WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: More CPG brands are allocating more money to digital advertising but unless they invest in ad creative and website usability the money is being wasted.
Some 85% of brand leaders say that their paid media performance is at least somewhat important to them. And, while one-third feel that paid media provides the most return on investment (ROI) compared to owned media and earned media, a plurality (45% share) also believe it requires the most resources, per a new report [download page] from CMO Council and Cision.
Even with the inevitable disruption of COVID-19, the gap in spending continues to widen between online advertising and TV advertising. Updated estimates from 2019’s online advertising spend puts it at $125.2 billion, some $54.8 billion higher than the spend on television ($70.4 billion). PwC forecasts that this year, online advertising spending will dip slightly to $120.9 billion — making that spend more than $58 billion higher than TV, which is also expected to dip after remaining relatively flat over the past few years.
The three things that waste online ad dollars
1ne: Failure to test your site and optimize it based on metrics. Marketers love the creative with lots of colors and images but consumers hate them. By skipping usability studies you’re saying you don’t care about user experiences and your high bounce rates.
2wo: Failure to develop creative based on the site where it’s going to appear. This is the most common waste of online ad dollars. In addition, programmatic advertising places your ads all over the web-based on the belief of “mass marketing” which is dead.
3hree: Failure of too much or the wrong content. You keep hearing that “content is king” but today consumers don’t have the time to read all the content that’s out there. You need to ensure your content is based on USER needs, not what your marketing department wants to sell.
The number one way people find out about new products is TV
TV programming is sucking wind but while people are stick in their homes they ARE watching TV. In 2020, the number of traditional TV viewers will grow by 8.3 million to 287.3 million, the first time viewership has seen positive growth since 2011. While older TV viewers are driving most of the increase, all age groups posted some growth. Total viewership will fall again in 2021.
Connected TV and social video are two growing areas within digital video advertising. US marketers will increase their 2020 connected TV ad budgets 28.0% to $8.88 billion. Social network video ad spending by US marketers will grow by 23.2% in 2020 to $13.44 billion.
All research indicates that the number one way people find out new products is TV. The problem is that marketers fail to measure when they have maximized reach and thus frequency becomes a problem by turning off consumers.
The best of both worlds
THE best way to maximize digital with offline marketing is by a fully integrated campaign. Digital is MORE effective when coupled with offline advertising. There is one thing to remember though; a new product does not necessarily warrant a visit to your brand’s website. If you have a new pasta sauce, for example, don’t expect people to go to your website to learn about it. On the other hand, if you’re introducing a new e-bike you can bet that people are going to go to your website to learn about it.
Switching money to digital because of the hype is not smart. Investing in digital marketing, new creative, usability studies, is intelligent.
