If you're a marketer, advertising technologist or analyst, you've probably had to say goodbye to many familiar touchstones since the ad tech revolution began. Long gone are the days when marketers could simply purchase a banner ad from Google and call it a day. Today's marketers need to be data-savvy, technologically savvy and ready for change—all of which can seem overwhelming. But there's good news: We're entering an era where technology is making better decisions faster than ever before. And that means we're getting closer to making marketing easier than ever before.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning

AI and machine learning are quickly becoming buzzwords in the tech world, but what do they mean?

AI is a broad topic that encompasses many different subfields. Machine learning is just one of them: it's the process by which computers learn from data without being explicitly programmed. In other words, machine learning allows computers to learn patterns and relationships from large datasets without being told how to find them.

In marketing, AI has been used to improve ad targeting and content creation—but it's also making its way into personalization efforts as well. In fact, personalization is just one area where marketers can use AI-powered tools to create better experiences for their customers!

Personalization and data-driven marketing

Personalization and data-driven marketing are two of the most important trends in advertising and marketing today. Both are essential to maintaining a competitive advantage over your competitors, especially as you consider how to use technology to make your company more efficient.

Customer journey mapping is a technique used by companies to map out the path through which their customers move from awareness of a product or service, through consideration, purchase and finally loyalty. Customer journey maps are not only useful for understanding where your customers are at in their decision making process but also allow you to understand what content will resonate with them along that journey.

Data is critical for helping marketers personalize content in order for it to be effective. It's no longer enough just knowing who someone is; marketers need detailed information about everything from past purchase history, interests and preferences down even further into specific behaviors such as browsing behavior on specific websites or mobile apps (e-commerce sites like Amazon use this data). This detailed information allows marketers make predictions about what consumers want based on previous behaviors allowing them tailor-make messages that resonate with each individual consumer's needs rather than sending blanket messages at scale without knowing anything about who actually reads them.

Immersive media and visual technology

Immersive media and visual technology are changing the game of advertising and marketing. The most obvious example is virtual reality (VR), which has already proven to be an effective tool for creating more immersive experiences for consumers.

VR can be used to create an experience that makes people feel like they’re actually in the setting you want them to see, like a race car or a tropical island resort.

By using VR, companies can tell stories in new ways. For example, if you’re selling food products like cereal or candy bars, you could give consumers an up-close look at what goes on before the product hits shelves. You can also use this type of technology when advertising apparel—you could give potential customers a better idea of what it feels like to wear your clothing line by giving them access to 360° photos taken from all angles around models wearing your clothes.

Mobile advertising and geo-targeting

Mobile advertising and geo-targeting are key mobile ad tech trends. Mobile advertising is now a $100 billion industry, and it has become the largest ad format by 2022.

Mobile ads are more effective than desktop ads because they offer more personalization and context, which helps them resonate with users more deeply. And thanks to mobile’s ubiquity in our daily lives, we’re increasingly seeing marketers use location data to target consumers based on their current surroundings—whether that means showing them a relevant ad when they walk into the grocery store or reminding them about an upcoming flight as they drive by the airport (for example).

Multi-channel customer journey marketing

- Customer journey mapping

- Customer journey analysis

- Customer journey optimization

- Customer journey integration

- Customer journey management

- Customer journey strategy

- Customer journey design (AKA "Customer Experience")  

In this context, it refers to the process of designing a customer experience that meets your needs, and those of your customers. It could be a website, a mobile app or other digital touchpoints. The goal is to build something people will enjoy using and come back for more often in order to achieve business goals.

Ad tech is evolving every day

As an ad tech brand, you’re always thinking about ways to evolve your product and stay ahead of the curve. You constantly have to look at how technology is changing every day. In fact, it's just one of many things that makes this industry so exciting.

Ad tech is a rapidly evolving industry for many reasons: you need to keep up with new technologies as they emerge; there are so many companies doing similar things; and the complexity of the ecosystem makes it difficult for vendors and agencies alike to navigate without help from experts who understand all aspects of ad tech—like us! We're here to help you grow by providing education on everything from buying ads through programmatic means or creating custom audiences based on existing data sets like CRM records.

With so many new innovations in the ad tech world, it can be hard to keep up with all of them. But it’s important to remember that they’re here to make our lives easier and more efficient. And while some may worry about job losses due to AI or automation, many experts believe that technology will actually create more jobs than it eliminates by 2030. So take heart in knowing that these innovations are going to bring us closer together as humans—not push us apart!

Find out how we at Taffy use AI to serve our clients better here.