Ad Network Spending To Decrease, Behavioral Targeting To Hold Steady, According To Study
NEW YORK – Forbes released results of its “Ad Effectiveness Survey,” conducted among senior marketing executives during February and March 2009 to better understand their behaviors and beliefs regarding digital marketing, and to forecast where the major areas of growth – and weakness – will be over the next six months. The complete survey results are available at www.forbes.com/adinfo/research.html
Among the study highlights, when it comes to influencing brand perception, the most effective tactics were site sponsorships and pay-per-impression programs on digital publications. Ad networks and pay-per-click-search were identified as the least effective tactics. For garnering conversions, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click and e-mail tactics were seen as the top three most effective tools, while ad networks, video ads and “other” tactics were cited as least effective.
“Ad network spending is all about demand fulfillment while direct-to-publisher display is much aligned with the traditional advertising goals of demand creation,” said Forbes.com President and CEO Jim Spanfeller. “It is interesting to see the shift of dollars toward demand creation as we see signs of life in the economy.”
Marketers are measuring success as follows:
* 82% say they are using conversions or sales data
* 55% use registrations
* 51% use click-throughs
* 51% use impressions
* 39% use search rank
* 31% use brand perception
* 16% use customer feedback
* 14% use reach to target
When respondents were asked about their expected changes in digital media tactic allocation over the next six months:
* Overall respondents plan to allocate a higher percentage of their digital media dollars to viral marketing (42%) and SEO (40%), while 53% stated they would spend less on Ad networks.
* Behavioral Targeting was the tactic to see the least change (57% plan to allocate the same).
* Among $1MM+ Digital spenders, Viral Marketing (54%) and SEO (50%) will also see expected increase allocations, with Ad networks seeing the highest percentage of expected decreases at 52%.
“It’s amazing that less than one-third of marketers are using brand perception metrics, despite the fact that the digital world makes brand perception research readily available and measurable,” added Spanfeller. “Additionally, the need to build a trusted relationship with customers as part of an overall marketing strategy may in turn increase the need for contextual ad environments that align the advertiser’s message with trusted, branded media.”
Methodology:
The online survey was fielded between February 19, 2009 and March 19, 2009 among the following audiences:
* CMOs, C-suite professionals and senior-level executives (defined as Director or above) who hold roles in advertising, marketing and/or media.
* Senior-level executives (defined as Director or above) who hold roles in advertising, marketing and/or media from the Forbes Advisory Panel, an opt-in panel of senior executives.
Respondents were invited to participate in the survey via email. A total of 112 responses were received.
Forbes Media:
Forbes Media encompasses Forbes and Forbes.com, the #1 business site on the Web that reaches 18.6 million people monthly. The company publishes Forbes and Forbes Asia, which together reach a worldwide audience of more than 5.5 million readers. It also publishes ForbesLife and ForbesWoman magazines, in addition to licensee editions in China, Croatia, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia and Turkey. Other Forbes Media Web sites are: ForbesTraveler.com; Investopedia.com; RealClearPolitics.com; RealClearMarkets.com; RealClearSports.com; and the Forbes.com Business and Finance Blog Network. Together with Forbes.com, these sites reach nearly 40 million business decision makers each month.
