Economic crisis has always been synonym of decreasing marketing budget and having intense spending control and adjustments. But, the current context is quite different. This is the first time a recession of such dimension takes place during “Digital Era”.
From April to June 2009, many businesses have increased their online ad investment. 5.4 billion was spent on online ads, which means that more than 5% of Internet advertising spending in the U.S. was cut in the second quarter of the year, according to according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers quarterly report. Despite these numbers, online ads are one of the least affected advertising sectors.
In contrast, it is said that online advertising is growing and will globally expand by about 10% this year, according to a report from the international agency ZenithOptimedia. Moreover, Online Advertising Set to Grow During Recession stipulates that online ad spending for this year will be around 30 billion dollars. On 2008, 23.4 billion were invested in online ad in the US. It is predicted that online marketing spending will have risen up to 51.1 billion by 2012. In summary, the current crisis is turning to be a window of growth opportunities for online businesses. Let’ see why!
Nowadays, businesses may focus their marketing strategies towards the online scenario. It is said that crisis can be an opportunity too! You know… every cloud has a silver lining! And fortunately “online ads workâ€, states a research by ComScore. It was found that search generates a raise in offline sales per consumer exposure than display.
Search advertising dominated the Internet advertising market share, with a 45 percent last year. Interestingly, online video advertising had a 123 percent annual growth, which means that it was from $324 million in 2007 to $724 million in 2008, reported the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
For that reason, we recommend that you should try focusing on online advertising as one of your mains part of your marketing strategy. You don’t have anything to lose; online advertising is cost-effective and can be targeted to your audience. So, small businesses can compete with the big ones as they all have the same opportunities. By the way, do you know where do you find your customers?  If your customers are in the Net, you should spend some of your budget trying to reach them and calling to action! You can attract current customers and prospects with an innovative and creative online advertising campaign.
Moreover, online advertising allows having more efficient results and measuring your success. Even a small advertisement can have a strong impact as it can reach audiences all across the world. No matter how small is your business, you can build a global image, become tremendously popular and generate word-of-mouth.
Did you know that 22% of word-of-mouth conversations are sparked directly by advertising? This was revealed by a study co-authored by Ed Keller of the Keller Fay group who is one of the biggest proponents of word-of-mouth marketing.
In a nutshell, we can say that online advertising is the best way to undergo and escape from the shadows of recession. If you are creative, it will help you increase your popularity and achieve effective and measurable control spending. Don’t forget that creativity, innovation and uniqueness are key factors in order to generate some buzz!
Sources:
Search drives global online spending despite recession
Online advertisement set to grow during recession
Online advertisement spending will keep growing
IAB Reports Internet Advertising Grew 10 Percent Last Year; Outpacing TV
Internet ad spending continues slide
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