MarTech Interview with Linda Shea, Executive Vice President Business Advisory Services at Big Village

Linda Shea, Executive Vice President Business Advisory Services at Big Village highlights some of the major trends that will dominate online advertising in 2023:

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Welcome to this MarTech Series chat, Linda, tell us about yourself and more about your role at Big Village.

There is so much opportunity in the B2B industry today but one of the biggest challenges is meeting clients where they are and outlining a path forward at a pace that works for them. My focus has always been on helping clients address challenges and identifying and evaluating the merits of growth opportunities to create a smoother process. This involves understanding the client’s culture, an ability to gain top-down and bottom-up buy-in, and the ability to foster new ways of working and engaging.

We’d love to hear more about some of your latest observations on the digital ad market: what trends do you feel will dominate the online advertising space through 2023?

As technology continues to evolve, so has online advertising. With that in mind, there are three major trends that are emerging for 2023 in the online advertising space:

• Hyper-personalization is the north start for many but highly dependent on data and analytical sophistication – data access, data integration, data analytics, predictive models
• Social media will continue to be an evergreen avenue for B2B marketing
• We will continue to see a modernized brand lift measurement that is essential to gauge progress, identify the need for course correction, and determine success

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How can brands today drive more ROI from their online ad campaigns, while also enhancing the overall contextual experience?

Obviously driving a return on investment is one of, if not the most important, goal for brands and advertisers alike. In 2023, brands are going to be looking for new ways to do that while simultaneously ensuring they are providing a positive experience. There are three ways they can do this:

1. Optimize audience identification across platforms to ensure proper targeting – person, function, message, channel
2. Leverage AI to build predictive models that quantify the need across the buyer’s journey
3. Address the multi-decision maker executive dynamic by understanding the buyers’ stakeholders- their role, their needs, their impact, the outcomes they expect

A few things that digital marketers and advertisers need to do more of to boost brand presence and visibility in a crowded market?

The market has gotten increasingly more crowded over the years. Pair that with the fact that a company’s client’s attention is split in so many different directions and you struggle to reach target audiences.

It isn’t a challenge that is going to be solved overnight but there are steps brands can take to help navigate a crowded market:

1. We need to understand the buyer and their stakeholders, their needs, motivations, and journeys
2. We need to help the buyer complete the jobs they are trying to accomplish that will lead to an outcome – a purchase, a renewal or an expansion of an existing relationship
3. We need to leverage our thought leadership/expertise to counsel and guide the buyer, especially in the early steps of their journey as they are conducting research, building their knowledge, and learning about the brands that can help them be successful

What do you feel about the future of adtech and digital advertising, where is the market headed? 

There are a lot of unknowns as we head into 2023, but there are things that, while we may not have all the answers, we can plan for in the year ahead:

1. Cookies are disappearing – whether we like it or not. It feels tired saying that the industry needs to prepare for the cookieless future (since they should be long prepared with how many times it’s been put off) but they do. It’s time to get serious about cookie alternatives and new adtech and commerce technologies.
2. The industry needs to prepare to test, test and test some more. There’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to online advertising and cross platform measurement. While the industry still works to come up with a solution, or some kind of standardization, there’s going to be a trial and error period. Brands need to not be afraid to create a learning environment to optimize investments and outcomes.
3. Companies need to double down on tactical strategies and recommendations that are aligned with meaningful moments in the buyers’ journey.

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