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Here’s what leaders say about what the future may hold for advertisers and brands in 2023.

• Bringing back humour and heart. The emergence from one of the darkest times in recent history left its mark on the creative work itself, with advertisers embracing all things funny, heartfelt and, in general, entertaining. From Liquid Death to Ocean Spray’s jiggly jelly holiday spot, humour has been making a huge comeback in advertising. Humour won the day in part due to the growing power of affinity over awareness.
  
• It's (still) an influencer’s world. Social media continued and perhaps tightened its hold over popular culture in 2022, with trends across the lifestyle spectrum, stemming from TikTok in particular. TikTok reigned supreme throughout 2022, with no sign of slowing in 2023. This was also the year that TikTok arguably shed its reputation as a purely-for-fun platform and began to set meaningful trends in the social space. Gen Z users who embrace e-commerce enthusiastically use TikTok as a search engine to seek out products and reviews. Influencers aren’t going anywhere, and micro-influencers will continue to be huge for targeting specific audiences and establishing brand credibility.
  
• The changing landscape of conversion data. While cookies didn’t see their final demise in 2022, the data landscape for advertisers did indeed shift this past year. Brands should continue to prepare for the eventual demise of cookies and be on the lookout for “alternatives to cookie-based targeting,” as well as a greater presence of ads in streaming platforms. The new year will likely see advertisers continue to get creative in finding ways around restriction to data access and ads. The proliferation of ads in previously ad-free environments is a notable trend that kicked into high gear in 2022. Subscription-based video on demand services Netflix, HBO Max and Disney+ all launched their respective ad-supported services this year, and companies like Uber and Roblox debuted their own turnkey ad solutions to diversify their revenue streams. All this opened new channels for brands to reach consumers and engage with them in different contexts.

RIP to whoever spent $$$ on a Taco Bell NFT 🌮. Despite big promises, the NFT market is way down and crypto has crashed, leaving marketers wondering if Web3 is an area they should keep paying attention to or investing in.

• According to a recent poll Marketing Brew did, of more than 700 readers, nearly 50% said they think Web3 opportunities for marketers are overhyped, while only 23% disagreed. (The remaining respondents said they weren’t sure.)

To be clear, advertisers and brands haven’t yet given up on the metaverse or other Web3 concepts. Rather, they’re trying to make it all more approachable and, in some cases, avoiding Web3 terminology altogether.

• “Some of that big hype around the metaverse as a concept, everybody wanting to talk about the metaverse and how it was going to change everything very quickly, has really died down,” Sky Canaves, senior analyst for retail and e-commerce at Insider Intelligence, told us.

That could mean there’s less time and money for experimentation, potentially taking money away from metaverse concepts that the director of the IAB Experience Center, Derek J. Smith, called a “black box in every sense of the word” for most marketers.

2022 really upped its game when it came to advertising. Artistic cinematic mediums meet subtle yet effective CTAs and important social causes were – from Queer Pride to sustainability – were brought to the front.

Check them out here

Due to heavy traffic and oversaturated feeds, digital advertising efforts require more power to break through nowadays. For this reason, 89% of CMOs and marketing leaders say they’re planning to increase their marketing investments in the coming year, with 44% expecting those increases to be substantial despite a heavy recession on its way.

But is investment alone enough to cut through the noise? Trusted sources of high-quality third-party data could deliver improved ROI for brands across a wide array of verticals. Let’s unpack.

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Instagram has become a 'business card' and essential messaging platform for creators. It could be Meta's secret weapon...

Over the past few years, Instagram has leaned more into its messaging tools. Businesses can set up a streamlined DM inbox, brands can now ink partnerships with influencers through the app's Creator Marketplace, and creators can start paywalled group chats through Subscriptions.

Doubling down on messaging and developing tools to amplify the ways creators use Instagram as a business card could buy Meta some time as it races to keep users engaged. It could also become a big business itself. (Business Insider)