Traditionally, online marketers have relied on direct response advertising to build business for a product or service. They want customers to perform actions that can be easily measured or modified, like “call now’’ or “click here.’’
But that’s changing. A study by Nielsen shows that brand marketing is outpacing direct response when it comes to digital advertising.
The survey, which was done in conjunction with the CMO Council to learn more about how and where businesses are spending their advertising dollars, found marketers are doing 33% more digital brand advertising campaigns than digital direct response ones. That’s a significant change from 2013, when online marketers favored direct response campaigns slightly over brand advertising campaigns.
Credit the shift to a growing interest in mobile advertising, social media and online video. Rather than ask customers to engage in a certain action through a TV or digital campaign, advertisers are taking a more multi-screen approach to streamline their message across all media platforms.
The idea is to promote a company slogan or image that people will recognize, believe in and want to buy. Think the blue box from Tiffany’s. Immediately, it evokes a sense of style and sophistication.
Overall, the Nielsen survey found 70% of marketers increased their digital brand advertising budget in 2014, a 15% increase over the previous year. That growth corresponds with an increased demand for digital advertising in the United States, which was expected to reach $50 billion in 2014.
The majority of marketers surveyed said they planned to use online and mobile platforms more frequently and offline mediums, such as print, TV and radio, either the same or less.
Among the different media channels, mobile advertising achieved the greatest gain, followed by personal computers and laptops. Print media lost the most ground, followed by radio, out-of-home advertising (billboards, transit places, etc.) and television.
Not surprisingly, 81% of the marketers planned to increase their use of social media in their ad campaigns and 65% planned to use more digital video, trends that have been growing for the past few years. Among those using digital video, about half said shifting ad dollars away from print and other offline sources funded their video efforts.
There is still room for even more digital brand advertising, the study concluded.
When respondents were asked what would lead them to increase their spending on digital branding advertising, almost every one (95%) said they wanted a better ability to measure results. More than 80% said they wanted to be able to verify that their advertising reached the intended audience.
