3 minute read

At the beginning of each year, the Borshoff media team compiles our research – historical campaign performance, reporting insights, data from the previous year – to provide predictions around media trends that will guide strategy and ultimately success for our clients. Here’s what we predicted late last year, and an update on how those predictions are playing out.

The following were our top 10 predictions for 2023:
  1. Decline of Duopoly (Facebook and Google)
  2. Social platforms start using Search advertising
  3. TikTok getting more competition among Gen Z
  4. Consumer attention span continues to decline
  5. Brand loyalty declining
  6. Streaming market growing and diversifying
  7. Google Search Cost Per Lead increases for nearly all industries
  8. Brands taking a “Wait and See” approach with Twitter advertising
  9. Influencer marketing more effective with Millennials and Gen Z
  10. Continued sunsetting of 3rd-party data
2. Social platforms start using Search advertising ✓

TikTok continues to evolve and the introduction of advanced search functionality has revolutionized its user experience. With this new feature, users can easily explore and discover content beyond their immediate connections to find specific videos, trending topics, and relevant creators.

Additionally, Instagram recently announced it will now include ads in search results. Ads will show within the feed as users scroll, allowing advertisers to reach people who are actively searching for certain products and related content.

4. Consumer attention span continues to decline ✓

Too much information, too little time. Consumer attention spans in 2023 are experiencing a decline due to increased digital consumption, the rise of short-form content and general information overload.

The abundance of information available to people can quickly overwhelm individuals, making it difficult to focus on a single task or piece of content for an extended period. This is particularly true among younger age groups, with studies showing Gen Z’s attention span is just 1.3 seconds, meaning marketers must earn attention in an instant.

6. Streaming market growing and diversifying ✓

Nearly $20 billion more will be spent on digital ad spending this year than in 2022, with most of the new money going to new channels. This is largely driven by the continued growth of Connected TV (CTV), as the format will eventually be how most TV content is viewed.

EMarketer estimated CTV spending in 2022 would make up 6% of all U.S. media advertising in 2022, and will grow annually to reach 9% by 2026.

8. Brands taking a “wait and see” approach with Twitter advertising ✓

In the first half of 2023, Twitter advertising has experienced a noticeable decline. Although Twitter-owner Elon Musk has said advertisers are returning, the data is showing a bounce-back is not happening so fast.

Multiple factors have contributed to this decline, including increased concerns over user privacy and data protection combined with the platform’s struggle to combat misinformation and toxic content. Combined, these issues have resulted in not only a loss of user trust, but a loss of advertising dollars as well. As of April 2023, the top 50 advertisers on Twitter combined to spend more than $80 million over the past two months. This total spend is down from $102 million in 2022.

10. Continued sunsetting of 3rd-party data ✓

The often-delayed sunsetting of 3rd party cookies may finally come to an end, as Google has announced plans to deprecate 3rd-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users globally in the first quarter of 2024.

To replace cookies, Google has created a new solution known as The Privacy Sandbox. Although still currently in development, The Privacy Sandbox is designed to create new technologies that will protect privacy while also providing companies and advertisers with the necessary tools needed to run marketing campaigns.

If you’re keeping score, that’s 5 predictions that have become reality. Here are a few more that are still shaping up:

As we wait on new ad platform benchmarks and updates on consumer behaviors and buying trends for 2023, we’re classifying the following predictions as pending. As the year progresses, we’ll revisit these predictions to determine whether we hit the mark. 

  • Decline of Duopoly (Facebook and Google)
  • TikTok getting more competition among Gen Z
  • Brand loyalty declining
  • Google Search Cost Per Lead increases for nearly all industries
  • Influencer marketing more effective with Millennials and Gen Z

Want to understand more about media trends or our predictions? Curious how these media trends impact your business? Let’s connect.