Digital marketing has turned into a complex soup of media, data and technology, and often, it’s hard to work out what is the most important element. No wonder the modern CMO is a little confused, or uncertain about where to invest scarce marketing technology resources. The pace of change will be sizzling this year. From the rise of DMPs to more openness, attribution and data portability - here are a few things that I expect to be key in 2015.
Creative will come to the fore
Ad tech companies can bridge the culture and knowledge gap between agency competencies. Ad tech companies of the future will increasingly offer solutions around media, creative, and decisioning. We have already witnessed this via the growth of managed services in the digital advertising industry. Let’s not forget the insights creative messaging can produce. There is a wealth of data based on a brand’s customer’s interactions with creative. People often look at data based on conversions, and purchases. However, creative exposure and interaction is just as important. The need for terrific creative, tied smoothly with automation elements, will rise in prominence, especially as new ad formats emerge across channels.
The rise of data management platforms
Marketers are looking for trustworthy and reliable DMPs that actually deliver results and hook into their marketing stack seamlessly. The fact that so many technologies and platforms are relied upon to execute a digital campaign, means that data management becomes crucial for three reasons - brands need a complete view across everything in order to make decisions and reduce media wastage, they need to protect against data leakage to ensure that other entities aren’t making more money from data than the brand, and they need to protect against security breaches and other indiscretions that could put brand reputation or customer data at risk. Industry research estimates close to 75% of CMO’s are seeking to appoint a DMP this year. It will be the new battleground, and one of many, as marketers seek to show their superiors that they can help the business grow.
Openness
We can expect to see more chatter about the need for an open ad-tech stack this year, along with independent services offerings. Advertisers need to work with platforms that allow them to reach beyond walled gardens, and reach their widest audience. This is a key point for agencies – they need to position themselves to become open to multiple partners and suppliers. There is no one solution to media buying, data management, or operating between the big technology players. Agencies need to integrate with tech partners as much as the larger tech companies want to work direct with advertisers.
Advertiser direct and transparency
Advertiser direct deals aren’t a new phenomenon, however the debates around transparency are increasing. But advertisers should be careful what they wish for as advertising isn’t simple, nor is programmatic buying or measurement. Your data informs what you buy and how much you pay. Your data is a digital representation of your audience. Advertisers should have final ownership of your data, and be the final decision maker on what platforms contain your data. Whatever is the final system for storing and counting should be directed within careful oversight, which typically would include your ad server, and other software elements that drive execution.
Attribution will provide answers
In today’s more measurement-focused marketing world, cross-channel attribution is a hot topic. Briefly, this is the science of using advanced analytics to allocate proportional credit to each marketing touch point across all online and off-line channels, leading to a desired customer action. Done right, attribution can provide clear and accurate insights into how, when and where marketing influences customers across devices and channels. Marketers can then use those insights to spend smarter and define the optimal mix of customer interactions.
The technology to do it right – which is to say, holistically – requires not just big data, but big measurement and big models that can tackle the problem on a massive scale. The focus will shift from the data-sets to how they are tracked, monitored and inform the next campaign, product launch, or key business decision.
Data portability
Marketers should be able to take their data with them as their needs change. The digital ecosystem is fluid and strategies can also change quickly. Brands need to select partners and technologies that allow them to take data to new platforms, or allow brands to migrate from one strategy to the next with ease. You should never limit your media strategy because you are locked into a certain media execution platform. Brand marketers need platforms that play nice with other platforms, allowing for the easy exchange of your data. Your data should never be hid away under a mattress, but rather the fuel driving your media strategy forward.
Verification of audiences
Brands know they need to minimise fraud and contain media waste. There’s an old quote from Ronald Reagan: “trust but verify”. This is extraordinarily relevant in today’s digital landscape. The biggest risk brands face are buying low quality media (compromising brand reputation) or being a victim of fraudulent advertising –meaning that no actual consumer had the opportunity to view the ad.
Brand marketers investing in software should evaluate their innovation decisions by asking the following questions: Does the proposed innovation solve a problem? Does it add value to our clients or partners? What is the commercial need? Can it be built into a deal or lead to increased share of wallet? Will it scale? Those questions serve as a good start on the road to making digital programs successful.
By Carolyn Bollaci
Regional vicepresident ANZ at Sizmek