What’s the significance of staying updated on display advertising trends? In the realm of numerous digital ad formats, pinpointing the right allocation for your advertising budget can pose a challenge. However, the potential of display advertising remains potent and shouldn’t be underestimated.
As we anticipate the continuation of trends from previous years into 2024, the upcoming year will also usher in fresh technological advancements, shifts in the market landscape, and heightened privacy considerations.
This article aims to delve into the display advertising trends that are currently captivating the industry’s focus. These trends warrant consideration for integration into your marketing strategy.
Display Advertising Trends to Watch for in 2024
Constituting 12% of website traffic, display ads stand as a fundamental advertising approach for every marketer. Below are the trends deserving of your attention in the current year.
Increased Spending
During 2022, expenditures on display advertising escalated to a staggering $63.5 billion USD. The ongoing year anticipates a scenario where display ad expenditure will outpace search advertising, underlining the necessity for advertisers to prepare for heightened investment in display ads throughout 2024.
What catalyzes this trajectory? Several factors contribute, including:
Continued Dominance of Video Advertising: Video advertising remains a force to reckon with, even as emerging formats gain traction.
Significance of Social Media Video Advertising: Social media’s video advertising holds particular significance, projected to reach a remarkable $79.28 billion in expenditure by 2024.
Leveraging Programmatic Advertising: The versatility of programmatic advertising across diverse display channels can empower your brand to manage expenses effectively.
Diverse Landscape: Beyond this, display ad spending is predominantly allocated towards other avenues like social media, in-app promotions, and influencer advertising.
Dynamic Creatives
Despite the growing investment from marketers in display advertising, this advertising format comes with its own set of drawbacks. One such issue is the tendency for certain display ads to exacerbate the user experience, leading to the phenomenon known as “banner blindness.” To counter this, advertisers are progressively elevating their ad creation strategies by embracing dynamic creatives.
Dynamic creatives involve the utilization of consumer data to incorporate creative elements that resonate more effectively with the target audience. These creative components can differ across ads but typically encompass a blend of text, visuals, and featured products.
The rationale behind adopting dynamic creatives is manifold. They seamlessly integrate into a range of social media platforms, most notably Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. These platforms provide boundless opportunities to craft attention-grabbing ads that subsequently amplify conversion rates.
Multichannel Programmatic Advertising
As digital ad spending continues to surge, advertisers must exercise prudence in their investment strategies. This is precisely where programmatic advertising emerges as a solution: by leveraging programmatic ads, marketers can streamline the acquisition of ad space. This automation enables the judicious utilization of programmatic ad expenditure to adhere to budgetary constraints while maximizing return on investment.
For businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs), formulating a well-defined display ad budget holds immense importance. On average, SMBs allocate 35% to 40% of their overall budget to diverse marketing endeavours and incorporating programmatic advertising guarantees that these ventures remain within reasonable financial bounds.
The fact that 91.1% of ad spending is allocated to programmatic ads underscores the efficacy of this approach in optimizing investments and enhancing Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
Amidst the dynamic landscape of advertising channels, businesses must adopt a multichannel strategy for programmatic advertising. These channels encompass social media platforms, email outreach, Google services, and in-app promotions. However, vigilant oversight of spending is crucial to prevent inadvertent budget overruns.
To assist in this endeavour, an array of tools, such as MediaMath, are available to fine-tune campaigns for various channels and display ad formats.
In-App Ads
Apps have been steadily supplanting mobile websites, and this trajectory is poised to persist:
Among Millennials, a substantial 21% access an app more than 50 times daily. This phenomenon has propelled app advertising expenditure to a staggering $336 billion in 2022, with an anticipated 14% Year-Over-Year (YOY) growth. Consequently, advertisers would be wise to reallocate their display budget from mobile websites to app-oriented advertising campaigns.
Which apps warrant advertiser investments?
The prime contender is mobile advertising on social media platforms – a striking 99% of social media users engage with these apps, making optimization of display ads for mobile apps a conduit to accessing the widest customer base.
However, your display ad allocation should extend beyond social media apps. A significant 59% of Generation Z individuals use their mobile phones for entertainment purposes. Surprisingly, YouTube (and not TikTok) stands as the preferred app within this demographic. Beyond entertainment, Gen Zs use apps for gaming and even academic pursuits.
An array of display ad formats can be harnessed across all these apps. For instance, in the case of YouTube ads, you can opt for display image advertising. Consider the HelloFresh app as an illustration – its ad materializes as users peruse their recommended feed, affording access to YouTube users without necessitating video ad uploads. Nonetheless, display video advertising continues to reign as a substantial trend, which we shall delve into next.
More Video Formats
In 2023, online videos retain their popularity, and this trend is poised to persist into 2024, with an estimated 3.5 billion online video viewers projected.
However, the landscape of video advertising has been evolving over the years. What’s shifting? In 2024 and the years ahead, advertisers need to be mindful of the video styles they use:
Live-Action Videos: A significant 68% of marketers are opting for live-action videos.
Screen-Recorded Videos: Approximately 57% are utilizing screen-recorded videos.
Animated Videos: About 55% are embracing animated videos.
Why does the live-action approach stand out?
Videos capture authentic people, events, and environments, rendering the ad more relatable. Given that 86% of consumers prioritize an authentic brand identity, live-action videos foster a stronger sense of trust between you and your audience.
Depending on your brand, screen-recorded video ads can also prove effective. They are well-suited for explainer and testimonial ads as they focus on telling more than showing. These videos allow you to convey your brand message without the need for an extensive video production budget.
If your video ad budget is more substantial, consider delving into animated video ads. These videos offer both entertainment and information, effectively drawing and retaining viewers’ attention.
With the myriad of social media channels available, options for posting video ads have expanded.
However, advertisers should particularly focus on creating the following video ad formats:
- Rewarded Ads
- Outstream Videos
- Connected TV (CTV) Ads
- Bumper Pre-rolls
- Facebook and Instagram Ads
Why do these formats yield higher conversions? The correlation can be linked to the trend in-app advertising. As more users engage with social media apps, your reach expands. Especially, platforms like Meta (formerly Facebook) offer a plethora of video types and a robust advertising ecosystem. With a significant portion of Gen Z engaging in mobile gaming, the concept of “rewarded” ads, like extra lives or points, becomes appealing.
Outstream videos are increasingly prevalent as display ads within blogs and news websites. They seamlessly integrate within textual content, capturing viewers’ attention while they engage with articles. Considering users often skip ads on platforms like YouTube, non-skippable and concise bumper ads are gaining favour among advertisers for boosting brand awareness.
Lastly, advertisers can broaden their audience by leveraging Connected TV (CTV) ads. As 87% of American adults possess a connected TV, CTV ads provide an effective avenue to showcase your ads while users consume content on their preferred streaming platforms.
Contextual Targeting
A persistent challenge for advertisers in the realm of display advertising is the scant click-through rate (CTR) that ads tend to garner. With an average CTR of merely 0.1%, advertisers are compelled to cultivate ingenuity in their endeavours to reach potential consumers.
One avenue for addressing this concern involves the utilization of contextual targeting. This entails positioning ads on specific websites that align with the advertiser’s target audience. A growing number of advertisers are witnessing tangible outcomes through contextual targeting, and this strategy is projected to amass a valuation of $562.1 billion by 2030. Moreover, devising a contextual targeting approach is relatively straightforward. Prominent advertising platforms like Google Ads are equipped to fine-tune your campaign for contextual advertising, streamlining the process.
First-Party Data
A strategy gaining traction among advertisers to navigate data privacy regulations involves the utilization of first-party data. This data originates directly from customer interactions, encompassing activities such as website visits, purchases, app engagement, and other deliberate engagements.
First-party data enjoys a favourable standing under privacy laws, as it is procured with users’ awareness and frequently their explicit consent. This approach emerged in response to regulations like GDPR and California’s CCPA, which reshape the parameters of data usage and collection, particularly concerning third-party cookies.
Despite this, 75% of marketers still rely on third-party cookies, prompting brands to pivot towards accumulating first-party data to fortify their campaigns.
What avenues can consumers employ to gather first-party data? Beyond incorporating a Pixel into websites or social media platforms, businesses acquire first-party data through:
- Surveys
- Customer Service Interactions
- Online Chats
- Reviews and Feedback
- Social Media
However, when embarking on the journey of collecting first-party data, cultivating trust is pivotal. Always provide transparent explanations regarding your intentions for collecting customer data and the manner in which this information will be employed.
AR and VR
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) remain at the forefront of advertising trends, exerting substantial influence. By the time 2024 arrives, the AR and VR market is poised to attain a valuation of $296.9 billion. Incorporating these technologies into your advertising strategy promises an immersive experience that deeply engages your consumer base.
Within the domain of display ads, the possibilities offered by AR and VR are boundless. Importantly, consumers aren’t required to possess additional technology, such as VR headsets, to partake in your ad content.
Interactive Ads
In the upcoming year of 2024, the dominion of interactive ads will persist, particularly within the realm of interactive display ads. Notably, a substantial 81% of marketers attest to the prowess of interactive ads in capturing users’ attention, effectively combatting the issue of banner blindness.
The canvas for advertisers to unleash their creativity remains unbounded when dealing with interactive ads. While polls, quizzes, games, and animations serve as prevalent exemplars of interactive ad formats, the potential to render an ad interactive is not confined to these methods alone; adept ad copy and visuals can also pave the way for interactivity.
E-Commerce Display Advertising
The year 2022 witnessed a staggering surge in e-commerce sales, surpassing a colossal $5.7 trillion USD. Given the pervasive nature of e-commerce, online stores possess a multitude of display advertising options tailor-made for diverse marketplaces.
Among these, Amazon stands out as a global e-commerce juggernaut, amassing an astounding 1.1 billion visits. Those who opt to list their products on this platform will find solace in the fact that Amazon ads exhibit a Click-Through Rate (CTR) of 0.36%.
Notably, among Amazon’s diverse advertising choices, Sponsored Display Ads emerge as particularly effective. Brands that leverage these ads report a noteworthy Year-Over-Year (YOY) sales upsurge of +15%.
Apart from Amazon, e-commerce establishments would be remiss to disregard the potential of Google Shopping. While Google Shopping diligently scours organic listings and presents the most optimal outcomes on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), a dedicated ad section is perched at the apex of the results. These Google Shopping ads yield an average CTR of 0.86.
Both Etsy and eBay operate under a comparable model, permitting the sponsorship of products as display ads within search results:
- With a staggering count of over 7 million Etsy sellers, investing in sponsored display ads proves to be a straightforward method to heighten brand visibility and sales.
- eBay, boasting a user base exceeding 133 million, offers sponsored listings as an efficacious avenue to claim a prime spot on the SERPs.
In terms of how these marketplaces disseminate these ads, while their methodologies may differ, most rely on a combination of keywords, geolocation, demographics, interests, and retargeting to tailor ad placements.
AI and Machine Learning
Finally, it’s crucial to address the impact of AI and machine learning on the advertising landscape. Presently, 61.4% of marketers are already integrating AI into diverse marketing activities.
While industry experts like Neil Patel envision a future where AI doesn’t replace human involvement, advertisers are leveraging AI and machine learning for a multitude of functions.
Among the most impactful applications of AI is data collection and delivery: 40% of marketers employ AI for decision-making tasks. This is driven by AI’s capacity to provide insights encompassing budget allocation, performance metrics, and historical trends.
Advertisers also harness AI for the following purposes:
- Crafting ad creatives
- Identifying and segmenting target audiences
- Enhancing ad performance
Though AI-driven ad creation ranks as a primary AI application, certain challenges come to light. While AI can assist in generating distinctive, branded ads enriched with pertinent keywords, potential copyright concerns arise. Utilizing ChatGPT for ad copy, for instance, might inadvertently produce text lacking creativity and accuracy.
More Privacy
The enduring concern of privacy remains a paramount issue in the realm of advertising: a staggering 99% of consumers concur that privacy holds paramount importance in their online browsing experiences.
In response, numerous countries worldwide have instituted privacy laws, with Europe’s GDPR standing as a prominent example.
How is this shaping the landscape of the marketing industry? Advertisers and marketers are confronted with the challenge of not being able to gather consumer data through traditional means, such as third-party cookies. Consequently, a significant portion of consumer and audience data is lost.
To adapt, advertisers are reallocating budgets to accommodate the shifts in data privacy, particularly in the domain of mobile advertising campaigns. Many are pivoting towards collecting first-party data as an alternative (which we will delve into shortly). Moreover, there is an increasing alignment of conversion and attribution tracking tools with privacy regulations. This facilitates reporting across diverse metrics while respecting user data.
Privacy considerations extend to businesses as well, notably in the context of ad fraud. This malicious practice involves cybercriminals posing as businesses and profiting from fabricated ad clicks. This form of ad fraud exacts an annual toll of $120 billion on businesses. Encouragingly, Google is revising its platform to proactively counteract such fraudulent activities.
5G Technology
In 2019, global telecommunications providers introduced 5G technology. Presently, 5G is swiftly becoming the prevailing standard for mobile devices. As an increasing number of users embrace this trend and networks extend their reach to encompass this technology, projections indicate a staggering 290.5 million devices will be equipped with 5G capabilities.
The advent of 5G translates to accelerated internet speeds, culminating in a significantly enhanced user experience. For advertisers, 5G’s advantages are manifold; its high-speed connectivity coupled with low latency ushers in a new era of more sophisticated and less obtrusive display ads.
So, how can advertisers harness the potential of 5G-enabled display ads?
The swifter loading times offered by 5G open doors to heightened creativity. Live streaming, gaming, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and even short film advertising are poised to witness a surge in popularity.
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It’s worth noting that specific demographics exhibit a greater affinity for 5G usage, and advertisers should tailor their approaches accordingly. This includes targeting segments such as families, the younger generation, and individuals with higher income brackets who are more predisposed to embrace 5G technology.
Be sure to use these Display Advertising Trends in Your Campaign
The year 2024 is on the horizon, and your competitors are already gearing up for their display advertising campaigns in the upcoming year. To stay ahead, it’s imperative that you align with the latest trends in display advertising, channelling your ad budget into a strategy that yields optimal results.
Embracing trends like AI and machine learning, dynamic creatives, and the advent of 5G are key considerations. Concurrently, trends from previous years, such as programmatic advertising and in-app promotions, will regain prominence.
Using these trends in your next display ad campaign positions you for a competitive advantage in the evolving landscape, setting the stage for success in the times to come.
Would you like to read more about Display Advertising Trends 2024 related articles? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!
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