Mumbai: 2023 was an eventful year for digital advertising, where AI emerged as a driving force. Marketers also witnessed the rise in the popularity of Connected TV (CTV), improvements in the programmatic advertising ecosystem and a shifting focus from third-party to first-party data, amongst others. With 2024 on the horizon, the digital marketing industry is gearing up for the year ahead. Marketers and brands are planning their digital strategies for the upcoming year, keeping in mind trends that will shape the industry. Let’s look at the most notable trends that will shape the landscape of the ad tech industry in 2024:

●   Artificial Intelligence (AI) will revolutionise the digital advertising industry by helping marketers to deliver better results: AI is revolutionising the digital advertising industry from personalising ads to targeting audiences, measuring effectiveness to preventing ad fraud and creating engaging content. AI enables advertisers to improve their campaigns and deliver better results; one of the most significant impacts of AI on digital advertising is the ability to personalise ads to individual users and tailor their ads to be more relevant and engaging, leading to higher click-through and conversion rates. This helps to reduce wasted ad spend and improve the performance of campaigns. AI is also transforming how advertisers measure the effectiveness of their campaigns by analysing user interactions with ads, such as clicks, views, and conversions, advertisers can get a more accurate picture of how their campaigns are performing. This information can then be used to optimise campaigns for better results. As AI becomes more affordable and accessible, more and more digital marketers are expected to adopt it in the coming years.

●   The increasing importance of data privacy to build trust and ensure compliance: With privacy concerns on the rise, 83% of consumers want more control over their personal information, according to PwC. Marketers will prioritise privacy-centric practices, including transparent data collection, explicit consent, and secure data handling, to build trust and ensure compliance with privacy regulations. As users become more aware of their rights and we head towards the deprecation of the cookie, advertisers must find ways to target and measure ads without relying on outdated methods of collecting data that consumers feel invade their privacy. Contextual targeting is a type of advertising that delivers ads based on the context of the content that a user is viewing, and it helps marketers target ads effectively through a combination of sources like content placement, sentiment, consumer mindsets and more using elements of AI and machine-learning like natural-language processing. This is becoming increasingly popular as it offers a more privacy-friendly way to target ads.

●   CTV advertising becoming mainstream: The shift towards streaming and CTV marketing will continue gaining momentum in 2024. This is a growing market, as more and more people are cutting the cord and watching TV online. To understand how big CTV is in India, we need not look further than the viewing numbers and advertising prices for the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

  CTV advertising offers several advantages over traditional TV advertising, such as targeting ads more precisely and measuring their effectiveness more accurately. As consumers increasingly embrace streaming platforms and CTV devices, advertisers will allocate more resources to reach audiences in these digital environments. This will result in increased investments in CTV advertising, with brands leveraging programmatic targeting, data-driven insights, and dynamic ad insertion to deliver personalised and impactful ads to viewers.

The ad tech industry continues to evolve rapidly. As marketers continue to pursue their goal of delivering impact digital campaigns, they will seek innovative, effective and privacy-compliant approaches. By harnessing these trends, they can stay ahead of the curve to drive superior results. Developing solutions centred around the consumer will help enable advertisers to maximise their return on ad spends and enable publishers to better monetise their properties.

Here are some additional comments:

How has the year 2023 been for your clients and the company/agency they work for? What are some of the trends that developed in the year?

With the launch of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the spotlight on data privacy has become more intense, resulting in marketers becoming more aware of data privacy regulations and consumer privacy,  thus taking steps to adapt to a cookie-less world.

The popularity of short-form video content platforms and emerging mediums such as audio (podcasts), gaming, and Connected TV (CTV) has encouraged marketers to experiment with emerging media channels and invest in A/B testing. These mediums continue to attract marketers as they help target ads more precisely and measure their effectiveness more accurately.

We continue to see increased adaptability and educational awareness towards ad verification solutions for our Indian brands and advertisers.

Some of the trends that developed in the year are mentioned below:

●   CTV advertising grew in popularity.

●   Retail media networks (like Flipkart, Amazon) continue to evolve and expand their capabilities. They will undoubtedly become an indispensable tool for advertisers seeking to maximise their impact in the digital realm.

●   Increasing focus on data privacy as marketers began pivoting to first-party data.

●   Dominance of social commerce as brands focused on creating a seamless shopping experience for their customers to make buying things, online, more accessible than ever.

Media budgets in India continue to grow year-on-year (YOY). This has resulted in an overall increase in advertising expenditure, making India one of the fastest-growing advertising markets in the world.  A maximum number of agencies and clients continue to grow in terms of advertising expenditure and experimentation strategies.

What is your forecast for the adtech industry in 2024? Which trends will shape the adtech industry?

India will continue to be the fastest-growing market and leads the ad spend growth globally, as per MAGNA’s Global Ad Forecast. Marquee events such as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the upcoming general elections in India are expected to contribute 10-12 percent incremental growth to advertising expenditure.

Consumers continue to increase their spending, especially the younger generation, which is investing in experiential-led categories like travel, auto, and entertainment. The 5G network expansion will boost digital business services, resulting in additional revenue for the advertising industry.