Recently, there has been a significant disturbance in the social media scene. Everyone is speculating about Twitter’s future due to the constant turmoil there. Despite having more than a billion subscribers, TikTok is blocked on government equipment in numerous nations due to security issues. Moreover, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, appears to be losing ground in the metaverse as users lose faith in the service. What effect does all this turbulence and volatility have?
n this episode, Principal Analyst Kelsey Chickering shares her thoughts on the condition of digital advertising now and its prospects for the future (please refrain from calling it social media advertising). She claims that in 2023, advertisers are taking a step back and reexamining where and how they allocate their expenditures. She asserts that the disruption is likely beneficial because it is causing everyone to reevaluate their plans and consider potential testing and modification areas.
Advertising, of course, is constantly evolving. According to Chickering, brands developed social media-specific campaigns and assets in the early days of social media marketing that took use of the distinctiveness of the platforms. But after that, they became complacent and repurposed previously used campaign materials on social media (posting 30-second TV spots on Facebook, for example). The idea of developing platform-specific marketing has lately been revived by creator-driven platforms like TikTok, and Chickering cites a few instances of brands that are launching new creator strategies and business models.
But “digital advertising” isn’t synonymous with “social media advertising” today. Chickering points out that there’s now a lot more competition for digital ad dollars and provides her thoughts on which emerging digital channels brands may consider adding to their stable, including CTV (think Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV), Reddit, and podcasts.
How should marketers budget for all these new channels? Rather than simply splitting up ad budgets by media channel as they have traditionally, Chickering advises marketers to put a budget against a desired outcome or job and then decide which digital marketing channel will get that job done.
Be sure to catch the episode’s close, when Chickering provides her most pointed advice for digital advertisers and marketers who are still unsure how to manage their way through the ongoing volatility. And if you liked this episode, be sure to check out the agenda for the upcoming CX North America event in June in Nashville. Chickering will be presenting at the event along with a host of other Forrester analysts and thought leaders.
