Personalisation is the key to digital advertising growth: Vikas Katoch

Advertising is an ever changing concept which has marked sky as its limit. From street announcements to print, radio, outdoor, movies, online and now digital video advertising, the market makers are making sure that the rapid innovation cycle in the online advertising ecosystem gets fuelled by the expectations of a better response with niche segmentation. ‘Visibility’ to the right target audience with the objective of getting them to act favourably has been the driver of this evolution.

Over the years, digital advertising has emerged as a game changer in the advertising industry. Another upcoming paradigm in this digital advertising cycle is the materialization of mass personalisation. Adding personalized content elements and customer touch points in online ads can help create engagement and response beyond the capabilities of programmatic advertising.

As per reports, 94% of senior executives believe that delivering personalised message in digital ads as per an individual’s taste is significant to reaching out to the right customers and retaining them. This also leads to increased engagement form consumers over a longer time period. Personalised ads lead to three times more engagement in comparison to non-personalised ads, which results in a greater return on the investment.

In India, it has been established that the young Indian millennials, are driving a maturing consumer landscape in the country.  They are appreciative of digital video ads which are filtered according to their buying habits.

As per an ADI report, 75 % surveyed consumers prefer personalized advertisements. It is turning out to be a very significant format, comprising of granular targeting based on the spending capacity, interest, age and likes and dislikes of consumers. This is becoming increasingly popular with Indian advertisers and marketers. Personalisation of digital video ad creates a sense of individuality; where the ad placement is tailored to the demographics and context of the customer, intrinsically creating a sense of connect.

Using micro data analysis and mass personalisation technique, marketers are aiming to connect the brands with their target audiences in the most effective way. Brands are able to leverage 10-15 permutations and combinations of messaging which is affixed to the tone and messaging of the brand. Each permutation is mass personalised for different clusters of target audiences, publisher and the customer context creating the impression of being individually targeted.

With so much video ad content to choose from, mass personalization of video will increasingly become a key differentiator in the online video advertising industry. Mass personalised digital ad revenue is forecast to rise 25% of total digital advertising by 2020.

Also, increased options of reaching out to the targeted audience through various data and algorithms like installations of ipads/ taxi screens in cabs, monitor screens in aeroplanes and passenger trains have given more opportunities to advertisers for reaching the for settled audience.

Mass personalisation of video ad content would lead to more engagement from brands, advertisers and marketers. Millennials create the largest consumer demand in today’s India, they are positive about the relevance of ads they watch. Hence, personalizing digital video ads will get them to embrace the efforts of marketers and help drive business goals.

(Authored Article by Vikas Katoch, CEO, Adomantra)