A Look Into the Crystal Ball: What’s in Store for Online Advertising in 2013

By Jeremy Bloom, Co-Founder of Integrate

Content consumption is happening everywhere on an ever-increasing number of devices: e-readers, game consoles, smartphones, ultrabooks, smart TVs, tablets, ad infinitum. In no industry is this trend more apparent than in digital marketing, where platforms rise and fall like kingdoms in the Fertile Crescent. 2013 will be a year for us to catch up on the innovations of 2012 and prepare for the upcoming developments in augmented reality, wearable computing and near-field communication.

Here’s what this year has in store for the online advertising industry:

2013 will be the year of monetization
An advertiser’s biggest nightmare — and greatest opportunity — is a captive audience with no known method of reaching them. In the advertising world, forward-thinking marketing mavens seize the opportunities presented by the existence of both big crowds (sports stadiums, mobile apps) and unexciting, high-traffic locations (gas pumps, bus stops) and transform them into viable advertising avenues. New ad formats, channels and types of messaging spring up on an almost daily basis.

In 2013, we’ll see ad tech veterans create, acquire and leverage cutting-edge monetization techniques and solutions, capitalizing on captive digital audiences as the paths from consideration to purchase become increasingly complex.

On the display side, providers like Lijit will continue to boost revenues for mainly Web-based properties and publishers, connecting them to advertisers through real-time ad exchanges and DSPs. This year we will also see the rise of video and mobile inventory monetization solutions such as Millennial Media’s self-service mMedia, which provides additional revenue streams for heavily trafficked apps.

Monetization doesn’t have to result in excessive ad exposure. Big brands and innovative startups will set the bar by optimizing their users’ experiences across all forms of media. Real estate search engine Trulia offers a superb interface across each of its mobile apps, reflecting its high-performing desktop layout to connect consumers with real estate agents as they’re searching. The most inventive apps will merge app functionality with useful and related content, enhancing the “buyer’s journey” and providing added value to advertising partners.

Following this trend, native advertising will be the most visible — if not the fastest growing — monetization solution this year. According to CEO Dan Greenberg of native ad platform Sharethrough, native advertising is “a form of media that’s built into the actual visual design and where the ads are part of the content,” such as Facebook’s Sponsored Stories and Premium Ads or Twitter’s Promoted Tweets. Expect a greater number of high-traffic networks and media sources like LinkedIn and Pinterest to partner with native ad platforms, offering advertisers a powerful content-delivery channel that conserves the consistency of users’ browsing and consumption.

Apple will get in the B2B ring
When you’re at the top, everyone is gunning for you. Apple’s permanence in the consumer electronics space has been all but cemented; the company accounted for over half of tablet shipments worldwide in Q3 2012 and nearly 80 percent of mobile app store traffic in H2 2011. In response, companies like Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia and Asus have revamped their product portfolios to offer Apple-like devices at lower price points.

To fight the rising market shares of competitors in the smartphone and PC categories — and to capitalize on the bring your own device (BYOD) movement in enterprise business — Apple will overhaul its marketing strategy in 2013, replicating its proven consumer approach to score a greater share of the B2B market.

Leading business computing companies make a point of listing hardware specifications meaningless to non-tech-savvy B2B professionals, which isn’t an issue if their ads only target decision-makers in IT roles. However, Apple has a different strategy in mind. They know that business buyers, influencers and decision-makers are also consumers. In the coming year Apple will begin tailoring marketing messages to specific audience segments to increase consideration and adoption of its business product line. Apple’s business face will likely mirror its consumer electronics approach, clearly linking features to benefits to values for the end user.

Apple also offers custom-built apps to address its client partners’ specific business processes, providing a huge selling point for B2B buyers. This year, look to Apple to win the hearts, minds and wallets of mobile-conscious B2B professionals, capturing a greater market share as its App Store and products go from consumer-only to essential B2B solutions with understood business value.

Tech will take over
Doing more and more with less and less has become the industry standard for tech-driven ad efficiency. Brands can no longer afford to partner with bulky, slow-moving agencies that take days or even weeks to formulate a strategy, issue insertion orders and finally implement ad campaigns — a process that can now take hours, minutes or seconds with the assistance of data management platforms (DMPs) and real-time bidding (RTB) technology.

Fancy acronyms aside, this year will see many AORs abandoned by major brands in favor of in-house marketing or work-willing technology partners without the hefty price tag. According to the CMO Council, only 12 percent of surveyed CMOs indicated that their agency partners provided value. In 2013, automation will replace unwieldy agencies, and the tasks for which agencies typically collect 10-18 percent commission will occur in real time, conserving time and marketing budget.

Similarly, ad networks that are lagging in tech advancements and user experience (UX) improvements will fold or be acquired. Brands are already moving from sprawling, rep-driven firms to self-serve platforms like AppNexus and OpenX. Not only does this increase the accountability of marketing by keeping campaign management an internal function, it facilitates real-time campaign analysis and optimization, lowering both the cost and risk of running campaigns through unsafe publishing sources.

In 2013, this trend will explode as brands ditch expensive agencies and ineffective ad networks in favor of streamlined tech tools. Unless they recognize this industry shift and evolve appropriately, high-profile but complacent agencies and networks will fade into obscurity. This year, successful marketers will adopt the most effective ad tech platforms and integrate these game-changing technologies to both enhance and heighten their current marketing strategies.

Jeremy Bloom co-founded Integrate in 2010. Since then, he has helped grow the company from its roots in lead generation to a leader in advertising technology. As the market-facing co-founder of Integrate, he oversees the sales and business development efforts at the company. As an athlete, Jeremy was best known for his highly competitive spirit. After ending his playing days in the NFL and a Hall of Fame skiing career, he honed his business expertise at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to co-founding Integrate, Jeremy established the Wish of a Lifetime Foundation, an organization that grants lifelong wishes to senior citizens. In 2009, he created MDinfo.com, a health portal that connects medical experts with people around the world. Most recently, Jeremy was honored both in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in technology, and in Denver Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40.”