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Make digital media work for you in 2012

With the new year kicking off, here are five digital media trends to watch out for in 2012.

With the new year kicking off, here are five digital media trends to watch out for in 2012.

Clicks are an incomplete metric

Online advertising has a far more important role to play than simply to encourage clicks. Marketers must be careful to not fall into the trap of using the click above all other available metrics. Agencies and clients have a long way to go until they get their measurements right. Currently, the vast majority of online media buys are based on a performance-based metric, such as customer clicks – even though all the evidence shows click-through rates (CTRs) are plunging. But this is not to suggest that online ads are ineffective. Indeed, research shows digital advertising grows awareness of a brand and purchase intent. For digital to work, it is imperative to set right objectives and right parameters of evaluations. Agencies/marketers will invest in technologies which could help achieve the objectives.

Demand side platforms will enter digital space

The buying and selling of advertising will become more automated. In digital, media supply outstrips demand, so traditional pricing models are not appropriate for many campaigns, bar the most sought-after content. Data volunteered and collected from web users can be used to target advertising. Audience behavioural targeting will become the norm, rather than contextual advertising, or traditional demographic targeting.

Technology can automate the buying and selling process, with inventory being aggregated in ‘exchanges’ on the sell side, and buyers bidding for audiences into those exchanges via DSP ? Demand Side Platform (an advertising technology platform which allows marketers to manage their online media campaigns by facilitating the buying of auction based display media and audience data across multiple inventory and data suppliers) technology on the buy side. Buyers plug into the exchanges to select what they want based on a number of criteria such as demographics, content type, location, and the history of other sites visited. Advertising through exchanges can be more effective; some studies show that there is a higher ad visibility compared to standard network buys. This now exists for display, video and mobile.

More brands will embrace mobile marketing

Mobile devices offer more than just a way to drive purchase; they can also build experiences that deepen brand engagement. As smartphone penetration grows, many brands see mobile as another potential consumer touch point. In other words, it’s an opportunity for ?mobile marketing?, which continues to grow exponentially. Moving beyond mobile marketing, brands are increasingly marketing mobile as a way of transacting business and increasing sales. Juniper Research forecasts worldwide mobile payments at $240 billion in 2011, and grow over 2.5 times by 2015. Brands need to determine what role mobile can best play in their efforts. While it’s easy to become enamoured of mobile as the next new thing, not everyone and everything needs an app. Just because we can be there, doesn’t mean we should be.

Don?t forget your creative

Advertising on digital has become more sophisticated, and production costs associated with rich media and video campaigns continue to rise. But it is still very less in comparison to traditional creative. Now is the time for creative to take centre-stage in digital advertising. Most of the brands just adapt the offline creative to online without even considering the nature of online ad units being used (whether it is standard creative or it is an expandable creative). Brands need to sit and think of ways to make their creative interesting in online space. More and more brands will realize this. We can expect brand to have a right creative strategy in future.

Local-mobile-social convergence

The emergence of location-based services, such as Facebook Places, Twitter Places, and Foursquare, is clearly a game-changer on the web. Social networking sites are more locally focused. Online media are now the primary source of local business information and a huge competition is underway to determine who the dominant force becomes in local search. More consumers are using social networking sites and their mobile devices to find nearby local businesses and things to do (e.g., restaurants, movies and shops).

Consumers are choosing where to go and what to do based upon online recommendations and reviews from their friends and connections, the people whom they trust the most. This is true whether they’re close to home or they’re traveling. Location based services(apps, technologies, services etc) will gain momentum.

The writer is CEO, Lintas Initiative Media

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First published on: 31-01-2012 at 06:41 IST
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