By Amitt Sharma, VDO.AI- CEO & Founder

The world is going through a black swan period impacting life and business as we know it today. From small businesses to large corporations, the COVID 19 pandemic has sent tremors through every sector known. However, while the world takes the crippling blows of COVID 19, there is a more significant shift happening on a micro level.

With the majority of the population indoors, there is a massive shift of target audience to television and streaming platforms. The advertising spectrum is witnessing an explosive growth on social media, OTT and gaming networks, T.V. viewership has also increased 40% over the pre-COVID time.

This has presented advertisers with an opportunity to tap into an engrossed audience and seek innovative ways of turning ads into potential sales. One such effective medium is advanced targeting in video advertising.

Advanced Targeting and its Relevance in the Digital Age

The traditional methods are feasible; however, they are quickly losing their edge when it comes to advanced technology and newer advertising mediums. Social media and OTT services are scaling to become a lucrative yet economic market for advertisers today, which has sent the industry into a tailspin.

Advanced targeting is one feature that has taken things to the next level. It allows advertisers to filter out their right target audience to display their advertisement/message, which drastically improves engagement. These platforms offer a variety of targeting methods and options to reach the right audience based on who they are, where they live, their interests and preferences depending upon the content they are viewing. As a marketer one can target their video content for the following criteria –

• Demographic targeting
• Interest (Affinity or -in-market audience) targeting
• Placement targeting
• Topic targeting
• Keywords targeting
• Locations targeting
• Placement targeting
• Device targeting

This comprehensive targeting system allows brands to disseminate their message just to the right audience and leave no loose ends. The 4th industrial revolution is also making a decisive change by turning marketers more data-centric and helping them make more informed decisions. The use of IoT and AI is also going to increase to predict and forecast the shifting viewer’s taste.

Advertising Startups and Advanced Targeting

Video advertising is considered the king of brand building, 96 percent of consumers find videos to be more helpful while making a buying decision. Also, 60 percent of viewers on a website prefer to watch videos than reading the text first.

This has resulted in the wave of startups paving its way to the advertising space. Now that social media has levelled the playing field for large-scale corporations and micro startups; it is easier for them to compete. Even with limited budgets, these enterprises can initiate their brand-building activities.

The proliferation of innovative technologies is also revolutionizing the industry. Ad tech startups are actively using technology to engage audiences, gain predictive insights, along with other value-added propositions. These technologies empower brands to accurately target and get accurate ROI figures previously tracked by quarterly sales figures.

Push and Pull Factor

These novel startups are bringing advertisers and publishers closer than ever. The traditional method would require an audience to be present at the time of your advertisement. Though the concept worked for a long time, the spike in smartphones is now challenging the already tested approach.

With the help of new-age technology, advertising startups are building a cohesive ecosystem where they can advertise when the viewer’s attention span is high on any device they are active on. This creates a pull factor, as the viewer is coming to the content and not the other way around.

By advertising online or through OTT platforms, startups empower brands to place their message on platforms where traffic is high.

The Future of Advertising Startups with Advanced Targeting

Advertising startups are offering advanced targeting prospects to better navigate through changing viewer preferences. The shortening attention span is also a challenge for the modern-day advertiser, which can only be solved through technology.

Advanced targeting options in the future are expected to become more comprehensive. The traditional advertiser’s hold over the audience is loosening, which will further drive the viewers to the online space. The lockdown phase acted as a catalyst for augmenting social media advertising. Though branding has shifted online to some extent, it will further improve, and digital advertising budgets will swell in the coming times.

The adoption of technology might be slower in the ad business than any other industry, though with the rise of startups will surely bring it on track in the coming month.