Global ad spend has been slowing across the board, according to recent Global Ad reports from Nielsen. The Q1 Global Adview Pulse Lite showed that investments in paid advertising increased just 1.9 percent year-over-year, indicating that spend on sponsored campaigns leveled off significantly to kickoff 2013. Insights released showed that some industries are even pulling back on paid strategies, which might suggest they are focusing more heavily on organic content marketing.
Diving deeper into data from the report, Nielsen reveals that paid advertising spend dropped 5.1 percent for the automotive sector, 2.9 percent for financial services firms, 1.4 percent for clothing and accessories companies, 1.2 percent for media agencies and 0.9 percent for the telecommunications industry.
At the same time, the report found that other sectors are actively pursuing sponsored ad opportunities. The Industry and services vertical led for spending increases as 8 percent, followed by durables (6.6 percent), FMCG (6.1 percent), healthcare (3.4 percent) and distribution channels (3.1 percent).
These results could be the result of many variables, including a pullback on paid ads in print or a push for more organic web content in search results. Brafton just reported that marketers who shift their gears toward custom content marketing might earn more clicks because consumers prefer organic results in SERPs.
Marketers are dedicating larger portions of their budgets to content creation, with video and social media marketing at the forefront
At the same time, companies are increasing their efforts in brand marketing, according to a separate Nielsen study. Marketers are dedicating larger portions of their budgets to content creation for various channels, with video and social media marketing at the forefront of their future campaigns.
Empowered customers are looking for choices and want to suss out which companies offer the best products and services for their individual needs. Brands that create engaging content will gain internet users’ attention and nurture relationships with prospects to drive consistent conversion rates.
