As emerging technologies push ever forward, in-house agency (IHA) leaders are working to identify what they should consider in order to remain relevant and ready for the digitally-focused future. It's not such an easy task, given the continuously growing and evolving tech stacks. Add to this the fact that many IHAs are being charged with delivering more creative product with fewer resources, it's critical that IHA leaders look to technology solutions to help them meet this challenge.
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A broad range of platforms and tools are available, and while many will not be the right solutions for your group's deliverable requirements, it is clear that technology-driven automation will be a critical factor for IHA survival. There will always be opportunities for error when adopting new technologies, so putting controls in place will be the key to success.
Here are three technologies worthy of consideration, explained in their simplest forms:
1. Precognitive Marketing
This technology pools together known target audience profiles with identified users' patterns and behaviors. Based on this information, targeted marketing messages are created, served and monitored for audience interactions. Target profiles are then updated with the individuals' reactions. These capabilities result in customers receiving more relevant communications and the potential for improved marketing ROI. Here's a basic example: Information stored with the profile of a specific person indicates that the individual likes to explore eating different types of food and also likes dogs. Precognitive marketing will then deliver more restaurant, grocery and food delivery ads, as well as products for dog owners, to the potential customer. As a Netscribes blog says, "Precognitive marketing works on the principle of assessing and determining the customer's need even before they recognize it." 1
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI takes the data collected from various inputs, including precognitive marketing technologies, and understands the potential for a relationship between a customer's profile, patterns and behaviors. This layer of intelligence is able to predict the audience behavior and creates alternative targeted messages across various marketing platforms or channels. For example, using the profile plus behaviors stored for the customer mentioned previously, AI technology will predict that the person might be interested in dog-friendly restaurants and will serve ads accordingly.
3. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO)
A DCO rules-based ad server is able to hold a number of creative assets per campaign, from including elements that range from alternate product/program images to messages for specific audience types or advertising focus. Leveraging information used in precognitive marketing mixed with AI, the DCO is able to build and serve highly relevant ads that can be unique to a certain customer or target audience segment. Based on their reaction once the ad is delivered, it can be recreated to be more attractive to the target audience - and generate an improved response rate. In short, DCO allows marketers to optimize the performance of their creative using real-time technology. An example would be the creation of a dynamic ad showing a dog sitting in front of a restaurant and served with a message saying that the dog would like dinner with his owner at this restaurant tonight.
The combination of these technologies, with an additional layer of asset creation and channel type to include videos, interactive ads and social content, are known as Creative Management Platforms (CMP). The core use of a CMP is ad design and production at scale. These systems allow the user experience to be curated with a weighted database to make predictive assumptions about the customer's next purchase, all while establishing rules of customer engagement and providing feedback data.
As is often the case, new solutions can introduce new challenges and two areas that require particular focus are quality control and consumer security. Control levers need to be used with automated technology of this nature to ensure quality deliverables. Let's also be mindful that consumers are looking to gain more control of their data and many are aiming to minimize this type of targeted marketing.
Precognitive Marketing, Artificial Intelligence, and Dynamic Creative Optimization, when used in tandem, make for powerful marketing of goods and services and the opportunity is for the IHA to take the lead in their implementation. For more information on emerging technologies and our recommended CreativeStack, look for our upcoming whitepaper: How the Creative Team Can Stack the Odds in Their Favor.
1 https://www.netscribes.com/emerging-technologies-in-marketing/
