• by Michael McLaren , Op-Ed Contributor, January 7, 2021

As we continue our analyses of marketers’ intent trends into 2021, I suspect we will glean insight into how advertisers are leveraging what they learned in an unprecedented year of economic upheaval, shifting customer priorities, and digital transformation. 

“Clickstream analytics” has seen an uptick in intent among brands. We can infer from this data that brands are reacting to the impending demise of the third-party cookie, coupled with their further embrace of first-party site data.

Clickstream data doesn’t rely on cookies, and marketers are able to use it to see how and where their site visitors engaged.

A full view of site activity across third-party sites requires consumers to opt in to panels to have their activity tracked. 

“LED digital signage” intent among brands climbed from mid-November through the end of the year. A Berg Insight statistic, as reported in eMarketer, predicts the number of connected digital signage displays to hit 129.4 million by 2024.

The technology embedded in digital signage is poised to become much more advanced in the near-term, as we are already seeing these displays feed data back to advertisers on viewers’ behavior.

The ability to customize digital displays to data cues is an efficient departure from static billboards.