Online advertising tops £4bn
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About £1 in every £4 spent by UK advertisers last year was spent on digital ads, according to a report.
The total internet advertising market grew 12.8% to a record £4.1bn, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau and PwC’s biannual advertising spend study.
Spend on social media ads increased by 200% in 2010, boosting the online display market by 27.5% on a like-for-like basis to another record £945m. Social networking sites now account for a quarter of the time spent online in the UK.
The availability of faster broadband in homes has driven video advertising, which grew 91% year on year to £54m.
IAB chief executive officer Guy Phillipson says: “The power of online to build brands is clearly reflected in the spectacular growth of display, thanks to the popularity of social media and video formats.”
Mobile advertising also increased by 116% year on year to £83m, up from 32% in 2009, although the growth has come from a low base.
Finance was the top-spending sector in online display last year with a 15.2% share of the market. The IAB says this indicates that as the economy recovers, finance brands are regaining their marketing spend.
Entertainment and media accounted for 14% of UK online display advertising in the second half of last year, while consumer goods manufacturers increased share to 13%.
Readers' comments (3)
Rupert Staines, RadiumOne | Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:56 pm
The IAB’s figures prove that online advertising is showing no signs of relenting, with many putting it down to Facebook and social networks, but this may be a little premature. The key to this acceleration is that the entire Web is now social, rather than just what you would label “social networks”. All aspects of internet use, such as email, copying and pasting, URL shortening, in fact anything that involves sharing or some sort of social connection, is what is really responsible for this phenomenon. When you consider that comScore recently said that Facebook is responsible for 9.9% of web surfers online time, advertisers are clearly asking themselves “what about the other 90.1%?” Social networks do a good job of targeting their audiences, but they do also represent walled gardens. For advertisers looking to expand their presence, it’s all about targeting their prospective audiences across the open and social web.
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Chris Rowett | Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:00 am
Along with Gambling, Finance is certainly one of the toughest online advertising sectors.
The cost of appearing on Google paid advertising is phenomenal, with clicks in top positions costing upwards of £10 each. That is £10 for a visitor who could simply glance at your site and bounce.
This is why this sector has some of the top search specialists battling it out, as poor performance is quickly punished with losses.
Any growth in this sector's online advertising spend is clear indication of economic recovery.
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Mark Simpson | Thu, 31 Mar 2011 3:41 pm
As online ad spend continues to rise to over £4.1bn retailers must ensure that the content and layout of their website provides the best conversion rates possible, in order to stay ahead of the competition. Certainly, there is little point investing £10,000 on pay-per-click advertising, if visitors to the site click off as soon as they’ve landed, due to a poor web site experience, or low relevance of content.
Multivariate testing (MVT) is now widely recognised as the single most effective means of increasing the conversion rate of web site visitors to paying customers. An uplift of 40-50% is not unusual.
Multivariate testing takes the guesswork out of web design optimisation by testing the measurable reactions of customers to subtly tweaked page layouts, content mix and navigation path. Unlike other forms of such testing, the MVT approach is able to deduce the best combinations from its detailed, integrated analysis.
Because it uses science rather than gut-feel, MVT overrides the random preferences of senior managers to deliver tangible results.
But randomly applying the technology to the company’s web pages is not going to elicit the desired results. In order to achieve the best outcome, retailers need to recognise the importance of implementing MVT and perpetual, iterative web site enhancement with a clear strategy, and under the close guidance of experts who know what they’re looking for.
Multivariate testing is not something that can be done once, or even once a year, and then left alone for a while as the higher revenues come in. It is a discipline and a service that must be built into companies’ ongoing marketing programmes. In the web world, things move at a lightning pace, and hungry competitors are always looking for their next advantage. Blink, and the golden moment may have passed.
Mark Simpson
Founder and President
Maxymiser
www.maymiser.com
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