As a marketer, you know that the digital landscape is always changing. That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re equipped with the right tools every step of the way – no matter how rapidly things change. You want to ensure your strategies and tactics stay ahead of any changes in technology or consumer behavior, so what new marketing strategies should be in your toolbox in 2023?
Discover what industry leaders from Experian, Adweek, FreeWheel, Tubi, and Instacart had to say about what should be in every marketer’s toolbox in 2023 at Cannes.
Keep reading to learn the top four new marketing strategies you need in your marketing toolbox for 2023 and beyond.
1. A plan for signal loss
The first item you should have in your marketing toolbox is a plan for signal loss.
The phasing out of third-party cookies presents both a challenge and an opportunity. This shift not only poses challenges but also opens up opportunities for alternative strategies.
On the one hand, it makes it more difficult to track users across channels and measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. On the other hand, it forces marketers to focus on building relationships with their customers and collecting first-party data.
Consumer behavior is changing
When we consider signal loss in a traditional sense, we think of the implementation of iOS 14, where we couldn’t track click-based data from campaigns. It’s important to reflect on the fact that the paid media ecosystem needed to adapt to new consumer realities.
Younger demographics are less likely to click on ads and instead engage in video environments. They discover brands through platforms like TikTok or Instagram. It’s crucial to understand how people behave, where they discover products, and where influence takes place. This understanding becomes even more vital when targeting a young audience demographic.
Four things to consider when planning for signal loss
There are four things you should consider when building out a plan to address signal loss and fragmentation.
Channel diversification
You need to reach your customers on the channels where they are already spending time, such as social media, email, and your own website. You should work with platforms that have first-party data to understand how your customers interact with your brand.
Data privacy
You need to be transparent about how you are collecting and using customer data. You should also anonymize data whenever possible.
First-party data
First-party data is now more crucial than ever, awakening its importance in shaping our actions. The combination of channel diversification and first-party data will be essential in the years to come. By focusing on these two areas, you can build stronger customer relationships and create more effective marketing campaigns.
Contextual targeting
Contextual targeting is emerging as a viable method to deliver more relevant content to your intended audience.
By embracing signal loss, the alternative new marketing strategies that are emerging as a result, and adopting a privacy-centric mindset, you can navigate cookie deprecation.
2. Collaboration
The second item you should have in your marketing toolbox is collaboration within the AdTech ecosystem.
To address signal loss and changes in privacy, moving toward a more collaborative, holistic marketing ecosystem is key.
Two ways we can achieve better collaboration
Here are two ways we can create better collaboration in the AdTech ecosystem.
Enable interoperability
We should aim to create an ecosystem that fosters collaboration between marketers, publishers, advertisers, ad tech companies, and more. When we enable seamless interoperability, everyone can use the best data available.
Use clean rooms
We are witnessing a growing trend of collaboration between parties, where buyers and sellers share data in these secure environments. Clean rooms can help us develop data strategies in a controlled manner.
3. Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
The third tool you should have in your marketing toolbox is generative AI.
Benefits of implementing AI
There are three main benefits to implementing AI within your marketing strategy.
Enables creativity
Although AI and machine learning have long been part of our toolbox, this moment marks an extraordinary acceleration that expands our capabilities. Copywriters can now create visuals, and art directors can write compelling copy. It’s an extension of what we’re capable of, potentially alleviating the burden of repetitive tasks and enabling more time for collaboration, creativity, and strategic thinking.
By embracing generative AI, we can preserve valuable talent, prevent burnout, and invigorate the advertising industry.
Enables more personalization
The rise of personalization with AI has significantly increased the demand for tailored experiences. People now willingly allow AI agents to read their emails, hoping for quicker and easier responses. This shift signifies a change in the previous emphasis on privacy and consumer preferences. Consumers now see the value in exchanging personal information for more targeted services.
E-commerce has already witnessed this transformation with customized ads based on individual preferences and behaviors. For instance, if a CPG brand notices you’re not purchasing meat, they won’t serve you ads for meat products.
However, it’s crucial to strike the right balance between being useful and intrusive. Users want relevant information that aligns with their needs without feeling intruded upon.
As we navigate this path, we must ensure that personalization remains beneficial and respectful of user preferences.
Helps drive impactful results and customer satisfaction
The tool is a perfect analogy for improving your job performance and business operations. Having the right data input to feed the machine is crucial, just like using the right ingredients to cook a perfect meal. Keeping the consumer in mind throughout the process is key. You can ensure customer satisfaction by putting the right ingredients in and allowing the machine to work its magic. Scaling up, repeating, and refining the process will drive impactful results.
4. First-party data
The fourth item you should have in your marketing toolbox is first-party data.
Benefits of implementing a first-party data strategy
Moving from a third-party cookie world to a first-party cookie world brings about significant transformation. Here are two benefits of implementing a first-party data strategy.
Greater accuracy
The shift to first-party cookies ensures greater accuracy, enabling us to establish critical mass through secure partnerships. This empowers us to strengthen and refine our personalization capabilities, much like Amazon’s ability to anticipate customer needs before they arise. When you can predict and understand customer behaviors with remarkable precision, you can reach your customers with tailored and creative ads.
“Building a robust first-party data strategy should be a central discussion for marketers, involving key stakeholders such as CEOs and CMOs. Quality and precise data are paramount, and while first-party relationships with consumers form the foundation, even established brands benefit from strategic partnerships. Together, we can unlock the potential of accurate and meaningful data-driven marketing.”
jeremy hlavacek, cco, experian
Identify high-growth audiences
First-party data can help you identify audiences with the greatest growth potential, ultimately optimizing marketing dollars for greater efficiency.
Watch our Cannes panel for more new marketing strategies for 2023
We hosted a panel with Adweek in Cannes that covered what should be in every marketer’s toolbox this year. Check out the full recording below to hear from leaders at Tubi, Freewheel, Instacart, Adweek, and Experian.
Check out more Cannes content:
- Our key takeaways from Cannes Lions 2023
- Insights from a first-time attendee
- Exploring the opportunities in streaming TV advertising
- The future of identity in cookieless advertising
- Maximize ad targeting with supply-side advertising
Follow us on LinkedIn or sign up for our email newsletter for more informative content on the latest industry insights and data-driven marketing.
Latest posts
The importance of affiliate marketing as a marketing channel is evident; it ranks as one of the most effective marketing channels for retailers, along with paid search and e-mail. While effective affiliate marketing relies on two groups, the publishers (affiliates) who display advertisements online and the advertisers (merchants) who aim to increase sales for their online shop, incorporating insights from Experian Marketing Services’ Hitwise can strengthen affiliate programs. I recently worked with Rakuten LinkShare on a webinar which highlights how their affiliate marketing services partnered with Hitwise create a proven package for success by providing valuable and actionable insights to affiliate marketers in understanding and targeting key consumer segments. Identify sites sending traffic to your category For our case study, we examined a custom category of Rakuten LinkShare department store clients and compared them with a category of department store non-clients. Using Hitwise, we examined which publisher sites sent traffic to each of the categories in order to identify the best affiliates to partner with. Among the top 20 publisher websites, a number of fashion and style content websites were sources of traffic to LinkShare Department store clients. Fashion and trend focused affiliate sites, namely ShopStyle and Polyvore, pointed to clear fashion editorial interest amongst those who visited LinkShare department store clients. Consider search terms used to capture consumer interest and intent Next, we looked at generic terms that sent traffic to affiliate site ShopStyle. Terms included searches for products sold in department stores such as variations of “heels” and “dresses”. The data indicates that ShopStyle is a good candidate to partner with because it attracted visits from those who are interested in fashion, looking for a deal, and who are likely in-market for specific products. Monitor effectiveness of affiliate programs and make timely decisions Hitwise can also be used by marketers to evaluate the effectiveness of their affiliate partnerships. For this example, we were able to show that Rakuten LinkShare affiliates sent a larger share of traffic to department store clients versus non-clients, pointing to a clear benefit from affiliate partnerships. As affiliate marketing is an increasingly critical channel for marketers, the importance of selecting the best and most relevant publishers is clear. When used in conjunction with affiliate marketing programs, Hitwise enables marketers to understand competitors’ online distribution and sources of traffic, select the best affiliates to partner with, and quantify the return on investment from partnerships.
New data from Experian Marketing Services’ Simmons® ConnectSM mobile and digital panel sheds light on the way smartphone users spend time using their phone, with the average adult clocking 58 minutes daily on their device. On average, smartphone owners devote 26% of the time they spend on their phone talking and another 20% texting. Social networking eats up 16% of smartphone time while browsing the mobile web accounts for 14% of time spent. Emailing and playing games account for roughly 9% and 8% of daily smartphone time, respectively, while use of the phone’s camera and GPS each take up another 2% of our smartphone day. *Activities include use of a smartphone’s native features dedicated to each activity as well as downloaded apps whose primary function falls under the given activity. For instance, “watch video” includes the act of watching video on the smartphone’s native video player as well as use of video apps such as YouTube, Netflix, etc. iPhone versus Android users Smartphone users may constantly debate which operating system is supreme, but we see clear differences between the ways consumers use their phone depending on the operating system that runs it. For starters, iPhone users spend an hour and fifteen minutes using their phones per day, a full 26 minutes more than the typical Android phone owner. Additionally, iPhone and Android smartphone owners use their phones in markedly different ways. For instance, 28% of the time that Android users spend using their phones is dedicated to talking, whereas iPhone users spend only 22% of their smartphone time talking on the device. Android owners also devote a greater share of time visiting websites on their phone than iPhone owners. On the other hand, iPhone owners spend a disproportionately greater share of smartphone time than Android owners texting, emailing, using the camera and social networking. Note on time spent It may surprise some to read that an activity like watching video accounts for such a small share (less than 1%) of the typical adult’s daily smartphone use. However, for the charts above to sum to a single daily total it was necessary to calculate individual activity contribution using a base of all smartphone owners, including those who don’t spend any time engaging in a given activity during a typical day. The chart below provides additional insights into the time spent engaging in the major smartphone activities examining only those individuals who engaged in each activity during a 24-hour period. I’ve also added into the chart a reach and frequency metric to indicate the popularity of each activity and the number of times per day that individuals engage in them. In the chart, the activities with the largest bubbles are those in which the greatest share of smartphone owners engage during a typical day and include the usual suspects: talking (79%), texting (76%), visiting websites (62%), emailing (61%) and social networking (52%). Activities with the fewest daily participants are: watching video, which 2.3% of smartphone owners do during a typical day, and reading, which just 0.5% of smartphone owners do daily. Given that nearly 98% of smartphone users don’t watch videos on their phone during a typical day, it’s easier to understand why video comprises such a low share of the average adult’s daily smartphone use. However, the chart above reveals that those who do watch video on their phone spend, on average, 5 minutes a day watching videos spread out over 4.2 different viewing sessions. For more information on consumers’ usage of smartphones, digital tablets, computers and other traditional and digital media platforms, check out Simmons Connect.
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that President Barack Obama signed into law in early 2010, healthcare providers are expanding their outreach to as many Americans as possible. In an effort to improve overall care, state and local healthcare agencies are performing health information exchanges (HIEs), electronically exchanging patient data. HIEs provide a new level of access to health information, but data quality needs to be of paramount importance. Patients’ medical records include contact information, such as mailing addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. Entering this data into forms is a process rife with opportunities for human error. Data fields are often riddled with incorrect formatting, typographical errors and contacts that are correct but outdated. Patients’ medical records must be corrected in order to ensure quality care. Several precautions must be taken before an HIE migration. Before outstanding paper records are digitally imported, records should be wiped clean of any mistakes and software tools should be used to verify addresses and eliminate duplicate records. Review this new HIE infographic to better understand the role data quality plays in HIE migrations.