Top advertising executives have joined the conversation. This year’s 2020 Digital Advertising Trends report reveals key insights into the industry today. In collaboration with Econsultancy, we have uncovered opportunities around transparency, personalisation and using data-driven campaigns.
Three top insights from the 2020 Digital Advertising Trends.
Top advertising executives have joined the conversation. This year’s 2020 Digital Advertising Trends report reveals key insights into the industry today. In collaboration with Econsultancy, we have uncovered opportunities around transparency, personalisation and using data-driven campaigns.
Advertisers take back the initiative.
The 2020 Digital Advertising Trends report explores the industry’s most pressing challenges. We talk about consumer ad fatigue and increased scrutiny around data control and measuring spend. Advertising executives are continuing to use new thinking and emerging technologies to unite Adtech and Martech to create a seamless CX.
1. Data Management
Advertisers see data as the way forward.
Advertisers are beginning to find the balance between using data and staying on the right side of legal and ethical boundaries. 20% of advertisers said that data-driven marketing that focuses on the individual is the most exciting opportunity. This was ranked just ahead of creating compelling content (14%). However, there is distrust from consumers towards the industry. These challenges are prompting the world’s largest advertisers such as P&G, McDonalds and Unilever to rethink how they organise their advertising resources. Former Unilever CMO, Keith Weed, described trust in the industry as an “emerging problem that is getting bigger and bigger.” But there is also widespread optimism that data-driven marketing is the right path. The hope is that emerging technology such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning could help to develop a closer connection with consumers. At the moment, advertisers are more focused than their peers on “targeting and personalisation” and “multichannel campaign management”. There’s a real opportunity for brands who can connect these data-driven approaches with CX optimisation - a promising area that is still undervalued amongst advertisers today.
2. Customer Experience
Why great advertising is grounded in CX.
The strength of advertising is its ability to deliver the right message at the right time. Understanding when and how to connect with consumers is the key to driving a return from advertising campaigns. In 2020, advertising executives told us that their main focus for the year ahead is consumer experience. 19% of them planned to differentiate from competitors by improving CX, although 52% considered themselves “not very advanced” in this area. Personalisation has long been seen as the pinnacle of CX, but when it’s not done right it can feel invasive. It’s worth pointing out that it’s not only consumers who are experiencing trust issues around the advertising industry. Advertisers are also looking to increase trust around advertising spend with clients. 59% of the executives we spoke to said that better visibility and transparency around ad spend could make advertising even more effective for businesses. The only possible fork in the road is whether GDPR and the rise of anti-tracking tools will force advertisers to abandon efforts to personalise content or encourage them to drive new innovation using emerging technologies. Even though many consumers are facing trust issues and ad fatigue, it’s clear that the industry cannot return to the pre-digital age of untargeted broadcast communications. The way forward seems to be an approach that integrates effective advertising and better customer experience.
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3. Adtech and Martech
Advertising and Marketing are working together.
The divide between Adtech and Martech is narrowing. 17% of advertising executives we spoke to are currently focusing on integrating Adtech with Martech in 2020. Many businesses now see the value in orchestrating the two and creating a unified experience for customers. 46% of survey respondents to 2020 Digital Trends told us that they plan to increase CX-related spend. However, there are several barriers to entry. Many businesses will need to invest in IT upgrades. For instance, over a quarter of the advertising executives we spoke to had “little or no cloud-based technology”. We found that organisations with highly integrated cloud-based technology stack are 65% more likely to have benefitted from data protection regulations. This could give them the edge over businesses that have historically failed to invest in IT. Further breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning could also solve problems around data management, helping advertisers to streamline the customer journey. Almost half of the respondents said that they are already planning to invest in these areas. At the moment, technology-driven developments are having a major impact on advertising. It’s likely that we’ll see more integration and better CX as tech stacks continue to become more flexible and sophisticated.
The main talking points.
Data Management
Personalising content without violating privacy was the number one concern for advertisers in 2020.
Customer Experience
In 2020, data-driven marketing that focuses on the individual was seen as the most exciting opportunity for advertisers (20% of respondents agreed).
Technology
Due to tech capabilities, most executives (52%) said their organisation is “not very advanced” when it comes to CX.