If you’re selling a product today, how can you get the word out in the most efficient way? That’s what every business has on their mind. And today, it’s become much harder to answer. The fact is, there is always a new opportunity on the horizon if you keep your eyes open to how technology and culture are changing. 

In the mid-aughts and teens, Google and Facebook upset the apple cart with targeted, high-ROI digital ad channels. For brands agile enough to take advantage, it was a gold rush. Ever since then, marketers have stood by, waiting to pounce on whatever algorithm changes and features are introduced by these same two companies. But these platforms have lost some of their luster, leaving advertisers searching for a better play. It’s time for a shake up.

For starters, the privacy movement is driving two pillars of modern digital advertising to their graves: Google’s cookies and Facebook’s pixel. New tech and methods will replace them, and we have to be ready for that. For example, pay attention to Meta’s push into “Shops,” which allows businesses to create e-commerce experiences right within Facebook or Instagram. You can bet that as soon as the Pixel is retired, Meta will give preference to those using Shops rather than pulling audiences away from the platform.

But perhaps the “traditional” ad industry these behemoths decimated also has a chance for reincarnation. After all, aren’t podcasts just the new radio? Instead of targeting a geographic market, podcasts target interests, making them much more effective. 

And can the same happen to television? Writers and actors in Hollywood are striking for a new payment model that reflects the entertainment industry’s shift from broadcast to streaming. One major issue is the loss of advertising revenue in favor of subscriptions, and whether the latter is sustainable. (The argument could be made that investors have subsidized the public’s appetite for ad-less TV consumption, and that this house of cards needs to collapse.) 

Experts predict that streaming platforms will have to introduce more advertising, even on top of subscriptions. Just last week, Netflix announced the elimination of its cheapest ad-free plan, moving in the direction of other services like Hulu, which launched the beta of its ad manager in 2020.

Let’s face it: social media advertising can be creatively uninspiring. Product photography and captions only get you so far. Videos are quickly skipped by most users. Organic short-form video content can offer great results, but it’s not scalable.

But imagine a world where the ease of running a targeted Facebook campaign is combined with the storytelling and humor of traditional television ads. Imagine running your own commercial to exactly the type of audience you need to reach, based on interests, not local markets.

This is a future this writer welcomes.