5 Media Trends to Know Now

Every quarter, our team at Hydrogen puts together a report on new and emerging media and how they may—or may not—impact our clients. Following are a few of the trends we believe will have a lasting impact:

1. Big changes happening in the streaming radio space (Pandora and Spotify)
   • In some ways, Pandora is making moves to be more like traditional radio
     • Adding :04 and :10 ads (this is the first time they are allowing spots other than :30)
   • Also adding a few features—some that are more targeted, others are just trendy:
     • Targeted: Dynamic ads that can personalize messaging by demo, geo and weather
     • Targeted: Sequential ads that will serve a different version of an ad if the users had engaged with a previous ad
     • Trendy: Vertical video (to look more like snapchat)
   • Spotify is also getting into the game by adding video advertising
     • Platform tracks online mobile behavior and, if the system detects users are looking at the Spotify ad, runs a video ad. If the user is listening passively, the ad will be audio only
   • Importance: Both platforms are trying to find new sources of revenue, so it is important to evaluate each new offering to see if it is a benefit to clients or just a shiny new object.
2. Another trend we are seeing is social networks allowing users to purchase items without leaving the platform
   • Instagram adding a Shopping Tab to their Explorer section
     • Allows users to thumb through a dedicated feed of shoppable merchandise
   • Snapchat’s Amazon Product Finder
     • Users camera identifies products, songs and item barcodes
   • Facebook AI technology
     • Allows users to ‘try on’ items as they browse their feed (ex: Michael Kors sunglasses)
   • Importance: Platforms that can show their advertisers a streamlined conversion path and direct attribution to purchases on their site are the ones that are going to earn more business. So, having the ability to keep users on their site is very valuable in gaining new advertisers and increasing revenue.
3. The latest development in voice search is moving ‘Alexa’ out of the home
   • Hearable technology
     • Wireless earbuds with advanced features
     • Ability to measure biometrics as well as amplify sound
     • Hearables also have the ability to pinpoint your location even more than your phone (ex: a hearable can tell if your head is pointed toward a store shelf or billboard)
4. With Amazon becoming the place where more product searches begin, compared to Google, we are beginning to see Amazon test product ads off platform
   • Ads will be served on Amazon’s ad network—a collection of pre-selected websites
   • Those who click on ads will be delivered to the brand’s storefront, within Amazon.com
   • Importance: In bypassing Google in the user’s buying journey, Amazon is taking paid search money away from Google, which is increasing Amazon’s ad budgets by triple digit percentages year-over-year
5. Google is making is easier to make paid search more personalized and relevant to different audiences
   • Responsive Search Ads
     • By entering multiple headlines and descriptions, Google ads automatically test different combinations and learn which combinations are most effective over time
     • Users can ‘pin’ headlines to certain positions to ensure they run in a specific place in the sequence of headlines
   • Importance: Saves time by creating one ad with multiple text assets to show the most relevant ad to different users
   • Google has shown responsive ads tend to have a click uplift of 5-15%

While not all of these new media tactics are right for every business, savvy marketers are deploying the right tactics for their specific goal—with significant results. If you’d like to find out more about any of our new and emerging media tools, shoot me an email at laurenr@hydrogenadvertising.com.