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Shoppers Continue to Spend on Private Label Products, but Some See A Return to Name Brands 9 in 10 US shoppers report spending the same or more on private label products this year than last.
Driven by the desire to save money, nearly all US shoppers say they purchase private label or store brands. And, with close to half of Americans reporting that they are spending less money this year than they have in the past, it is no surprise that 9 in 10... READ MORE
Both B2B Marketers and Buyers Increasingly Sold on Conversational Marketing About one-quarter of B2B buyers claim to now be using chatbots to communicate with businesses, double last year's 13%.
Some 7 in 10 users of B2B conversational marketing tools would use them for communicating with businesses, getting questions answered, and resolving issues, according to Drift and Heinz Marketing’s latest report [download page] on the state of conversational... READ MORE
Advertisers Consider TV & Social the Most Influential Political Ad Platforms No other political ad media come close.
Eyeing an increase in political advertising during the final stretch of the presidential election season, a recent survey of marketers and agencies by Advertiser Perceptions found that half planned to adjust their advertising efforts accordingly. One-third... READ MORE
Traditional Media Ad Prices Deflate in Q3 In the meantime, ad prices for digital are on the rise.
Highlighting the shift towards digital media, global traditional media ad prices shrunk by 6% in the third quarter of 2020, while online media costs have inflated by just short of 4% in the same period, per a report from ECI Media Management. With COVID-19... READ MORE
Most Americans Are Opposed to Political Ads on Social Media Only about one-quarter of US adult think social platforms should allow all political ads.
As US elections near, the number of political ads seems to increase. And, while the ads may seem inescapable, a survey from the Pew Research Center shows that one place the majority of Americans don’t want to see political advertising is on social... READ MORE
Where Are Marketers Struggling with Lead Conversion? More than two-fifths of marketers are finding that collecting enough data on leads is a challenge to lead conversion.
One-quarter of sales and marketing professionals express some level of dissatisfaction with their lead-to-sales conversion rate. So says a new report [download page] from Ascend2 and Verse, which also found that one of the biggest challenges to successful... READ MORE
Mobile Hovers At Around One-Third of US Retail Digital Commerce E-commerce spending in Q2 grew more slowly than historical rates, but the first couple of months of Q3 showed signs of recovery.
Some 4 in 10 US consumers report that they are buying more items online during the pandemic, with the majority doing so because it allows them to maintain social distancing (59%) and helps them to avoid in-store shopping (58%). This has contributed to a lift... READ MORE
Advertisers Reportedly Spent As Much on Facebook as on Radio and Print Combined in Q2 Instagram also saw a healthy share of ad spend during the quarter.
In the second quarter of 2020, nearly one-quarter (22%) of US ad spend was invested in paid social, with more than half of that spend being put toward advertising on Facebook. Indeed, Facebook’s share of total ad spend for Q2 was equal to that of... READ MORE
One-Third of Marketers Plan to Retain COVID-Induced Changes to Their Media Mix One in 5 marketing professionals surveyed report that their budgets have been cut by more than 25% due to COVID-19.
Consumers are spending less this year as a result of the pandemic. And, also as a consequence, some 6 in 10 marketers have seen their budgets cut since the start of the pandemic, with about one-fifth (39%) reporting cuts of more than 25%. Alongside these... READ MORE
Which Social Platforms Do Users Rely on Most to Follow Brands? Just less than half (45%) of Americans claim that social media is important to them.
Social media has transformed from a place where people simply caught up with old friends, informed everyone what they were having for dinner and shared photos of their children. Now, among many other uses, social also serves as a significant portal for news... READ MORE
Consumer Spending on Halloween Expected to Dip This Year Due to COVID-19 Americans are expected to spend $8.05 billion on Halloween this year.
Even though the country is still struggling with the COVID-19 virus, Americans expect to participate in Halloween activities this year. However, they will be spending less this year than they spent in 2019, according to the latest survey from the NRF. This... READ MORE
Value Drives B2B Content Success, Even As Pandemic Forces Changes More than 8 in 10 B2B marketers with a successful content marketing program say that the value their content provides is a contributing factor.
More than 8 in 10 (85%) B2B content marketers claim their organization’s content marketing has been at least moderately successful over the past year, with one-third saying it has been extremely (5%) or very (26%) successful. The majority of B2B content... READ MORE
Here’s How Much COVID Has Impacted Global Ad Spend Across Channels The forecast for global offline ad spending has shrunk by more than $60 billion since the pandemic.
The negative impact COVID-19 has had on global ad spend is being felt almost across the board, but unsurprisingly it’s offline channels that have been hit the hardest. In a recent report [download page], WARC detailed revisions to its 2020 global ad spend... READ MORE
Most B2B Demand Gen Pros Use Sophisticated Attribution Models Only 1 in 5 have no attribution model at all.
Given that B2B buyer journeys consist of a number of touchpoints, figuring out which ones best drive revenue can be far from straightforward. Fortunately, a plurality (43%) of B2B demand gen marketers say their attribution model involves the use of multiple... READ MORE
Social Media Users’ Confidence in Data Privacy Dictates Ad Engagement 9 in 10 consumers say whether they engage with an ad on social is impacted by whether a platform protects their privacy and data.
The majority of consumers say they prefer relevant ads, even if far fewer report seeing any. Nonetheless, when it comes to engaging with ads on social media, relevance takes a backseat to issues like privacy and deceptive content, per new data from Insider... READ MORE
Which Apps Can’t Americans Live Without? Facebook remains at the top of the list, but Instagram threatens its lead.
Even after being hit with a myriad of controversy ranging from the mishandling of personal data to a recent advertiser boycott, Facebook remains the mobile app that Americans can least do without. However, a new report [download page] from AudienceProject... READ MORE
These Are the Most “Intimate Brands” in the US During COVID-19 Tech giants hold the top 3 spots, but Walmart has seen its score and rank rise rapidly.
Consumer loyalty is often influenced by how a brand responds during a crisis and without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic qualifies as just that. As such, brand agency MBLM has released an updated COVID study, ranking the top “intimate” brands in the US. As... READ MORE
2020’s Top Brands Ranked by Customer Loyalty Amazon retains its rank as the #1 brank for customer loyalty this year.
For the fourth consecutive year, Amazon has been crowned the brand loyalty leader in the US. This is according to Brand Key’s latest annual loyalty study [pdf], which ranked customer engagement and loyalty to 1,121 brands across 109 categories. Rounding out... READ MORE
What Impact Has COVID-19 Had on Digital Marketing Transformation? More than three-quarters of organizations are moving ahead with digital transformation plans in the midst of COVID-19.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized anything to organizations, it’s the importance of digital and the role it plays in current strategies, as well as in the future. This can be seen in a new report [download page] from Altimeter, a Prophet Company, which... READ MORE
Why Do Online Shoppers Try Out Immersive Tech? One of the most common reasons is to be able to view products without visiting the store.
Although consumers have learned that there are many advantages to shopping online, there are some elements missing from the online experience. Enter the growing use of immersive technologies for shopping. A new report [pdf] from Accenture Interactive... READ MORE
Spotify Forecast to Hit Almost 100M US Monthly Users by 2023 Spotify currently has an estimated 78.5 monthly listeners in the US.
When it comes to digital audio platforms in the US, the clear choice is Spotify. With an estimated 78.5 million US monthly listeners in 2020, Spotify has more than 20 million more listeners than its nearest competitor, Pandora. The future looks even brighter... READ MORE
Larger Companies Seem to Be Getting More Out of Their MarTech The majority of companies with $1 billion+ in revenue rate ROI from martech highly.
While companies generally report good ROI from martech platforms, higher-revenue companies are getting more for their money, according to Merkle’s latest Customer Engagement report [download page]. In the survey of 400 marketers at major US and UK B2C... READ MORE
What Do Marketers See As the Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Media and Ad Investment? More than half of marketers expect to put more focus on campaign effectiveness in the future.
More than six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the short-term impact it has had is quite clear. But what about the future? What sort of long-term impact do marketers think the pandemic will have on media and advertising? Here’s what a report [download... READ MORE
2020 Email Deliverability Benchmark Deliverability statistics for 30 individual countries.
[Sponsored by Validity] Now more than ever, as budgets shift to digital channels, marketers must trust in email to communicate with their audiences. But because of poor email practices, one in six emails usually never reach the inbox. How does your email... READ MORE
Consumers’ Content Consumption Soars As A Result of the Pandemic However, few say this level of consumption will be maintained post-COVID-19.
Content consumption has increased across the board since the pandemic, though not all consumers expect these habits to stick post-COVID. So finds a recent DoubleVerify report [download page] on shifts in media and advertising since the global crisis. Echoing... READ MORE
Almost 1 in 4 US Households Forecast to Have Cut the Cord by Year-End An estimated 6.6 million households will cancel their pay-TV subscriptions this year, bringing the aggregate total to more than 31 million.
Even though consumers were thought to have increased their use of pay-TV during the pandemic, it turns out this hasn’t stopped a historic number of subscribers from cutting the cord. New data from eMarketer estimates that, by the time 2020 comes to a close,... READ MORE
Performance Marketing Budgets to Increase as Marketers Chase ROI Six in 10 marketers expect their performance marketing budgets to increase in the next 12 months.
When it comes to paid strategies, performance marketing campaigns appear to be a growing area of interest for marketers, with budgets in this area following suit. Indeed, a new report [download page] from Ascend2 shows that some 42% of the marketers surveyed... READ MORE
Hispanic Americans Represent More Than 1 in 4 Gen Z Consumers Hispanic Americans will soon represent one-fifth of the US population.
In the past 20 years the Hispanic population in the US has grown by 78%, accounting for 56% of the total growth of population across all races and ethnicities during that time-frame. On average, Hispanics tend to be younger than other races or ethnic groups... READ MORE
Positive Perception of the Advertising and PR Industry Rises Slightly, But Remains Low One-third of US adults have a positive view of the advertising and PR industry - matched by the percentage with a negative view.
People’s perception of the advertising and public relations industry has seen a slight lift this year. Indeed, after hitting a low point last year, the latest Gallup survey on industry perception shows that the advertising and public relations industry has... READ MORE
Nearly 8 in 10 US Households Now Use SVOD Services More than half of SVOD service users subscribe to more than one service.
The percentage of US households with a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service now stands at 78%, up from 74% last year and 69% in 2018. In its latest annual survey on the topic, Leichtman Research Group (LRG) also found that more than half of these... READ MORE
Shoppers Spending More Per Grocery Trip Grocery shoppers spent 19% more per trip in August than they did during the same time last year.
Although many shoppers have been driven online to fulfill their essential grocery needs due to the coronavirus, others are still heading to the grocery store. New data [press release] from Catalina shows that US shoppers have been spending more at the... READ MORE
Consumers Watched More Retail & Marketing Videos in Q2 Q2 2020 saw a 114% y-o-y rise in retail and marketing video views.
During the second quarter of this year, consumers around the world watched more retail and marketing videos and spent more time watching them. Indeed, a report [download page] from Brightcove found that in Q2, marketing and retail video views increased 114%... READ MORE
Only 1 in 3 B2B Demand Gen Marketers Believe Event Marketing Budgets Will Return to Normal Three-quarters believe prospects will consume more content, making digital demand gen tactics more important.
Only 1 in 3 B2B marketers and demand generation professionals agree that event marketing budgets will return to normal once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. These figures come from Activate’s latest State of Demand Generation Report [download page], produced... READ MORE
Do Consumers and Marketers Align in Their Advertising Channel Preferences? Consumers show a preference for cinema ads, while marketers opt for online video ads.
When it comes to advertising, consumers and advertisers often have very different goals. While advertisers strive to grab even a fragment of the consumer’s attention in an increasingly noisy landscape, consumers are looking to experience various forms of... READ MORE
So Why Are People Watching More Video, Anyhow? One-third of video users have increased their streaming in order to learn new skills.
Some 8 in 10 video users feel that watching videos on streaming platforms makes them happy. They are also turning to videos to learn and to see new content, according to new data from Google and Talk Shoppe. Among the 2,000 US video users surveyed in May,... READ MORE
W-O-M Still Reigns; Influencers Inspire New Brand Trials More Than Celebrities Word-of-mouth is considered by shoppers to have the biggest influence over their purchase behavior.
One-third (33%) of consumers think celebrities have a minimal impact on their purchase decisions, according to recent data from Bluecore. At a time when online shopping habits have never been more on the minds of marketers, the figures illustrate key... READ MORE
How B2B Demand Generation Has Adapted in 2020 Key data about the state of B2B demand generation post-COVID-19.
Despite the impact of COVID-19, budgets for demand generation are holding up more than B2B marketing as a whole. Fewer than 1 in 5 (18%) B2B marketers say that they expect their budgets for demand generation to decrease, whereas 3 in 10 (31%) say their... READ MORE
How Have Consumers’ Expectations of Rewards Programs Changed Since COVID-19? Fewer consumers appear to be comfortable using their personal data to enhance their rewards experience.
Consumers are willing to modify their buying in order to optimize the benefits of their loyalty programs. But they may be less likely than they were in the not-so-distant past to share certain types of personal information in order to make those loyalty... READ MORE
Retention Now A Bigger Personalization Priority Than Acquisition Nearly 6 in 10 e-commerce pros say their motivation behind website personalization is to increase customer retention.
About three-quarters (74%) of e-commerce leaders say their company has a website personalization strategy in place. During COVID-19, customer retention has become the motivation behind the website personalization strategy for many of these companies. This is... READ MORE
Paid Music Streaming Subscriptions Up Almost 25% Y-O-Y in H1 2020 The total number of US paid music streaming subscriptions grew to exceed 72 million in H1 2020.
The first half of 2020 saw another rise in paid music subscriptions in the US. Recent data [pdf] released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) shows that paid streaming services gained 13.9 million subscriptions over H1 2019 to reach 72.1... READ MORE
7 in 10 US Media Buyers Uncertain of Their 2021 Ad Budgets Ad buyers are as likely to lack certainty about next year's budgets as they are to have clarity about them.
Since early on in the coronavirus pandemic advertisers’ ad dollars have been in flux, with a significant portion of spending being diverted away from traditional media to digital, while other budgets were being cut. For many ad buyers, 2021 still holds... READ MORE
Vinyl Outsells CDs for the First Time Since the ’80s Amid an overall decline in physical music sales, vinyl was a bright spot, with sales climbing by 4% y-o-y.
The pandemic has accelerated the shift from physical to digital entertainment. As further evidence, in the first half of 2020, revenues from the sale of physical music products such as CDs and vinyl decreased by 23% year-over-year to account for only 7% of... READ MORE
Brand Leaders Cite Paid Media’s ROI, But Also Its Resource Intensiveness Meanwhile, brand leaders say their marketing and comms teams are largely aligned.
Some 85% of brand leaders say that their paid media performance is at least somewhat important to them. And, while one-third feel that paid media provides the most return of investment (ROI) compared to owned media and earned media, a plurality (45% share)... READ MORE
Podcast Advertising Benchmarks The average conversion rate for podcast ads across campaigns and industries is 1.13%.
Podcast listenership has enjoyed growth in recent years, inspiring advertisers to consider investing in the channel, and, in turn, increasing the long-term outlook of the podcast market. But how are podcast ads performing? A recent report [download page]... READ MORE
TV Universe Expands Slightly for the 2020-2021 Season The number of Americans in TV-viewing homes is up by 0.2% in 2020.
After a significant increase of 700,000 in 2019, growth in the number of TV homes in the US has been somewhat slower this year — climbing by 400,000 to reach 121 million. So finds Nielsen’s latest TV Universe estimates for the 2020-2021 season. Based on US... READ MORE
Millennial Mobile Game Players Most Likely to Self-Identify as Gamers Puzzle games are most popular, followed by Word and Card games.
About 8 in 10 gamers ages 18 to 24 multitask while playing mobile games at least sometimes, according to a recent report [download page] from AdColony and DISQO. The report explores the key figures behind the modern mobile gamer in terms of their age,... READ MORE
US Online and Traditional Media Advertising Outlook, 2020-2024 MarketingCharts' annual coverage of PwC's media advertising landscape 5-year forecast.
PwC has released its latest annual Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report, a comprehensive study that contains projections for online and offline media advertising markets through 2024. [Editor’s note: If you’re interested in media trends, the 6th... READ MORE
How Does Customer Experience Affect Loyalty Behaviors? A poor experience makes a big difference. But less so for certain industries.
Just 1 in 8 customers would recommend a company after they experienced very poor customer experience according to recent data [download page] from XM institute. Here’s a look at what else the report uncovered on the ROI of customer experience when it comes... READ MORE
US B2B Trade Show Market Not Forecast to Recover For Years The US trade show market is expected to drop to $5.6 billion this year and not recover until at least 2025.
While live events like trade shows have been very effective for B2B marketers in the past, resulting in sustained growth of the market in recent years, 2020 has been an entirely different story. Due to social distancing restrictions brought on by the... READ MOREFeel Like You're Always Playing Catchup?
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