A recent article we came across in Forbes titled “Digital Advertising Trends To Watch In 2019 And Beyond” summarized predictions by expert speakers at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Annual Leadership Conference in February. We think the piece really nailed it — and are thrilled to report that AffinityX is a great resource to our clients on many of these fronts.
So what were the top trends identified at the conference? Digital video in general, as well as evolution of “direct to consumer” into video; social influencers; content marketing diversification; and emerging tech (like 5G technology, AI, ConnectedTV and Voice).
Video and Social
Let’s start with video and social media — according to Borrell’s 2018 Local Marketing Survey, 46 percent of SMBs are trying something new and video is the leading choice because 51 percent who use video see it as highly effective. And it’s no surprise that social media is the number one method for video distribution. The good news for any brand is that the attractive Millennials segment loves video. In fact, 66 percent of them engaged with brands after viewing videos on social media, according to a study by Brightcove in November 2018.
The AffinityX AudienceX offering is integrated with You Tube’s TrueView video ads, allowing clients to manage and optimize TrueView in-stream and video discovery ads. We expect to support other types of ad types in the future but today, these are the most common. AffinityX also offers paid social media campaigns across both Facebook and Instagram, and helps you align your clients’ social media presence across numerous platforms.
So while we’re not in the business of social influencers, there is little doubt that every aspect of social is becoming increasingly central to any marketing campaign and AffinityX can help.
ConnectedTV
Next, there’s ConnectedTV, which helps advertisers reach viewers — including both cord-cutters and cord nevers — who make up the 64 percent of U.S. households that own CTV devices today (Edison Research, Nielsen, Triton Digital and Statista, 2018). It’s predicted that there will be a whopping 194.4 million CTV users by 2021 (Martech 2018). Connected TV capabilities are part of AffinityX’s comprehensive suite of advertising products, allowing its clients to offer their customers the ability to be on any screen — all in one campaign. Working with AffinityX, CTV can be wrapped up in one proposal to prospects, along with social, search, SEO, PPC, native and display. That’s a powerful combination that no other competitor offers today.
Content Marketing
Today content is king — 55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority (HubSpot, 2018) and 78% of consumers say that personally-relevant content is a determining factor in their purchasing decision (Coredna.com). In 2019, there is no doubt that more local marketers will start to allocate budgets to this end (e.g., creating blogs, native ads and social media posts). However brands will continue to struggle with how to scale their content production capabilities and how to diversify their reach. Many have implemented software to better manage the flow of content, but are still challenged with content creation and revisions. AffinityX is the perfect outsourced content production partner for your needs in 2019.
Overall, it’s gratifying to hear top experts in digital advertising confirm that AffinityX has its finger on the pulse of the most important trends today. Contact us to find out how we can help you harness them.
