SAN FRANCISCO, July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Growth remains
a top priority for advertisers, and driving brand awareness is
central to that goal. However, digital marketers face constant
challenges—hitting volume targets with paid search, accurate
attribution with paid social, and leveraging audience data with
eCommerce—in their quest to drive business results through digital
advertising.
That's according to Marin Software's latest State of Digital
Advertising 2019 report, which canvassed the views of over 450 B2B
and B2C digital marketing professionals in the US and the UK to
understand their top priorities, challenges, and opportunities for
2019.
Paid Search Still Dominates Digital Advertising
The study confirmed that paid search remains the dominant
digital ad channel, commanding 39% of the total budget, although
the playing field is leveling out. Paid social claimed the
second-largest share of advertisers' budgets (18%) despite
well-documented struggles with data privacy, followed closely by
display (16%).
Instagram and Amazon: Breakout Stars of the Year
As brands increase their ad spend on Instagram, everyone is
wondering if this comes at the expense of Facebook ad dollars. Is
Facebook taking money out of its own pockets? Not really. The
majority of respondents (67%) say Instagram spend will come from
incremental budget rather than transferring from Facebook.
The past 12 months have been kind to Amazon, with 60% of the
responding digital marketing professionals planning to increase
their Amazon spend over the next year. And, 55% of them started
using Amazon because they see it as a significant growth
opportunity, whereas one in four are looking to increase purchases
at the lower end of the funnel.
Despite Amazon's progress, the offering is not yet considered as
sophisticated as Facebook or Google—37% of those surveyed say the
campaign management tools on Amazon are not optimal and 23% say the
reporting tools are not as established as other channels. In
addition, 30% of responding advertisers say lack of expertise with
Amazon ads is the primary reason why they are not yet using the
platform, so there's clearly a significant skills gap to
close.
Trust Is a Must: Google Leads the Pack
Google emerged as the most trusted publisher, with an average
score of 4.5 out of 5. And, 98% of respondents rated Google a 4 or
5 on the trust index—it's worth noting that Google is the only
publisher that didn't receive any 1 or 2 trust ratings.
2019 Ad Innovations
As brands tussle to capture consumer attention, advertisers are
turning to new ad formats to break through the digital noise and
drive awareness.
84% of respondents who use paid search (SEM) are currently using
or planning to use Google's new Responsive Search Ads format. Ad
spend on shopping ad formats is also rising fast, with 65% saying
their company's use of Shoppable Images within search will increase
in 2019.
Video advertising continues to lead the way in paid social, with
32% of survey respondents reporting that video is the most
effective social ad format, followed by image ads (26%), Instagram
Stories (23%), and carousel ads (19%).
"This year's report shows a shift in advertising spend as
marketers explore alternative channels and emerging ad formats,"
said Wes MacLaggan, SVP of Marketing
at Marin Software. "The digital advertising landscape continues to
evolve, with advertisers struggling to close the skills gap as
publishers innovate. At Marin, we're seeing a greater emphasis on
video and new ad formats like Responsive Search Ads and Shoppable
Images to gain mindshare and drive growth. The eCommerce landscape
is a hotbed of innovation, presenting retail brands with many
opportunities and some challenges to navigate."
To learn more, download the full State of Digital Advertising
2019 report.
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
July 18, 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.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-battle-for-digital-ad-spend-is-fiercer-than-everwhos-winning-300887095.html
SOURCE Marin Software