What’s Next To Come In Advertising?
The next big thing for advertising is the same big thing it’s always been. But it never gets any easier. Ever better work. Work which engages, excites, gets shared and talked about. Work with social relevance. And advertisers need it more than ever. In a world of now almost infinite channels and opportunities, it’s never been easier for our communications to disappear. So much work and so many brands are just passing their audiences by like ships in the night – regardless of the brilliant insights, thinking and targeting to try to find them. But great work will always be the one way to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Charlie Rudd, CEO at O&M London
It depends on your definition of advertising, to be honest. I’ve seen many people in 2017 confuse the term with digital display banners. What’s the future for those? Grim. However, if by advertising one means great engaging, socially-relevant creative work then the future has never been brighter. The unarguable data shows that television has never been a more commercially effective medium. Video in all its formats seems to be going from strength to strength. Great traditional work has been shown to be a perfect amplifier of great digital work. Good advertising will survive & thrive. As it always has.
Kevin Chesters, Chief Strategy Officer at O&M London
Content Marketing is going to be as strong as ever in 2018 – but with a twist. Strong content principles still apply: targeted, compelling, relevant content written for each persona at each different stage of the buying cycle.
That said, how we get the content TO our consumers is going to be the major pulloff from 2017. No more “if you write it, they will come” SEO strategies. Today’s consumer is being pulled in more directions than ever, and even the most cleverly crafted thought leadership piece is fighting for attention with about a million other marketing strategies. Preparing a strong campaign for HOW this content will be consumed is at the forefront of 2018 marketing strategies.
Here are just a couple of examples of how marketers will need to focus their investments in 2018 toward making sure people read their content:
Traditional digital display: using digital display creative to drive traffic toward an article as opposed to driving it toward a quick call-to-action (“call now”) has become the latest trend in digital display advertising that effectively drives traffic to your well-crafted content. Our research is showing that digital display ads pointed at content versus pointed at quick calls-to-action drive almost twice as many clicks, confirming the fact that today’s consumer wants to be educated, nurtured, and woo’ed by their advertisers.
Sponsored Content: leveraging the “halo effect” of respected publishers by promoting your content on their sites usually ensures a higher click-thru-rate, and a longer engagement with your content.
Facebook advertising: Facebook ads targeting prospects who will read your content is an attractive option for many reasons. First of all, it’s – well – FACEBOOK. 214 million users in the U.S. confirms that the audience is there. And its many different demographic targeting capabilities ensures that you can get your content in front of virtually anyone.
Content recommendation engines: tools like Taboola and Outbrain partner with major online content publishers to suggest content they think their readers will want to consume. These tools are by and large CPM based, so you’re essentially bidding on contextual consumption to drive your rate toward getting qualified prospects to click on and consume your content.
Download our 2018 Trends eBook for more digital marketing tips.
By MassLive Media Marketing Staff
