THIRD-PARTY COOKIE PHASE-OUT
Everyone in digital marketing needs to prepare for the phasing out of the third-party cookie and start learning about alternative identity solutions. Originally designed for e-commerce in the 90s, the inadequacy of these cookies for data-driven advertising is blatantly apparent in today’s omnichannel landscape, particularly with emerging channels such as streaming TV and audio, where users tend to be logged-in and cookies are absent anyway.
Advertisers need to have a robust strategy on how to leverage 1st Party Data and understand new identity options. Publishers require a reliable strategy for authentication of their readers in order to enable precise targeting options for their advertising clients.
IDENTITY ON THE OPEN INTERNET
The imminent demise of the cookie has led to the development of identity solutions that cover the entire internet, not just the browser, enabling targeting, frequency capping and measurement across all digital channels.
It is unlikely that only one solution will remain, but rather a patchwork of different options to assemble a meaningful depiction of consumer behaviour and engagement across all online channels. Interoperable open-source technologies like Unified ID 2.0 are likely to build a foundation to connect individual ID solutions.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING
The use of AI technology enables advertisers to maximise their ad budgets, optimise their campaigns and accelerate their performance by reaching their audiences where they spend their digital time. The strength of AI is its ability to analyze huge amounts of data to make data-driven insights much more accessible. For example, at The Trade Desk we evaluate about 13 million of these opportunities each second.
Programmatic advertising is a data-driven way of buying and selling advertising spaces across all devices, markets, and channels in real time.
Leading brands and advertisers use it across multiple touchpoints, including display, video, digital audio, connected TV and even digital out-of-home, which allows them to reach their target audience whenever and wherever they are exposed to content. Programmatic advertising also assists marketeers in measuring the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns, by providing real-time data on impressions, clicks, conversions, and therefore, tangible business outcomes.
RETAIL DATA FOR ADDED PRECISION
Retail data will be a crucial piece of the omnichannel puzzle as it provides an all-inclusive view of the broader digital marketing journey. Activating data from retailers to reach the right audiences on the entire open internet provides powerful insights for targeting and measuring success.
The decision by major retailers to offer data and information on shopper behavior is a key leap and opportunity for advertisers.
Retailers have potent information about shoppers – from their online browsing behaviors to what might have been in a cart and, most importantly, the items that make it to the final transaction. The ability for advertisers to extract insights from this data will radically change digital marketing, allowing brands to optimize and attribute touch points in the pursuit of the most important KPI of all: sales.
THE RISE OF CONNECTED TV (CTV)
According to a recent survey by The Trade Desk in partnership with market research company YouGov, UAE residents spend nine hours daily with digital media on various channels and devices outside of social media. Of that time spent on the open internet, streaming via Connected TV (CTV) accounts for 17 percent.
The rise of CTV viewing habits in the UAE is a result of the growth of streaming platforms and the availability of diverse content. The shift from traditional advertising channels to digital is inevitable, as consumers today spend a lot of time on connected devices, including smartphones, Connected TV or computers, and are exposed to digital out-of-home screens.
About three-quarters of digital time is in fact spent outside of social media. Understanding the customer journey and addressing the right people with the right frequency across these channels is key for efficient messaging by marketeers.
