A reflection on marketing and advertising trends with Amazon Ads
With another year firmly behind us industry begins their look forward to new opportunities on the horizon to help to reach their goals in the coming year. To help in these efforts we reached out to IAB Canada member Amazon Ads and asked them to share with us their top four trends that advertisers should be paying attention to in 2023.
- Navigating uncertainty
Economic changes are affecting consumers and companies. As Canadian marketers focus on insight-driven strategies to maximize their return on ad spend (ROAS) and justify every dollar they invest. According to a May report by eMarketer, advertisers are expected to spend more than twice as much on digital as on traditional media, with digital ad spend accounting for 68.3% of total ad spend this year.1
“Being able to measure the impact of their advertising is always top of mind for marketers, but it’s especially critical in times of economic uncertainty,” said Paula Despins, Vice President of Ads Measurement at Amazon Marketing Cloud. “Brands and agencies need to understand the value of their efforts and investments, and have the insights to make their marketing budget count. That’s why measurement across channels, at every stage in the funnel, is especially important right now.”
- Standing out in the attention economy
From TV to laptop to tablet, phone, and more, audiences are dividing their time and attention across screens and content to shop, play, and stream. In a recent study by eMarketer, almost four in five (79.2%) digital video viewers in Canada use smartphones to watch some video content.2 The viewing experience across multiple devices has become frictionless due to the development of apps that keep track of viewing activity across devices. With multitasking on the rise, how can brands best connect with audiences across these screens with relevant messages in a way that enhances their experiences?
When ads are relevant and entertaining, audiences tend to enjoy them more, according to a 2022 survey that Amazon Ads and Omnicom Media Group commissioned with Latitude. In this poll, 73% of consumers said their overall viewing experience is more enjoyable when ads are relevant to the viewer.3
By using engaging creative assets and understanding what content resonates with audiences, brands have the opportunity to break through the noise and stand out. A recent Amazon Ads and Kantar analysis looking into brand lift insights found that 88% of top-performing creatives contained video.4 And in campaigns that included both video and display, brand awareness was 2x higher than campaigns with display alone.5
- Finding relevancy in a changing landscape
Marketers know that ongoing changes in the ad-addressability landscape are impacting how campaigns reach relevant audiences at scale. These changes present an opportunity for the advertising industry to continue inventing durable solutions that help benefit customers and marketers alike.
“As new channels pop up online and offline, brands are left trying to understand the impact of their multichannel touchpoints and increase efficiencies,” said Srishti Gupta, Director of Media Measurement at Amazon Ads. “Having the right signals and technologies can help brands get better insights and reach their performance goals.”
- Reaching audiences at scale
Marketers want to not only create campaigns that reach the right audiences, inspire consideration, and increase conversion, but they also want to help build authentic connections with audiences that result in brand love and loyalty.
In addition, an always-on approach is important during a time of audience fragmentation, especially as consumers diversify their overall media consumption and change how long and how much time they spend on different channels. Being where audiences already are, by using Streaming TV ads, audio ads, display ads, and more, can help brands stay top of mind with audiences who are either at home, browsing in-store, or on the go.
Keeping up with the latest trends in marketing and advertising can help you reach your customers in their moment. Learn how Amazon Ads can help you reach audiences where they shop, read, listen, and watch.
1 “Canada Ad Spending 2022: Digital Ad spending Drives the Total Ad Market Upward”, eMarketer, CA, 2022
2 “Canada Digital Video 2022: CTV Boosts Viewership and Advertising Opportunities” eMarketer, CA, 2022
3 Latitude, “The New Ad Value Exchange,” Amazon Ads and OMG, 2021, US
4 “Creative meta-analysis,” Amazon Ads & Kantar, April 2022, US
5 “Creative meta-analysis,” Amazon Ads & Kantar, April 2022, US