Industry Insights

For years, marketers have recognized the need to eliminate the destructive competition between their online and offline sales teams. But just because retailers have largely stopped pitting teams with separate P&Ls against each other to drive revenues doesn’t mean brands have realized ways to synthesize their omnichannel messaging and strategy.

As streaming media companies battle for profitability, AI and machine learning provide them with an opportunity to monetize their content in new and more profitable ways. For agencies and brands that advertise on streaming services, AI allows them to further personalize and customize their ads thanks to more precise targeting data and new forms of creative versioning. All of this should lead to a better experience for the consumer, who will potentially see fewer, more relevant ads.

Many indie agencies are now finding themselves as the dog that caught the bus. In the new efficiency-oriented market environment, they’ve successfully made the pitch to brands that a leaner and hungrier agency can deliver better performance with lower costs than the brand-name agencies that historically managed their marketing spend.

Brand search should already be one of your highest converting channels. But what if you’re leaving money on the table? If you don’t have the capability to easily do hundreds of multivariate A/B tests on your search campaign a year, there’s no way you’re converting as much as you can.

More than half of participants in a Gallup/Knight Foundation poll in 2022 said they didn’t believe national news organizations cared about the best interests of their readers, viewers, and listeners. How does that reflect on the advertisers in that space?

With almost half of large companies saying they have experienced ESG backlash and expect this to intensify, some corporates are going into purpose-related hibernation, rather than risk the perceived reputational damage of speaking out. But with consumers and employees shifting expectations, and with so many critical issues now requiring brand and business support, hibernation is not an option.

Health is personal. As consumers continue to exert control over their health and wellness, they want solutions that anticipate and prevent health issues on a personal level to enable greater self-management.

One of the biggest marketing technology events of 2023 was the bankruptcy filing of the storied Demand Side Platform (DSP), MediaMath in June. Despite the closure of MediaMath, DSPs are still delivering strong results for marketers.

Here are just a few of the benefits of marketing automation: an increase in sales productivity, a reduction in marketing overhead overall, a major increase in qualified leads, and bigger purchases from nurtured leads than their non-nurtured counterparts. Automation also saves you time, increases your efficiency and creates a smooth customer journey. And all that raises a question: Why aren’t tech marketers using it properly?

For the digital ad industry, 2024 marks a significant turning point with the demise of third-party tracking cookies. As advertisers bid farewell to these familiar tools, they are compelled to navigate a new world of targeting. Among the promising alternatives that have emerged, contextual targeting shines as a leading alternative.

Many companies, big and small, struggle with hitting the right balance when tackling political issues, and/or responding to current events. 2024 will be an especially difficult year for brands as it is an election year in the U.S. For many marketers, this will require a delicate balance of acknowledging the climate while also making strategic choices based on what the brand's mission and vision are, as well as who the target audience is.

Once upon a time, brands and politics didn't mix... or at least some topics were considered taboo by most organizations. The rise of social media, the constant expression of personal opinions, the speed at which misinformation flows, corporate interest in customer values, and even commitments to purpose, have changed how many brands communicate in a post-COVID world.

The generative AI market is growing rapidly and is estimated to increase from $40 billion to $1.3 trillion by 2032. Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence that learns the patterns of content created by people and uses that information to create new content, such as music and videos. Generative AI is touted to boost efficiency, improve customization, and expand creative expression.

While no one can say for sure what the new year will bring, it seems likely that the marketing industry will see more changes to transparency, accountability, privacy, automation, and the general utilization and capabilities of generative AI.

With impending third-party cookie deprecation and evolving privacy regulations, marketers face new challenges in reaching customers and measuring campaign performance. Here are key tactics to prepare for marketing success in a post-cookie, privacy-by-design world — and gain a competitive advantage in 2024.

Two SMBs that leveraged Instagram to engage consumers are Young People’s Theatre (YPT) and Erigo. Both brands were able to connect with consumers and drive measurable results with video campaigns that took advantage of the platform’s unique video strategy formats.

The holidays are coming. And you know what that means: lots of presents, festive drinks, family fights over the dinner table, and erm, the amount of greenhouse (GHG) emissions going up. So, how can digital advertisers stay off the naughty list and reduce the carbon emissions generated by their holiday ads without sacrificing performance? Well, here are our suggestions.

In today's digital age, the world of advertising has undergone a remarkable transformation, with many marketers now relying heavily on the intricate web of IP addresses to target their audiences effectively. However, beneath the surface of this seemingly straightforward technology lies a labyrinth of complexities that challenge advertisers and data analysts alike.

ANA staffer Mike Berberich interviewed Michael Aaron Flicker, CEO of Wellow.

The linchpin of digital advertising going forward won't be yet another form of third-party user tracking, though first-party data will play a role. In a back-to-the-future twist, it will be creative — and the AI-powered modeling that, in the absence of third-party cookies and mobile IDs, allows it to be effective.