Record Earnings in Online Advertising, IAB Study Confirms
If any still had doubts that digital advertising was merely a trending fad, a recent study by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers washed those reservations away.
According to the study conducted during the first half of 2011, Internet advertising revenue hit record highs. In fact, online ad revenue increased to nearly $15 billion, marking a rise of 23% vs. the prior year.
In its detailed report, the IAB found that after search, the most popular form of online advertising was display, particularly with banner advertisements, accounting for more than $5.5 billion in revenues. In other online advertising formats, dollars spent on lead generation increased 25% over the same period in 2010, again marking strong growth in the online ad world.
With much uncertainty still present in the economy, companies had been slashing their marketing and advertising budgets to cut costs. Interestingly though it seems as though many of those marketing dollars have instead been shifted to digital channels.
Marketers today are constantly on the look out for those strategies that will produce results and a significant ROI. The findings from this study seem to indicate many are finding that success with online advertising.
The IAB says that they attribute this rise in online advertising revenues to marketers looking to the digital arena for brand exposure, instead of the more traditional channels. With almost 7 billion Internet users around the world, online advertising gives marketers an almost unparalleled opportunity to reach audiences on a global level. However in these unsure times, companies are a little more cautious, and only want to invest their money where they know they can get a substantial positive return. The President and CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau confirmed this and emphasized the importance of recent technological advances, saying that “innovations happening in interactive marketing [are] delivering great value to the industry and to the consumer.”
As more and more consumers are going online to conduct their research on products and brands, as well as consulting their friends or other customers of the products on social networks, marketers at many companies are continually turning to digital advertising. While it does take time and energy to identify which channels to use, specific websites to advertise on, and which consumers to target, moving advertising campaigns online has proven to be well worth the investment for many companies.
In response to the report and performance of Internet advertising, a Senior Vice President of the IAB released a profound statement that confirms digital advertising’s place as the fuel of growth and revenue: “It’s a clear signal that all of us in the interactive advertising industry are delivering meaningful results to marketers — and that they are confident in investing in interactive.”
The Power of Email Marketing
Email marketing has become one of the most popular b2b marketing channels available. It’s a powerful tool, useful in many situations. Whether you’re launching a mass mailing campaign or simply targeting a select group of individuals, email has become an effective instrument for marketers and a preferred channel for b2b advertising.
Here are the top 4 benefits:
1. Segmentation – The ability to segment your marketing efforts has become imperative. Marketers must be able to target their marketing campaigns with laser like precision. Email marketing allows you to segment based off an almost unlimited number of criteria – e.g. title, industry, geography, behavior. Any data point your organization has on an individual can be used to segment. This allows your messaging to be much more relevant and targeted to the needs and wants of your audience, increasing its effectiveness.
2. Immediate Action – Many mass marketing channels such as billboards, television, or radio require a considerable amount of time to run before can see results. With email marketing, you’re able to include a call to action (link to your website, “buy now” button, etc) in every message. This allows you to see instant results, frequently within minutes from when you send your campaign out.
3. Relatively Inexpensive – Compared with most other marketing channels, email marketing can be relatively inexpensive form of communication. According to iSEO, Costs incurred in designing, executing, testing, sending and receiving an email is up to 78% less for a run of 5,000 over a paper-based direct mail version. Whether you’re running your own campaigns in-house or outsourcing to a third party, emailing allows you to spend less time, money, and resources.
4. Measurable Results – Email marketing differs from many other marketing channels in that you’re able to receive immediate feedback on the success or failure of your message. This feedback comes in the form of open rates and click-through rates. These metrics allow you to make on-the-fly changes to your campaign to maximize impact and help achieve your marketing objectives. They also give you the ability to test multiple messages and immediately find out which one is more impactful.
Whether your marketing efforts are focused on business to consumer or business to business advertising, email marketing is an important channel to have in your arsenal and one that continues to drive ROI for companies of all sizes.
Top 3 Challenges in B2B Lead Generation
Generating b2b leads for your sales team has never been tougher. Marketers face a consistent uphill battle. In this tough economy, you’re challenged to do more with less. Yet the ability to effectively deliver qualified leads to your sales reps is crucial to your business’s success.
Here are the top 3 challenges marketers are facing in b2b lead gen:
1. Proper Segmentation - Business can no longer rely on mass marketing to deliver a significant ROI. If your message is only relevant for 5% of your audience, then 95% of your efforts are wasted. The same is true for lead generation. If you’re in the health care business and half of your leads generated are from higher education, you’re missing the mark. Worse yet, your sales team will become increasingly frustrated. Savvy marketers have learned to focus their lead generation efforts on those prospects with the highest propensity to become customers.
2. Finding the Decision Maker - Decision makers are the ones with all the authority. They determine whether or not their company will become your next customer. Typically these individuals are high up on the corporate food chain. As a result, these prospects have little free time and are a challenge to reach. Yet every good sales rep knows that to close a deal, they must reach the decision maker. Effective b2b lead generation campaigns skillfully target decision makers and help increase your sales team’s conversion rate.
3. Qualified Need - Properly segmenting your lead generation efforts and finding the decision maker is still not enough to ensure success. You need a “need”. Without a clear need or interest in your organization’s services, your b2b leads are merely window shoppers and won’t end up converting. When you’re prospects have that need, they’re much more interested in engaging with one of your sales reps to see if there’s a good match.
Lead Generation
Download the PBP Media Lead Generation Informative PDF