More Marketers Focused On Digital Spending

More marketers are planning on shifting their media spending budgets to digital during the economic downturn, according to a second quarter survey by Round2 Communications.

Email marketing is one area where spending is set to increase with 40 percent of respondents planning to do so, while half expect their amount of spending to remain the same and just 10 percent plan a decrease.

Nearly a third (31.3%) of marketers plan to increase spending on interactive advertising while 52.1 percent say their investment will remain the same and 16.7 percent plan a decrease.

Nearly a quarter (23.5%) of marketers indicate their spending on search advertising will increase and almost 60 percent say their budgets will remain the same.

The most likely areas to see a cut in spending due to the economy is print with 37.5 percent of marketers planning to do so, followed by TV (21.4%), radio (8.9%) and outdoor (5.4%).

When it comes to an economic recovery, almost 60 percent of marketers expect it in 2010, while nearly one-fifth believed it would happen this year and 17.3 percent thought recovery would come in 2011.

Overall, 50 percent of marketers said they expected their expenditures to return to peak levels in 2011 and less than one - third thought 2010 would bring them back to their previous budgets.

Microsoft Answers Common adCenter API Questions

Microsoft says it has had a lot of questions lately about access to adCenter API tokens, and the company has addressed these issues on the adCenter API blog. The API program is still in the "pilot" phase, so API tokens are not available to everybody.

"Each request is reviewed for certain criteria," explains Microsoft's Chris Norred. "Users who have a track record of monthly expenditures with adCenter are provided access to the pilot. Other criteria are also considered."

"We receive several requests from new businesses or developers who build tools or services using the adCenter API and have goals to deliver more spend," Norred continues. "Currently, however, support for the adCenter API in the pilot phase cannot serve all these potential customers."

The API lets users create apps that can:

- Create and manage adCenter campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads.

- Obtain the status on ad groups, keywords, and ads.

- Pause and resume ad groups.

- Generate keyword estimates.

- Generate reports about campaign performance.

- Perform ad group targeting.

Microsoft is planning to extend adCenter API access, as well as access to more APIs related to Microsoft advertising services. Currently access to the API is limited to the highest-spending customers, and tokens aren't available for purchase or through other channels, but in the future, access will be opened up for users who meet "a minimum criteria."

Microsoft does not charge for tokens, and the terms of use prohibit their reselling. The company says it will keep interested parties updates via the blog.

 

US Ad Spending Saw 15% Decline in Early ‘09

A report from Nielsen indicates that ad spending in the United States fell 15.4% in the first half of the year, compared to the first half of last year. Preliminary estimates show that US ad expenditures fell over $10.3 billion to a total of $56.9 billion.

"While some of the larger categories have cut back spending, we see others that continue to raise the ante on their media investments," said Annie Touliatos, VP for Nielsen’s advertising information services.

"What’s interesting is that we’re not just seeing a rise in spending for recession-friendly products like fast food restaurants," added Touliatos. "We're seeing a lot more promotion of technological innovations like smartphones, computer software, and consumer-driven web sites. These advertisers see potential for their products despite our stressed economy and are leveraging advertising to drive their success."

Following is a look at the year-to-year change in ad spend, by media:

As you can see, Cable advertising was the only category to show any growth. Interestingly enough, major cable networks are working on taking advertisers' campaigns online.

Here is a look at the top product categories, by ad spend:

Automotive ad spending was still significantly higher than the rest, even though it dropped by 31% year-over-year. Fast food ad spending saw a nice increase.

Outside of the top 10 listed above, Nielsen says there was significant growth among other major product categories, like multi-function mobile phones, cable TV services, websites, tax services, software, insurance, legal service, etc.

Affordable PPC search engine advertising

PPC search engine advertising is by far the most affordable form of advertising available. PPC search engine advertising is a flourishing business that by 2008 is expected to reach $ 8 billion. PPC search engine advertising is about producing leads. Creating leads will help potential buyers find the specific website that will provide them with the product or service they need.

However, PPC search engine advertising does not end there. It is important to understand that although PPC search engine advertising generates leads, it is also important for users to find relevant information at the website they are directed to. Information is a valuable asset in PPC search engine advertising that is often left unchecked by many websites. Keep in mind that users are more likely to purchase products or services from a company that provided them with the necessary information they needed in the first place.

Qualified traffic with PPC search engine advertising

One of the benefits of PPC search engine advertising is that it provides qualified traffic to a specific website. Users that click on a PPC ad are those in search of a particular product or service. This helps eliminate unnecessary clicks from non-prospective buyers that only produce expenditures not profits. PPC search engine advertising is also the fastest way to get a reasonable return on investment.

A bidding process is used to establish the price of a specific keyword. In general, the budget for PPC search engine advertising may be a $100 to $100,000 depending on the number of keywords used. These prices can skyrocket in just minutes as more and more sites bid for the same keyword thus causing the prices to jack up.

PPC ads are placed alongside search engine results to which they are relevant. The highest bids for a specific keyword or phrase gets top billing on the search engine results page. Getting top placement provides greater odds for a PPC ad to get clicked by a qualified searcher.

Elements of PPC search engine advertising

PPC search engine advertising involves three basic elements; constant monitoring, response analysis and refinement as the essential factors involved in PPC search engine advertising. Proper management of PPC search engine advertising can result in big profits for a website.

PPC search engine advertising makes it possible for sites to monitor the productivity of each PPC ad they place. This gives a site the opportunity to turn off any PPC ad that is not performing at its best. PPC search engine advertising provides the most economical way for a site to advertise on the World Wide Web.

The cost entailed in PPC search engine advertising is dictated by the clicks made on a particular PPC ad. The number of clicks made on a PPC ad is subtracted from the initial amount paid by the business to a search engine company. To minimize cost and maximize return on investment, a business will have to regularly monitor its PPC search engine advertising campaign.

How to use PPC search engine advertising

Many businesses are unable to get the most out of their PPC search engine advertising campaign. PPC search engine advertising involves a lot more than just bidding on the highest keywords. Information is a main concern of many online users.

Providing online users with relevant information they need will help bring about a more long-term relationship with an online user that will more likely result in a sale.
Information provided to online users may be in the form of a newsletter or e-zine that online users would likely sign up for. Sign-ups may be enough to cover the expenses of a PPC search engine advertising campaign.

Sign-ups also help generate leads for websites as they build opt in list from qualified online searchers who clicked their PPC ad. Getting personal information from qualified online searchers can be done in a variety of ways such as offering freebies for surveys or signing up for newsletters.

PPC search engine advertising is a continuous process that requires hands on supervision and a thorough understanding of PPC search engines. Businesses may opt to hire the services of a professional or do PPC search engine advertising with in-house experts. Whatever course of action is selected, a business is sure to get a huge return on investment with PPC search engine advertising.