04 Apr 10 Online Promotional Expenditure Still Increasing Despite Difficult Financial Conditions
The biannual report of advertising spending created by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the Internet Advertising Bureau shows that the spending on online publicity continues to grow, with an increase of 4.2 percent in 2009 over 2008. This confirms the continuing tendency to move use of the publicity budget from traditional publicity to online. This is naturally encouraged by the rising domestic use of broadband and online services, broadening the possible buyer base.
It is no surprise that publicity spending is increasing in some areas and falling in others that have been more affected by the economic conditions such as automotive and housing. The largest increase in the use of on online publicity has been consumer goods brands and traditional High Street organisations that have come to realise that the online presence is becoming increasingly essential.
For any organization contemplating how to make the most of its online advertising budget, it still comes down to which method to use: paid search, banner advertising, or applying search engine optimisation to raise the natural search engine positioning.
The report shows that spending on display and banner adverts is falling considerably. This is offset by a change in the sort of display advert being used, with higher numbers of video adverts being used. To some customers, these are as much of a nuisance as pop-ups have been, caused by the advert’s desire to spread across the screen if the user’s cursor accidentally rolls across the advert. For smaller companies, these types of video advert have to be an expensive idea beyond their reach.
More companies are spending on paid search, with actual spending on this type of marketing reported to be increased by over 9 percent. It can be argued that it is simpler to measure the results when using facilities such as Google AdWords or pay per click: after all, the cost is directly measured by the number of visits the advert receives or by the number of impressions where your organization incurs a fee for each display of the advert instead of the received click. However, there is always the chance of being dragged into a bidding war with a competitor to promote popular keywords at popular times.
applying search engine optimisation to raise the natural search engine positioning is still a strategy to be considered. It can be a slow process but it is still cost effective and results in long-term benefits. search optimization enhances the experience for all visitors to your enterprise’s website, be it from a search engine results page or a returning buyer. The impact of search optimization is aimed at a possible buyer who is actively looking for the products and services that your organization will supply, rather than just being aware of your organization just because he happened to notice an advert.
It should be remembered that many prospective customers look on bought advertising of any form as a necessary inconvenience but still something to be overlooked. He will prefer to rely on the natural search engine positioning, and applying search optimization plans can only raise the chances of your enterprise’s website obtaining a raised ranking.
The tendency is still for spending on online publicity to continue to expand. However there is still the necessity to decide how to make the most of that expenditure. search engine optimisation can still be an economic solution.
