revenue. In 2016 Facebook and Google accounted for 76% of all digital marketing growth. In 2018, it is estimated that Facebook and Google will account for 61% of the total digital marketing ad revenue. However the dark horse of advertising that no one’s talking about could be Amazon – they’ve already developed a sophisticated digital ad buying platform. Signs point towards internal development occurring before ramping up its pitch to agencies and brands.
5. Programmatic Advertising on the Rise
Programmatic advertising refers to the use of automated data to make media buying decisions without human interference. It is highly trackable, and ad buys are strategically placed throughout many different online publications. The IAB estimates that programmatic spending will grow to cover 80% in 2018. We’ll see competition between traditional media buys and programmatic heat up more and more as time goes on.
6. Incorporating Chatbots into a Customer’s Experience
Any business owner will run into the same questions over and over again. Sophisticated chatbots are a way of providing an easy answer to consumers or prospects. Currently, there are already 18,000 bots that have been developed to help brands offer streamlined, individualized service through chat. Heck, there are bots that can build bots for your business. This also fits into a larger trend of AI (artificial intelligence).
7. At the end of the day, no matter how big and complicated marketing may seem, it still boils down to each individual consumer.
How do you get the right person the right message, in the right context, at the right time? How does an ad experience add value to someone’s day, apposed to become an unnecessary interruption? Maybe it’s targeting an overworked dad, who could use a good eye cream from his favorite brand for the bags under his eyes. Maybe it’s targeting an overworked business woman who wants to eat healthy on the go for pre-made smoothies. How do we capture the person and what would add value in their own particular day-to-day? This is an ongoing conversation, as to how is the best way to deliver your ad to someone who would truly appreciate your product or service.