The marketing universe grows exceedingly complex by the moment, it seems, whether it’s shifting attribution and measurement models, up-and-coming platforms snagging share of audience, new technologies enhancing the customer journey, or any number of fast-evolving, hot-button issues on the minds of marketers today. It’s safe to say that for those with c-suite aspirations, it can be difficult deciding where to apply focus. To help narrow that purview, we spoke with four CMOs about the most important marketing trends to be tracking right now, from the digitization of marketing to the importance of brand purpose to identity-based measurement.

Indeed, the increased need for measurement and accountability of marketing spend is a critical topic for c-suite leaders. And recent and forthcoming changes to the ways in which brands can track online consumer behavior are causing a ripple effect with the digital advertising space—in particular for Meta, a platform that relies on those advertisers to fuel its business model. Here’s a look at the company’s position on mitigating signal loss, its metaverse ambitions, optimizing its ads business, social commerce developments and investments in creators on its platform. 

Speaking of the metaverse, Gartner reports that 25 percent of the population will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse by 2026, whether for work, shopping, education or entertainment. That’s sooner than many brands are prepared for. We look at how marketers can approach creating metaverse experiences by leading with a business objective first, a clearly-delineated purpose, an eye toward building customer loyalty and nurturing connection among attendees.

Lastly, after a three-year hiatus, one of the experiential marketing industry’s largest annual showcases returned to downtown Austin last week—and a flurry of brands showed up to play. Read about some of the standout in-person activations at SXSW 2022, from Cheetos’ “hands-free” fun house to FX’s psychedelic journey through “Atlanta” to HBO Max’s buzzworthy, NYC subway-themed event.

Until next week,

Kaylee Hultgren
Group Content Manager
Chief Marketer

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