The NDA Predictions Hub, in association with Xandr, is dedicated to insight and inspiration from some of our industry’s leading figures to help you make sense of how digital marketing and media will develop in 2022.
The predictions of our experts though may leave readers wondering exactly how they can shape their own marketing strategies to fit the trends identified. So as part our Predictions Hub, Xandr’s own experts will be stepping in to help with the answers.
Diversity should always be front and centre for any industry, particularly advertising. More than half of people identify with having one or more characteristics of diversity, and companies that actively support diversity are more profitable than those who don’t. But spending doesn’t often reflect this.
Often this isn’t from lack of will, but simply not knowing where to start or how to pull the right levers. And it can seem strange for such an emotive topic to say ‘yes, technology is the answer’. And yet it is, in part.
First, marketers are concerned about scalability. How is it possible to create a diverse media plan that both reflects the audience but delivers on efficiency. Technology is there to support that, making the choices and building a plan that delivers on both counts.
Brand safety is another concern, with overly rigid settings that are blocking access to key communities. Even if your campaign is diverse at heart, the execution risks undermining it. Tech that can help you navigate brand safety nuances is key to inclusivity.
Curated marketplaces also allow brands to buy scaled audiences enriched with data that makes sure they are a fit. By bringing niche players together, they become scalable and can be bought from a single, one deal ID. These aren’t tools that are specifically designed to bring diversity to the business – they’re essential to shaping the future of a more efficient, effective and accurate media plan – but in doing so they’re helping bring diversity to the table in a more effective way than ever before.
Finally, measurement and transparency go hand-in-hand and will play a critical role in establishing trust. In making claims to diversity, brands are under more scrutiny than ever before. It can lead to hesitancy and ‘playing it safe’ when it comes to diversity. Technology allows you to measure your media plan’s performance in ways much more effective and revelatory than using CPM as the core performance indicator.
Similarly, it gives brands much greater visibility over their spend – is it going to the right publisher, is it genuinely feeding an open, diverse internet rather than propping up the usual suspects.
By making sure spend is reaching its intended destination – and delivering proven results for advertisers on those platforms – tech helps advertisers support content aimed at diverse audiences. Emotional intelligence and cultural sensitivity may be at the heart of diversity, but technology is what powers it.
