April = Brand Optimization Month

The Super Bowl is a uniquely American tradition, placing a massive spotlight on not only American football, but current music, celebrity culture, and of course, advertisements. Now that the dust has settled on Super Bowl LIX, Genius Monkey is here with the juicy stats and lessons advertisers should learn from the big game. Super Bowl Viewership Stats First and foremost, this year drew the largest Super Bowl audience of all time; an estimated 127.

Pew research reports that around 86% of Americans consume news on smart devices like phones and tablets at least some of the time, while 57% do so “often.” Though television, radio, and print media still have their audiences, they are significantly outpaced by digital platforms, which are typically ad-supported. Simply put, the advertising audience for news is huge. Many advertisers are concerned about placing ads next to news reports, fearing that contentious topics or other bad news will cast a poor light on any ads surrounding the content.

2024 has been a year of seismic shifts in social media– none more dramatic than the potential ban of TikTok in the United States. While the app was temporarily reinstated, users and brands are scrambling to explore alternatives. Which platforms will rise to take TikTok’s place? Let’s dive into some of the frontrunners and explore how they might impact your marketing strategy. The Background Behind the Ban In July 2024, the Biden administration signed a divest-or-get-banned law targeting TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, which was deemed a national security issue for its popularity, the data it collects, and its association with the Chinese government.

The Super Bowl consistently draws the largest audience of any sporting event in the United States. In recent years, Over-The-Top (OTT) and Connected TV (CTV) platforms have seen significant growth in viewership, reflecting broader trends in television consumption. About 123.7 million people tuned in for the 2024 edition of the game, and all those viewers spent over $17.3 billion on food, team merchandise, TVs, alcohol, and more. Even though your ads might not be airing over the big game itself, your campaigns can still benefit from it!

This week, Genius Monkey is taking a look at the trends that we expect to continue into this year so you can be prepared for what the industry is likely to become. From an emphasis on first-party data to a TikTok-shaped void in social media advertising, there’s a lot to dive into: The Increasing Importance of First-Party Data In 2024, Google announced that it would, in fact, NOT depreciate third-party cookies in Chrome.

Connected television (CTV) has stood out as the black sheep of the programmatic family for a while, featuring the lowest total ad spend and the trickiest audience tracking of all mediums. Early rumblings in the industry and consumer habits have convinced Genius Monkey for some time that CTV is a slumbering giant, waiting for the right moment to awaken and take the digital ad industry by storm. That day is quickly approaching, and it’s time for advertisers to take note.

The holiday season is undoubtedly the biggest time of consumer spending in the entire year. If you play your marketing cards right, you’re likely to experience an influx of new customers buying from you for the first time. For all the revenue the holiday season creates, those new customers are the true prize that can help your business grow – if you can convince them to stick around. Plenty of articles will tell you how to optimize your marketing to get as many customers as possible during the holidays; today we’re looking at what you can do AFTER the season to retain their business and further build your customer base.

Google has found itself in hot water this year, and the punches keep coming. Hundreds of entities have lined up to sue the tech giant over the years, but a hit finally landed when a federal judge ruled Google a monopoly in September of this year. Further lawsuits have followed, and advertisers await with baited breath to see what comes of all this. Let’s do a quick check-in on the two major cases the Department of Justice has filed against Google and Alphabet.

MFA, or “Made For Advertising”, is the boogeyman of digital advertising, scooping up some $20 billion of wasted ad spend on bot sites, unviewable ads, or ad farms. The Association of National Advertisers reports that buyers have been spending less on MFA overall in the last few years, but it’s been on the rise in recent months. We all know MFA sites when we see them; so why are they so hard to circumvent?

Halloween is upon us, a time for dressing up, eating candy, and celebrating the darker side of pop culture. While all in good fun, there are more things on the horizon for advertisers than ghouls and goblins: we’ve got a Presidential Election about to hit directly followed by Black Friday and the holiday craze. There’s a lot going on and a lot to keep track of in the world of digital marketing; let’s avoid the end-of-year scaries and talk about what to keep in mind for these big events coming up at the end of this year.