Other findings show targeting techniques secondary to greater emphasis on results
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCLK) announced results from the 2012 ValueClick Media Advertiser Survey. This annual survey tracks the perceptions, thoughts and actions of agencies and brand marketers, including their views on advertising budgets, reasons for selecting media partners and digital marketing trends. Nearly 300 digital marketers and agency professionals participated in the survey, conducted in December 2011. Key findings include:
Aggregated Media, Emerging Channels Increase Momentum (Figure 1)
In the category of stationary display advertising, aggregated media – such as networks, demand-side platforms (DSPs), exchanges and trading desks – are stabilizing or increasing their footprint, apparently at the expense of portal buys. Still, while DSPs, exchanges, and trading desks are gaining momentum, 19-31% of media buyers do not plan to spend in those channels in 2012. In addition, the surge in video and mobile marketing are clearly illustrated in the table, with only 7-10% of marketers not planning to spend in these channels in 2012 (down from 13% and 15%, respectively, in 2011).
| Not Planning to Spend |
Spending Will Decrease |
Spending Will Stay the Same |
Spending Will Increase |
|||||||
| Ad Networks | 2010 | 4% | 13% | 47% | 25% | |||||
| 2011 | 3% | 6% | 57% | 26% | ||||||
| DSPs | 2010 | 20% | 7% | 23% | 20% | |||||
| 2011 | 19% | 6% | 30% | 17% | ||||||
| Direct Pub Placements | 2010 | 6% | 13% | 45% | 21% | |||||
| 2011 | 5% | 11% | 48% | 21% | ||||||
| Exchanges | 2010 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||||
| 2011 | 20% | 7% | 34% | 13% | ||||||
| Trading Desks | 2010 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||||
| 2011 | 31% | 5% | 20% | 9% | ||||||
| Mobile | 2010 | 13% | 3% | 19% | 52% | |||||
| 2011 | 7% | 3% | 16% | 65% | ||||||
| Portals | 2010 | 13% | 13% | 42% | 11% | |||||
| 2011 | 18% | 10% | 36% | 9% | ||||||
| Video | 2010 | 15% | 6% | 24% | 38% | |||||
| 2011 | 10% | 2% | 27% | 49% |
Figure 1. How will your budget for the following change in 2012? (Note: Percentages do not add to 100% due to “Don’t Know” responses.)
Additionally,
- The number of buyers planning on decreasing spending in networks dropped by over 50%, while those planning to spend the same or increase on networks grew from 72% to 83%. A mere 3% of buyers do not plan on spending on networks.
- DSPs appear to be stabilizing, with the percentage of buyers who plan to keep the spend the same as last year equating to 30%, vs. 23% in last year’s survey, while those planning to increase their spending decreased to 17% from 20% over the same time period.
- Those buyers planning to not spend at all with portals jumped over 38% – from 13% to 18% – and the percentage keeping the same spend or increasing declined from 53% to 45%. A mere 9% of buyers expect to increase their spend with portals.
“The shifts noted by major advertisers and agencies do not bode well for portals or old-school networks,” said Bill Todd, president of ValueClick Media. “Our approach to using our DSP/DMP technology across diversified channels like exchanges, vertical networks, mobile and video is serving us well, but more importantly, it’s serving our clients well, due to their increasing need to have a simple way to get comprehensive coverage across many media channels.”
Targeting Techniques Even Out
Compared to prior years, 2012 will bring a relative impartiality to various targeting techniques. For the first time in the seven years that ValueClick Media’s Annual Advertiser Survey has been completed, the top four preferred targeting techniques are within a mere six percentage points of each other.
Performance Takes on Greater Emphasis
Perhaps related to the leveling out of targeting preferences, the importance of tangible results dwarfs all other criteria buyers use to select media partners. While buyers surveyed in past years regularly ranked performance as the most important consideration, never before has the gap between performance and any other consideration been this wide. In a particularly surprising finding, the importance of transparency dropped by just over 50% compared to last year’s survey.
“The emphasis on results is, of course, nothing new to ValueClick Media,” said Todd. “What is new is that we’re now hearing this refrain consistently from both clients using us for branding objectives as well as those looking for immediate business impact. Regardless of whether our clients are laying the foundation for awareness or interest, or generating near-term demand, they are partnering with us to track performance metrics that are appropriate to those objectives.”
Survey Data
Detailed survey data is available at www.valueclickmedia.com/system/files/advertiser_survey2012.pdf.
About ValueClick Media
Thirteen years of experience and access to the global data resources of ValueClick, Inc. make ValueClick Media the largest and most robust audience network of its kind. Proprietary consumer behavioral data, direct relationships with 8,500 publishers and access to additional inventory via real-time bidding, advanced behavioral targeting and optimization technology, strict network quality controls and superior service make ValueClick Media the network leading marketers and agencies rely on to reach their performance objectives. For more information, visit www.valueclickmedia.com.
About ValueClick, Inc.
ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) is one of the world’s largest digital marketing companies. Through a unique combination of data, technology and services, ValueClick increases brand awareness and drives customer acquisition at scale for the world’s largest advertisers, and maximizes advertising revenue for tens of thousands of online and mobile publishers. ValueClick’s brands include Commission Junction, ValueClick Media, Dotomi, Greystripe, Mediaplex, Smarter.com, CouponMountain.com, Investopedia.com, and PriceRunner. The Company is based in Westlake Village, California, and has offices in major advertising markets worldwide. For more information, please visit www.valueclick.com.
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