May 2017

“Searches on smartphones for ‘Furniture near me’ has increased year over year by 85%.” Furniture shopping has come a long way. No longer is it only an in-store activity, as smartphone and mobile use has become the norm. Nearly half (47%) of furniture shoppers have indicated that they are increasing their online purchases via mobile, and even if they go to the brick and mortar store, it’s most likely that it was mobile that drove them there.

According to a recent forecast by eMarketer, it is estimated that close to 80% of every dollar spent on advertising will be allocated to programmatic in 2017. This number equates to a whopping $32.56 billion for the year! There is no room for doubt that programmatic is here to stay; especially in light of the fact that by the end of the year, that number is expected to grow to 84%.

If you were to look up the definition of native advertising, you would see that it is content in an online publication that resembles the publication’s editorials, but is paid for by an advertiser and intended to promote the advertiser’s product. In other words, the advertisement is somewhat camouflaged to appear relevant to its surrounding content. There are those who adhere to the notion that native advertising erodes consumer trust, or compromises the wall that exists between editorial and advertising.

With the proliferation of devices, screens and platforms, it is much easier in this day and age to reach the right audience with video ads. But how effective is the reach if the attention is lacking? And if the attention is lacking, how likely is the inattentive consumer to consider making a purchase? According to Nielson research, the attention that consumers pay to a video directly corresponds with the ad recall.