Brands Putting Heavier Emphasis on Digital
Published January 25, 2012
Companies are rapidly mixing more digital marketing channels with their traditional forms of advertising, CNBC reports.
Based on a number of research predictions, the news source says that 2012 may be the year that revenue from online ads will be higher than those in magazines and newspapers.
This estimate is already starting to be played out at search engine companies. CNBC cites Google's latest earnings report, which marked a 25 percent rise in fourth quarter revenue, mostly made up of search ad sales.
The source points to an eMarketer study, which forecasted that companies will spend $33.8 billion on print (a drop of 6 percent), while there would be a 20 percent rise to $40 billion in online spend. By 2016, eMarketer predicts that companies will spend $62 billion in online ads but just $32.3 billion in print.
Facebook is also emerging as a major player in the online advertising field. A report from Efficient Frontier asserts that more brands are spending on fan acquisition and Facebook advertising, and are devoting more money to their budgets for social media, not just relocating funds from the total digital media pool.
The company predicted that 5 percent of total online advertising budgets would go to Facebook by the end of 2012, particularly as brands get better at engaging Facebook fans and expanding the ranks of loyal followers.
"Facebook continues to be where marketers are placing new bets by adding advertising spend with a focus on fan acquisition," said David Karnstedt, president and CEO of Efficient Frontier. "Mobile search advertising is also an area of significant investment, growing to 7-8 percent from 2 percent a year ago. We should expect both channels to grow significantly in 2012."