Social Media Advertising Loses Some Appeal, While Mobile Spending Continues to Lag
According to the latest numbers from STRATA, a media-buying and -selling software provider, there was new confidence in advertising in the first quarter, though not all forms of interactive spend rose with the tides.
STRATA found that 56 percent of respondents reported an increase in overall business. In the first quarter of 2011, 77.5 percent of respondents indicated that their customers are increasing budgets or keeping them the same, which is leading 43 percent of agencies to plans for hiring more staff this year – a 76 percent increase from the previous quarter, and a 72 percent increase from the first quarter of 2010.
Thirty-one percent of agencies expect the economy and their businesses to return to a strong growth period by late 2011, while 17 percent said they’re already at that point.
For interactive spend, online display maintained its position as the top choice with a 76 percent response, followed by search with 57 percent.
Social media, “which surprisingly fell from second to third,” got a 56.3 percent response, while mobile continued to lag with a tepid 20.3 percent response.
Within social media, Facebook was the darling of advertisers, getting an 82.7 percent response. YouTube followed with 38 percent, while Twitter got a 36 percent response.
The iPhone is the mobile device of choice for 76 percent of advertisers targeting campaigns, followed by Android with 46 percent and BlackBerry with 36 percent (down 31 percent from the previous poll, according to STRATA).
“Interestingly, when asked how they purchase their Digital advertising, "through traditional media" was the top answer followed by "through an Ad Network" (reverse of last quarter),” according to the company.
Overall, spot TV led all forms of media with 45 percent of respondents indicating that they’ll focus on it more than other forms. Digital spending was second with 22 percent, followed by spot radio with 16 percent.
STRATA also notes that cable TV will be of greater focus for more than 29 percent of agencies compared to a year ago.
“Agency business is increasing, and the prosperity is spreading as clients look to spread advertising dollars to all media,” said John Shelton, CEO and president of STRATA. “This has greatly benefited Cable, which has increased considerably in the last 12 months. The rest of the year continues to look positive for advertisers, and even those out of work, as a large number of agencies expect to hire staff at all levels.”
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