Five reasons to embrace the open web in 2021

It’s in marketers’ best interests to protect and preserve the open web by advertising on it, writes The Trade Desk’s Philippa Snare.

More than ever before, marketers are under pressure to do more with less. Every advertising pound is under the microscope. As well as interesting and engaging creative that fulfils key objectives, marketers need to be increasingly consumer focused, data-driven and able to tangibly demonstrate the success of campaigns.

With all that in mind, it’s no surprise that more and more marketers are turning to the open web. But what do the benefits of the open web look like in practice?

Huge audiences mean huge potential benefits

Growth can only be achieved by discovering and reaching new, key audiences. Across the open internet, there are billions more opportunities to reach new audiences in a more meaningful way.

Consumers now have an array of devices and platforms to choose from. In fact, 30% of UK internet users now own five (or more!) connected devices. Gone are the days when people would spend four hours every evening scrolling through social media – we’re spoilt for choice with content across so many different channels.

With key audiences bouncing between multiple platforms, marketers are able to tell a far more interesting story via the open web. For instance, starting your campaign with an audio ad on the morning radio, to a display ad on desktop during a lunch break, to an in-app ad when taking a break from work, finishing with a video ad on connected TV in the evening. This storytelling is only available via the open internet.

Consumers live in diverse ways, and effective advertising should reflect that.