While AI helps streamline processes and delivery for advertising campaigns, it does not replace a “hands on keyboard” approach from paid media teams – especially since authenticity remains a priority for consumers:

• 46% of Gen Z feel apprehensive about companies using AI in supposedly genuine social media interactions.
• 20-30% of Baby Boomers are less comfortable using AI tech, and only 29% were okay with companies using AI for advertising on social media.

Odds are you’ve seen a celebrity or an influencer in an ad and thought, “There’s no way that person is endorsing this product.” Like you, consumers want to know which ads are authentic, not deep fakes or stolen content. 

Paid media agencies should always help make sure your brand comes across as trustworthy. They must also monitor all relevant laws and platform regulations as well as all media channel best practices specific to your campaign needs. 

2. It’s Time to Take Performance Creative to the Next Level

Performance creative, which integrates creative assets and paid media tactics, should be a non-negotiable part of your advertising plans. 

We all test and measure campaigns, but it’s no longer just about colors and font sizes. There are performance creative solutions (many AI-based) that allow us to go deeper as your media agency partnering with your creative team – think: sentiment and attention. 

• Sentiment measures emotional responses to advertising messages, which informs the likelihood of a user converting
• Attention metrics track engagement, incorporating multiple data points to shape media mix recommendations and attribution modeling tactics. 

As AI expands, we suspect it will tap into sentiment and attention even more to serve personalized ads with advanced accuracy. That said, authenticity and the human component remain crucial. AI might tell you the dwell time on your ad is higher based on creative inputs, but is the ad still authentic to your brand? This is where your paid media and creative teams must be in alignment, working for the greater good of your campaign goals, not working in siloes.

While it’s now more efficient to develop data-informed creative assets, media partners can advise on what/how you should implement them in your campaigns. Plus, performance creative helps your bottom line: creative, effective ads can generate more than 4x as much profit. 

3. The Dust is Not Settling On Programmatic Buying

In today’s marketplace, programmatic media buying is a reigning method. Innovation, competitors, inventory, bidding strategies, and attribution tactics are all booming:

• In 2023, programmatic advertising accounted for a whopping 90% of all digital display ad spend in the U.S. 
• Programmatic digital display ad spending is forecast to grow by nearly 16% in 2024, and programmatic digital video by a huge 21%. 

What’s all the fanfare about? Agencies can do real-time optimizations on vast amounts of data because it’s all in one place. That means you receive efficient reporting and effective cross-screen measurement. 

First, make sure you have the right data partners in place. Your paid media partner should be working with multiple DSPs. Marketing Doctor works with 5+ DSPs currently. Why?

• There is no one-size-fits all DSP: they all have varying capabilities, nuances, data sets, and benefits.
• Your needs come first: we curate our DSP stack to best meet each client goal, preferences, industry regulations, and compliance standards.
• Brand recognition is not enough: just because a DSP has tenure does not mean it’s reliable (as we witnessed with the demise of MediaMath)

As new programmatic platforms pop up (e.g. for dOOH, terrestrial radio, local TV), it’s important to work with a paid media agency that has their finger on the pulse, a solid vendor roster, and nimble expertise to handle the DSP that truly fits your campaign needs best.

4. Integrated Traditional Media Is Not As Fragmented As It Appears

Reality check: the web of video and audio channels is growing, but it’s still one ecosystem. 

The same major players are at the helm; they’re just packaging their services differently to find new audiences, connect with existing audiences in new ways, and gauge what people are willing to pay for (e.g. ads vs. no ads). 

Streaming services continued to gain momentum in 2023:

• Cable TV accounted for almost 30% of viewing time
• Broadcast television made up 23.5%
• Streaming video services took the cake, reaching nearly 39% of total view time
• 70% of Americans over 12 have listened to streaming audio in the past month
• Podcast listenership raised to 42% of Americans over 12

With nearly 92% of users 16 to 64 watching content via streaming platforms, it’s easy to see why advertisers favor YouTube and Connected TV (CTV) over linear TV. That being said, major 2024 events like the Olympics and the presidential election will temporarily increase ad spend, with forecasts suggesting over $60 billion.

Even though it’s one ecosystem, the traditional media landscape can still feel like a convoluted web. Work with paid media partners who understand the nuances of the industry because one thing’s for sure – it’s not slowing down. Your media planners should be recommending holistic video and audio strategies rather than siloed platform tactics. 

5. Paid Media Forecasting and Modeling Innovation is on the Rise

The cookie phase-out is in motion and marketing technology is iterating on new, privacy-centric methods to measure paid media touchpoints:

• On one hand: new approaches to identity resolution like The Trade Desk’s UID2 are gaining traction. 
• On the other: there are still many companies tinkering with AI to fill in measurement gaps. Some are even developing their own statistical modeling. Almost 90% of marketers who used AI in 2022 employed technology to resolve customer identity issues  

What does that mean? Forecasting and modeling have been the status quo in paid media for a while, but the approach might be different in 2024. There are other metrics and factors to consider. For example: How are media measurement tools evolving in a way that goes beyond click-through rate? 

Your paid media team should assess and adopt forecasting and modeling tools that evolve alongside the industry. Simultaneously, check to see if they have a grasp on privacy engineering: the practice of building tools and processes that apply privacy and protections to personal data. Efficient, accurate media planning is all well and good, but only if the campaign accounts for the latest in data privacy and compliance.

Navigating the Paid Media Rollercoaster Together

Staying ahead isn’t just about knowing the trends; it’s about acting on them, with a proactive agency team at your side. Marketing Doctor is your go-to strategic partner to navigate the turbulent paid media world. Whether you’re feeling enthusiastic or stressed out, we’re ready to dive in together. Let’s talk.

Raise your hand if you’re riding an emotional advertising rollercoaster to kick off the year. Maybe you’re overwhelmed or maybe you’re more enthusiastic than ever about how the paid media industry is evolving. Either way, there’s a lot to take in, so let’s get to it. 

1. AI is Driving the Need for Authenticity in Paid Media

Whether you love it or hate it, no one can ignore the reality of AI anymore. Many marketers feel like AI is missing the mark with 60% concerned it can harm their brand’s reputation due to bias, plagiarism, or misalignment of brand values. 

However, AI has been an under-the-radar asset in the paid media world for years:

• Consumer behavior is complicated. Ever-expanding data availability makes it challenging to manually digest and prone to human error.
• AI via platform algorithms and machine learning fosters insights and makes real-time decisions to refine ad delivery without bias or subjectivity.

While AI helps streamline processes and delivery for advertising campaigns, it does not replace a “hands on keyboard” approach from paid media teams – especially since authenticity remains a priority for consumers:

• 46% of Gen Z feel apprehensive about companies using AI in supposedly genuine social media interactions.
• 20-30% of Baby Boomers are less comfortable using AI tech, and only 29% were okay with companies using AI for advertising on social media.

Odds are you’ve seen a celebrity or an influencer in an ad and thought, “There’s no way that person is endorsing this product.” Like you, consumers want to know which ads are authentic, not deep fakes or stolen content. 

Paid media agencies should always help make sure your brand comes across as trustworthy. They must also monitor all relevant laws and platform regulations as well as all media channel best practices specific to your campaign needs. 

2. It’s Time to Take Performance Creative to the Next Level

Performance creative, which integrates creative assets and paid media tactics, should be a non-negotiable part of your advertising plans. 

We all test and measure campaigns, but it’s no longer just about colors and font sizes. There are performance creative solutions (many AI-based) that allow us to go deeper as your media agency partnering with your creative team – think: sentiment and attention. 

• Sentiment measures emotional responses to advertising messages, which informs the likelihood of a user converting
• Attention metrics track engagement, incorporating multiple data points to shape media mix recommendations and attribution modeling tactics. 

As AI expands, we suspect it will tap into sentiment and attention even more to serve personalized ads with advanced accuracy. That said, authenticity and the human component remain crucial. AI might tell you the dwell time on your ad is higher based on creative inputs, but is the ad still authentic to your brand? This is where your paid media and creative teams must be in alignment, working for the greater good of your campaign goals, not working in siloes.

While it’s now more efficient to develop data-informed creative assets, media partners can advise on what/how you should implement them in your campaigns. Plus, performance creative helps your bottom line: creative, effective ads can generate more than 4x as much profit. 

3. The Dust is Not Settling On Programmatic Buying

In today’s marketplace, programmatic media buying is a reigning method. Innovation, competitors, inventory, bidding strategies, and attribution tactics are all booming:

• In 2023, programmatic advertising accounted for a whopping 90% of all digital display ad spend in the U.S. 
• Programmatic digital display ad spending is forecast to grow by nearly 16% in 2024, and programmatic digital video by a huge 21%. 

What’s all the fanfare about? Agencies can do real-time optimizations on vast amounts of data because it’s all in one place. That means you receive efficient reporting and effective cross-screen measurement. 

First, make sure you have the right data partners in place. Your paid media partner should be working with multiple DSPs. Marketing Doctor works with 5+ DSPs currently. Why?

• There is no one-size-fits all DSP: they all have varying capabilities, nuances, data sets, and benefits.
• Your needs come first: we curate our DSP stack to best meet each client goal, preferences, industry regulations, and compliance standards.
• Brand recognition is not enough: just because a DSP has tenure does not mean it’s reliable (as we witnessed with the demise of MediaMath)

As new programmatic platforms pop up (e.g. for dOOH, terrestrial radio, local TV), it’s important to work with a paid media agency that has their finger on the pulse, a solid vendor roster, and nimble expertise to handle the DSP that truly fits your campaign needs best.

4. Integrated Traditional Media Is Not As Fragmented As It Appears

Reality check: the web of video and audio channels is growing, but it’s still one ecosystem. 

The same major players are at the helm; they’re just packaging their services differently to find new audiences, connect with existing audiences in new ways, and gauge what people are willing to pay for (e.g. ads vs. no ads). 

Streaming services continued to gain momentum in 2023:

• Cable TV accounted for almost 30% of viewing time
• Broadcast television made up 23.5%
• Streaming video services took the cake, reaching nearly 39% of total view time
• 70% of Americans over 12 have listened to streaming audio in the past month
• Podcast listenership raised to 42% of Americans over 12

With nearly 92% of users 16 to 64 watching content via streaming platforms, it’s easy to see why advertisers favor YouTube and Connected TV (CTV) over linear TV. That being said, major 2024 events like the Olympics and the presidential election will temporarily increase ad spend, with forecasts suggesting over $60 billion.

Even though it’s one ecosystem, the traditional media landscape can still feel like a convoluted web. Work with paid media partners who understand the nuances of the industry because one thing’s for sure – it’s not slowing down. Your media planners should be recommending holistic video and audio strategies rather than siloed platform tactics. 

5. Paid Media Forecasting and Modeling Innovation is on the Rise

The cookie phase-out is in motion and marketing technology is iterating on new, privacy-centric methods to measure paid media touchpoints:

• On one hand: new approaches to identity resolution like The Trade Desk’s UID2 are gaining traction. 
• On the other: there are still many companies tinkering with AI to fill in measurement gaps. Some are even developing their own statistical modeling. Almost 90% of marketers who used AI in 2022 employed technology to resolve customer identity issues  

What does that mean? Forecasting and modeling have been the status quo in paid media for a while, but the approach might be different in 2024. There are other metrics and factors to consider. For example: How are media measurement tools evolving in a way that goes beyond click-through rate? 

Your paid media team should assess and adopt forecasting and modeling tools that evolve alongside the industry. Simultaneously, check to see if they have a grasp on privacy engineering: the practice of building tools and processes that apply privacy and protections to personal data. Efficient, accurate media planning is all well and good, but only if the campaign accounts for the latest in data privacy and compliance.

Navigating the Paid Media Rollercoaster Together

Staying ahead isn’t just about knowing the trends; it’s about acting on them, with a proactive agency team at your side. Marketing Doctor is your go-to strategic partner to navigate the turbulent paid media world. Whether you’re feeling enthusiastic or stressed out, we’re ready to dive in together. Let’s talk.