We Went to the World’s Largest Online Advertising Event

We Went to the World’s Largest Online Advertising Event

These Are the Trends We Saw & Why They’ll Be Important to Your Brand in 2023

We spent two days fully immersed in speeches, panels and live Q&A sessions at the Ad World Conference, with some of the world’s leading marketers and industry gurus.

The takeaway? 

Major industry shifts and important trends that are likely to impact your business. Here are the trends we saw and why they'll be important to your brand in 2023.

What is Ad World?

The Ad World conference is the world’s largest online advertising event.

It runs for two days and is streamed worldwide by agencies and major industry players who are committed to levelling up their knowledge to stay at the top of their game.

The event topics cover all things from the future of advertising, content marketing, brand building, ad creative, media buying, conversion optimization, email marketing, and much much more.

Why Did We Attend?

If you’ve spent any amount of time online, you know it’s an ever-evolving world with little-to-no hope of playing catch up. 

We see it every day when clients first come to us.

Entrepreneurs and business owners alike with incredible products or services who are just trying to grow their businesses. But they end up wasting countless hours googling their way through digital marketing, branding, web design, and content creation instead of focusing on what they do best.

Enter, Good Commerce.

As a digital-first agency, we help our clients grow their businesses by staying atop of industry changes and trends. And to ensure our team of experts stay just that, we continue to educate ourselves through activities like the Ad World conference, so you (our clients) don’t have to.

So, what did we learn at the conference?

Our Key Takeaways & What They Mean for Your Brand:

#1 There’s Power in Storytelling

Storytelling has always been a part of human history.

Parents tell spooky stories to their kids over campfires to scare them. Sport networks have heart-felt stories of players that inspire fans. Chefs share stories of the origin of their ingredients to give dishes authenticity.

Stories are everywhere and in everything we do.

But regardless of who is telling the story, or what it’s about, they all have one thing in common. They make us feel something.

At the Ad World conference, it was evident that there is a continued shift toward the use of stories, not products, to sell a brand.

And we’re not talking about your mission statement, or how your company was founded. We’re talking real, authentic stories.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR YOU: If your brand is already utilizing the power of story, perfect – full steam ahead! But for those who aren’t, know that consumers want to feel connected to the brands they use. So as a brand, you need to make sure that you’re communicating who you are, what you stand for, the challenges and obstacles you’ve overcome, how you overcame them, and how you’re making a difference. This personifies your company, and helps consumers see themselves in your story, and in turn as a customer.

#2 TikTok is King

In case you haven’t heard the news, TikTok has now surpassed Google as the most-visited site on the internet. 

That’s right, what started as a trendy dancing app for teens has now become the platform of choice among all audiences. It’s even becoming more popular as a search engine than other sites.

At the Ad World conference, we saw a clear shift away from the use of third-party cookies, which are typically used to track a user's experience online and retarget them with ads. 

As a result, we’re seeing the rise of platforms that use first-party data, like engagement, visits, clicks, page views, and personal data that is voluntarily submitted as a basis for success, like TikTok.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR YOU:  If you’re not already utilizing TikTok to showcase your business, it’s high time your brand considers leveraging it to boost social SEO and stay atop of web searches. Implementing a first-party data strategy can also help you earn consumers’ trust and build long-term value.

#3 Landing Pages Aren’t Optional

Over the last few years, we’ve seen a consistent trend toward the use of landing pages in marketing.

For those who don’t know, a landing page is a single focus webpage that has limited navigation to keep a visitor focused on one goal or call to action rather than being distracted by multiple links. 

Landing pages are typically designed for one specific audience, and focus on converting a user to purchase a single product or service.

At the conference, industry experts shared their thoughts on the continued use of landing pages in marketing and, unsurprisingly, it was landing pages for the win.

In fact, it was clear that the use of landing pages is not as much optional for your brand as they are necessary in order to see continued success in your marketing and sales efforts. 

WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU: Time and time again, landing pages have been proven to convert more traffic than a standard webpage. Why? Because they’re a condensed form of the custom journey that allows brands to tell visitors exactly what their product or service is, who it’s for, and why they’ll want it. Put simply, if you’re not utilizing landing pages, you’re losing business.

#4 Real People = Real Profit

Gone are the days of poised models, professionally lit sets, and perfectly edited content. At the Ad World Conference, experts emphasized the upward trend of collaborating with influencers and User Generated Content (UGC) creators.

While this style of content has obviously been popular over the last few years across platforms like YouTube and Instagram, what is important to note now is why this style of partnership is so successful.

Audiences are more likely to make a purchase when the product reviews or testimonials are authentic. The perfectly imperfect content made by creators feels real.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR YOU: It’s worth considering how your brand could effectively use influencer-style content creation to grow your business. In addition to freeing up your team to focus on other projects, influencer and UGC creators can help to boost your engagement, generate trust with potential customers, and above all, encourage sales. 

Find Out How with Good Commerce

Whether you’re an existing client who wants to explore the endless benefits of influencer marketing, landing pages, building your brand through storytelling, or capitalizing on the power of TikTok, or you’re a new business looking to save time and money by hiring an agency, we’re here to help.

Check out the services we offer, and see how we can take digital off your plate, so you can focus on what you do best. 

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