What is ID Resolution?

Halal advertising must get serious about ID Resolution or get left behind. But, what is ID Resolution? If you have been paying attention to the impending demise of the third-party cookie, you will know that ID Resolution is a big part of this issue.

MarTech defines and explains the importance of ID Resolution in a nutshell:

“Identity resolution – the science of connecting the growing volume of consumer identifiers to one individual as he or she interacts across channels and devices – has become critical to marketing success, as well as essential for compliance with consumer privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).”

Identity resolution is all about getting a sneak peek into someone’s online activities and interests, from different devices. For instance, if you collect information from their laptop, phone, email, and TV, and combine it together, you can get a pretty good idea about what they’re into. However, this information is anonymous so you can’t find out exactly who the person is, like their name or address. At best, you can find out their age, gender, location, and what they like to do online and buy.

Identity: At its simplest, identity refers to identifying a person online. This is super useful for advertisers because they can then target the right people who are interested in their products or services, with the perfect message at the perfect time

Resolution: So, what Resolution means is that all the information about a person is collected and put together into a single profile. For instance, someone might use one browser for work and another for personal shopping. Or their phone and tablet might reveal more about what they enjoy doing in their free time, sports they like watching, or things they search for during a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

Looking at only one of these devices by itself doesn’t give you the full picture. But when you combine them all, you get a much better idea of who this person is across different screens and gadgets. This helps target, personalize, and measure marketing campaigns for specific individuals.

The Impending Doom for Halal Advertising?

“So, what’s the problem?” you may ask. The problem is stated and addressed in a recent ad industry report by eMarketer: “ID Resolution H1 2023” which states:

“ID resolution — identifying individual users across digital touchpoints — is critical for marketing success. But the deprecation of legacy identifiers will continue, and the ad industry needs to adopt post-cookie solutions now before its hand is forced.”

It’s quite interesting how Muslim and mainstream brands started panicking when the death of the third-party cookie was announced some time back. Then, when this was postponed till 2024 many of those same brands went around doing their business as usual and forgot all about it.

Now, however, we see that many of the bigger brands have been preparing for the end of the third-party cookie quite a bit. This is reflected in the same report that shows that:

“Spending on US identity solutions has been steadily growing over the last five years. Expenditures will reach $10.4 billion by the end of 2023—a 13% increase over 2022 and nearly triple the 2018 total,…”.

_{Image source: ID Resolution H1 2023}

The report also shares the extent to which marketers are taking the third-party cookie and ID phase-out seriously. “How seriously”? you may ask and the answer is “deadly serious”.

As per the ID5 State of Digital Identity 2022 report, almost half of the marketers and publishers indicated that they would implement a cookie-free strategy by the end of 2022. Additionally, 29% reported that they would be prepared by mid-2023, while the remaining 22% had already laid out their plans for the same.

_{Image source:  ID5 State of Digital Identity 2022 report}

According to the eighth edition of Salesforce’s State of Marketing report, nearly 90% of marketers who utilized AI in 2022 did so to address customer identity concerns. This marks a 22% increase from the previous year and is the largest jump observed in the study for AI-related activities.

As you can see, the marketing and advertising world for the most part is rapidly shifting towards ID solutions in a world with no third-party cookies and an extremely consumer-privacy-friendly world.

What steps have you taken for your halal business’ marketing and advertising in the new world that is less than seven months away, at the time of writing this article?

Key to Succeeding With Your Halal Advertising in the Post-Cookie World

For a successful shift in the right direction, you need a proper internal audit of how you collect consumer data and how you use it. However, we can take a look at a few things you must keep in mind after you have done an internal audit and are preparing your post-third-party-cookie advertising strategy.

Zero, First-Party, and Second-Party Data

Where petrol is the black gold, zero and first-party data can be considered to be digital Rhodium (the most valuable metal on earth and exists within the platinum group of metals) in the world of advertising.

Zero-party data is data that consumers intentionally and proactively share with your halal brand. On the other hand, first-party data is data that you collect through interactions with Muslim customers, such as purchase history or website behavior.

We can’t emphasize the importance of zero-party data enough, particularly for Muslim brands, as it allows for a deeper understanding of Muslim customers and provides an opportunity for personalization. With privacy laws evolving and consumers becoming more cautious with their personal information, collecting zero-party data can also help build trust between the brand and their audience.

Your Muslim brand can collect zero-party data through quizzes, surveys, and other interactive content that provide value to your audience. By doing so, you can create a more personalized experience for halal industry customers while respecting their privacy. 

Second-party data is a brand’s first-party data that is sold to another brand for targeting specific customers. It’s high quality and specialized but only available through a private partnership and smaller in scope than third-party data. By establishing a strategic data partnership, Muslim brands can access more niche data for targeted advertising, like using Muslim halal dining data for a halal restaurant-specific discount card.

Data Clean Rooms (DCRs)

What are data clean rooms and how will they help your halal advertising in the post-cookie world?

We found that the best and easiest explanation of what a data clean room is has been provided by TechTarget and so we summarized it below:

“A data clean room is a technology service that helps content platforms keep first-person user data private when interacting with advertising providers. It is intended to keep user data isolated and private.”

• When content platforms interact with advertising providers, DCRs keep user data private.
• It is the data equivalent of a real-world clean room, with the aim of creating a flawless environment in which technology cannot be polluted by outside influences.
• DCRs collect aggregated and anonymized user data to safeguard the privacy of users while offering advertisers non-personally identifiable information (non-PII) to target a specific demographic and measure audience size.
• Privacy restrictions, as well as advertisers’ ongoing desire to more accurately reach consumers, have fueled an increasing need for data clean rooms.

Although just twenty percent of marketers in North America had DCRs in Q2 2022, according to a survey by the CMO Council of over 160 marketing leaders, 24% are planning to get one. 

Keep in mind that DCRs can be very expensive and that many are compatible only with a specific platform.

• Walled garden DCRs are restricted platforms used by major companies for first-party data set enrichment.
• Neutral DCR vendors provide software solutions designed for media companies and brands. They provide adaptability, partnership, and a more unified view, as well as being easier to use.
• Owned DCRs provide versatility and governance controls, however, they are technical solutions with limited access to partner data outside their ecosystem.

If you like the idea of using a DCR make sure you read our article on CDPs (customer data platforms) as the two work extremely well together.

_{Image source: Data Clean Rooms and CDPS: How to Empower Your First-Party Data Strategy}

Muslim Ad Network (MAN)

As the Muslim population continues to grow around the world, and privacy restrictions make serving ads to the already hard-to-get-to Muslim consumers even more complicated, it may be time for you to work with Muslim Ad Network.

Muslim Ad Network is a niche advertising platform aimed at Muslim consumers. It provides a variety of ad formats, including display ads, video ads, and native ads, all of which can be tailored to your brand’s specific requirements. You can target your ads with the Muslim Ad Network based on factors such as location, interests, and demographics, ensuring that your message reaches the right people.

A platform that understands Muslim consumers

Muslim Ad Network is designed specifically to serve the needs of Muslim consumers. Its team of experts understands the unique cultural, social, and religious factors that influence Muslim consumer behavior. By partnering with the Muslim Ad Network, you can leverage this expertise to develop advertising campaigns that resonate with Muslim consumers. A partner with over a decade of experience serving ads to Muslim consumers online.

Leave the worrying to us

Although in this article we tried to give you as much information as possible about the very near future of advertising and its complications, there is still plenty more that we could not cover. This means that advertising complications will create many frustrations for brands and marketers who are not prepared. Even for those preparing, some of the solutions mentioned are quite expensive without even customizing them to serve ads to a complicated niche like the Muslim consumer market.

Muslim Ad Network is an excellent platform for brands looking to connect with Muslim consumers. MAN’s targeted advertising capabilities, deep understanding of Muslim consumers, and high-quality ad formats make it an ideal choice for your mainstream or Muslim brand looking to reach this growing and influential market at a time of privacy and advertising restrictions. 
Contact MAN today to learn more about how we can help you reach Muslim consumers in a new world of advertising.

The post Halal Advertising Must Get Serious About ID Resolution appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

In our previous discussion about Web3, we discussed how to market to Muslims in this environment effectively. In part one of the two-part blog series, we introduced you to Web3 from a halal marketing perspective. In part two, we discussed how your halal brand could leverage Web3 to target Muslim consumers. In this article, we discuss how Web3 may change Ad Tech and how that may affect the way we serve ads for your halal brand.

To summarize our previous discussions about Web3, the emergence of new web technologies, the most important of which is blockchain, is driving its evolution. Unlike its forerunner, Web3 is decentralized, which means it is not dominated by a small group of megacorporations like Alphabet, Meta, and Twitter. It means that Web3 economics will be more democratic, inclusive, and fair because every user will be able to participate. There will be no large companies harvesting user data for sale; instead, everyone will have control over their personal data and content, as well as the ability to decide how to monetize these digital assets.

For companies like ours, specializing in the advertising industry, we are excited about how Web3 is going to turn the foundation of online advertising on its head.

How Web3 Could Change Advertising to Muslim Consumers

He Who Owns the Data Owns the Pie

Many Muslim brands went into full panic mode when Facebook decided to remove religious targeting on its ad platform. This caused many Muslim brands to look for better alternatives, like Muslim Ad Network. You can see below that even today as we speak one of our most popular pieces of content is the article discussing this very issue. 

The point is, those who control the data have all the power and soon it will not be an elite club made up of large tech companies, like META.

One of the most positive aspects of Web3 is the fact that the tech industry’s goliaths will be unable to collect user data as they do today, and targeted advertising will necessitate negotiating with users about them providing their own data.

Muslims Online Will Have More Power

• Web3 allows buyers to anonymously leave comments on articles and buy stuff without the seller knowing who they are.
• Online users, unlike in Web2’s reality, can download images and content, and have their identity unrelated to any digital transactions.
• Furthermore, Web3 users will be able to choose when they want to watch brand advertisements. Your quality of advertising should be extremely high. Just one questionable advertisement from your halal brand means that they will not consider you for future viewing.
• Web 3.0, which employs blockchain technology, can aid in the restoration of user trust because the data stored on the blockchain is decentralized, secure, and transparent.
• Entrusting data ownership to consumers may disrupt plans by information technology corporations to steal sensitive customer data.
• Internet transactions will be transparent because they will be recorded as blocks of information and kept there in perpetuity with open access to all. As a result, consumers will be able to see the entire supply chain and assess its sustainability, which may have a significant impact on the decisions they make.

The Shape of Online Ads in Web3

Will it be worth paying to target Muslim audiences with ads in Web3? The thing with Web3 is that your halal brand will need to put in more effort to catch the attention of its target audience. Before even thinking about targeting them with ads, you should pounce on the opportunity that Web3 offers to build tighter relationships with Muslim consumers.

Remember that because consumer data will no longer be stored by a small number of elite entities, Muslim Ad Network will connect publishers and advertisers directly to Muslim consumers without the involvement of a third party. High-quality connections such as these will yield better ROAS for your ads.

“With exclusive relationships with the biggest Muslim websites, MAN can access first-party data to figure out the interests and behaviors of those Muslim audiences.”

Source: Advertising to Muslims Online in 2022 After Third-Party Cookies Disappear

Due to the nature of data collection in Web3, there will be an abundance of much more accurate data than what we have now with Web2 and third-party cookies.

Your halal brand will have direct access to actual consumers rather than a vendor’s image of who your consumer is. You’ll need to stop thinking of customers as numbers in a database and start thinking of them as people with whom you can build meaningful relationships.

Accurate data and good relationships with your customers are a killer combination for serving extremely effective online ads.

The goal of Web3 ad tech won’t be to build sizable databases and extract huge profits from the advertising supply data chain. The provided ad tech solutions will be advantageous to users, publishers, and advertisers. It may also help save money that would otherwise be spent paying third parties to act as intermediaries.

Of course, Web3 is still in its infancy, making it difficult to predict when it will begin to have a significant impact on online advertising. But it is a matter of “when” not “if”.

Meanwhile, check out “The Ultimate Guide to Understanding and Marketing to The Muslim Consumer”. It is the only complete Muslim consumer guide in existence. If you are ready to take your advertising to Muslims to the next level, start advertising with Muslim Ad Network today.

The post How Web3 Will Change Advertising to Your Muslim Audience appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

While 2021 was a record year for ad spending, even more growth is expected in 2022.

According to the most prominent global ad agencies (Magna, Zenith, and GroupM), the U.S. ad market will exceed $300 billion and the global ad market will surpass $700 billion.

For your organization to capitalize on this opportunity, you must understand what will capture the attention of your Muslim consumer target audiences.

This is why, in the coming weeks, we will take a look at the top online advertising trends for 2022. 

In this article, we will look at the top video advertising trends that will propel you to get the best out of your Muslim target audience in 2022.

The #1 Video Ad Trend for 2022: Video Ads Are Shrinking

Expect the vast majority of video production in 2022 to be for short videos. According to Hubspot: “A video up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds in length is considered short-form”.

It’s been a known fact for a while now that online users have very little patience and an even lower attention span.

The worst part is that research is now showing that attention spans keep getting shorter. In 2019 the Insights from RevJet’s Q3 Consumer Ad Experience Sentiment Report mentioned that 25% of adults close a video after just 10 seconds.

Is it Worth Creating Video Ads for Muslim Consumers?

So why bother with videos then, if users are hardly looking at them?

It’s not that they are hardly looking at them, users want you to cut to the chase faster or they will bounce.

The mobile video ad spending in the United States alone is predicted to jump from $22.9 billion in 2020 to $53.9 billion in 2025.

Here are five video marketing stats from LemonLight that will convince you to produce video ads for Muslim customers:

1. 94% of users say that watching a video has helped them make a purchase decision at least once.
2. 99% of users enjoy watching online video content from brands.
3. 84% of marketers say video has helped them generate leads.
4. 90% of people say they discover new brands or products on YouTube.
5. 95% of the message is retained by users when it’s conveyed via video.

Short-form Video Trends for 2022

To get the best out of the short-form videos, create videos according to trends marketers are forecasting for 2022.

Here’s a look at the top trends:

Community-building Brand Challenges

Brand challenges are when a brand challenges its audience to do something good and show it online. It’s a great way to get user-generated content, boost traffic, and build community on TikTok and Instagram using themed hashtags.

The #KeepingActive hashtag, for example, has created a community of fitness enthusiasts making it the go-to hang-out place for them.

Current TikTok views for #KeepingActive: 7.1 billion

Behind the Scenes Brand Videos

Muslim consumers like any other group of consumers seek authenticity and transparency. Creating videos that show what happens behind the scenes humanizes your brand.

According to a study by Sprout Social, 70% of consumers feel more connected to brands whose CEO is active on social media platforms.

Whether you like football (soccer) or not, this behind-the-scenes video of Antonio Conte’s first day at Tottenham Hotspurs is the essence of how behind-the-scenes videos should be done. 

It’s more than 8 minutes long but the first two minutes are perfect for a short video.

Antonio Conte is a bigger brand than the Spurs themselves and in this video, we see him, not as the football machine that he is but as a human being.

Due to restrictions, we cannot host the video here but you can watch Antonio Conte’s first day at Tottenham Hotspur on YouTube.

How-to Videos

According to a 2020 report by Wyzowl, there is an increasing trend towards educational videos.

Ask yourself this: “Have I ever learned how to do something with the help of a YouTube video?”. Most likely the answer is yes.

How-to videos have high added value as they help your audiences maximize their efforts in their day-to-day struggles.

If your brand starts utilizing how-to videos as part of your Muslim marketing strategy, you can improve lead generation while building stronger brand loyalty.

Outstream Videos

Research by Teads has found that “66% of US users declared they hated when video ads automatically played with sound”.

That’s why a significant number of users are watching without sound.

Outstream videos are a great option and are gaining massive popularity.

These types of videos are integrated into the content the user is reading. That’s why they are also known as ‘native video’ or ‘in-read video’.

Outstream videos start playing without volume when the user scrolls over them and they pause once they are out of view.

It is important to remember that captioning and on-screen instructions are necessary to ensure that your video content is understood.

Optimizing for soundless playback video can help make your video content more accessible.

For the best example of this just look at your social media feed:

Micro Video Ads

We’ve mentioned that 25% of adults close a video after just 10 seconds.

What if your video ad finishes playing before the 10-second mark? Wouldn’t that ensure that all the content will be seen?

The challenge is creating something engaging and informative enough within 6 to 10 seconds. If you succeed in doing so, your chances of the user clicking on the ‘skip’ button are lower.

Micro video ads tease users just enough to make them want more. 

Design Shack recommends the use of “fast-paced or highly engaging visuals to grab users and lure them to your website with this video marketing trend”.

Conclusion

The year 2022 promises to be a significant year for brands advertising online. However, not all online advertising activities will work for every single brand. Video advertising is one of the most talked-about tactics for 2022.
However, to capitalize on a market with exponential growth, like the $3 trillion Muslim consumer market, you need to work with experts like Muslim Ad Network. So feel free to contact MAN – no strings attached – and let us talk about your Muslim online video advertising plans for 2022.

The post The #1 Video Advertising Trend for Epic Muslim Consumer Engagement in 2022 appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.

There is no denying the fact that advertising has never been the same since the COVID-19 crisis started. The tourism and leisure industries have been the hardest hit and have cut their online advertising budgets. Yet other sectors have thrived during the crisis, especially those in eCommerce with the future looking bright.

Here’s a look at what to expect when it comes to online advertising in 2021…

1- Online Advertising Will Shoot Up

The first trend is a no-brainer.

Following widespread cuts to ad budgets earlier this year, a rebound is anticipated in 2021, with Zenith forecasting that ad spend will recover by 5.8% globally.

Source: ADWEEK, 3 Digital Marketing Trends to Come in 2021

The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world and triggered changes in online shopping behaviors that are likely to have lasting effects.

Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

To add to that, Muslims have become more digitally connected since the pandemic started.

This has added impetus to the demand for pragmatic, digital Islamic economy solutions. The demand covers various sectors from Islamic finance and halal food to Islamic lifestyle products and services.

Source: The $3 Trillion Reason Why Mainstream Brands Cannot Ignore The Muslim Consumer Market

Opportunity and Competition

Many brands that are renowned experts in their industry have had to abandon live events like seminars and workshops. They now focus on delivering online masterclasses. 

This has created opportunities to engage with larger audiences. However, this phenomenon has created new competition online in niches that had relatively little competition.

The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, or should I say “Digital Rebirth”:

Digital Rebirth transcends digital transformation. It involves a revolutionary reinventing of the purpose, nature, and processes of a company, with accompanying digital business and technological platforms.

Source: Digital Rebirth: How Smart Companies Recreate Themselves in the Digital Era

If you are looking to increase your engagement with Muslim consumers or increase the volume of Muslim customers you must advertise online. You should however be wary of spending too much of your budget on platforms like Google Display Network, Facebook, Google Search, etc.

Given the fact that the likes of Google and Facebook are now getting saturated and will remain so post-COVID-19, your efforts will be more cost-efficient if you use platforms that specialize in your niche. So if you are offering Islamic finance, modest fashion, and so on, you are better off using the only Ad network that specializes in targeting Muslims. This goes for mainstream brands that also want to find a way to engage with Muslim consumers. Even if you do choose to use Facebook Ads or Google Ads, you will not be able to target Muslim consumers the way Muslim Ad Network does ( you cannot target by belief or religion on Facebook and Google).

Trend #2: An Increase in Local Targeting

Since many of the small and medium-size organizations are forced to focus their budget on online advertising, they need to utilize local targeting. A good example would be a non-profit organization that depends on door-to-door or street donations. 

The concurrent lockdowns nationwide make their source of collecting donations almost non-existent. Some have adjusted to this by advertising online, targeting geographical locations and profiles of people who are most likely to donate.

This is a great tactic for non-profits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a snippet from WordStreams’ article, How COVID-19 Has Impacted Google Ads Results for 21 Industries:

“Some businesses are experiencing increases across metrics during the time of this pandemic.

Non-profits and charities

In times of crisis, we often see the best in people, and that’s even true on the Google SERP (search engine result page). As COVID-19 has spread, non-profits and charities have seen:

• A 10% increase in search ad impressions.
• A 23% increase in search ad conversions.
• A 20% increase in search ad conversion rate.”

If you are looking to zoom in on the right Muslim audience locally, Muslim Ad Network can help you do this cost-efficiently; just get in touch. If you are a charity, take a look at our Giving Back page.

Trend #3: Advertisers Will Have More Say

During the COVID-19 crisis, Google, Facebook, and Amazon have stepped up ad visibility. And why not, this is how they make money. These three also happen to be the most dominant companies, accounting for nearly two-thirds of ad dollars spent on U.S. digital advertising in 2020.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “for the first time, more than half of U.S. advertising spending is set to go to digital platforms such as Google and Facebook”.

Search Engine Results Page Getting Saturated

The biggest beneficiaries are Google, Facebook, and Amazon. They have done a good job of showing ad performance—and when they show performance marketers shift dollars.

Now take a look at the search engine result page below for the keyword “laptop”. You will realize that more space is being awarded to ads, eating up more organic results. The ads, in fact, look so much more like organic results than they used to. This started before the pandemic, however, it suits well with the change in buyer behavior becoming more online oriented.

More money is being allocated for online advertising. At the same time, more space and attention is being offered for online advertising by the three biggest players in the industry. This equals online advertisers having more say in 2021.

The downside is that your pages that were ranking well organically are now pushed further down the search engine result page. You have a choice: start using Google Ads and take part in a bidding war with your competition or do nothing.

However, if you are lucky enough to be targeting a very specific niche, like Muslims looking for halal takeaways or halal make-up, etc. you don’t have that problem. As we mentioned before, you can turn to Muslim Ad Network. The only Ad network out there that specializes in bringing brands and Muslim consumers together online.

In Conclusion

The year 2021 shines a ray of hope on us simply because it is a new start. Moreover, with the approval of the COVID-19 vaccine, people have become even more hopeful. However, as stated earlier, online advertising and consumer behavior changes are here to stay. 

This means more focus on online advertising. However, you could lose a lot of money if you do not strategize properly in an online advertising world that is on its way to becoming even more saturated and expensive than ever before.

We have served over 1 billion ads to Muslims online for over a decade. Let us help you kickoff 2021 in the best way you can.

The post 3 Online Advertising Trends and How to Reach Muslims in 2021 appeared first on Muslim Ad Network.