Are Traditional Ads Obsolete? The Future of Advertising Is Interactive Brand Storytelling

Traditional ads just don’t cut it anymore since consumers around the world drown out intrusion-based advertising and look for more authentic, engaging brand experiences. 

Here, you’ll learn why traditional advertising is losing its effectiveness, and how brands need to start adapting their strategies in order to create things that people actually want to engage with.

Consumers Want Authenticity - Not Interruption!

In the last 10 years, how we consume content has vastly evolved. 

There are at least two key factors turning consumers off the old methods of advertising, according to a most recent report:

• The need of consumers to trust and relate. Modern consumers prefer to interact with brands that share their beliefs and way of life. They turn to trusted brands that can relate on a higher level to them.
• The demand for customized experiences. Given the plethora of choices, people expect and demand tailored ads and content suited to their individual needs. Bland, cookie-cutter ads don’t cut it anymore.

Furthermore, when we collectively journey through financial recovery in the post-pandemic world, consumers are far less open to trying new brands and offers. And they’re going with known, trusted options that deliver tangible value.

The Importance of Video, AI, and Platform-Specific Content

So, how can brands keep pace with these evolving consumer expectations? Three strategies can help:

Lean Into Video

It’s no secret that video content is captivating. In fact, research indicates users will spend 60% of their social media time consuming video by 2025. Video tells brand stories in a more dynamic, exciting manner than static images and/or text.

Brands that leverage high-quality video in their ad and social campaigns now have a major advantage in authentically garnering consumer attention. Thoughtful, simple smartphone videos and Stories can help humanize your brand.

Get Personal with AI

With the help of artificial intelligence, brands can extract consumer data, ascertain target audiences with the highest value, and deliver tailored ad and content versions to every audience segment. On the other hand, creepy hyper-targeting can come back to bite you in the backside, but if you use AI thoughtfully to adapt content to cater, you can make your brand seem like it “feels” your customers.

An athletic apparel company can leverage AI to map prospective buyers who have expressed interest in yoga and crossfit, for example. Then they can target these consumers with personalized ads and content about their new yoga pant line. That makes it feel personal, not general or invasive.

Optimized for Each Platform

Consumers today are on multiple social platforms, and brands must have an omnichannel approach. However, all content cannot simply be reused on every channel. Content creators must recognize the distinct ethos of each and cater to that uniqueness.

A few examples: visual Stories that are quick may work for Snapchat, but deliver built content with a longer run time on YouTube. If a video is posted on Instagram, for example, it’s natural to expect it to feel (and look!) format-oriented, but broader, less dynamic formats are reserved for other mediums.

Not Just Ads, But Interactive Stories

As an industry, we clearly need to take the lead past broadcast-style, one-way ads. But what will the future of advertising actually look like? 

Two emerging trends suggest some answers:

AI-Powered Generative Advertising

The expert predictions are that ads in the next era will be dominated by generative advertising. This employs A.I. to generate infinite variations of ads customized to each consumer’s interests and behaviors.

For instance, generative campaign for a pet food brand could instantly produce viewer-specific ads, including the dog breed the viewer preferred. 

The technology provides brands with a level of precision that is almost surgical, allowing them to integrate their advertising directly into the content stream of every user, based on their behavior.

Generative advertising will [take us] “from a broadly ‘personalized’ internet to a truly ‘personal’ internet,” according to one industry insider. Interruption will be minimized, supplanted by advertising experiences customized down to the individual.

Interactive Storytelling

In addition to precision personalization, brands are extending their storytelling into episodic narratives that the audience helps mold. Instead of broadcasting static messages, two-way engagement and conversation are the new normal.

The chatbot technology is a perfect example of this approach and trend. According to research, 80% of enterprises adopt conversational AI by 2025 to enable customers to interact directly with businesses with chat and voice.

Instead of just showing ads, people can use conversational AI to schedule deliveries, purchase stuff, or get product recommendations personalized to them, in a lighthearted, conversational manner. The potential of interactive brand storytelling will expand exponentially.

Takeaway

Here’s your homework!

First, focus on custom, interactive content that people want to consume in their news feed. All things into video, AI-enhanced personalization, and omni-channel content. Analyze your audience and align genuine stories to topics of interest on the respective platforms.

Second, find ways to transform static ads into episodic storytelling. Seek opportunities for authentic back-and-forth conversations with your followers. Explore technologies such as conversational AI that provide real two-way engagement.

The brands that move quickly to deliver the authenticity, personalization and interactivity consumers are hungry for will be positioned to flourish. Start TODAY!