Building for the Future: Emerging Digital Trends for 2022 and Beyond

As consumer technology and media experiences evolve, so do the strategies and trends shaping the best practices of digital media partners. No matter what kind of success your digital advertising has achieved in the past, rapidly evolving technologies, platforms, and consumer behaviors are creating constant change that needs to be accounted for when developing and optimizing those digital ad strategies.

As both local businesses and digital agencies look ahead to 2022, these digital trends and emerging capabilities must be accounted for when building ad campaigns that will connect with a target audience and maximize the ROI potential of your ad spending.

Cox Media prides itself on staying on top of those trends and adapting its own strategies to leverage new digital solutions and audience engagement opportunities. Read on to learn about the trends we believe will continue to shape the digital media landscape in 2022 and beyond.

Data Privacy Initiatives Will Remain a Top Priority

As a wave of data privacy regulations are enacted by local, state and international governments, businesses are now required to account for data privacy in their digital strategies. But this regulatory scrutiny isn’t your only incentive for taking data privacy seriously: Research shows that at least 86 percent of consumers view data privacy as a “growing concern” when considering how their data is collected and used by businesses.

Keeping up with these changing compliance requirements and consumer attitudes is tough for any business leader. A digital partner can support your advertising goals and customer relationships by making sure you stay in compliance with any applicable laws, are keeping customers informed of your data collection practices, and aren’t unknowingly taking any steps that would alienate existing or potential customers.

Digital Ad Strategies Will Reduce Their Reliance on Third-Party Cookies

For years, many types of digital advertising have relied on small files known as “cookies” to track consumers across the internet. While valuable in their ability to collect consumer data and target ads accordingly, these cookies are a data privacy concern that has prompted them to be phased out of many leading web browsers, including Safari and Firefox. Google Chrome, meanwhile, is planning to phase out the use of third-party cookies by the end of 2023.

While this may change how certain digital ads are targeted to consumers, digital advertisers are well underway in developing new strategies to make up for this loss. At Cox Media, we’re invested in helping our clients build out their first-party data acquisition channels to enable audience targeting that doesn’t rely on third-party sources. We also help clients leverage digital ad channels that haven’t ever relied on cookies, including digital video, OTT streaming, and cable TV ads.

Through this multi-faceted approach, a trusted digital media partner can steer businesses away from disrupted campaigns and underwhelming ROI—and toward innovative strategies that offer promising long-term value and growth.

Emerging Technology Will Enhance Audience Targeting Capabilities

Even as our reliance on third-party cookies declines in the future, targeted advertising and optimized audience reach will still be possible through the use of emerging technologies that expand and enhance digital media reach.

Along with first-party data acquisition channels, Cox Media is invested in developing and supporting identity solutioning as a next-gen technology to target consumers down to the individual level. This innovation comes on top of our addressable TV solution, which makes it possible to deliver different ads to different households watching the same TV program—creating a new type of personalized ad experience that enables targeted delivery down to a single address.

New Operational Efficiencies Will Optimize Resource Management

Businesses and advertising agencies often talk about optimizing the clients’ resources to maximize ROI for their ad campaigns. But the backend operations of those agency partners can also affect ad performance and ROI, too.

From expanded automation to optimized project workflows, a good digital partner will seek out ways to optimize their own resource management and free up those resources to support client campaigns. Increased human capital can be applied to strategy development and content production, while streamlined operations can accelerate ad development and production and give clients a faster time-to-launch for time-sensitive campaigns. By passing operational efficiencies on down to the client, innovative digital partners are able to lift client ad strategies to greater success.

As your business navigates the opportunities and challenges of an ever-changing digital media landscape, the right digital partner can help you adapt your ad strategy to stay ahead of the curve. Contact Cox Media today to find out how we can help your business plan for digital success in 2022 and beyond.