What are the main trends in ad tech and the best marketing strategies to guarantee exclusive shopping experiences, retain existing customers, and reach potential ones through multiple digital channels?
Tactics that work
Marketers face three main challenges in conversion campaigns: being able to unify fragmented data, due to the variety of channels and devices used, overcoming the difficulty of measuring return on investment and other metrics, and developing a greater ability to connect online and offline consumer data.
The best strategies for ensuring the success of a campaign are optimizing ads on high-quality sites and promoting special and unique offers for consumers.
The secrets of re-engagement
The sales success rate for an existing customer is between 60-70%, while for a new customer it is between 5 and 20%. Returning loyal customers can generate up to two-thirds of the brand’s revenue.
Existing customers spend more on average than new shoppers, and shopping app users have high retention trends. Irresistible discounts, personalization, and innovative ad formats with attractive designs are three of the most effective tactics for successful re-engagement campaigns.
The GDPR emphasizes the link between trust and privacy
With the European GDPR law and the ongoing scandals on Facebook, privacy will be the biggest challenge for GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple). Consumers want to be able to shop anytime, anywhere, but they don’t trust platforms at all: “How will they use my data?” This question involves all consumers because there are still so many aspects of this law that are still unknown. Information has great value and companies know it well. This is why transparency and privacy are at the heart of the debate. According to GlobalData, data privacy will be the first challenge for GAFA, who will face the emergence of new regulations in the coming years, while user privacy will remain the key element.
Beyond the GAFA, privacy is a global issue that affects all players. This is where user trust is at stake: we will finally find a balance between privacy and the need to track customer behavior.
Walled Gardens Will Undergo Stricter Controls
Following a series of data breach cases, the tech giants (walled gardens) have undergone more thorough checks on how they share and protect user data. In 2019, Facebook, Google, and Amazon are expected to introduce new data sharing and user privacy policies. This will allow for even stricter controls on user data and the information they share with advertisers.
Investments in video ads will grow, including on apps
Marketers will invest more in video advertising, improving the display of ads on high-quality sites through programmatic advertising channels, and will use Private Marketplaces (PMPs) to access higher-quality inventory. On smartphones, video content is mostly displayed via apps.
The power of data
More and more companies are using data in their digital marketing: the potential of data is essential to know what every consumer wants. However, a question remains: how are companies moving to face this new challenge? In addition to acquiring new tools, more and more brands are starting to collaborate with adtech-savvy vendors to regain control of their digital marketing. Years ago, we spoke of data as the “black gold” of our age. Everyone knows the importance of Big Data in the era of e-commerce. Now it is no longer just a question of collecting data, but also of understanding them in-depth to reduce operating costs, produce innovation, and improve the relationship with users through data-driven marketing.
The Growth of Social Media
Snapchat had no idea how much its ephemeral content could appeal to consumers and other social networks as well. The trend created by the application to upload images has been followed by other social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and even LinkedIn, the most professional of the networks is thinking of betting on the format. And it works. There is no doubt that Instagram offers interesting opportunities for marketing and sales: the “buy now” button takes us to an online store with a single click. And for the business sector, WhatsApp has finally found a new channel for B2B (as the old solutions on the market were not considered legal). Businesses have to think about how they want to communicate with their customers because the differences between an “intrusive advertisement” and a “useful advertisement” are subtle and subjective. In this context, it is worth highlighting the role of private messaging and its active function in the growth of the business which will mark another new trend for social media.
Artificial Intelligence Towards Maturity
When asked “What is the main trend in the industry today?”, Surely the answer is still artificial intelligence [AI]. Artificial intelligence is transforming e-commerce processes, improving user experience, and generating more revenue. Applying AI to e-commerce could give a big boost to online store sales.
Will artificial intelligence improve digital advertising? Brands and agencies see this technology as a great opportunity for the sector. It is a lever to face new challenges and a powerful anti-web fraud tool that allows you to safeguard the web reputation of brands in their online campaigns.
Artificial Intelligence still has a long way to go. Another point worth noting is that the AI debates this year felt much more realistic than in previous years. That the topic is entering a new phase of maturity?
Not everything we saw during this edition was completely new: what we noticed, however, is an evolution of the themes.
The use of voice and visual technology
The use of visual and voice technology in digital marketing will become more evident in 2021. With voice search, engagement becomes even more convenient and meaningful for both marketers and consumers at every stage of the purchase path.
According to Gartner, brands that redesign their websites to support visual and voice search and provide more interactive and engaging experiences will see eCommerce revenue increase by 30% by 2021. Brands and retailers who will optimize their websites with voice and visual search will be able to get in touch with buyers looking for instant information even on the move. Furthermore, they will generate more effective interactions with consumers.