2019 was the year of privacy, programmatic, and streaming wars. With a New Year and new decade upon us, where is ad tech heading?
Here are my predictions for 2020.
Rich Media will pay off in 2020 and impact your customer and bottom line
This 2019 hunch will become a 2020 fact: consumers respond better to rich media ads. Interactive rich media ads have already shown higher engagement rates and longer time spent on the ad. Think “click here to rub the fleas off this dog” followed by a call to action to buy flea and tick medications. Interactive ads will dominate performance across devices, and marketing strategies that utilize creative rich media will be the most successful campaigns in 2020.
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Advertisers will prioritize a consumer-first ad experience
Ads in the 2010s ultimately revolved around one thing– extracting data out of consumers. 2020 will be the year that undoes this thought process in order to put consumer-privacy first. It goes beyond clarifying cookie policy when someone visits your website; it means fundamentally respecting the privacy and data of all online consumers. This is thanks in part to increasing GDPR and CCPA restrictions on the use of third party data and a worldwide push for privacy. In 2020, the companies that nurture direct relationships with consumers will pull ahead because they’re building trust.
Shopper marketing will become more about customer convenience
When it comes to shopper marketing, the fewer steps to purchase, the better. In 2020, expect advertisers to streamline their ads to keep up with the digital age. Brace yourselves for a rollout of features including: automatically add items to your online grocery cart without leaving the app. Click on conveniently placed embedded links to buy sponsored products from influencers.
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Attribution will become more reliant on first-party data
Restrictions on third-party data will have some unintended collateral damage – attribution. Attribution relies on massive data pools to assign campaign impact, data pools that CCPA and GDPR restrictions will restrict in favor of consumer privacy. Companies collecting location data in a way that delivers real value to consumers will become the gold standard of attribution, and those who simply resell location data opaquely to consumers will suffer.
Micro-influencers will become the macro focus of influencer marketing
Who gives better product advice– Kim Kardashian or your friend’s cousin? Macro-level influencers are losing connection with their audience and becoming less relatable because of their newfound fame and fortune. Consumers want to have intimate, authentic engagement with influencers, which is possible on the micro-level (micro-influencers by definition have roughly less than 50k followers). In 2020, marketers will prioritize working with micro-influencers because they have superior engagement rates. My prediction? Quality influencers will win out over quantity metrics.
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