Each month executive digital director of JWT South Africa, Yoav Tchelet, discusses critical digital issues, branding and social media strategies, and more on his site. His latest post looks at three main trends likely to shape digital advertising over the next year.
Speculation is rife on what the top 10 digital advertising trends will be for 2013.
Different websites have different opinions, but it seems there are three main trends that come back again and again in every top 10 list. Hence, it is safe to say that these truly will be the trends to watch in this coming year. However, this is not to say that these are the only trends to watch. Luckily, 2013 is already upon us, so it won’t be long before we understand which top 10 list was correct and whether the top 3 issues listed below indeed made it to the new trend list.
Social and Smart Television
There have been bizarre reports of the world of television being dead.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, according to Before It’s News: “Contrary to predictions that the digital age would drag people away from TV, we are watching more TV than ever. Rather than being eroded, people’s viewing experience is being enriched by social networks and dedicated social TV apps like Zeebox.”
More and more of us are purchasing smart TVs, that have a permanent link to the internet and allow us to interact with this type of media like never before. This is a hugely important trend to keep your eye on if you are interested in digital advertising.
Native Advertising
Experts all seem to agree that 2013 is going to be the year of native advertising. Solve Media is one of the biggest companies in terms of information about advertising technology and they tell us that we cannot ignore native advertising in 2013.
It recently surveyed a range of media buyers and some 50% of those said that they will be spending big on native advertising in 2013. Interest is high and with it has come a high demand.
Because of this, publishers are doing everything they can to offer opportunities for native ads. The expectation is that at least 20% of publishers will offer it in the first few months of 2013 and that this number will grow. Jed Williams, BIA/Kelsey’s senior analyst stated that: “This trend is only the beginning. We foresee continued momentum in original advertorial content, rich media, long form viral video and other formats in the years ahead.”
Social Media Matures
The last main trend to watch in 2013 is all about social media. At present, the two biggest social media websites – Twitter and Facebook – are continuously at loggerheads. Each will do anything they can to get a heads up on the other. But in doing so, it seems that they are forgetting to look outside of the Twitter/Facebook spectrum.
Both platforms have received a lot of negative publicity. A perfect example of this is the incredible flop of Facebook on the stock market.
According to Tony Barnes, AKQA‘s director of product strategy, Facebook users are becoming more interested in brand destinations and niche community sites.
“It will grow in new markets and make more money, but not in Europe and the US. Kids don’t want to be where their mums are, and parents don’t want people to sell things to their kids. I look at it like malls – there will be some massive Westfield-like destinations, but also a resurgence of the independent, creative part of the city.”
Clearly, big changes are ahead for the social media giants. With MySpace recently announcing a complete redesign of their brand and website, it could even be that they are going to make a comeback. Indeed, Facebook and Twitter do not seem to offer specialized tools for music bands to market themselves, through which they are potentially losing a huge range of users.
Read more posts from Yoav’s blog here.
— Yoav Tchelet is Executive Digital Director of JWT South Africa and publishes a range of unique digital insights on his personal site, which we syndicate here. To read his last post “A new trend for 2013: Ads will come from articles and vice versa”, click here.