Online Advertisers – Stressing Revenues – Forecast Raised Targets

January 30, 2013 by MarketingCharts staff

7 in 10 online advertisers are more focused on driving direct revenue outcomes from online advertising this year than last, according to [pdf] results of a Marin Software survey conducted by Forrester Consulting among 104 North American marketers with at least $100,000 in annual paid search spending. With revenue goals being subject to increased attention, respondents also noted that their revenue targets are rising: 8 in 10 said their online advertising revenue goals are increasing slightly (55%) or significantly (25%) this year.

There are of course a number of challenges inherent to meeting these revenue targets. The leading issue for online advertisers is responding to rapidly changing market conditions and competition (55%). Close to half also see challenges in having the right skills internally to manage online advertising (46%) and obtaining insights to optimize campaigns (44%). Technology may help overcome these challenges, though. Asked how they plan to address challenges to acquiring more revenue from online advertising, advertisers overwhelmingly pointed to leveraging technology solutions to manage online ads (74%), while fewer said they would experiment with new publishers and ad networks (41%) or increase media budgets (38%).

Other Findings:

The most common specific revenue outcomes that online advertising efforts are held accountable to are sales/revenues (65%), leads/order/calls (64%), and ROI (54%).
Most online advertisers measure the effectiveness of their programs by looking at site traffic (69%) and online conversions (63%), but few gauge customer lifetime value (20%). That’s likely a function of visibility: while 78% say site traffic is highly visible (and 77% online conversion), just 43% have a high degree of visibility into customer lifetime value.

About the Data: The Marin Software survey was conducted in December 2012 among 104 North American marketers with a minimum yearly spend of $100,000 on paid search.