Digital Marketing Musings

The marketing industry has been buzzing lately about the “cookieless future”, or the deprecation of the third-party cookie. But what does that actually mean for advertisers? In the second episode of this two-part series, Andreah and Gaia spoke with Ilon Weeldreyer to understand the impacts of a cookieless future on different channels and industries, and what advertisers should do to prepare. Other topics covered include: * Google Analytics GA4 for upgrade for modelled conversion behavior * Data and identity resolution partners * What programs will be relatively unaffected * Impacts on first-party data and remarketing lists Resources: * Podcast: What is the Cookieless Future? Changes in Website Tracking, Part 1 (https://www.merkleinc.com/thought-leadership/podcasts/digital-marketing-musings/what-cookieless-future-changes-website) * The “Death of the Cookie” Can Be Good for Advertisers, but the Time to Level Up is Now (https://www.merkleinc.com/blog/death-cookie-can-be-good-advertisers-time-level-now)

After a tumultuous 2020, consumers are feeling more hopeful in 2021 thanks to steady vaccine rollouts across the country. Despite that optimism, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic and advertisers need to continue embracing that reality while preparing for the “next normal”. What behavioral trends from the pandemic will stick around, and which will fall by the wayside? Gaia and Andreah sat down with Erin Spice and Rachel Monfre, two authors of the Media Insights Report, to learn about key trends heading into Q2 and how advertisers should prepare accordingly. References: 1. Q2 Media Insights Report (https://www2.merkleinc.com/l/47252/2021-03-22/8p29yw) 2. Q2 Media Insights Webinar (https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3075268/1BDC55D170A8CD225080A6B754E64DDC?partnerref=DMMpodcastEp8)

The marketing industry has been buzzing lately about the “cookieless future”, or the deprecation of the third-party cookie. But what does that actually mean for advertisers? In the first episode of this two-part series, Andreah and Gaia sat down with Ilon Weeldreyer to better understand what the cookieless future is, the reasons behind it, and how it will change the ways advertisers can use cookies moving forward. Resources: * The “Death of the Cookie” Can Be Good for Advertisers, but the Time to Level Up is Now (https://www.merkleinc.com/blog/death-cookie-can-be-good-advertisers-time-level-now) * https://www.merkleinc.com/thought-leadership/podcasts/digital-marketing-musings

After a tumultuous year, the 4th quarter of 2020 brought some welcomed positive trends. Travel declines improved, retail continued to see strength, and there were signs of customers starting to venture back out to stores. Some unique conditions, like Prime Day in October, the presidential election, and increased COVID-19 cases, also led to some surprising trends. Andreah and Gaia sat down with Melissa Reilly to talk about Merkle’s Digital Marketing Report and learn how all of these factors influenced Q4 performance across search, paid social, and Amazon ads. Resources: 1. Access the Q4 2020 Digital Marketing Report (https://www2.merkleinc.com/l/47252/2021-02-18/8npnml) 2. How Did the Digital Marketing Industry Fare in Q4 2020? (Blog) (https://www2.merkleinc.com/l/47252/2021-02-18/8npnmn)

In addition to being the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl is also one of the biggest days for advertisers. It looked a little different this year, though. With many advertisers pulling back or not running commercials at all during the big game, it begs the question, "What did they do instead?" Andreah and Gaia sit down with Merkle's Katie Cottam to discuss and learn what strategies brands pivoted to instead of the typical TV spot. Read the referenced blog post here (https://www.merkleinc.com/blog/brands-turn-digital-super-bowl-lv).

What’s up next for SEO in 2021? Gaia and Andreah talk with Merkle’s Melody Petulla about her predictions for search this year and how you can prepare. Melody’s 2021 predictions for SEO: • Next evolution of complexity of Google’s methods for understanding scoring websites, such as core web vitals or E-A-T signals • Impacts to click-through-rate (CTR) will continue to be felt as Google continues to become a destination, not just a search engine Melody’s 2021 predictions for digital marketing: • Continued sophistication of digital marketing in terms of the overall landscape that will lead to more personalization of websites and targeting

What trends can marketers expect within display and paid social in 2021? How will these trends differ from 2020? Andreah and Gaia discuss marketing trends with Merkle’s Emily Roe and they get her thoughts on what’s up next for these channels. Emily’s 2021 predictions for display and paid social: • Expect to see a continuation of trends that started as big shifts in 2020 from the pandemic, but will see some reversions to pre-COVID-19 behavior in 2021 as vaccines become more widely available • Brands will lean into innovative ways to interact with their customers, such as social commerce and virtual reality • Going to see a continued increase in spend for display and paid social Emily’s 2021 predictions for digital marketing: • Privacy will transpire into targetability and measurement conversations and marketers will really start to feel the impact of these privacy changes *Please note that CCPA stands for California Consumer Privacy Act

What sort of trends can we expect within paid search in 2021? How will these trends be different from those in 2020? Gaia and Andreah sit down with Merkle’s Matt Mierzejewski to discuss, and get his thoughts on, what search marketers can expect in 2021. Matt’s 2021 predictions for SEM: • Privacy will be key as marketers learn how it will impact their channels. • Search practitioners need to adapt: o Time investment in non-Google engines o By working with different departments such as analytics and data science Matt’s 2021 predictions for digital marketing: • Expect to continue seeing a surge in visualized search • Apple will reveal formal plans to launch its own search engine

What is Digital Marketing Musings? Hosts Gaia Read and Andreah McCartney share their plans for this podcast and vlog series, which touches on all things digital marketing. This new podcast series is perfect for anyone interested in digital marketing ― from hobbyists, to someone looking to get into the field or already working in the industry.