At A Glance
Open enrollment gives you a short window to win new members, retain current ones, and help people navigate complex coverage decisions. Learn how affordability, provider access, and life-event-driven research should shape your audience strategy and the Experian Audiences you activate.In this article…
Key takeaways:
- More than 20 million Marketplace members returned or automatically reenrolled for 2025, so give retention as much attention as acquisition.
- With 61% of Marketplace enrollees struggling to afford deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, tailor your messaging to their financial priorities.
- Help consumers understand whether they can keep their doctors, as 70% of Marketplace enrollees have plans covering half or fewer nearby physicians.
- Keep your messaging consistent across channels, since 73% of Americans consult at least three sources for health information.
- Reach audiences across 200+ platforms with Experian Audiences, or build custom segments using Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) attributes such as access to care and housing instability.
Why open enrollment marketing for healthcare advertisers is challenging
Open enrollment is one of healthcare’s busiest marketing periods, compressing acquisition, retention, and member communications into a relatively short window. Consumers are reviewing plan changes, comparing coverage options, evaluating provider networks, and deciding whether to stay with their current insurer or switch to a new one. Healthcare marketers are also trying to reach audiences with very different needs, priorities, and motivations.
Open enrollment requires marketers to do more than generate interest. Healthcare advertisers need to explain plan options, communicate changes clearly, build confidence, and support informed decisions throughout the enrollment journey.

Retention plays a larger role in open enrollment than many marketers realize. For 2025, 24.2 million consumers selected Marketplace coverage, with more than 20 million returning or automatically reenrolled members. Medicare Advantage enrollment also reached approximately 35 million people in 2026, reinforcing that open enrollment is just as much about retaining existing members as acquiring new ones.
An effective audience strategy starts with recognizing that consumers enter enrollment season with different priorities. Understanding those priorities helps marketers align messaging, channels, and timing with how people navigate open enrollment.
Why privacy-aware measurement matters
Privacy-aware measurement matters because healthcare advertisers operate in one of the most highly regulated marketing environments. Every stage of the campaign lifecycle, from audience creation and activation to attribution and reporting, must balance marketing performance with responsible data practices and consumer trust.
As privacy expectations continue to evolve, healthcare organizations are rethinking how they measure campaign performance. Traditional approaches that rely heavily on browser-based tracking are becoming more difficult to maintain, creating greater demand for measurement strategies built around privacy-forward data practices.

Healthcare marketers still need to understand which audiences engaged with campaign messaging, which channels contributed to enrollment activity, and how marketing investments influenced business outcomes. The difference is that these insights increasingly depend on consumer privacy-conscious measurement approaches designed to support both regulatory expectations and long-term marketing performance.
From onboarding to outcomes: The privacy-first, independent identity workflow for pharma marketing
Pharma marketing teams need identity workflows that can support accurate audience creation, governed activation, and partner-enabled measurement without combining patient (DTC) and healthcare professional (HCP) identity paths.
Download our pharma marketing playbook to help your team:
- Plan DTC and HCP identity strategies with clearer separation
- Prepare audiences for activation across approved channels and partners
- Evaluate audience quality, usable reach, and governance
Three audience signals shaping healthcare marketing during open enrollment
The audience strategy behind a successful open enrollment campaign is shaped by three key signals:
- Affordability is changing enrollment decisions.
- Provider networks are influencing plan selection.
- Enrollment journeys are becoming more fragmented across channels.
You can find the full taxonomies in the appendix below.
1. How affordability is changing audience strategy
Affordability is changing audience strategy as consumers approach open enrollment with very different financial realities and different definitions of value. Rising premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs are influencing how they compare plans, weighing not only monthly premiums but also provider access, prescription coverage, and overall value.
The data reflects that shift: 23% of insured working-age adults are considered underinsured, Marketplace deductibles have increased by 37%, and 61% of Marketplace enrollees report difficulty affording deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs. More than half also say premiums are difficult to afford. For healthcare advertisers, these financial differences create the need for distinct audience segments, from existing members reviewing annual plan changes to consumers seeking lower-cost coverage. Tailoring messaging to those priorities helps make enrollment communications more relevant.
Experian Audiences you can activate to address affordability and differing values
Insurance shopping signals
- Active Health Insurance Shoppers
- Insurance Shoppers
Cost-conscious/value-seeking consumers
- Careful Money Managers
- Deal Seeking Shoppers
- Frugal Living and Savings Focused Households
- Household Annual Income $50,000-$74,999
- Savvy shoppers
Premium/broader-value plan shoppers
- Brand loyalists
- Premium Spend Index Elite
- Quality shoppers
How to use these audiences
Activate audiences like Active Health Insurance Shoppers alongside Careful Money Managers to reach consumers who are actively comparing coverage options while also prioritizing affordability. Messaging can then highlight clear plan comparisons, predictable monthly costs, and deductible considerations to align with both their shopping behavior and financial mindset.
Build custom audiences with SDOH attributes
In addition to our syndicated audiences, Experian can also work with open enrollment advertisers to build custom audiences from our Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) data attributes, which can offer insight into how certain social and environmental factors may shape enrollment decisions.
These include models for:
- Access to care
- Access to medication
- Access to food
- Housing instability
2. How continuity of care influences enrollment decisions
Provider access plays a major role in enrollment decisions, as many consumers begin comparing plans by asking whether they can continue seeing the doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and specialists they already trust. Cost remains a major factor, but continuity of care is becoming an increasingly influential part of open enrollment decision-making. Because health insurance options are often tied to geography, location-based audiences can serve as a foundational layer for targeting, helping advertisers ensure messaging is relevant to the plans, provider networks, and coverage options available in a given area.
Provider networks continue to vary significantly across the country. The average Marketplace enrollee has access to only about 40% of local physicians through their plan’s network, while 70% are enrolled in plans covering half or fewer nearby doctors. Access to behavioral healthcare providers can be even more limited.
For healthcare advertisers, this creates an opportunity to reach audiences for whom provider continuity matters most and communicate network access before enrollment decisions are made.
Experian Audiences you can activate to influence enrollment decisions
Existing insurance/Medicare-oriented consumers
- Medical Insurance Policy Holders
- Medicare Policy Holders
- Memberships: AARP Members
- Precision Medical Insurance Holders
Household and family care decision-makers
- At-Home: Families at Home (kids under 13)
- Child Age 0–36 Months
- Multigenerational Household
- Presence of Children in Household
Service-area audiences
- State
How to use these audiences
Activate audiences like Medical Insurance Policy Holders alongside Multigenerational Household segments to reach families managing care for multiple members, emphasizing continuity of care, in-network providers, and coordinated services that support household health needs.
3. Why life events and fragmented enrollment journeys require cross-channel activation
Consumers rarely make enrollment decisions after a single interaction. This is especially true for audiences with high enrollment intent, such as active health insurance shoppers, as well as consumers experiencing major life events that may trigger coverage evaluation, including new parents, recently married households, or individuals aging into Medicare.
These groups are more likely to require multiple touchpoints before making a decision. They move between enrollment resources, provider websites, search engines, licensed insurance agents, direct mail, social media, and conversations with family and friends before choosing a plan. Many begin by reviewing an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), compare plans on HealthCare.gov or Medicare Plan Compare, and confirm whether their doctor is in-network before enrolling. In fact, 73% of Americans use at least three different sources to look for health information.
For healthcare advertisers, every interaction should reinforce that multiprong approach. Coordinating audience activation across channels, from direct mail and CTV to search, social media, and provider websites, helps create a more consistent enrollment experience and keeps messaging relevant throughout the decision journey.
Experian Audiences you can activate to target life events and fragmented enrollment journeys
Life events that can change care routines
- New Homeowners > Last 6 Months
- New Movers > Last 6 Months
- Newly Divorced Past 3 Months
- Newly Married Past 3 Months
Research and information-seeking audiences
- Highly Active Online Users
- Local News Readers
- News Readers and Followers
- Online Research-Dependent Consumers
Channel-driven audiences
- Active Instagram Users
- Engagement Channel Preference > Digital Display
- Engagement Channel Preference > Digital Video
- Engagement Channel Preference > Email Engagement
- Engagement Channel Preference > Streaming TV
- Social Network Content Engagers
How to use these audiences
Activate audiences like New Movers and New Parents alongside Online Research-Dependent Consumers and Highly Active Online Users to reach consumers navigating changing care needs, reinforcing plan education and enrollment messaging across digital touchpoints.
What sets Experian Audiences apart?
Our syndicated audiences give you an advantage across channels, offering both scale and accuracy:
- Experian’s 4,000+ syndicated audiences are available at over 200 leading activation platforms, including programmatic, social, TV destinations.
- Reach consumers based on who they are, where they live, and their household makeup.
We also help you build your own custom private marketplace through Curated Deals. Our team of media and audience experts will work with you to understand your campaign goals, audience needs, and any compliance restrictions to build, activate, and optimize your private marketplace.

Explore some of our Partner Audiences that complement Experian Audiences across key health use cases, with flexible activation through Experian’s data marketplace or leading activation platforms.
Open enrollment audiences from MARS Consumer Health
Current health insurance carrier members
- Aetna Health Insurance Members
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Members
- Cigna Health Insurance Members
Coverage status and insurance type
- Government Issued Health Insurance for Low Income People or Medicaid
- Health Insurance Marketplace or Exchange like Obamacare or Affordable Care Act
- Private or Selfpay Health Insurance
- Healthcare utilization and care relationship
- Frequent Doctor Visitor
- Frequent Hospital User Propensity
- Frequent Urgent Care User Propensity
Open enrollment audiences from AnalyticsIQ
Access to healthcare audiences
- Has access to Medical Supplies
- Has Reliable Transportation Access
- Healthcare Cost Barriers
- Healthcare Transportation Barriers
- Healthcare Work Schedule Barriers
Health research and information channels audiences
- Facebook Health Forums
- Health Education Websites
- Online Patient Community or Advocacy Group
- Provider or Hospital Website
- Reddit Health Topics
Need a custom audience? Reach out to our audience team, and we can help you build and activate an Experian audience on the platform of your choice.
Want to activate an Experian Audience on Meta, Pinterest, Snap, TikTok, or on a platform not listed above? Contact us today.
For a full list, download our syndicated audiences guide.
Reach the right audiences for your industry
Build your open enrollment audience strategy with Experian
Open enrollment campaigns work best when messaging reflects the decisions consumers are actually making. Affordability, provider access, coverage changes, and existing member retention all influence how people evaluate their options.
Experian Audiences helps healthcare advertisers identify and activate privacy-forward audiences across digital, connected TV (CTV), social media, and other channels before enrollment decisions are made.
Connect with our audience experts
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FAQs
Experian Audiences are pre-built, privacy-compliant consumer segments that help marketers target based on verified demographic, financial, and behavioral data.
They’re designed for flexibility across channels and can be activated on 200+ platforms, including major social, CTV, and programmatic partners.
Marketers can choose from 4,000+ syndicated audiences that capture signals such as income, spending behavior, household structure, financial attitudes, and ability to pay. These same audiences are also available through partnerships on platforms like DirecTV, Dish, Magnite, OpenAP, and The Trade Desk.
For a deeper look at our audience catalog, explore our syndicated audience guide.
You can activate Experian Audiences across 200+ digital and connected TV (CTV) platforms, including Meta, Pinterest, The Trade Desk, and Audigent PMPs.
Yes, you can combine your own first-party data with Experian’s 4,000+ syndicated audiences and additional segments from multiple partner data providers, as a custom audience within a Curated Deal or self-service via Audience Engine.
Appendix
Open enrollment audiences from Experian
Insurance shopping signals
- Purchase Predictors > Shoppers All Channels > Active Health Insurance Shoppers
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Financial Behavior > Insurance Shoppers
Cost-conscious/value-seeking consumers
- Financial Behavior > Careful Money Managers
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Purchase Behavior > Deal Seeking Shoppers
- Publisher Derived > IAB Budgeting > Frugal Living and Savings Focused Households
- Financial FLA Friendly¹ > Income > Household Annual Income $50,000-$74,999
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Purchase Behavior > Savvy shoppers
Premium/broader-value plan shoppers
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Purchase Behavior > Brand loyalists
- Financial > Discretionary Spend > Premium Spend Index Elite
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Purchase Behavior > Quality shoppers
Existing insurance/Medicare-oriented consumers
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Financial Behavior > Medical Insurance Policy Holders
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Financial Behavior > Medicare Policy Holders
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Memberships > Memberships: AARP Members
- Precision > Financial Behavior > Precision Medical Insurance Holders
Household and family care decision-makers
- Consumer Behaviors > At-Home: Families at Home (kids under 13)
- Life Events > New Parents > Child Age 0–36 Months
- Demographics > Household Composition > Multigenerational Household
- Demographics > Presence of Children > Presence of Children in HH
Service-area audiences
- Geography > State > [State]
Life events that can change care routines
- Life Events > New Homeowners > Last 6 Months
- Life Events > New Movers > Last 6 Months
- Life Events > Recently Single (Divorced) > Newly Divorced Past 3 Months
- Life Events > Recently Married (Newlyweds) > Newly Married Past 3 Months
Research and information-seeking audiences
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Technology > Highly Active Online Users
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Local News (FLA/Fair Lending Friendly) > Local News Readers
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > News (FLA / Fair Lending Friendly) > News Readers and Followers
- Lifestyle and Interests (Affinity) > Technology > Online Research-Dependent Consumers
Channel-driven audiences
- Social Media > Instagram > Active Instagram Users
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Engagement Channel Preference > Digital Display
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Engagement Channel Preference > Digital Video
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Engagement Channel Preference > Email Engagement
- TrueTouch: Communication Preferences > Engagement Channel Preference > Streaming TV
- Publisher Derived > Interest: Online Communities > Social Network Content Engagers
Open enrollment audiences from MARS Consumer Health
Current health insurance carrier members
- Finance and Insurance > Health Insurance > Aetna Health Insurance Members
- Finance and Insurance > Health Insurance > Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Members
- Finance and Insurance > Health Insurance > Cigna Health Insurance Members
Coverage status and insurance type
- Consumer Financial > Health Insurance > Government Issued Health Insurance for Low Income People or Medicaid
- Consumer Financial > Health Insurance > Health Insurance Marketplace or Exchange like Obamacare or Affordable Care Act
- Finance and Insurance > Health Insurance > Private or Selfpay Health Insurance
Healthcare utilization and care relationship
- Health and Wellness > Health Providers and Services > Frequent Doctor Visitor
- Health and Wellness > Health Providers and Services > Frequent Hospital User Propensity
- Health and Wellness > Health Providers and Services > Frequent Urgent Care User Propensity
Open enrollment audiences from AnalyticsIQ
Access to healthcare audiences
- Health & Wellness > Barriers to Healthcare > Has access to Medical Supplies
- Health & Wellness > Barriers to Healthcare > Has Reliable Transportation Access
- Health & Wellness > Barriers to Healthcare > Healthcare Cost Barriers
- Health & Wellness > Barriers to Healthcare > Healthcare Transportation Barriers
- Health & Wellness > Barriers to Healthcare > Healthcare Work Schedule Barriers
Health research and information channels audiences
- Health & Wellness > Channel > Researching Health Topics > Facebook Health Forums
- Health & Wellness > Channel > Researching Health Topics > Health Education Websites
- Health & Wellness > Channel > Researching Health Topics > Online Patient Community or Advocacy Group
- Health & Wellness > Channel > Researching Health Topics > Provider or Hospital Website
- Health & Wellness > Channel > Researching Health Topics > Reddit Health Topics
Footnote
- “Fair Lending Friendly” indicates data fields that Experian has made available without use of certain demographic attributes that may increase the likelihood of discriminatory practices prohibited by the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”). These excluded attributes include, but may not be limited to, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, disability, handicap, family status, ancestry, sexual orientation, unfavorable military discharge, and gender. Experian’s provision of Fair Lending Friendly indicators does not constitute legal advice or otherwise assures your compliance with the FHA, ECOA, or any other applicable laws. Clients should seek legal advice with respect to your use of data in connection with lending decisions or application and compliance with applicable laws.
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With Tapad, part of Experian, technology, AdsWizz AudioMatic is the first Audio buying platform to offer cross-device identity resolution across the U.S. and EMEA NEW YORK and LONDON, July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Tapad, part of Experian and a global leader in digital identity resolution, today announced a new joint capability with AdsWizz , the leading technology provider for digital audio advertising solutions. The partnership combines Tapad’s digital cross-device technology with AdsWizz’s AudioMatic buying platform, enabling the ability to connect audio ad experiences across screens. AudioMatic, AdsWizz’s audio-centric buying platform, supports programmatic audio buying and entirely new audio ad experiences for listeners. The integration of The Tapad Graph onto its platform enables new opportunities for marketers to reach, engage and measure each interaction with their desired consumers on digital radio and podcasts channels, and across devices. This partnership makes AdsWizz the first audio buying platform to offer this enhanced cross-device identity capability in the US and EMEA markets. “Marketers need privacy-safe digital identity resolution to reach their consumers,” says Tom Rolph, VP of EMEA at Tapad. “With audio becoming an increasingly powerful medium for engagement, it’s important that our technology extends to this channel, which is why we are excited to announce our integration with AdsWizz’s AudioMatic platform.” Digital audio is experiencing high growth, with 84% of advertisers and agencies saying it will play a bigger role in their media plans in the future. Today, 60% of digital audio is consumed via a mobile device.* The Tapad Graph is the largest digital identity resolution graph with differentiated global scale. The partnership enables audio advertisers to leverage The Tapad Graph for enhanced attribution, analytics, and targeting. Alexis van der Wyer, CEO at AdsWizz, added, “Digital audio is increasingly becoming ubiquitous in our media consumption and in our daily digital interactions, and because of that, audio advertising offers tremendous opportunity to personally interact with consumers in every moment of their daily lives. By integrating with Tapad, we enable our advertising partners to increase the effectiveness and the relevance of their marketing messages across audio channels.” To learn more about Tapad and our digital identity resolution products, visit our identity solutions page. *Digital Audio Exchange, “The Rise of Digital Audio Advertising,” https://thisisdax.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DAX-Whitepaper.pdf About Tapad Tapad, Inc. is a global leader in digital identity resolution. The Tapad Graph, and its related solutions, provide a transparent, privacy-safe approach connecting brands to consumers through their devices globally. Our one-of-a-kind Graph Select offering enables marketers the flexibility and freedom of choice to correlate devices to varied objectives, driving campaign effectiveness and business results. Tapad is recognized across the industry for its product innovation, workplace culture and talent, and has earned numerous awards including One World Identity’s 2019 Top 100 Influencers in Identity Award. Headquartered in New York, Tapad also has offices in Chicago, London, Oslo, Singapore and Tokyo. About AdsWizz: AdsWizz has created the end-to-end technology platform that is powering the digital audio advertising ecosystem. AdsWizz powers well-known music platforms, podcasts and broadcasting groups worldwide with a comprehensive digital audio software suite of solutions that connect audio publishers to the advertising community. From dynamic ad insertion to advanced programmatic platforms to innovative new audio formats, AdsWizz efficiently connects buyers and sellers in digital audio. AdsWizz is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with an IT Development hub in Bucharest, Romania, and presence in 39 markets around the world. About AudioMatic: AdsWizz Demand Side, audio-centric DSP and audio buying platform, AudioMatic, enables programmatic audio buying and entirely new audio ad experiences that are proven to be more engaging and more effective, and have delivered measurable results for agencies and their brands all over the world. All the biggest ad agencies have used our programmatic trading platform, including Omnicom, GroupM, Havas, Publicis, Mobext, and more. Contact us today
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The UK digital advertising market is worth £13.44bn, an increase year-on-year of 15%, reveals the 2018 IAB UK & PwC Digital Adspend Study. Report highlights The majority of all growth is coming from smartphone advertising, which has increased by £1.65bn (35%) from 2017. Smartphone advertising now represents 51% of all UK digital ad spend, up from 45% in 2017. Video is now the largest display format (£2307m), overtaking standard display banners (£1486m). Outstream/social in-feed has increased its majority in total video spend, now occupying a share of 57%, up from 52% in 2017. Social revenue now represents 23% of all digital ad spend. Growth is predicted to slow during 2019, with 5% estimated growth (+9% digital, +11% display, +9% search) compared to 15% in 2018. 2018 marks the tipping point towards a mobile-first ecosystem “For the past few years, industry commentators have been hailing the year of mobile. Each January the predictions come and the waiting commences for evidence to mark a tipping point, a shift to a mobile-first digital ad ecosystem. Well, drumroll… it was 2018! The latest Adspend report from IAB UK and PwC reveals that spend on smartphones outstripped spend on desktop for the first time last year. Brands spent 51% of total spend (which stands at £13.44 billion) on smartphones in 2018, up from 45% in 2017 – a significant milestone in the evolution of digital advertising. “This evidence shows that advertisers are increasingly thinking mobile-first. Growth in investment has historically lagged behind the amount of time spent on the device and we expect to see growth continue at a rapid pace to keep up with audience behaviour – two thirds of time spent online is now on mobile, according to UKOM. Other areas of growth highlighted by the report include video, which accounts for 44% of the total display market, while mobile video now makes up 51% of smartphone display. This is no doubt down to bigger mobile screens, better 4G and more readily available WiFi making video ads an increasingly attractive option. “Across the board, advertisers are investing in digital for longer-term brand building as well as short-term activation, with the direct-to-consumer market helping to drive this trend. What’s more, digital continues to be an accessible and popular route to market for businesses of all sizes, from leading advertisers to SMEs.” Tim Elkington, Chief Digital Officer, IAB UK Content & context crucial for attracting audiences “As people spend more and more of their time on mobile, it’s comes as no surprise that advertisers will follow where audiences are with their marketing spend. “Video has been the driving force in this growth, indicating that engaging visual content is still key in helping brands to achieve great results and to capture consumer attention in a vast sea of digital noise. “Video still has a way to go if it is to reach the level of effectiveness of traditional formats like cinema, but it will be interesting to see how the format develops over the next year or so. Ultimately, brilliant content and properly considered context are crucial for advertisers hoping to attract relevant audiences and build strong brands long term.” Kathryn Jacob OBE, CEO, Pearl & Dean Mobile-first approach driving investment in user experience “As a mobile-first approach has become the norm for many businesses, we’ve seen significant innovation and investment in the user experience that has fuelled the rise in mobile commerce. “Yet, for some years, limitations in the technology and formats available have meant that mobile advertising couldn’t always keep pace with changing consumer behaviours – delivering weaker performance when compared to desktop. “Fortunately, mobile has made huge strides in recent years. Mobile advertising affords great targeting opportunities for brands and a more interactive and immersive experience for consumers. “There is no reason to doubt this trend will continue as advertisers design their media, creative, and targeting strategy with mobile at the heart – optimising performance, enhancing the customer experience, and delivering the best results.” James Cragg, UK Managing Director, Tug New technologies to improve investment efficiency “The UK digital ad market has continued to grow despite the various challenges that the market has faced, including the current socioeconomic climate and general changes in the industry. As spend increases, it’s important to look at how media buying can be made as efficient as possible, minimising waste and maximising the return on investment. “Marketers will start to look to new technologies, like AI, to offer an impartial and more efficient approach to media buying, allowing marketers to measure effectiveness of campaigns and allocate spend accordingly.” Carl Erik Kjaersgaard, Chief Executive, Blackwood Seven Industry going from strength to strength “This significant growth in ad spend is great to see and shows that our industry is going from strength to strength. It’s especially good to see that as advertisers invest more and more in digital advertising, they’re becoming more considered in where they’re spending their money – with a large portion of the growth coming from companies that are part of IAB’s Gold Standard. “At The Trade Desk, we’ve long been ambassadors for the importance of transparency. These findings show that it isn’t just the right thing to do, but makes good business sense as advertisers increasingly choose partners who are demonstrating a commitment to best practice.” Anna Forbes, UK General Manager, The Trade Desk Advertisers embracing mobile “As consumers spend more of their time online, it’s no surprise that digital ad spend has continued its rise, up 15% to £13.4bn. With digital, in every sense, becoming further embedded in our daily lives, it is inevitable that this number is set to rise further next year. “Given the vast majority of people using their smartphone as their primary digital device, evident from site traffic stats we see across the board, the IAB report shows that advertisers have started to fully embrace this shift by following with ad spend. Over the last few years, a combination of faster wireless connectivity along with more capable devices has made it the go-to device for consumers to get online. This is set to continue over the next few years with 5G and even faster, more capable smartphones arriving (i.e. foldables) that will further cement ‘mobile’ as the main digital device to reach consumers.” Wajid Ali, Head of Paid Search, ForwardPMX Budgets must go to professionally produced content “In the IAB’s latest ‘Digital Adspend Study’ it is positive to see that outstream continues to dominate video spend, showing close to a 10% year-on-year increase. “Unsurprisingly, the study highlights that mobile is the most important distribution device (76% of all video spend is on the smartphone), and it’s great to see the format we invented dominating that space. “However, it’s now more pertinent than ever that clients and agencies invest their outstream budgets into professionally produced content and not social infeeds. Budgets must go where content is being produced, rather than aggregators and distributors, where the content is read rather than where a click happened. “We must remember how important local, national, and vertical press are to the global digital ecosystem. By unifying the best publishers at scale, delivering mobile-optimised creativity and outcome-orientated distribution, we are fighting to ensure publishers are getting their fair share of revenue in comparison to the social platforms.” Justin Taylor, UK MD, Teads UK market in robust health “The latest IAB digital ad spend report shows encouraging signs that the UK digital advertising market is in robust health, with mobile advertising continuing its upward trend. “The rise of up-and-coming ad formats like Shopping Ads, Google’s Responsive Search Ads, and Facebook Messenger Ads show that advertisers are looking for ways to capture consumer attention in the evolving digital landscape. As a result, the lines across search, social, and e-commerce are more blurred than ever with the introduction of features like Checkout for Instagram and Shopping ads on Google Images. Furthermore, with the rapid growth of Amazon’s ads business, e-commerce has quickly emerged as a third pillar of digital advertising, making it vital for marketers to have a complete view of the customer journey across channels and devices, if they hope to more accurately understand campaign performance and attribution.” Wesley MacLaggan, SVP of Marketing, Marin Software Digital identity resolution essential in understanding customer journey “Last year’s figures show that UK ad spend is starting to mirror the behaviour of consumers who, according to UKOM data, spend two-thirds of their time online on a smartphone. The fact that mobile ad spend now surpasses that of ad spend on desktop highlights marketers’ understanding that digital identity resolution is essential, not a nice-to-have. “Appreciating the cross-device behaviours of consumers allows brands to gain a better understanding of the customer journey and build stronger relationships with their audiences long term.” Tom Rolph, VP EMEA, Tapad, a part of Experian. Contact us today