Tracking Data Boosts CPMs on Ad Exchanges

Online ad exchanges command higher rates when they have access to data about other Web sites that consumers have visited, per a Digital Advertising Alliance study.

"The results of our econometric analysis corroborate and extend an emerging body of empirical work documenting the value of information sharing in online advertising," authors Howard Beales of George Washington University and Jeff Eisenach of Navigant Economics write in a study commissioned by the trade group Digital Advertising Alliance. "Our estimates indicate that advertisers place significantly greater value on users for whom more information is available."

For the study, the researchers examined 3 million transactions conducted by two companies that run ad exchanges. One of the companies had cookie data for 89% of the impressions, with an average cookie lifespan of seven weeks. The other company had cookie data for 96% of ads served, but the average life of the cookie was just eight days. The study took place during a one-week period in August.

Overall, ad exchanges were able to command between three times and seven times higher cost-per-thousand impression (CPM) rates when serving ads to users with tracking cookies than without them, according to the study. Companies paid the highest CPMs to reach people with older cookies, the researchers reported.

The average CPM for all ads examined -- those served with and without cookies -- was 29 cents for the company with the shorter-lived cookies, and 47 cents for the company with cookies an average of seven weeks old.

The study only examined rates for ads sold by exchanges; it didn't look at how those rates compare to ones for ads sold directly by publishers.

Lou Mastria, managing director of the DAA, says the organization commissioned the study as part of an effort to quantify the impact of consumer data on the online ad industry. He says it shows that publishers can command more ad revenue when they have data about the types of products consumers want to purchase.

"Understanding whether someone's in market for a car, or in market for a vacation -- those are the things that are going to be important toward monetizing content," he says.

(Source: Online Media Daily, 02/10/14) 

U.S. Digital TV Users Soaring

U.S. digital TV users are climbing faster than expected.

The number of U.S. digital TV users -- those who view at least one TV show per month via the Internet -- will climb 37% in four years to 145 million in 2017, from 106 million in 2012. This amounts to digital TV user growth climbing at a 6.9% compound annual growth rate -- a higher increase than previously forecast in August 2012 by eMarketer.

Next year, it says digital TV viewers will cross a critical tipping point -- surpassing 50% of the U.S. Internet user population. Those users who watch at least one movie per month on any Internet-capable device will climb to 115 million in 2017 from nearly 80 million in 2012, a 9.7% annual growth rate.

A Belkin and Harris Interactive survey of U.S. Internet users said 12% would consider replacing their cable or satellite subscription with a streaming media subscription, such as Netflix or Hulu Plus in 2013. A total of 30% of respondents were inclined to at least consider cord-cutting.

Still, another 37% "strongly disagreed" when asked whether they would consider replacing cable and satellite with only digital Internet TV.

Evidence of growing digital TV/movie usage, says eMarketer, comes from Netflix -- which reported U.S. streaming revenues of $2.19 billion for 2012, growing moderately from quarter-to-quarter, with its U.S. rental DVD revenues totaling $1.14 billion and declining each quarter.

Wayne Friedman - Media Daily News

The 3 Worst Ways Companies Waste Money in Social Media

They say you learn something new every day... 

And one of the things I recently learned was a new oxymoron: a social media budget. Because in most companies, it simply doesn't exist. They expect Fans, Followers, Likes and Pins to fall from the sky. 

But that's not the worst part... 

No, the worst part is when you see how companies actually spend a social media budget if they have it. 

Because most of the time it's wasted on vanity metrics and hot trends. 

And the problem typically resides with the HIPPOs (highest paid person's opinion), because the highest paid person is also (usually) the least knowledgeable and furthest away from the front lines. 

Here are three of the worst ways that companies waste money in social media. 

Money Waster #1: Squandering Your Offline Resources

One of the best ways to grow a social network is to funnel people from existing sources. That could mean your existing website traffic or email database. Or it could simply mean your foot-traffic and other offline sources. 

This is the best source of visibility and awareness most companies have. But by overlooking a few key principles, they're wasting time, energy, effort and money. 

For example, the typical offline, social media call-to-action (CTA) usually looks like stickers in a store window saying "People Love Us On Yelp." 

In this case, all you're doing is promoting Yelp (and cluttering up your window). There's no CTA, and no customer benefit. 

And this problem isn't isolated to small mom-and-pop shops either. 

Large corporations and big ad agencies do this all the time on commercials. Next time you're interrupted during your favorite television show, count how many commercials show a Facebook icon, and...nothing else. 

No Facebook page URL, no direct call-to-action, and no reason or incentive to actually get-off-the-couch and take action. 

Again, all they're doing is promoting Facebook. And promoting Facebook is a terrible long-term strategy (which we'll discuss in Money Waster #3 below -- and why you should use email marketing instead). 

Now compare this to a good example from a paper receipt that reads "Want 20% off? Go to Yelp and write a review. Bring it in with this coupon and receive a 20% discount." It has an extremely clear call-to-action, and a compelling reason to take action. 

Now think about how powerful this is... 

Customers are MUCH more likely to leave a negative review on Yelp than a positive one. But if you can incentivize people after a good experience, than you start to really harness the potential of customer-generated marketing. 

Money Waster #2: Community Management Free-For-All

"The average, large company in the U.S. has 178 corporate-owned social media accounts," according to Marketing Pilgrim. 

Contrary to popular belief, social media isn't free. So exactly who in your organization is responsible for managing 178 different social media accounts? Who's going to create new content for each, and respond to customers in a timely fashion? 

The tiny, underfunded, understaffed Social Media department? 

The cost associated with proper community management is significant. And for 178 different accounts, it's astronomical. 

But that's not even the worst part... 

You're also completely confusing your customers. Which accounts are they supposed to follow or interact with? Who do they respond to with general questions, product support, or service follow-up? 

Countless psychological studies have shown that when people are presented with too many options, they freeze up and don't make a decision. 

So they give-up completely, and are left with a bad taste in their mouth. Or instead of working through their customer support issues, they go trash your business on Yelp. 

Money Waster #3: Facebook Double Taxation

It's been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results. 

Keep that in mind as you read the next few lines... 

In the early 1990s, America Online (AOL) spent over $300 million in mailing CDs to everyone's mailbox. According to then-CMO Jan Brandt: 

"At one point, 50% of the CDs produced worldwide had an AOL logo on it. We were logging in new subscribers at the rate of one every six seconds." 

In a decade, AOL rose to over 25 million users -- an unbelievable number at the time. They were the hottest company in the world. And they began opening up new opportunities for brands to reach consumers. 

Companies raced to build up their AOL brand pages, and you would see "AOL" all over the commercials. 

But eventually it fell out of favor (like every social network to date), and lost users in droves. Those huge marketing investments companies made into AOL were wasted -- because it was a "closed system." All the data and user information belonged to AOL, not the companies who worked so hard to build it in the first place. 

Today, we have the same exact thing going on with Facebook. 

Companies love talking about "Likes" and promoting their pages wherever they can. But here's the problem... 

Facebook is starting to double-tax you to reach your own fans. According to The New York Observer, "Facebook acknowledged it as recently as last week: messages now reach, on average, just 15 percent of an account's fans. In a wonderful coincidence, Facebook has rolled out a solution for this problem: Pay them for better access." As their advertising head, Gokul Rajaram, explained, if you want to speak to the other 80 to 85 percent of people who signed up to hear from you, "sponsoring posts is important." 

So if you want to reach more of your own fans -- the ones you already spent time, money and energy acquiring in the first place -- you have to PAY AGAIN with advertising. That doesn't seem very logical, does it? 

Getting referral traffic from Facebook is great. And using it to reach new people, while also increasing engagement and retaining customers is good, too. 

But don't throw a lot of money down the drain by investing in a closed system that you don't own or control. 

If you're looking for awareness, then track visits, not "Likes." If you're looking for sales from repeat visitors, then use email marketing, not Facebook. 

Because social media has changed the medium -- not the principles. And timeless marketing strategies still apply.

(Source: Brad Smith, Digital Marketing Consultant and Founder FixCourse, published in Social Media Today, 11/19/12) 

Advertisers Are Still Missing the Mark with Online Video

Focus On Pre-Rolls and Branded Entertainment Is Counterproductive 

Online video advertising should be ushering in a new golden era for our industry. Except it's not, because most of the ad business is focused on the wrong things. 

There are essentially two areas of discussion that dominate the conversation when it comes to online video. Both are tethered to the Mad Men world of "things we've always done." 

The first is pre-roll -- putting spots in front of content. We focus on this because it's what all the big agencies are set up to do and it's where the dollars are. 

The second is the creation of branded content. Another page from the history books. We did it with soap operas. Red Bull seems to have made it work. Let's do it again. We focus on this because people who work in advertising all secretly wish we worked in Hollywood. 

These are important opportunities for sure, but to limit our attention to them is myopic.

Advertising used to be about things like persuasion, perception, inspiration, desire. It was Bill Bernbach who said "It's not the numbers of ads you serve, it's the impression you make. Today, the word "impression" has a whole new meaning, and advertising is about spreadsheets and quantifiable ROI. 

It can be about both. It should be about both. Online video can bridge that gap. 

Marketers should be thoughtful about considering every opportunity that digital video presents. Here are a few: 

Discoverable content

Google is a zillion-dollar business because they stumbled upon something powerful in the marketing funnel -- intent. When people want something, they search for it. 

Rapidly, video is becoming a more and more critical part of that search. This summer, I decided to put my BBQ skills to the test and figure out how to make a brisket. It didn't even occur to me to read a recipe. I went straight to YouTube to learn how. I went through dozens of crappy home videos before I finally found a good one. 

Shame on Kingsford Charcoal for not making sure I discovered a quality, search engine optimized video they produced. That's a big missed opportunity. 

What are your customers looking for? Make sure you help them discover it. 

Owned media

Often, brands will put budget into high production value for spots, but treat video created for their own website like a Cinderella stepchild. The thinking is that less people will see it, so let's spend less producing it. 

That's silly. Sure, the audience that will see them is smaller, but certainly they are not less important. These are the people raising their hands, clicking their mouses and saying, "Yes, I want a deeper relationship with your brand." 

No one is saying you should run out and try to create the next Bud TV. You don't need to become a TV station. 

I'm talking a great opportunity to tell a deeper story to the right audience. Why skimp there? 

Native video

One big trend in that the VC community is buzzing about today is "Native Monetization." Sponsored Stories on Facebook is an example of an ad that is "native" to its platforms. Now, all manner of content providers are devising ways to integrate brand content -- particularly video -- into their actual content. This can be highly effective. 

When Buzzfeed readers checked out a piece of content called "This is how you get on Santa's Naughty List" last Christmas, they got to see a cute video from FootLockerabout a teenager holding a reindeer hostage to get Santa to get him new sneakers. Like most Buzzfeed content, it's designed to put a smirk on your face. And it does the job. 

Experience integration

One of the most compelling opportunities open to brands today is to delight or create value for consumers through digital experiences. Video can be integrated into those experiences to make them more powerful, more compelling and yes, more engaging to your customers. 

We created a campaign for Adobe called "Real or Fake?" that challenged players to guess whether a series of images were real or faked with Adobe tools. We used AfterEffects to create a video of a ballerina dancing on top of the Roosevelt Island Tram. After guessing if it was real or fake (it was fake), 50% of people who played the game and checked out a tutorial on how they could do it themselves. 

(Source: Adam Kleinberg, CEO of Traction, a San Fancisco interactive agency, Advertising Age, 11/01/12) 

Socialogue: My Friend 'Likes' a Brand. Hmmm...

Nearly One in Four People Say they Would Buy a Brand Because a Friend "Likes" or Follows the Brand on a Social Network

Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos OTX)  recently released the latest global infographic and commentary on the trends and behaviors that define people's lives in today's social media age.

Twenty-two percent of people say they bought a brand because a friend follows or "likes" the brand on a social network. In the BRIC countries, that number rises to 39%, about four in ten people. It follows, then, that the better able a brand is to influence people to "like" it, the more sales it has the potential to drive. Now that's a piece of information brands that are socially active online should really like!

(Source: Ipsos, 06/26/12)

For Marketers, Lead Gen Focus Is Trained on Digital

The web has provided marketers with an opportunity to develop leads early in a consumer's purchase process, and marketers are turning to hard numbers to measure the success of their efforts.

According to a January 2012 survey of marketing professionals worldwide conducted by research company MarketingSherpa, 52% of marketers said their top lead gen strategy for the next year was to meet or exceed quantifiable return on investment goals. That was followed by optimizing the marketing/sales funnel (51%), gleaning more audience insight (51%) and maximizing the lifetime value of customers (47%).

Marketers are looking for quality in their leads, but not ones that come burdened with a hefty price tag. More than half of respondents said their organizations invested $50 or less per lead, with the largest group of respondents (36%) saying they spent less than $20. This indicates that, for the time being, marketers are valuing quantity over quality in terms of lead gen, although this could change as ROI measurements improve.

Marketers also expected increases in lead generation budgets over the next year to focus largely on three areas: website optimization, social media and search engine optimization, underscoring just how important online tactics have become in recent years. In fact, the three lead gen techniques listed for the smallest budgetary bumps were all offline -- direct mail, tradeshows and print ads.

Two-thirds of marketers didn't make a huge distinction between business-to-business and business-to-consumer lead gen efforts, concluding that the techniques in both spaces were more similar than different.
(Source: eMarketer, 07/25/12) 

MARKETERS USE DIGITAL BUT WARILY

John Wanamaker famously said “Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”  That is apparently even more true when you are talking about digital/social media marketing.  A new survey by the Association of National Advertisers finds that 70% of national advertisers are using digital media for marketing but 62% of them are concerned about the inability to prove return on investment.


The ANA also found that 53% of the survey respondents said there was a lack of understanding about digital media among key people in their organization. That is likely because of the breadth and complexity of the medium.


The members of the ANA are generally sticking with the big names in the social media industry.  Ninety-six percent of those who market with digital media use Facebook; 89% use Twitter; 49% LinkedIn; and 33% Pinterest.


Seventy-five percent are using branded mobile apps, 67% QR codes; 53% text ads; 41% video ads; and 25% video advertising.


The ANA report mirrors another recent study from Advertising Age, conducted in conjunction with Citigroup, which found that almost 86% of the marketers/agency execs and media execs surveyed had a presence on Facebook, but only 55% advertise on the site.


The biggest problems, says AdAge, is determining whether Facebook is actually working for the advertiser.  A majority of those using the site said clicks and “likes” were the most important metric.  But, says the magazine, “when it came to driving purchase intent just over 19% said they ‘don't know’ if Facebook is useful and more than 13% said it's ‘not useful.’ Just 55% said Facebook is ‘somewhat useful,’ indicating a high level of ambivalence on a key branding metric.”  One ad exec told AdAge that "I do not believe that Facebook is an advertising platform. We need to explore other possibilities."

Seven Tips for Maximizing Engagement with Online Video Ads

Online video has grown massively in the past two years to the point where it is no longer just "nice to have," and is instead a vital part of many brands' marketing strategies.

As people are becoming more comfortable watching video online, the power of video advertising is also growing.

To help brands take advantage of this opportunity, social web video platform Ebuzzing has put together seven tips for maximizing engagement with premium video advertising...

1. Keep branding discreet

People have an unconscious aversion to being persuaded, so they are more likely to be turned off by video content that includes huge corporate logos.

Rather than immediately going in for the hard sell and shouting the name of your brand, include logos discreetly.

2. Story matters most

With video advertising, engagement is key. You need your audience to feel involved enough with the content to keep them watching for the entire ad.

Therefore, marketers need to think more about the enjoyment a video offers to a viewer instead of how well it serves the brand.

While product managers may not agree, with online video the story matters more than the product.

3. Kick off with a bang

The window of opportunity for grabbing the consumer's attention is small, so video ads need to hook people within the first five seconds.

The best way to do this is by creating an emotional connection, so give them either joy or surprise. People get bored easily and long drawn-out stories can cause people to stop watching.

4. Build an emotional rollercoaster

Even if your video is quite short, your audience will quickly lose interest if the emotion is constant throughout the ad.

To maintain engagement, the video must briefly remove viewers' feelings of joy and surprise and then quickly restore them again.

5. Have multiple scenes

Having multiple scenes/mini stories is more effective than only having one or two.

Each scene should have its own dose of emotion -- great examples in practice are VW's The Force and Evian's Roller Babies.

6. Surprise but don't shock

While surprising the viewer will help keep them engaged with the ad, people won't share something that is too shocking or crude.

To give your content the best chance of gaining shares online, it needs to be something that people will be willing to have their name associated with.

7. Target people that are prone to sharing and have a voice

Social influencers are often the best people to target when it comes to distribution, as these people have extroverted and egocentric personalities on the social web and are most likely to share content.

(Source: David Moth, Econsultancy, 07/09/12) 

Top 100 Advertisers Boost Ad Spending, But Not In Traditional Media

The nation's 100 biggest advertisers boosted 2011 total U.S. ad spending by 4.8%. But you wouldn't know spending was on the rise if you looked only at last year's measured media. 

Measured spending for the top 100 actually slipped 0.2%. A double-digit measured-media gain for Internet display spending and a small increase in TV did not make up for losses in newspapers, magazines and radio. 

So where's the money going? Into unmeasured disciplines -- a vast pool that includes various digital plays (search marketing, online video and some forms of social media), promotion and direct marketing. The appeal is clear: Marketers are putting money into disciplines that directly connect them with targeted consumers. 

Advertisers are reshaping the media pie. Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia expects the Internet to surpass newspapers this year as the nation's second-largest advertising medium, behind TV. By ZenithOptimedia's tally, the Internet was the fifth-largest ad medium until 2009, when it powered past magazines and radio into the No. 3 spot. 

Nearly three-fourths of ZenithOptimedia's Internet breakout comes from what Ad Agecurrently counts as unmeasured spending (including paid search, online video and mobile ads); the rest comes from measured disciplines (display advertising, including display ads on social-media sites). 

Fortunes of unmeasured and measured disciplines have diverged since the Great Recession ended and not-so-great recovery began in June 2009. 

The top 100 U.S. advertisers in 2010 increased unmeasured spending by 12.6% and measured spending by 6.3%, resulting in an 8.8% rebound in total ad spending. 

The 100 Leading National Advertisers' unmeasured spending jumped 11.8% in 2011 while measured media eased 0.2%, resulting in an overall increase of 4.8%. That slower growth shows how major marketers have kept a check on ad spending in this plodding economic recovery. 

Measured media's share of LNA spending dropped to 55.8% in 2011 from 58.6% in 2010. 

The tug of war between measured and unmeasured disciplines is hardly new. Since launching the 100 LNA report in 1956, Ad Age has used the term "unmeasured" to quantify ad and promotion spending distinct from media types -- such as TV, print and (in recent decades) Internet display -- that are measured by tracking services. 

The shift in 2011 was widespread: 100 Leading National Advertisers in all but two major industry categories reduced the portion of 2011 spending that went to measured media, according to Ad Age DataCenter's analysis. (The two exceptions were financial services and restaurants, where measured media scored a bigger slice of the pie.) 

Case in point: Kohl's Corp., the department-store retailer, disclosed gross advertising costs rose 10.4% to $1.123 billion in 2011. Kohl's 2011 measured-media ad spending declined 2.5% to $331.3 million, according to WPP's Kantar Media. Ad Age defines the difference as unmeasured spending: $791.7 million, up 16.9%. 

To be sure, marketers still rely on measured media to build brands and promote products. Apple's U.S. measured spending surged 82%. 

The 100 LNA accounted for 44% of Kantar Media's 2011 U.S. measured-media spending. 

Among the 100 largest advertisers, total 2011 U.S. spending (measured media plus unmeasured spending) increased in all but three major industries, according to Ad AgeDataCenter's spending analysis. 

Telecom had the sharpest spending drop, falling 7.9%. AT&T, Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel Corp.and Verizon Communications all cut measured-media spending. 

Marketers of cleaning products reduced total ad spending by 3.3%. The LNA's 10 food companies trimmed spending by 1.5%. 

Two major industries saw double-digit increases in total U.S. ad spending: automotive, up 16.1%, and financial services, up 11.2%. 

During the 2007-2009 recession, automotive and financial-services imploded as industries and ad categories. But the two industries have rebounded sharply, scoring double-digit ad spending increases in both 2010 and 2011. 

Fiat's Chrysler Group boosted U.S. measured-media spending by 48%; Chrysler's stated worldwide ad spending jumped 49%. 

Estimated total U.S. ad spending for JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest financial advertiser, rose 22%. JPMorgan Chase's stated worldwide marketing costs in 2011 were 77% above the company's recession-period low (2009). 

Among the 100 LNA, about two-thirds of marketers increased U.S. spending in 2011, with 32 cutting spending, according to Ad Age DataCenter's analysis. 

What about 2012? Kantar Media last week reported some sign of a modest rebound in measured-media spending. Overall U.S. measured spending increased 2.6% in the first quarter, the best quarterly growth since second-quarter 2011. 

Kantar Media's top 100 marketers increased first-quarter 2012 spending by 3.4%, vs. a 0.2% spending decline in full-year 2011. 

ZenithOptimedia forecasts total U.S. spending for major media and marketing services will grow 3.2% in 2012 and another 3.2% in 2013, up from 2011's tepid 1.8% growth. That hardly signals a boom. But it's better than a bust.

(Source: Advertising Age, 06/25/12) 

How to Succeed with Digital: 5 Strategies

Chaos. If there's a single word to encapsulate today's digital environment, that one clinches it. The dizzying pace of change has been hard to keep up with (never mind get ahead of) from every perspective: Channels and platforms. Devices and tools. Customer behaviors...and expectations. 

For marketers, the challenge is to understand how to best manage the chaos, and that is a do-able proposition. It takes a strategic orientation that is grounded in five key tenets. Making these the basis of your approach will result in a powerful pathway to better customer engagement and better harness both the chaos and the power that digital represents. 

1. Your customers, engaged -- your story, amplified

The digital environment is a milieu characterized by shared ownership in your brand by you and your consumers. You can't control what's being said about your brand here, so focus on what you can control: what it stands for. The better its promise and positioning are focused, defined, and communicated internally and externally, the better you will be able to encourage consistent storytelling about it by your customers. 

2. Know the customer "fragments" 

Digital tends to create a marketplace of people with multiple personalities, which makes the challenge of targeting much more complex. An individual may have multiple identities on Twitter, share their professional persona on LinkedIn, and on Facebook, reveal another persona. 

Telling the right brand story requires an understanding of the multiple dimensions of the individual, and figuring out which one you want to connect with. 

Just remember. Your audiences are allowed to have multifaceted online personalities. Your brand, however, can't afford a fragmented identity. 

3. Don't rush to follow

Digital is a relentless and omnipresent environment that has dramatically altered how we consume and share information. It can be overwhelming. If you respond well, you can capitalize on the opportunity to make your brand a bigger part of customers' lives -- but you must be very clear on your digital strategy. There's a risk of getting caught up in (and overextending your resources on) the hot new channel or capability of the moment. 

Understand which insights matter by truly listening to and assessing the data to design a strategic approach that is aligned to your brand and your target customer. Remember: Missteps are less tolerated in this realm, as there is a permanent digital footprint. 

4. Integrate the CMO and CIO roles

Digital intensifies the need to break down organizational silos. It takes both marketing and technology know-how and capabilities -- bound by respect for the medium -- to envision and activate the most effective digital strategies. 

Marketing and technology capabilities must work together to create the best possible outcomes. This means that marketers and their IT counterparts must increase their understanding of the interplay between technologies, how they work, and how they are best utilized to create customer experiences that drive the brand and business forward.

5. Measure not for Klout, but business impact

The impact of digital strategy is measured in ways that traditional media is not -- via a stream of data that can be analyzed to continuously fine-tune and refine approaches for maximum impact. Ultimately, however, metrics must connect back to business impact. But the reality is that nothing in digital exists on its own. 

Mobile links to social media, which in turn may link back to a company Web site. The trick is to ensure that linkage models are being used to measure the effectiveness of the digital strategies -- especially considering the fuzziness of some digital measurements (like Klout and "liking"). It's better to link those digital measures to traditional ones like awareness, consideration, and conversion. 

The explosion in digital has created an exciting and challenging environment for society and culture. The marketer's imperative is to learn how to manage the chaos to grow deeper customer connections and successful businesses.

(Source: Chiaki Nishino, Marketing Daily, 06/27/12) 

Top Digital Trends for 2012

A recent report from eMarketer lists trends and projections for digital usage and marketing for the rest of the year. Many of the trends have significant impact on broadcast television and other media, with the top trends revolving around mobile and online video.

The top tends for 2012 compared to the year before in the U.S.:

• Smartphone users will increase from 90 million to 107 million. Market penetration will reach 44% of mobile phone users.
• Adult ereader users will increase from 33 to 46 million. 24% of Internet users will use an ereader.
• Tablet users will grow from 34 to 55 million. Nearly one-out-of-four Internet users will use a tablet.
• Online video viewers will grow from 158 to 169 million with 71% of Internet users viewing online video
• Mobile video viewers will rise from 45 to 55 million. One-out-of-three online video viewers will watch on a mobile device.
• Online video ad spending will reach $3.1 billion, up from $2.2 billion.

According to eMarketer, video is the fastest-growing segment of online advertising, and for good reason. The amount of online and mobile video content is exploding, and most of this content is supported by some type of video spot -- typically an in-stream ad or overlay.

Further, non-video content is often supported by in-page video ads that expand when the user clicks on them. Video ads are considered more engaging and effective than static banners.

IPG: Mobile Key To Agency Growth

New research from Ernst & Young indicates that 88% of TV viewers say they multitask with a computer while watching TV. And nearly half of viewers say they are on their mobile phone while watching TV.

In a panel discussion in New York Tuesday put on by Ernst & Young to discuss its research, Interpublic Group CEO Michael Roth mused: “Our lives are blurring from a device standpoint.”

For clients, that’s both a blessing and a curse, he said, noting that commercials “give you a break” from watching content, and that allows viewers to check emails or go online to view content that may or may not be related to the TV programming.

The challenge for advertisers and agencies, he added, is to make commercials that engage viewers so they don’t completely disengage with the TV set.

Mobile technology, said Roth, is key to the company’s future growth -- given that in many markets, mobile has bypassed other technologies to become the primary communications means for consumers. “We’re getting double-digit growth in emerging markets” like China and Brazil, said Roth, adding that those growth rates will continue.

Smartphones will be the core device that integrates other forms of communications, he said, adding that consumers are using smartphones more frequently to access the Internet than computers.

But there’s a “disconnect,” said Roth, between the amount of mobile usage -- which is soaring -- and ad spending in the space, which is lagging. He likened it to the same gap that occurred when Internet usage first took off a decade ago. It took a while for advertisers to shift significant amounts of money from traditional media, which was being used less, to digital. Just as that gap has narrowed, so will the gap that now exists on the mobile front between consumer usage and ad spending.

The Ernst research also found that the average home in the U.S. now has four devices connected to the Internet, an average that will likely climb half again in just two to three years.

Michael Fries, president and CEO of cable company Liberty Global, responded that the more devices households have connected to the Internet the better -- at least for his business. "I want 10 devices in the home because [consumers will] need a bigger pipe," to connect to the Web. He predicted that in three years' time, providing subscribers with Internet connections will constitute 40% of Liberty's revenues.

~Steve McClellan - OMD

Mobile and Video Grab a Greater Share of Digital Ad Budgets

Marketers must diversify their ad investments across a wider variety of digital channels to keep up with today's media consumption habits.

Not surprisingly, digital ad agency ValueClick media found U.S. marketers' digital advertising budget allocation for 2012 was expected to mirror popular consumer usage trends, resulting in more spending on mobile and video efforts.

Almost half (49%) of U.S. marketers surveyed by ValueClick planned to boost video ad spending, and 65% noted increases to their mobile budgets for 2012. These two channels also saw the smallest number of marketers who said they planned to decrease spending: 3% for mobile and 2% for video.

In December 2011, 66% of U.S. marketers said they planned to spend between 1% and 24% of their 2012 digital budget on mobile, compared to 50% last year. In addition, 52% of U.S. marketers planned to allocate a similar portion to video, up nearly 27% from 2011.

Additional data showed the vast majority of respondents (94%) planned to purchase standard mobile banner ads. Roughly half also planned to buy mobile rich media ads (53%) and mobile video ads (49%).

Such high levels of interest in standard mobile display ads will help U.S. mobile ad spending skew further toward rich media and banner advertising this year. Ad spending on these two formats will comprise one-third of total US mobile ad spending in 2012, or $861.7 million, according to eMarketer estimates. Video will account for 5.8%, or $151.5 million, of the year's $2.61 billion in total US mobile ad spending.

The greatest share of U.S. mobile ad spending will continue to go to search, expected to account for 49% of all ad dollars this year. This is unsurprising, given that mobile is still working to achieve mass reach and scale—two common prerequisites for display advertisers. In the meantime, mobile search advertising will continue to dominate mobile ad spending.

In terms of mobile campaign measurement practices, additional data from ValueClick showed that, in December 2011, marketers were just slightly more likely to measure their mobile efforts with brand-health metrics as opposed to direct-response measures. And ValueClick found the highest percentage (63%) of U.S. marketers measured mobile performance using clickthrough rate.

For now, mobile appears to be a channel equally employed for branding and direct-response objectives, and measurement metrics reflect that near-equal division.

(Source: eMarketer, 03/12/12)

Buying Station Websites...Why it makes cents!

Why Buy Local Television Station Websites? Local broadcast TV station websites reach local consumers, where they live and make purchases.  And more adults turn to local TV station websites for local news and event information than any other local sites.

Adults Who Have Visited Websites Affiliated
with Local Broadcast Television Stations

 

 

More Adults Visit Local Television Station Websites for
Local News and Event Information

	18+	18-34	18-49	25-54
Local television station website(s)	52.3	52.4	54.7	53.2
Local newspaper website(s)	43.2	41.5	39.8	42.0
Local radio station website(s)	9.3	14.4	11.6	10.9
Other Local Site(s)	6.6	5.0	7.2	8.2
None/Don't know	2.5	2.1	2.3	2.0

TVB Media Comparisons Study 2010.  Knowledge Networks, Inc. Custom Study

Hyper-Local Websites

Local TV station microsites offer highly-targeted neighborhood and lifestyle content to reach specific consumer groups and advertiser retail zones. They feature community news and user-generated content about area happenings and events. Local businesses benefit from the opportunity to connect with potential customers and drive traffic and to their door.  And integrating an on-air campaign with an online component, maximizes effectiveness across platforms.
Hyper-local website opportunities include:

• Search
• Coupons
• Business Directories
• Ad Targeting

SMBs Up Ad Budgets for Digital Media

Showing power in numbers, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) continue to increase their share of digital advertising.

Over the next 12 months, SMBs plan to allocate 26% of their budgets to digital and online media, according to Local Commerce Monitor, BIA/Kelsey's 15-year tracking study of SMB advertising spending, media usage, web presence and sales channels.

As a whole, SMBs are particularly interested in self-serve advertising and promotional tools, including video, social media and search engine marketing.

"SMBs love the easy-to-use tools, like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and self-serve advertising," according to Matt Booth, SVP and program director of Interactive Local Media at BIA/Kelsey. "We are on the verge of a real revolution in marketing platforms that serve SMBs, in particular around digital presence."

According to LCM Wave 15, nearly half of respondents -- 49% -- reported that they purchase online advertising, including SEM products, directly from a Web site -- either with or without live operator assistance.

More than half -- 52% -- of LCM respondents reported that they use social media to promote their businesses, while 22% said they plan to have a video on YouTube in the next 12 months.

According to a new U.S. SMB Spending Forecast by BIA/Kelsey, small and medium-sized businesses will continue the recent trend of shifting their marketing budgets to digital advertising, performance-based platforms and customer-retention business solutions over the next five years.

Late last year, BIA/Kelsey predicted that SMBs would allocate 30% of their marketing budgets to traditional advertising by 2015 -- down from 52% in 2010.

That would leave 70% for digital and online media, including mobile, social, online directories, online display and digital outdoor; performance-based commerce, including pay-per-click, deals, and couponing; and customer retention business solutions, including email, reputation and presence management.

In sheer dollar terms, U.S. SMB spending on media, marketing and business solutions will grow to reach $40.2 billion by 2015 -– up from $22.4 billion in 2010 -– according to BIA/Kelsey. If accurate, that would represent a compound annual growth rate of 12%.

(Source: Online Media Daily, 02/28/12)

Agencies Show Their Age on Mobile

Mobile platforms and engagement strategies in our digitally enabled world need to support all marketing initiatives.

Mobile strategy is about more than just phones. Mobile platforms and engagement strategies in our digitally enabled world need to support all marketing initiatives, both offline and online, and be truly multi-channel. Mobile maturity is one area, however, where brands and agencies are playing catch-up with consumer demand.

A siloed approach to mobile has been commonplace over the past couple of years. Many agencies have supplemented traditional creative with mobile ads that lack a larger strategy, subbing out app development that offers no real value and failing to thoughtfully consider the best platforms and devices for mobile campaigns.

For example, Shazam recently made a splash by enabling second screen synchronization with the Super Bowl broadcast, and the company says it saw record engagement during the game. Unfortunately, problems arose because not all hub pages were optimized and users had to complete Bud Light's age verification screen on a screen that was not touch-friendly. Considering the large number of iPhones participating, it should have also linked straight to the promoted song on iTunes, instead of emailing it a day later. It's likely that there was a lot of user drop-off, especially given the three-step process.

Missed opportunities like this will become less common over the next year as brands and agencies fight to stay ahead of the curve, proving 2012 will be a game-changer for mobile.

This shift to a more optimized mobile experience is not merely because the industry is a year older, but because enough agency and brand leadership are seeing a critical mass of mobile and multi-channel initiatives bear fruit. Marketers are realizing the growing risk of doing nothing.

This year, the market demands a more entrepreneurial mindset. Mobile is not just the hot topic of the moment — it's the future.

Embracing this reality requires a shift in thinking and many brands still do not have a mobile or encompassing digital strategy in place. Moreover, many agencies are still growing a set of basic mobile capabilities. Creating both smartphone and tablet-optimized experiences, along with the increasing need to pick platforms and develop apps, is becoming the norm.

Last but not least, 2012 is begging for brands to truly integrate mobile with commerce and CRM programs, and create new integrated experiences for in-store, at home and on-the-go.

While 2012 brings a new confidence to place bigger investment bets in mobile, here are some tips and trends to consider:

• Look at all of the touch points and device considerations that surround a mobile campaign. Consider environmental conditions like in-store Wi-Fi, device detection and fallback tactics such as developing SMS or mobile web alternatives to more specialized mobile tactics.
• As mobile becomes more integrated with other touch points, the need to get store Ops and IT involved becomes a critical success factor. Pick an agency that knows how to work intimately with all facets of your organization.
• On the flip side, some agencies and platform providers are so bent on serving every device that the entire experience gets "dumbed down" so far that it doesn't engage anyone effectively, especially the smartphone crowd that is more likely to participate. Know what devices to optimize for and how far to take it. Remember not to just look at today's device penetration for a market, but also the consumer behavior that goes with it and where the trend lines point.
• As the promise of enterprise mobile solutions and point of sales integration continues to heat up, plan for concepts and pilots that set a bigger stage for follow-on investment.
• 2012 will be the year of getting websites and relevant marketing assets optimized for tablets, not just smartphones -- especially as tablets continue to heat up for mobile commerce and chip away at market share for everyday PC tasks.
• "Big Data" is back as a buzzword and unsurprisingly so; the more multiple channels are connected, the more we need data to serve up the right experience to the right prospect and customer. There is a lot of opportunity here with location-based service integration and better behavioral and preference-based targeting. However, most of the real benefits won't be realized until 2013-2014.
• As most direct consumer brands have a mobile app of some sort, expect to see enhancements that bring context aware features, embedded loyalty, and in some cases pre-paid and mobile wallet capabilities.
• Much of 2011's mobile marketing budgets were still made up of slush fund ad budgets. Expect to see more purposeful campaigns and sizable budgets set aside for mobile.
• Look to work with agencies and partners that don't just put a person in the room that "gets mobile" but has shown they can deliver it across channels and touch points.

Various agencies and brands sit in very different places across the mobile and multi-channel maturity curve. In 2012, those that don't figure out mobile will really start to show their declining relevancy to today's consumer.

(Source: David Hewitt, VP at digital agency SapientNitro, Tech Crunch, 02/11/12)

Internet-Only TV Homes Surge 22.8%, Spend 9% of TV Time Online

Households continue to cut cable/satellite - turn to broadcast and streaming.
Characterizing it as a "development to watch," Nielsen issued a new report to clients last week showing that the number of U.S. households that bypass cable or satellite TV and subscribe only to broadband Internet access has grown dramatically in the past year, and not surprisingly, they spend dramatically more time watching TV over the Internet.

The Nielsen report said it is too soon to determine whether these households are so-called "cord-swappers" -– swapping the cable/satellite TV cord for the broadband Internet cord -– but they are growing faster than any other segment of the "cross-platform" television marketplace.

While the percentage of Internet-only TV homes is still relatively small -– less than 5% of all TV households -– they grew 22.8% over the past year, according to the report, which reflects data for the third quarter of 2011 vs. the third quarter of 2010.

Not surprisingly, these households are streaming more than twice as much TV online as the general population: an average of 11.2 minutes daily vs. 5.0 minutes for all TV households. While these households are relatively low users of TV -– at about half as much as the time spent watching TV by the general population –- they currently are watching more than 9% of all their TV minutes online. According to Nielsen's data, the average TV household currently is watching about 1.9% of their total TV minutes online.

"The increase in broadcast-only/broadband homes is the most significant of any category, though it is not necessarily an indication of downgrading services," reads the Nielsen report. "Rather, this could reflect broadcast-only homes upgrading to broadband as their needs change. Further underscoring the importance placed on broadband Internet, the number of homes subscribing to cable-plus and no broadband decreased 17.1 percent since last year."

(Source: Media Daily News, 02/09/12)

5 To-Do's When Activating Digital Shopper Marketing Programs

Digital shopper marketing tools are clearly enhancing the consumer shopper experience, both for the marketer as well as the shopper. However, the dizzying array of tools available can make it a bit challenging to discern which ones will provide the most bang for the buck for marketers.

A new survey on digital shopper marketing from Catapult helped provide the following five considerations when activating these programs:

1. Leverage the Proven Winners

To date, only three tools have captured shopper hearts and minds: Self checkout, printed coupons from the Internet, and online circulars, all of which are previously-existing tactics translated digitally. These tools are easy for shoppers to understand and easy to use and should be integrated where possible.

Brand Examples: Kellogg's, P&G and General Mills all have robust programs on Coupons.com and MyWebGrocer. Publix's circular integrates lifestyle images and recipes on the cover rather that just product shots with price.

2. Beware of the Bright and Shiny

Know the facts and understand where fatigue has set in. Tools such as Foursquare, QR codes, and social media are not shopper motivators, while other media darlings such as Shopkick and Checkpoints have very low shopper penetration. Evaluate the facts, and ensure you've selected tactics that deliver against your higher-level objectives.

Brand Examples: QR Codes on Heinz Ketchup bottles in restaurants and Walgreens Foursquare program.

3. Understand the Balance of PR Drivers vs. Those With Utility

The way many digital shopper-marketing tools have been leveraged to date -- such as augmented reality and location-based check-ins -- have provided good public relations opportunities for brands, but lack a real use for the shopper. Be sure you are clear with your objectives, and rethink how you leverage moving forward.

Good PR Drivers: Foursquare
Good Utility: Grocery IQ

4. Early-on vs. add-on

Deliver Integrated digital shopper solutions vs. tactical add-ons, and understand how to re-leverage national/brand assets and activity across the path-to-purchase at retail.

Brand Example: Pets Lovers Love Walmart -- a category program that extends Pedigree's National Pet Adoption program into a retail-specific environment.

5. Leverage the Full Spectrum of Shopper "Need States"

Digital shopper marketing tools do more than just "save me time" and "save me money." The tools "make me feel smarter," "make Shopping Fun," and "support my values," among other benefits. Determine where and how digital can best deliver against these need states, and leverage the tools whose need states align with brand, product and target needs as well as program objectives.

Brand Example: Kellogg's Share Your Breakfast Program -- "Supports My Values"

(Source: Promo Magazine, 01/10/12, by Brian Cohen, Director of Digital Shopper Marketing, Catapult)

Getting on the all-important page 1 of a shopper's search. Here's how to get there -- and stay there

Rick Buffkin is sold on the power of Google to help him sell vehicles.

The four-store Beaman Automotive Group in Nashville sells about 100 vehicles a month from Internet leads in part because online shoppers looking for Toyota, Ford, Chrysler or Buick models can't miss Beaman stores on Google.

Google, the world's dominant search engine, uses a complex and constantly changing set of rules to channel shoppers to dealerships. Dealerships that master the rules win sales.

For instance, Buffkin, Beaman's Internet marketing director, uses low-cost product videos and fresh content on Beaman's own Web sites. The videos and content help Beaman appear high on Google's crucial first page of a search.

"People turn to Google for everything -- they're taking over," said Buffkin, 36.

Beaman Automotive, headed by dealer principal Lee Beaman, sells about 750 new and used vehicles a month at its Toyota-Scion, Ford, Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Buick-GMC stores.

Google is top-of-mind for dealers across the country as they look to shift marketing dollars from traditional media, such as TV, radio and print, to the Internet.

Tony Rhoades, Internet executive director for the seven-franchise Gunn Automotive Group in San Antonio, said: "Google is the dominant player on the Internet, and you have to do everything you can to position yourself on page 1."

Will Perry, director of business intelligence for Dataium Inc., said Google has led the way as car shopping habits have shifted to the Internet over the past decade.

Dataium tracks car-buying habits on more than 5,000 dealership and factory Web sites nationally.

Shopping starts online

The statistics are convincing. More than 90 percent of car buyers today start their research on the Internet, said Brice Englert, marketing manager at Dominion Dealer Solutions, which works with dealership clients on Internet marketing.

They make an average of 18 stops on the Internet along the way, said Brian Pasch, CEO of consulting firm PCG Digital Marketing.

Those online shoppers will make stopovers to comparison shop on sites such as AutoTrader.com, Cars.com and shopautoweek.com; get pricing information at places such as TrueCar.com and Edmunds; and use search engines to navigate the process quickly.

During the process, three of four Internet car shoppers will visit Google at least once, and in most cases multiple times, Dataium's Perry said. Two of every three shoppers who visit a dealership Web site come there directly from Google, he said.

Sean Wolfington, owner of Tier10Marketing.com, an automotive and entertainment marketing company that sells its services to auto dealerships, said, "Google is where people turn at the top of sales funnel, and at the bottom when they are getting ready to buy."

So, said Kevin Frye, e-commerce director for the 11-store Jeff Wyler Automotive Family in Cincinnati, it's critical for dealers to have a strong presence on Google. "It's a matter of fishing where the fish are," he said.

Why Google rules

• 90% of vehicle buyers start their shopping online.
• 65% of visitors to dealership Web sites come directly from a Google search.
• Google is the primary influence in 25% of dealership Web site traffic and 3% of sales leads.
Source: Dataium Inc.

Crucial first page

There are two ways for dealerships to get listed on the crucial first page of a Google search:

1. Buy their way on with advertising, a process known as search engine marketing.
Those paid search results are bought through a pay-per-click auction, in which dealers, the automakers and sometimes third-party Internet lead generators will pay 50 cents to $3.50 every time a Google visitor clicks on the ad to be taken to a dealership Web site. Those ads tend to appear along the top of a Google page in a shaded box and often along the right side of the page.

2. Get Google to list the dealership and videos for free by getting Google to believe the store's Web site is the most relevant to consumers in that market. That's known as an organic search. That means a site with a lot of fresh content and the ability to hold viewers' attention.

Beaman Automotive is definitely in the organic-search camp, Buffkin said. Though Beaman buys no advertising on Google, Beaman's Web site and videos routinely place atop the first page of searches involving dealerships in the Nashville area.

For example, a Google search last week using the words "2012 Toyota Camry Nashville" listed Beaman Toyota in the top two so-called organic positions on the first Google page just below three shaded pay-per-click listings on the page.

Beaman Ford, during the third week of January, won the top five organic positions when the following search phrase was used: "2012 Ford Focus SE Nashville."

Buffkin said Beaman has an aggressive strategy to get top Google listings -- a process known as search engine optimization.

It's working: Of about 50,000 visits to Beaman Automotive's Web sites a month, about 65 percent come there directly after a Google search, Buffkin said. Of those visits, about 1,200 people a month will fill out a lead form asking online to be contacted for more information or to make an appointment, he said.

Understanding Google

Buffkin said staying relevant on Google is part art and part science, with an emphasis on hard work. Google uses secret formulas, called algorithms, to determine which businesses get top play on consumer searches.
And Google frequently changes the way it weighs its criteria. For instance, videos on YouTube tend to score well with Google. YouTube is owned by Google.

That makes Google a moving target. But Buffkin said a couple of tactics are key. The first is to keep Beaman's Web site full of fresh content, including chat, videos and blogs that contain key words or phrases sure to catch Google's attention such as the city, brand, dealership name and even the nearby I-40 freeway.
Buffkin said Google puts a premium on dealership Web sites that keep visitors for long durations. The average visitor to a Beaman Web site spends 10.4 minutes on the site. The group's bounce rate -- the rate at which a visitor comes to the dealership Web site but drills no further into it -- is less than 30 percent vs. an industry average of 60 percent.

"You have to make your site sticky," Buffkin said. "In Google's eyes, content is king."

Videos help

Buffkin also is a big believer in the power of online videos. Of the top five organic positions that Beaman held in the search of "2012 Ford Focus SE Nashville," three were videos that the dealership's Web manager, Dealer.com, shot so Beaman could put them up on YouTube.

Another plus for Google placement are consumer reviews, said Matt Haiken, dealer principal and general manager of Prestige Volvo in East Hanover, N.J., outside New York. Reviews are part of the criteria Google uses for ranking dealership sites.

About nine months ago Google annoyed dealers by saying it would no longer allow reviews not gathered on Google to be shown on Google Places, the maplike business directory that shows up on Google search pages.

Overnight, Prestige Volvo lost 400 consumer reviews garnered on other sites such as Dealerrater.com and Yelp, Haiken said. But rather than sulk, Prestige began rebuilding its review base by identifying all customers with a Gmail account and encouraging them to submit a review. Gmail is a Google product.

Prestige is back up to 48 reviews on its Google Places page, with nearly a top five-star overall rating, Haiken said.

Google is critical to Prestige, since the dealership switched all its marketing dollars five years ago to digital media from traditional media, Haiken said. Prestige is one of the top-selling Volvo dealers in the nation, selling 757 new and 270 used vehicles in 2011.

Haiken said he consistently buys ads on Google to expand his reach. He said he spends about 10 percent of his digital marketing budget on Google. Prestige Volvo's total monthly digital marketing budget exceeds $10,000.

Fighting for business in crowded suburban New York makes ad buying a necessity, Haiken said.
He said: "Face it. If every customer is online these days, then every customer is an Internet customer."

Mastering Google

Tips to keep a dealership on the crucial first page of a Google search
• Use Google's free analytics tool to bid on the most-searched phrases in your market.
• Shoot high-quality video and put it up on YouTube (a Google property) and other sites.
• Make it easy for sales and service customers to write a store review on Google.
• Use videos, chat and blogs on your Web sites to keep visitors longer.

David Barkholz - Automotive News

Study: More Regional Ad Agencies Budget for Digital Specialists

The following article was written by Jay Friedman, chief operations officer of Goodway Group, and appeared in the January 17 edition of Ad Age Agency News.

This month we published the results of a study detailing the state of "going digital" within regional agencies around the U.S. The study asked 12 questions and was answered by 90 agencies, up from 74 in 2010.

The fact that we have two years of comparative data also allows us to see how the mindset around core digital-media needs has shifted year over year. Some results are expected, but many are truly astounding. What's more interesting is different people will find the results astounding for different, and sometimes opposite, reasons.

Responses to each of the 12 questions are fascinating, but I've chosen three of the questions to highlight here with the hope you'll read the full study as well.

In 2010, 26% of agencies said clients "weren't asking for" digital media. That dropped to 4% this year as it appears marketers who felt this way a year ago may have realized digital is a requirement, not an option. The fact that "budgeting to hire and train a new staff member" shot from 14% to 51% from 2010 to 2011 shows us regional agencies now have realized that digital media may be so complex that existing staff with different backgrounds and expertise will not naturally become digital-media experts. Or it could be the costs of learning on the job are too great.

We predict the major "aha!" in 2012 will be that budgeting to hire just one staff member will not be enough. Social content, web development, analytics, SEM and display are all significantly different subspecialties within digital. Still, most agencies do not have the budget or need to hire full-timers in each of these areas.

If you ask people who have been working in display (online, mobile, video) for a while about the notion of click-thru-rates as a metric of success, they will most likely scoff at it.

Real ROI, effective cost per action, and brand lift are often considered more meaningful metrics for success. Forty-eight percent of those surveyed view CTR as the primary metric for success while another 20% view CPM. This data shows that regional agencies are still in the introductory learning stage of digital media.

If you're a digital veteran, you may remember working on your first several campaigns and eyeing the CTR as the campaigns progressed. You may have gotten excited about a rising CTR only to feel a bit empty when a campaign finished: "Great, we got lots of clicks, but does that really mean we succeeded?"

Since many agencies (and likely their clients) are focusing on CTR and CPM to define success, it's not surprising how the next question plays out, "How successful would you rate your past digital campaigns?" Only 2% of regional agencies rated their past campaigns as "very successful" because they and their clients have not established healthy metrics for campaign success.

This study culminates with the final question, "In terms of agency business priorities, where would you say 'going digital' falls?" Last year, 71% answered it was either their top priority or one of the top few. This year 59% said, "We'd like to, but we're not in a hurry." What happened?

We believe this de-prioritization is the result of the combined experiences and lessons from the areas we've described above. This is especially true because in the beginning we all thought, "It's just another medium. It can't be that different." This obviously has not proven out.

Programmatic digital buying and the expertise needed around it are a world apart from the spots and dots of traditional media. These inaccurate expectations combined with the challenges of campaign metrics could certainly lead agency owners and top executives to rethink speeding headfirst into their next digital project.

Having spoken with hundreds of regional agencies across the country, one thing I can definitively say is these agency owners and top executives are incredibly smart and will figure this out in short order. But like any new subject, having a great teacher can be the best path. As regional agencies lean on vendors and other industry experts, we expect to see a hockey-stick-like understanding of digital and how it fits into the entire media picture.

(Source: Jay Friedman, Advertising Age, 01/17/12. The full study is available here.)