In this article, you are going to learn about a few future marketing predictions from various industry leaders that can help you up your game and grow your business. In this case, it was first published by Marianna Nash – Think With Google per se. We’ll also answer the question: Why ad rates are so low in Q4 2022 & Q1 2023? And what to expect moving on.
It’s an understatement to say that marketers must plan for the unexpected. Without built-in agility and a willingness to pivot, even the best-laid strategic plans can go to waste. And on top of the usual fluctuations, today’s marketers face an uncertain economic environment. The need for insight-aided adaptability has never been more clear — or more urgent.
With that in mind, together with our partners, we asked top leaders to share their future marketing predictions (in the next 10 years) of brand building. How will we earn customer loyalty, create company brands, or build trust? And, when we talk about advertising 10 years from now, what do we mean? Learn what they told us to expect by the end of the next decade.
Also known as Metaverse Marketing, it is one of the major future marketing predictions and trends now — it is going to be here for a long time. Savvy marketers should familiarize themselves with VR marketing to gain a competitive edge when the time comes. It is a network of third dimension virtual worlds focused on the evolution of social connections.
The Key Future Marketing Predictions By Industry Leaders
As most publishers have already experienced, ad spending in Q1 2023 does not look especially promising or a hopeful indication for the rest of the year. A recent Digiday article notes that marketers did not see the kind of sales they had hoped for in Q4 and so are approaching 2023 more cautiously.
Marketers are not tying themselves down to ad spending plans like in other years and are instead trying to stay more agile, much like during the pandemic, as consumer sentiment and the economy can change at seemingly any moment. Not to mention that there are still supply and labor shortages that are aftershocks of the pandemic.
Eventually, which slows down production and makes it more difficult to anticipate products’ availability. It’s not all bad news, however. It’s predicted that CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) ad spending is likely to be steady in 2023 and beyond. This includes subcategories like skincare advertisers, which increased their investment by 8% YoY.
Overall, it’s predicted that ad spending won’t bottom out, though the most recent forecast for US ad spending indicates that it’s down $5.51 billion from what was originally anticipated for 2023. So, 2023 is certainly going to be a year different from any other and it all seems dependent on how we weather the economic downturn and possible recession. What others say:
1. Solid Connections Return
Customers will have control by design, without sacrificing performance
“Some of our favorite sci-fi films present the marketing experiences of the future as a dystopian threat to our privacy. (I’m thinking of the shopping scene in “Minority Report.”) In reality, a different world is taking shape, one that people are empowered to help create. We are preparing for a future where shoppers will experience — with their permission — a lot.
For instance, they’ll experience the most relevant content and services. By default, they will have the controls firmly in their hands, giving them the power to grant, deny, or rescind a brand’s license to reach them.”
Marketing will return to its essence: Connection
“I am excited by a world where compelling and impactful campaigns go hand in hand with user privacy. We can already see the potential of products like My Ad Center, where users will have full control over the brands they receive messages from. In the end, I believe it will lead marketing back to its essence, which is to connect brands and products to consumers.
But to do so, trust must be at the core of these relationships.”
2. Transformative Business Shifts
On-demand content will become no-demand content
“Globalized human networks and AI recommendation engines are proving superior to traditional media when it comes to maintaining prolonged attention. As AI content creation and more immersive formats are layered on top, our media diets will increasingly feature not only opt-in decisions but opt-out decisions. Whilst, giving us, as consumers, more control.
More so, over how we engage with brands across new types of experiences.”
The attention economy will become the enthusiasm economy
“The platforms that monetize attention today will either become or be disrupted by platforms that monetize enthusiasm through direct sales, marketplace hosting, subscriptions, and more, dulling these platforms’ financial reliance on brand advertising. Against this backdrop, the biggest differences between advertising now and in the future will be very notable.
While considering these aspects:
- A brand’s sonic or even haptic where identity will be as deeply considered by creative teams as visual identity is today.
- The value of human staff in creative disciplines will shift from identifying creative solutions (like content, experiences, and campaigns) toward creatively identifying problems (ie. use cases for branded products and services).
- As branded content wanes in its importance in terms of branded spaces — physical and virtual, licensed and custom-built — which will enjoy a resurgence among brands hungry to demonstrate their goods, services, and values.”
3. Ethical Brand Building
Gen Z will have higher standards for brands appealing to their values
“The most racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse generation — who are also the queerest to date — will all be adult consumers in 2032. As we already see in Gen Z TikTok Marketers, these consumers have high expectations for how and where they spend their money. Gen Z and millennial generations are redefining the conversation around gender and parity too.
More critical consumers than their parents and grandparents, this cohort unilaterally demands that companies and products reflect their values and communities, in internal practice and external advertising. The bar for corporates is already high, and this will only rise in the coming years. The ascent will be steep for brands that don’t start the climb now.
Particularly, by evaluating the relationship between their internal policies, political alignments, and missions against their products, external marketing, and target audiences. A catchy ad won’t win these consumers alone.”
A brand’s story won’t be told by advertising alone, but by everything it does
“Brands that invite people to finally see themselves as appreciated members of society through thoughtful product development, advertising campaigns, company culture, and as stakeholders will be the ones to win out in the end. Over the past few years, authenticity has become an overused buzzword rarely applied beyond the surface.
By 2032, the brands that succeed will have committed to enacting true and substantive authenticity through alignment of who they are, what they stand for, and how they value and show diversity. False advertising will no longer exclusively apply to products, but to brand identities themselves.”
4. Building Brand Trust
For tomorrow’s shoppers, every touchpoint will count
“Gone are the days when brands control — and consumers receive — the message. Consumers of today want conversation and co-creation. From direct engagement on social media to real assistance offered through programs and experiences, the brand-customer relationship of tomorrow will be built across every touchpoint: from what a brand says to what it does.”
Brand trust will depend on responsible data usage
“Marketers will have an expanded calling to help the company tell a consistent story everywhere, all the time. To do this right, trust and responsible data usage are fundamental. As we spend more time online, brands will have no shortage of data to define user needs, design better experiences, and deliver the right message at the right time to the right person.
The responsible data-driven visual analysis will be key to helping brands find their way through a complex and noisy media landscape. Marketers will need to work hand in hand with the information stewards of their organization to understand their consumers and build trusted relationships.”
5. New Customer Experiences
Digital and physical experiences will merge across touchpoints
“The future of advertising’s success is predicated upon building genuine customer relationships based on trust, support, and value. As the definitions of digital and physical merge and consumer experiences become increasingly blended, shoppers will expect united, frictionless interactions with brands across more touchpoints than we can imagine.
These touchpoints will need to be built on the critical pillars of privacy, technology, purpose, and sustainability.”
Giving consumers control will lead to more meaningful interactions
“Marketers will need to unlock and enable experiences that take the onus off consumers to initiate action. Privacy concerns aren’t going away, either; the imperative will be to create a future-proof data strategy with humanized permission management. As well as considerations for biometric data that enable meaningful in-depth conversations with your customers.
By all means, enabling these experiences also means embracing AI and Machine Learning (ML) to deliver on demand for tailored experiences. All businesses will need to ensure that their purpose permeates every brand and organizational decision, down to how product distribution might change to best align with consumer services and sustainability.”
6. Personalization And Privacy
Ads will become simply helpful content
“When I worked in marketing at Unilever, all-in-one laundry detergent capsules were the most important product. But I was more excited about the laser pen that could zap stains out of shirts! Looking back, I have always believed in the power of technology to make life better and unlock human potential. That’s one of the reasons why, 20 years ago, I joined a tech company.
“Today, working for Google, I feel that same excitement about the potential of AI. With AI-powered tools, we’re increasingly able to deliver the exact right message to the exact right audience at precisely the right time — all at scale, all while respecting user choice and privacy. Our Performance Max Ads are a glimpse of this today, enabling you to use key automation tools.
In particular, across the creative selection, bidding, budgets, and more. And in 2032, we’ll be much closer to my dream state for ads: a world where they are perfectly relevant sources of information for everyone, all while meeting the highest privacy standards. AI is already delivering huge value, and the marketing toolbox will continue to evolve at pace.”
Why Are Ad Rates So Low In Q4 2022 & Q1 2023?
According to a certain article by Ezoic, ad rates are still certainly below this time last year, but overall are better than in January 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020. Partially, because many businesses pushed advertising hard after the beginning of 2020 halted many businesses’ advertising efforts. Yes, 2022 started out strong but by May, it became quite more evident.
Whereby, a recession may be on the horizon, and businesses pulled back. By the end of December, the big holiday drive was over and the financial downturn was very imminent — advertisers once again pulled their inventory. And now, at the beginning of January 2023, we are still feeling that hesitancy while the economy is still in flux.
By far, this January is certainly less optimistic than last January. So, with that in mind, what has really been happening so far, and what is predicted for 2023 Q? Well, let’s take a look at what information is available to us.
1. Social Media Traffic And Ad Revenue Trends
Of course, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably well aware of Elon Musk’s acquiring Twitter and the radical changes he has made. Many of these changes have led to a decline in Twitter traffic referrals to some publishers’ websites. Some of these websites include major news sources like CNN, The New York Times, and BBC, amongst others.
Suffice it to say, most drops in referral traffic that were experienced varied from 10-18% month over month. In fact, a majority of this drop can be attributed to the removal of Twitter Moments in December 2022. However, web publishing tech provider Automattic found that in a subset of 21 large and small publishers, website traffic from Twitter in 2022 Q4 fell big time.
Specifically, by an average of 13%, though of the data set, 71% of publishers saw a traffic decline. Musk took over Twitter in late October, so not all can be attributed to the changes he has implemented.
Where Twitter stands with publishers in the future is currently undetermined. Surprisingly, when people surveyed from nearly 50 newsrooms were asked, the majority said they would use Twitter about the same, while 20.5% said they plan to use it less. The rest said they would use it sparingly, more, stop using it, or take it day by day.
2. The Effective Twitter And TikTok Standing Points
On the flip side, TikTok ad revenue is up, defying the general advertising slowdown. At the same time, TikTok is possibly adding to the tension between the US and China. Currently, the TikTok App takes up about 25% of social ad budgets and has grown 50% year over year since 2020.
Not to mention, it’s anticipated that many advertisers will continue to test TikTok in Q1 and then scale throughout 2023. Furthermore, while other social media platforms are slowing in advertising growth or in decline, TikTok is picking up what those other platforms are losing.
Additionally, it’s been proven that sound-on, full-screen video ads are the most effectful ads (when they’re tolerated) and since this is the entire premise of TikTok, these ads do well. Even with the promise of TikTok, predictions for social network ad spending are significantly down from original forecasts in comparison to the previous timeline records.
3. Marketers And Advertisers Cutting Overall Spending
Markedly, in an article published by eMarketer, it was reported that almost 30% of major advertisers are planning to cut their ad budgets this year, and 74% of those advertisers point to the economic turndown as an influence in that decision. While that may be daunting, it was also reported that 30% said their advertising budget will increase.
On the same note, 40% said that their marketing and advertising campaign budgets would stay the same as last year. So, what categories will we see the majority of this money in? Well, there are a few key takeaways from Mediaradar’s weekly report, published the week of January 9, 2023. Like restaurant advertising and Health and Fitness business industries.
Significantly, they both saw 400% increases in ad spending WoW. Restaurant advertising may have seen a spike because people were more likely to be out and about doing holiday returns. It probably comes as no surprise that Health and Fitness ad spending soared in the new year, as many people set new health and fitness goals as new year resolutions.
Building brands that consumers love should remain your core marketing ambition. Your continued investment in digital transformation should focus on understanding and using the power of data and technology. So as to fuel growth potential for tomorrow rather than sticking in one place to better your business revenue sources and up it’s returns.
4. A Mixed Advertising Campaign Spending Results
Some publishers may have seen an uptick in their ad revenue, yes. But, a category that experienced a decrease in ad spend was Food. Specifically, Snacks/Desserts and Meat — the former saw a 50% decrease in WoW while the latter saw a nearly 100% decrease in WoW. Now that the holidays are over, demand for these items has gone down, and the need to advertise.
Travel specifically is seeing a great amount of growth, despite the fact that the economy is down. Even though travel is not a necessity but a luxury, according to a sample by MediaRadar, U.S. tourism organizations had already invested almost $623 million through April 2022, which is a 43% YoY increase from the same time period in 2021.
Additionally, as aforementioned, more people are working remotely than ever before, thanks to job trends still leftover from the pandemic. Many companies have become more flexible with their work-from-home/remote work policies and so many people are taking advantage of this and traveling more, as they are able to simply take their work with them.
According to eMarketer, US travel’s digital ad spending reached roughly $5.23 billion in 2022. As most publishers have already experienced, ad spending in Q1 2023 does not look especially promising or a hopeful indication for the rest of the year. Therefore, this calls for a need to find other alternative revenue sources other than relying on ad placements.
5. The Growing Uncertainty In The Overall Business Sectors
Just like we aforementioned, 2023 is certainly going to be a year different from any other and it all seems dependent on how we weather the economic downturn and possible recession. To say it’s been an unprecedented Q4 for ad rates is an understatement. Many publishers are feeling the pain this quarter as revenue is far below what is typical for this time of year.
Mark you, even though according to our data, visits have continually increased MoM and YoY for most niches we recently sampled. In reality, ad rates are down for multiple reasons, and it’s hard to pinpoint anything specific. If you were keeping up with Ezoic during the pandemic, you may remember the ongoing blog they updated regularly with ad rate and traffic changes.
As well as trends in niches and e-commerce, and more. Since ad rates are not following the typical pattern of previous years, it can be hard to know what exactly is happening in the ad space and what to expect. Nevertheless, ad rates were stable in 2019, but then, almost all niches we tracked took a dip during the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic by a big gap.
Almost all ad rates for these niches climbed back up in 2021, only to steadily fall in 2022. To stay ahead, make sure that you also check out the Top 11 Important Google Analytics Metrics to Track which has more useful details.
The Future Marketing Predictions To Improve Your Ad Results
Realistically, digital publishing is changing faster than ever, and it’s important to remain informed and agile. The first thing companies will do when money is tight is cut ad spending, especially, digital ad spending. Ultimately, the best thing is that digital online marketing often does not require contracts, so it’s easy to simply cut back on ad spending.
However, big advertisers may still be spending a decent amount right now and be more likely to be in contracts. But, most advertisers are smaller and can simply drop their advertising efforts. Note that as inflation rises, the economy only gets worse. When the economy is down, it is major commodity-type companies that tend to hold the power in advertising.
As an example, we may consider Coca-Cola. Whereby, even though there may be a recession on the horizon, people are not likely to cut back on their Coca-Cola intake as a result. But rather, they’ll decrease their spending in other ways; therefore, thus, Coca-Cola has no reason to decrease its ad spending. This makes it easy for these larger companies to throttle ad budgets.
And, as such, they’ll work their budgets to their advantage, as there is less competition. Things that aren’t considered a commodity are the ones that cut their budgets down. If you’re looking for some advice on how you can make it through this tumultuous time in ad rates, there are a few things we can take from the pandemic that can be of service in surviving/thriving.
(a). Quality over quantity ad inventory
It’s important at this moment to keep your ad inventory stocked with quality advertisers and not just plug any advertiser that will give you money into your inventory. This includes avoiding something called malvertisers, or malware advertisers. They are likely to take advantage of publishers more in times of need than when ad rates are high.
If you are dealing with malvertisers and aren’t getting paid, this article from clean.io discusses malvertising and how to protect yourself. Ezoic is a great tool for publishers to keep their ad inventory full of quality advertisers. We have relationships with thousands of advertisers, all of which are vetted.
By linking your site to Ezoic, you have access to all of your current ad partnerships and all of its ad partners as well. Furthermore, using an ads.txt file helps ensure that your digital ad inventory is only from authorized sellers. Reaching out to target consumers is easier via eCommerce platforms as compared to traditional marketing forgotten channels.
Moreover, marketers have started using interactive content types like eCommerce recommendation quizzes to boost their sales online. Thus, as per the future marketing predictions and advertising trends now and beyond, marketers can continue to look at the D2C eCommerce Sales channel — as a source for the growth and development of their brands.
(b). Dynamic over static ad placements
Ad testing, placement, and performance are vital to earning the most money you possibly can. Static ad placements, even if they are typically high-earning, can only get you so far, because they serve the same ad experience to everyone. Even if 80% of users react well to the ad experience, that’s still leaving 20% of people dissatisfied that you could have earned from.
By using dynamic ad placements through testing, like what Ezoic provides, you are guaranteed to earn the most from your ads. Obviously, this is because it is always accommodating for the ad and User Experience (UX) based on visitor behavior and look-alike qualities. Through testing, the right ad size, placement, color, etc. are determined for each user.
Precisely, based on previous results. While, at the same time, constantly becoming more accurate to earn you the most money while also considering user experience. You can boost your conversion rates using many different techniques. Based on what action you want your customers to take and what kind of medium you’re using to communicate with them.
Some common and effective ways to leverage Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) include creating eye-catching headlines. While clearly stating the offer you’re making or creating an attention-grabbing Call To Action (CTA) to drive them in the right direction. Average Order Value (AOV) is the average amount that a customer spends on a transaction with you.
An increase in AOV will help you increase your revenue. You can offer product recommendations to your customers. You can do this by creating an interactive eCommerce recommendation quiz and embedding it on your website. Some more tactics to increase your AOV include setting order minimums for discounts, setting up customer loyalty programs, etc.
(c). Interactive high-quality content is still King
For years, marketers have been using interactive content as a way to lure customers. It includes fun content types like quizzes, calculators, giveaways, product recommendations, polls, and the like. It allows users to indulge in a two-way dialogue which helps in the personalization of their entire experience, leading to an increase in engagement and conversions.
And now, as a rule of thumb, high-quality content still rules all! This means, that you don’t need to get so caught up in configuring your ads or designing your website that you slack off on your content. Always remember, high-quality content is more likely to be consumed than content that isn’t unique or well-constructed.
Also, consider how you can use current trends in content that are earning high EPMV to your benefit. Bear in mind, that retail and travel are popular industry niches right now. Or rather, are you a camping website? If that’s the case, try to write an article on the best places to travel for camping in the winter and spring. What if you have a finance website?
Well, think about retail trends related to money, like the growing popularity of paying in installments rather than all at once, and what this might mean for consumers. Moreover, interactive content helps generate first-party data. Users need to share relevant information in order to get custom results. This helps brands in gaining direct insights into their interests.
(d). Video content is growing quickly
According to a report by Cisco, video now makes up over 82% of all internet traffic. Additionally, a Channel Factory report discovered that 41% of Gen Zers use video to boost their mood and zeal. Similarly, another Think With Google piece found that half of Gen Zers and Millennials “don’t know how to get through life without video” as the point of reference.
So, are you prepared for the continuing growth of video? Well, adding video to your content not only engages users more but benefits SEO, as you’re more likely to rank higher with video content on your landing pages. If you’re not comfortable being on camera, products like Humix allow you to use other publishers’ videos on your website so easily and quickly.
And, as a result, you can even earn your revenue almost immediately — unlike other major video platforms — no wait time is necessary. In the same fashion, if you’re a video creator, you can allow your videos to be shared across the Humix network for other publishers to use, and you get a cut of the revenue. In addition to Humix is Flickify, yet another great tool.
Flickify can easily be used in conjunction with Humix. Plugging your content into it allows the tool to ‘read’ your content and it quickly creates a video that can be added to your website. You can customize the video as much or as little as you want, and then easily upload it to the Humix network — to be used on your website or shared with other publishers to use.
(e). Try to go omnichannel or channel-specific
Omni-channel marketing is nothing but the integration of the various channels that brands use to communicate with their consumers. With a consumer-centric approach, omnichannel marketing lets consumers interact with brands via innumerable channels including both physical (eg. stores) and digital (eg. websites) platforms.
This way of marketing focuses more on the customer experience rather than the channels. It aims at delivering the right message at the right time to the right set of consumers. Short-form videos are all over the internet nowadays. The rise of short video content through Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Google, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc, is all over.
And, brands have started realizing their potential. As per a recent survey by HubSpot, short-form videos have the highest ROI in any social media marketing strategy. Thus, 30% of social media marketers plan to invest in it more than any other trend in 2022. So, there’s no doubt that including short-form video content in your marketing strategy is a smart choice!
Short-form videos like Instagram Reels are extremely popular and catchy. Moreover, they are said to have the highest ROI as compared to other forms of Social Media Marketing (SMM) in this case. Also, social media marketing plays a major role in the success of marketing campaigns. You can promote your brand in various ways on social media.
One of them is by creating live content such as live videos. All the major platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. support live videos. And, with the rise in the number of social media users, streaming live videos is no longer a novelty. Nevertheless, live videos are changing the way brands interact with their target audiences.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. While every journey will be different, we can learn from leading brands as they advance their digital maturity. Staying relevant in today’s dynamic environment requires embracing constant change. In particular, we’ve identified key areas that are critical to our success and that we’ll continue to invest in.
They include privacy-preserving fundamentals, valuable consumer connections, and ongoing experimentation. Our other key focus is on building and fostering valuable consumer connections. Having direct access to our first-party data — and turning this data into actionable insight — is a critical competitive advantage with immediate value for our business too.
By moving toward a first-party, data-driven approach and leveraging Google’s privacy-preserving advertising and analytics tools, we’ve increased our ability to offer personalized solutions in real-time, track ROI, and improve sales performance. This ultimately helps us make smarter investments, especially amid economic uncertainty and other unforeseen challenges.
In fact, it is even more critical than ever to understand the value of media spending. We also leverage new audience capabilities to derive value from our first-party data. Solutions such as Google’s advanced look-alike modeling, currently available in beta, give us more transparency and control when building audience segments.
More so, by combining our first-party data with Google’s consumer search intent signals. By driving a consistent global marketing strategy across the organization, our team has been able to drive change at scale, embracing data and technology to build competitiveness.
