Twelvefold's 12 Predictions for 2012 | Twelvefold Media | Drive Superior Results and Insights for Your Brand

As 2011 is winding down, it’s that time when most advertisers will take pause and look back at the trends and changes we’ve experienced this year, as well as attempt to predict what we will encounter in 2012.

This last year brought us a host of changes: the continued rise of user-selected video ads, privacy concerns on the part of consumers, the growth of real-time bidding within media strategies, Facebook and Twitter’s advertising platforms gaining momentum, and Google+ joining the social media frenzy. It was a busy year.

As we step into 2012, Twelvefold’s executive team has put together a few predictions of our own, giving a list of things to watch for in the coming year:

Dave Hills, CEO

1. 2012 holds the promise of brands creating a more meaningful online advertising experience for target audiences by understanding their intent and motivation. Advertising around audience mindset is possible due to new advances in online ad technology. This goes much deeper than contextual or NLP capabilities—it’s about learning what’s important to target audiences and serving them an ad based on their needs.

Chris Verzello, VP Sales, West

2. Brands will become less willing to pay for content generation, and more interested in targeting the consumer

in organic media experiences. Brands will continue to leverage Facebook, Twitter, and Social Communities, but will become more focused on selling products and services through targeted offers to unique market segments. Enhanced social analytics will enable brands to be smarter with their social investments, leading to stronger ROI. For example, brands will shift away from generic metrics such as Facebook Likes and Twitter followers, and will be more focused on delivering relevant offers to organic communities.

3. Consumer confidence is rebounding which will have a significant impact on Consumer Electronics, Auto’s, Retailers, and Travel:

Consumer Electronics will focus on Flat Panel TV’s, Tablets, and Home Entertainment Systems like XBOX
Autos will regain their strong rebound, and the consumer is focused on value and functional features including hybrid technology
Retailers will benefit from increased consumer demand. Likely the first half of the year will see strong YOY same-store sales increase for the discounters and big box retailers, while the second half of the year will see increases in specialty retailers and in particular, women shoppers
Travel is rebounding and we’ll see airlines and destinations compete for the consumer. Service, convenience, and unique travel experiences will become hot for the consumer taste

Seph Zdarko, COO

4.Online privacy will heat up again. Behavioral targeting and online privacy was hot in the first half of this year and will heat up in 2012 with the election year. Mobile will also be at the front of the argument with geo tracking and UID targeting.

5. More inventory will move to RTB through both public and private auctions. RTB is simply more efficient than traditional ad serving and the entire ecosystem will continue in this direction, including video and mobile.

6. Blind networks and ad serving will almost disappear. With the explosion of ad verification services trying to obfuscate where ads are being served, it’s no longer practical, and traditional publishers, networks, ad exchanges and SSPs will work to increase page level transparency.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of our predictions.