How did the pandemic affect AdTech and MarTech industries?

On one hand the global pandemic transformed the way people consumed the internet, but also came a lot of obstacles concerning consumer privacy and other changes, transforming the AdTech and MarTech industry. Parvinder Singh of Ikokas shares his two cents.

Ad-tech and Mar-tech are no longer just good to have when it comes to managing a high-performing advertising and marketing strategy. These are essential tools. Not only has this been fragmented over the years, but they're also quickly evolving technologies that must pivot in reaction to new trends and laws regularly. Even Scott Brinker, the Godfather of Mar-tech, could not have predicted the rapid rate of digital change that will occur in 2020-21. Brinker had to amend his famous Martec’s Law illustration between tech change and organizational change as the rate of change exploded beyond everyone’s expectations.

2020-21 was a big year for the ad-tech and mar-tech industries. On one hand, a global pandemic transformed the way people consumed the internet, but also came into a lot of obstacles concerning consumer privacy and changes in the standard operating procedures for these ecosystems.

Some key trends have emerged over the last 12 months that we expect will change the face of ad & marketing in the coming years and beyond. Here are some solutions that can help you prepare for what's in store for you.

Consumer Privacy

For years, we've been seeing the writing on the wall, but 2021 is the final year to prepare for the elimination of third-party cookies. Since privacy has been a big concern, there has been some substantial progress towards compliance with privacy regulations. According to Consumer Privacy Research, 7 out of 10 consumers have taken steps to minimize data gathering when they are online. 

Except for Google Chrome, every other search engine has eliminated the third-party cookies which are used by more than half of the world's internet users.

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Brands must seek true collaborative partners and publishers, investigate the untapped possibilities of first-party cookies, and embrace alternative targeting approaches. Above all, we must have a good attitude.

CTV measurements 

The outbreak of the COVID-19 prompted widespread cord-cutting, with advertising closely tracking viewers. In April, even when marketers were grappling with budget cuts and changes to creative, we saw a 22 percent year-over-year increase in CTV ad impressions while video declined overall by 14 percent. This growth continued, with a 58 percent year-over-year increase in September.”

Advertisers will continue to emphasize "indoor living." This implies that marketers must continue to be innovative and find new methods to engage customers in their living rooms, such as utilizing growing digital video and connected television (CTV) viewing habits. CTV is showing signs of expansion, and investments in measurement, identification, interactive formats, and programmatic bidding will stand to benefit in investment in the ad-tech sector.

Contextual Targeting

Context marketing reveals the true nature of the web page. To determine content safety—in other words, its appropriateness for targeting—keyword blocking and URL block listing relies on a primitive linguistic interpretation. We anticipate that the wider picture of what content means will take center stage, reducing the risk of lost viewers, diminished scale, and insufficient advertising protection. 

One of the solutions to this could be contextual intelligence, which will provide greater insights into how consumers interact with specific material, which subjects are trending online, and how those patterns change over time to serve advertising campaigns.

Innovation & Automation 

As an increasing proportion of marketing targets personalized, data-driven, hyper-contextual experiences, according to Oracle Advertising and Customer Experience, the way companies and customers engage with one another has begun to blend. Given what's ahead for universal identifiers and the shift to 1st-party resources, a window of opportunity for true innovation in mar-tech and ad-tech opens up.

Conclusion

Prepare for the next year by learning more about consumer trends, advertising, and the pivotal technology that drives it. Expect a growing dependence on technologies that go beyond universal identifiers, as well as a variety of consumer attention and gadgets. As is often the case, where advertisers spend, money fraud follows, thus staying up to date on the newest measurement best practices will help you offer the best possible customer experience while also safeguarding your investments.

The article is penned by Parvinder Singh, Founder & CEO - Ikokas.