WeSEE pinpoints 2014 digital advertising trends

Adrian Moxley, co-founder and CMO at WeSEE commented: “Advertising technology is a sector that has been relatively recession-proof. Digital advertising has huge benefits for brands and businesses; it help publishers monetise their content, and it ultimately keeps the internet free. Over the coming months we expect the industry to continue to grow as increasing amounts of budget are allocated towards digital channels. Below are the three areas that we expect will see the most growth and innovation during 2014.”

The rise of the private ad exchange

More and more advertisers and agencies are seeing exponential growth in ad-buying through programmatic platforms. These technology platforms are powered by sophisticated real-time data analysis and audience analytics to buy and sell valuable digital advertising space. Transactions are automated and occur in a matter of milliseconds.

However, increasingly, more complex factors such as targeting, content value and personalisation are coming into consideration. For example, a publisher site may have a track record of high click-throughs, but if it’s the wrong audience for your brand, it’s not valuable. Similarly, if you publish a luxury blog, you want to be confident that discount brands are not advertising on your site and altering the personality and feel of your site.

This is giving rise to a new market made up of private ad exchanges, which are fully owned, controlled and managed by a publisher. A private exchange is effectively a ‘walled garden’ of high value digital content with a very targeted and attractive audience – only a select few are allowed in.

Private exchanges mean that publishers can be safe in the knowledge that only messages, brands or products that they are comfortable with will appear in adverts on their sites. It increases the value of the digital advertising for both advertisers and publishers, meaning that online content stays premium and audiences remain relevant. With more luxury brands competing for exclusive advertising space, we expect private ad exchanges to grow both in number and in influence over the coming year.

Mobile advertising will become more visual

Each year, mobile continues to innovate and offer new opportunities for digital marketers. By allowing people to be constantly connected wherever they are, mobile has changed the very nature of communication, shopping, and content consumption.

Technology is enabling different behaviours on different mobile devices, for example ‘magazine style’ digital content, optimised for tablet devices, is read by consumers in their homes, while location-based shopping and deals apps work best on smartphones when people are out and about. Now, we’re also seeing the launch of mobile applications like Osom that let people pictures of items they see around them on their mobile devices, and click through to purchase comparable items on a retailer’s site.