As the marketplace shifts, DoubleVerify’s Wei Tuck Ng examines the latest trends in the dynamic relationships between consumers, digital content and advertisers.
The last couple of years have altered the way we live and the way brands react to challenges brought about by political, economic, socio-cultural, environmental and other external influences.
For brands to get their message across to their target audience, advertisers and marketers would need to adapt to the multiple shifts in the crowded marketplace where every brand is trying to get a slice of the pie.
DoubleVerify’s 2022 “Four Fundamental Shifts in Advertising and Media” report reveals the dynamic relationships between consumers, digital content and advertising at a time of significant macroeconomic change, arming stakeholders with the insights they need to make well-informed strategic decisions.
In APAC, the following trends stood out as significant shifts:
1. Consumer appetite for content continues to soar – particularly on CTV, streaming and social
The aftermath of the pandemic and the gloomy economic outlook for 2023 are changing the way consumers behave. As we expect to feel the impact caused by recession and inflation in the coming year, more consumers are inclined to stay at home, with four out of 10 surveyed sharing they’ll now spend more time consuming digital content instead of going out.
With widely adopted hybrid working models and increasing convenience of quality content right at our fingertips, it is no surprise that 68% of APAC consumers cited those as reasons for their increase in daily digital content consumption. In particular, CTV and streaming services have seen clear growth momentum with 60% of consumers having subscribed to additional subscription services in the past 12 months. More also shared that they would be more likely to spend more time on social platforms in the year ahead.
This means that brands have greater opportunities to reach audiences based on the projected increase in the number of hours consumers plan to spend on digital platforms.
2. Brands must address attention fragmentation — or risk losing consumers
Equipped with multiple avenues of content consumption, it is also paramount for brands to remain cognisant of consumer behaviours. As social media continues to dominate the advertising landscape, overcrowded advertising space may be the greatest challenge that advertisers will face in 2023.
In order to overcome this, advertisers will need to focus on the factors that contribute to consumers' attention. These factors include the type of platform and speed in capturing audience attention.
YouTube dominates the social media platform space, ranking as the first proprietary platform for securing the attention of consumers. However, emerging platforms are also growing rapidly with TikTok ranked as one of the top three platforms in APAC for countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam where ads grab consumers’ attention.
Speed is also important – 66% of the consumers were more likely to pay attention if an ad caught their interest in the first five seconds and 65% were more likely to pay attention if video ads were not too long.
With a better understanding of consumer behaviours, brands can make better decisions on where their ads appear, which will allow them to protect their campaign investments by ensuring consumer attention is optimised for their campaigns.
3. Shopping’s digital maturity presents a new opportunity for brands to make an impact
Consumers are getting savvier online. With consumer pre-purchase habits evolving, 66% of APAC consumers have highlighted that they use digital content to inform planned purchases more often than they did pre-pandemic.
Brands will benefit from leveraging digital content as it plays a vital role in consumer buying decisions. Over two-thirds of APAC consumers say they are more likely to pay attention to an ad if it is relevant to the content they are viewing.
The growing amount of time spent researching purchases presents an opportunity for brands to target consumers with relevant content which reinforces the importance of contextually relevant ad placements. Brands will be able to build resonance with their audience if they are able to ensure their ads appear beside contextually relevant content, capitalising on key moments of consumer interest or intent.
Conclusion
In a highly competitive market, it is imperative for brands to be equipped with the right resources in order to develop targeted and effective strategies that are necessary to capture consumer attention. While all brands can benefit from increased exposure, it is crucial for advertisers to understand how to cut through the clutter and win in the competition for consumer attention.
