Dec 21, 2022

5 Must-Know Ad Tech Trends for Digital Marketers in 2023

What experts consider “modern advertising” can be traced back to 17th-century London, where advancements in printing press technology led to immensely popular weekly newspapers that carried advertisements. Since then, advertising—and the technology that acts as its catalyst—has been in constant evolution. The Ad Tech Landscape From print and radio to linear TV and OTT streaming,…

5-Must-Know-Ad-Tech-Trends-for-Digital-Marketers-in-2023

What experts consider “modern advertising” can be traced back to 17th-century London, where advancements in printing press technology led to immensely popular weekly newspapers that carried advertisements.

Since then, advertising—and the technology that acts as its catalyst—has been in constant evolution.

The Ad Tech Landscape

From print and radio to linear TV and OTT streaming, the ad tech atmosphere has been continuously reimagined and revamped since its early European days.

In the 2020s, advertising technology (ad tech) is set to take another leap as advancements in digital media continue to surge.

Projected to reach $42088.3m by 2027, the market for ad tech is reaching new heights, and with higher peaks comes new industry standards for digital ad buying. For the digital marketer, there have never been so many ways to connect with the right audience in the right place—at the right time.

The ad tech space is vast, increasingly competitive, and constantly changing. If you work at a digital media buying agency, it’s essential that you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and track shifts in consumer preferences (including buying behavior and media consumption habits) to help inform future marketing decisions.

Here’s a look at what to expect in the upcoming year.

Ad Tech Trends in Store for 2023

Connected TV Campaigns Will Flourish

CTV ad spending is projected to grow by 14.4% in 2023, the Interactive Advertising Bureau reported in their 2023 Outlook Survey. This trend is paralleled by the decrease in traditional television subscriptions, as streaming services surpassed cable in market share for the first time ever in July 2022.

Along with this growth, some digital marketers expect CTV to evolve in other ways as well. For instance, ads featuring interactive QR codes are set to become more and more prevalent. This user-friendly adaptation will allow potential customers to interact more easily with a brand on their phones versus a clunky smart TV remote.

Podcast Advertising Will Continue to Ascend

Podcasts mix the high-level content of radio with the targeting and data capabilities of digital ads—making them one of the key stars of future advertising technology. As of November 2022, there are 383.7m global podcast listeners, and that number is expected to increase to 424m by the end of the year, Demand Sage reports.

With their widespread popularity—especially among younger audiences—and their ability to deliver trusted messaging, everyone from Microsoft to politicians is using their digital ad-buying power on podcasts.

Podcast advertising’s ascension is showing no signs of slowing down, with podcast ad spending expected to grow another 8% in 2023.

Mobile-First Advertising Will Remain

With 5.11b unique mobile users across the globe and the average user spending 3.5 hours a day on their mobile device, it’s no wonder more and more brands are creating campaigns specifically for mobile.

Users can do almost anything from their mobile devices, and increasingly busy lives mean less time spent scrolling on laptops. Even while binge-watching TV, viewers are often multi-tasking on their mobile devices — whether by scrolling on social media or scouring the Web for the latest holiday deals.

As mobile traffic for grocery shopping, paying bills, and making doctor appointments continues to rise, digital marketing campaigns will follow suit. And with the uptick in user multi-tasking, it’s never been more important to hold a target audience’s attention with multi-channel campaigns that leverage mobile’s ever-evolving potential.

Brands Will Begin Testing Interactive Audio

Interactive ads give shoppers a say in how they consume advertisements and purchase products. While CTV campaigns that allow consumers to interact with advertisements have become common, interactive audio ads have had yet to flourish—until now.

The rise in popularity of Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and other smart speakers has given way to more and more brands diving into the interactive audio landscape.

Interactive audio ads allow listeners to verbally reply to ads that interest them without pausing their streaming audio—bringing in a new age of hands-free engagement. For example, say a potential consumer is listening to a podcast on their Amazon Alexa, and an interactive audio ad for Dove Soap plays; that consumer can reply to the ad by asking Alexa to add the product to their Amazon cart.

While interactive audio ads might not be commonplace just yet, their potential can be seen from miles away.

In-Game Advertising Will Start Making an Impact

According to Xenoss, the in-game advertising market is set to grow from $7.6b in 2022 to $17.6b in 2030. This growth is partially due to the fact that the Interactive Advertising Bureau has updated its guidelines for intrinsic in-game advertising for the first time since 2009.

This update has led to many major brands dipping their toes into the in-game advertising waters. For example, Microsoft is building an ad platform that will allow brands to advertise on free-to-play Xbox games, Business Insider reports.

Sony’s PlayStation and Amazon’s Twitch also plan on building their own platforms for in-game advertising. These new advertising platforms, along with gaming franchises like Fortnite participating in in-game sponsorships, are creating the next wave of business advertising ideas.

Digital Remedy As Your Media Partner

As important as it is to stay up-to-date with digital trends, it’s even more essential to work with a media partner that specializes in diversified digital ad strategies and offers innovative technology to maximize your campaign impact.

Digital Remedy offers agencies a full-fledged digital arm powered by our tech-enabled platform solutions developed around their biggest pain points—from strategic buying and planning through execution, real-time optimization, and transparent reporting within a live dashboard. Digital Remedy’s performance-driven solutions, AdReady and Flip, allow digital marketers to centralize every aspect of the media management process—creating optimized campaigns with trackable metrics that show real results.

To discover how Digital Remedy helps advertisers and agencies of all sizes navigate the ever-changing digital ad space, speak to a member of our team.