With global ad spending on track to surpass $1 trillion for the first time in history, today’s buyers are getting hit with a constant flood of marketing messaging on all sides. With overwhelm and increasing levels of fully generated messaging and creative comes serious skepticism. Add shifting privacy rules and targeting limitations to the mix, and suddenly, cutting through the noise and building authentic brand credibility feels like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.
We sat down with Kianna Kennedy, Sr. Ad Operations Manager at Informa TechTarget, to dig into how digital advertising can help brands build genuine trust and credibility while navigating that tricky balance between hyper-targeted campaigns and casting a wider net.
Q: What trends are you seeing in how buyers engage with ads alongside content?
A: Buyers tend to respond better when ads feel aligned with the content they’re already consuming. Educational, value-driven messaging often performs better than overly sales-heavy messaging because it feels more relevant to what audiences are actively trying to learn.
Q: In your opinion, how does digital advertising help build trust and credibility with buyers?
A: Repeated visibility within trusted editorial environments helps build credibility and familiarity over time. When brands consistently show up alongside content that audiences already value, it can strengthen trust in their products and offerings.
Q: How do you see the balance between relevance and reach evolving in the current advertising landscape?
A: The strongest campaigns strike a balance between relevance and reach. Reach alone isn’t enough if your message isn’t connecting with the right audience, but overly narrow targeting can limit scale. The goal is reaching the right audience in the right environment with messaging that resonates.
Q: What’s your favorite part of being on the Ad Operations team at Informa TechTarget?
A: My favorite part of the job is solving problems and building systems that make campaign execution and reporting easier for our teams and more scalable, so we can better serve our clients. I’m lucky to work with a team that’s always looking for ways to improve our processes, and it’s rewarding to be part of that work.
Q: You have a captive audience here. If you could leave marketers with one tip to help their ads resonate better with today’s buyers, what would it be?
A: Lead with the problem you solve and make sure your value proposition is immediately clear. If someone sees your ad for two seconds, would they understand why it matters to them? People see ads all day, every day, so your messaging needs to stand out.
Building trust with today’s skeptical buyers has never been more challenging — or more critical. Anything less than exceptional — in terms of creative, messaging, targeting, timing, and context — will fall into the ignored-advertising abyss. By ensuring your ads appear in context alongside relevant content in editorial destinations your buyers already flock to and trust, you can create campaigns that stand out and build preference.
Ready to take your brand advertising to the next level? Explore how Informa TechTarget’s contextual banners, takeover sponsorships and behavioral targeting can help you build credibility and drive results.
