SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Marin Software, a
leading provider of digital marketing software for
performance-driven advertisers and agencies, today released
research findings from its global Q4 2018 Digital Advertising
Benchmark Report. Marin Software's research confirms that search
spend grew 10% globally year-over-year, advertisers spent larger
portions of their budgets on Instagram Stories, and advertisers
continued to invest in lower-funnel product-focused ads to take
advantage of the holiday shopping season and continued rise of
eCommerce.
Marin Software presents its full Q4 2018 research, results, and
takeaways in an interactive format that allows viewers to review
and analyze ad spending trends by region, industry, and publisher.
Key findings include:
- Instagram Stories and Dynamic Product Ads Rule:
Instagram received 18% of total Facebook spend, with 34% of that
spend allocated to Instagram Stories—a 36% increase from the
previous quarter. Other notable social trends included a
significant shift in year-over-year spend to lower-funnel formats
like Dynamic Product Ads and Collection Ads, which maximize the
mobile experience with alluring, high-quality, product-focused ads.
Dynamic Product Ads accounted for 35% of total Facebook spend in
Q4.
- eCommerce on the Rise: Google Shopping Ads captured 36%
of search spend for all verticals. Shopping Ads remained retail
advertisers' bread and butter, as eCommerce search engines
increasingly join the quest to deliver relevant, targeted
experiences. According to Marin Software data, monthly spending on
eCommerce channel ads increased 5x since January 2018.
- Paid Search Up, CTRs Down: Paid search spend grew 10%
globally year-over-year. Q4 remained the strongest quarter, with
Financial Services (+25%) and Retail (+12%) leading the charge. As
inventory gets more expensive, however, more spend doesn't
necessarily mean more clicks—there was a modest 10% increase
year-over-year in Retail, less than the search spend for the
vertical.
- Search CPCs Vary by Vertical: Travel clocked the
lowest global CPC in Q4 at $0.45,
followed by Retail at $0.48.
Education and and Technology represented the highest CPCs in Q4, at
$2.92 and $1.51, respectively.
- Mobile Search Holds Steady: Mobile accounted for
36% of search spend share in Retail and 41% of spend share across
all verticals in Q4. Mobile continued to be a crucial touchpoint
for product purchasing decisions, especially during the fast-paced
and competitive holiday season.
"eCommerce is growing as an advertising channel and as a result,
we're seeing the industry shift more spend toward lower-funnel ad
formats, such as Google Shopping Ads and Dynamic Product Ads on
Facebook, that allow brands to capture consumers' attention at the
most critical points in the purchase journey," said Wesley MacLaggan, SVP of Marketing at Marin
Software. "Instagram Stories has been another up-and-coming ad
format that the industry is paying close attention to. With 400
million daily active users, advertisers are flocking to this format
to take advantage of the direct attention of a massive audience.
It's a lower-cost yet effective alternative to Instagram Feed
ads."
To create its Q4 2018 Digital Advertising Benchmark Report,
Marin Software aggregated data from customers who invest billions
of dollars in combined annualized ad spend on paid search, social,
mobile, and eCommerce. Marin Software only includes those
advertisers active on its platform for the past five quarters,
measuring key performance indicators on a year-over-year and
quarter-over-quarter basis, and removing any outliers with
significant YoY or QoQ changes.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties, including, among other things, statements regarding
Marin's business, research, and product capabilities. These
forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ
materially from actual results due to a variety of factors
including, but not limited to, our ability to grow sales and
marketing capabilities, retain and attract personnel, develop and
release new features, increasing competition in our market,
fluctuations in our operating results and inability to forecast
financial metrics, and other general market, political, economic,
and business conditions.
These forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in
condition, significance, value, and effect as well as other risks
and uncertainties detailed in documents filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including our most recent report on Form
10-K, recent reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K
which Marin Software may file from time to time, all of which are
available free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Any
of these risks could cause actual results to differ materially from
expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements. All
forward-looking statements in this press release reflect Marin
Software's expectations as of February 6,
2019. Marin Software assumes no obligation to, and expressly
disclaims any obligation to update, any such forward-looking
statements after the date of this release.
About Marin Software
Marin Software
Incorporated's (NASDAQ: MRIN) mission is to give advertisers the
power to drive higher efficiency and transparency in their paid
marketing programs that run on the world's largest publishers.
Marin Software offers a unified SaaS ad management platform for
search, social, and eCommerce advertising. We help digital
marketers convert precise audiences, improve financial performance,
and make better decisions. Headquartered in San Francisco with offices worldwide, Marin
Software's technology powers marketing campaigns around the globe.
For more information about Marin Software, please visit
www.marinsoftware.com.
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SOURCE Marin Software