Brand Marketing Social Ad Spend Skyrockets

by Jack Loechner, Mar 12, 2013, 6:15 AM

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According to the Technorati Media 2013 Digital Influence Report, 60% of brand marketers predict an average increase of 40% in social spend for 2013. Currently, the bulk of brands’ overall digital spend goes to display advertising, search and video, with spending on social, including influencer outreach, making up only 10% of their total digital spend. Within their social budget, more than half goes to Facebook, followed by YouTube and Twitter, with the remaining 11% of their social spend going to blogs and influencers.

Though blogs and influencers don’t get a large portion of brands’ digital spend, they rank high with consumers for trust, popularity and influence, says the report. When making overall purchase decisions, for consumers, blogs trail only behind retail and brand sites. With regard to overall sources for information on the internet, blogs rank among the top five “most trustworthy” sources. As an example, according to consumers, blogs are more influential in shaping opinion than Twitter, and when it comes to affecting purchase decisions, more important than Facebook.

The report details how different social platforms stack up against each other. Influencers ranked page views above all other metrics when focusing on their own key metrics, while Google Analytics is the leader among tracking tools. Brands had different top metrics for identifying and selecting influencers, with com- Score/Nielsen ranking first, closely followed by number of Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and the influencer’s potential to draw likes. It is important to note, says the report, that due to their niche size, influencers are not well represented in comScore/Nielsen.

According to brand marketers, when metrics from their earned media goals are ranked, Facebook likes, traffic to their website, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers are the main contenders, a reversal from influencers, where monitoring traffic/page views ranked No. 1, followed by Facebook likes.

Brands’ digital messaging has gone social. More than 90% of brands surveyed for the report stated they have a presence on Facebook. It’s nearly as high for Twitter and YouTube. Google+ wasn’t as popular with brands.

Brand Messaging Going Social
Social Media	% Brand Respondents With Social Presence
Facebook	91%
Twitter	85
YouTube	73
Pinterest	41
Influencer	33
Blogs	32
Google +	26
Source: Technorati Media , March 2013

 

Overall Digital Spent
Ad Spend	% of Respondents
$1 million to $10 million	30%
10M-25M	22
25M-50M	14
50M-75M	5
75M-100M	8
100+	10
Less than 1M	11
Source: Technorati Media , March 2013

Brands are spending the largest parts of their digital budget on display advertising, search and producing video. Spending on social, including influencer outreach, makes up only 10% of brands’ digital marketing spend.

Of that social budget, more than half goes to Facebook. YouTube and Twitter each get 13%, while about six% is spent on influencers and 5% advertising on blogs.

Digital Budget Breakdown
Digital Spending	% of Respondents
Display ad	41%
Social ad	10
Video	14
Programmatic buys	3
Search	19
Other	5
Mobile	8
Source: Technorati Media , March 2013

 

Social Budget Breakdown
Social media	% of Respondents
Facebook	57%
YouTube	13
Twitter	13
Blogs	6
Influencer	6
Pinterest	2
Other	4
Source: Technorati Media , March 2013

Brand managers report an expected increase in budgets for digital marketing in the upcoming year. Mobile spend is expected to increase for 79% of brands surveyed, while social and video tie at 59% of brands expected to spend in those two areas. Of the additional budget, most of the increases are going to display advertising (73%) and search (52%). Social and mobile make up the second tier of expected increases, each category getting 37% of budget increases. Only 3% of brands say they expect to decrease social spending.

Digital Spending Increases Expected in 2013
Digital Media	% of Respondents
Display	73%
Search	52
Mobile	37
Video	30
Programmatic buys	17
Source: Technorati Media , March 2013

 For more information, please visit Technorati Media here.

 

 

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