How Can Advertisers Survive 2022?

Anida Rajapakse16.02.2022Marketing

I have recently read that data tells a story. I am sure many of you would agree with it. However, it depends very much on how you tell the story. I have always been hooked on data, finding patterns and making up stories out of them. One of my favorite drawing exercises as a kid was connecting the dots to create the image. I remember there was a dash of excitement in trying to gauge what the dots represented. Dot by dot, the image gets clearer and then you see if your assumptions at the start were correct. Through finding data and patterns, I ended up in academia.

The daily tasks of a PhD researcher involve collecting data, following trends, interpreting the data, connecting it into a meaningful story, and suggesting sensible application in practice. No magic, only pure facts. In the digital advertising industry, you multiply that by 10. This is how fast things change. Yet, one has to stay up-to-date. How do you do that?

It is already old news that we live in different times. The golden age of digital advertising is still on, only with many more changes than ever. Even for an academic, used to trends and data, it is sometimes hard to track it all.

The next chapter in digital advertising

At the start of 2022, I took over some new exciting responsibilities at Optiweb. They largely focus on utilizing and optimizing processes within the advertising team and upgrading the services we offer to our clients. Additionally, we put great emphasis on navigating the direction our advertising team is going in and strengthening our knowledge and confidence to stay prepared for the coming year. With even more things on your plate, where do you even start?

In the whirlwind of changes in the industry, I was thinking about what to say to my colleagues on how do we prepare ourselves for the next chapter in digital advertising, what do we focus on. The first months of the year are behind us, we have shaken off the post-holiday fatigue and are ready to kick-start the strategy for the coming months. With the pandemic still going strong, mixed and matched restrictions, cut budgets and billions of blog posts on the “future of digital advertising”, one can easily get lost. We need to make this year count, so I handpicked some of the important aspects to use as a basis in building our advertising strategy in 2022. Prepare for a joyride of inspiration (I hope). Let’s roll.

Mix and match approach

I have learned so far that the winning strategy is always the combination of organic and paid traffic. No doubt there. So advertisers, stay close to your SEO experts, or even better, user experience experts.

Source: 1SEO webinar “New Marketing Ideas, Strategies & Channels For 2022”

However, Paid Search has really changed, because it includes all different things out there. According to 1SEO research, 96% of time online is spent outside search results on websites, applications, YouTube, Gmail and social networks. It does not come down to your search terms anymore. In translation, an average person spends 3 min in an hour proactively searching. The rest is a nudge we need to create. We have to expand the content, offer videos, Display Ads, Discovery ads etc.

The same research points out that 80% of people say they typically switch between online search and videos when researching products to buy. Let’s not overlook that.

All eyes on social media

Speaking of buying, are we to expect hordes of people going back to physical shops any time soon? Well, I don’t think so. Analysis says that social media spending is the new big thing. Therefore, 2022 is on track to be a record-breaking year for ad spend on social media. Pretty crazy, right? Why will this happen? Well, shopping is faster, less stressful and let’s be honest – it works perfectly well. Moreover, you can shop on your phone. We have seen it.

Pandemic proved it. It works. As a consequence, mobile ad spend skyrocketed by 23% YoY in 2021, and is expected to reach $350 billion by the end of 2022. We, advertisers need to carefully think about this when pointing out the benefits of online shopping and utilizing each channel and each device. All eyes on social media, folks. And yes, think mobile too!

Do not put all eggs in one basket

When I say social media, I am not talking about Meta only. No doubts Meta will continue to dominate. And yes, Instagram is again the platform to get a large portion of attention in 2022. However, it is and always has been a dangerous thing to put all eggs into one basket. Investors would agree. We need to diversify channels and investments.

Don’t think only Google. Think LinkedIn. Think TikTok. Think about an omnichannel approach. Basically, think whatever suits your client’s business goals and audience. Or even beyond that. Let’s take TikTok as an example. With the growth of TikTok and short form video content, brands need to find new and exciting ways to reach their audience. At the same time, LinkedIn continues to be a rising star in the digital space. And how do you know if something works or not? Magic words for advertisers: A/B testing.

His majesty, A/B testing

Before you throw down your entire social media budget on an ad, it helps to run versions of it by smaller audiences to see their reaction. Testing is always the number one advice I give as a mentor. I also truly believe in its power. There are numerous options to A/B test on social media and other platforms. Don’t underestimate the power of it. Our advertising team has now included A/B testing in the regular tasks list and we will plan them carefully and thoroughly in 2022. One of the challenges ahead of us is getting to know the audience, not to mention the news regarding cookie policy changes.

With or without testing, one thing is certain – first-party data will no longer be seen as “nice to have” but as “need to have”. With the deprecation of cookies, businesses will need to create valuable content in exchange for their audience’s data which they can then use for email marketing, retargeting and web personalization. A/B testing will play a big role here, allowing us to observe, understand and assess the response we are getting.

When the customer comes first, the customer will last

Modern era customers are hard to get (and even harder to keep). Digital advertising is a tough long-distance relationship. The moment you are not paying attention, the customer goes to the competition. It all happens in a matter of a few clicks. This will continue to be a great challenge for us. We need to be proactive and keep the flame burning.

One of the most important challenges of 2022 will be implementing the retention strategy. It should not be neglected. My team is keen on creating advertising strategies across the entire funnel and we will pursue them in the upcoming months. Depending on the company or product life cycle, we distribute the budget, adapt the communication and optimize targeting.

Walt Disney once said:

Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.

It all comes down to this. It should continue to be an everlasting mantra for customer management.

Humans or AI?

At the end of the day, modern digital ads are heavily reliant on automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning. At the end of 2021, Google reported on the novelties in its MUM AI algorithm that allow entirely new ways to search on Google. One would wonder: Where is a place for a human advertiser there? Well, algorithms do not think creatively and strategically, humans do. We need to make sure – all things considered – what truly drives the growth of our client’s businesses and focus, focus, focus. We are strategic brains and this is the direction to strive towards. We still create experiences.

Silver lining

With this in mind, I go back to the start, thinking what is the silver lining? What will drive us through yet another bumpy year in digital advertising? Where do we start? In my head, somehow, it all comes to this: we have to remind ourselves that we are not doing yet another operational work, setting up campaigns and tracking the number of conversions. We create experiences by thinking in funnels, observing the audience, driving the traffic, boosting the performance and optimizing the approach to attract new and nurture existing customers. And all to keep the magic alive. Here is to another creative and strategic year ahead!

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Anida Rajapakse

Digital Advertising Team Lead

Digital Marketing Specialist at Optiweb. My mission is to focus on data and results and based on that bring clients’ campaigns to the next level.

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How Can Advertisers Survive 2022?

The next chapter in digital advertising

Mix and match approach

All eyes on social media

Do not put all eggs in one basket

His majesty, A/B testing

When the customer comes first, the customer will last

Humans or AI?

Silver lining

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Anida Rajapakse

Digital Advertising Team Lead

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