Which Digital Channels Do Marketers Around the World Feel Are Most Effective?

May 24, 2023

It’s not just the US. Marketers around the world are shifting ad budgets to connected TV (CTV) as they chase audiences, details Nielsen in its latest annual marketing report [download page]. However marketers don’t yet see CTV ad spending as being as effective as some other digital channels.

As part of its research, Nielsen asked marketers their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of digital spending across various channels. Leading the pack was social media, which 62% of respondents deem to be “extremely” (28%) or “very” (35%) effective, in line with last year’s results. Online and mobile video follows, with 58% feeling that this channel is at least very effective, just ahead of search (57%) and online and mobile display (57%). Email is the only other channel that at least half (50%) of respondents feel is extremely or very effective, just ahead of OTT-TV/Connected-TV (49%).

Interestingly, while the podcast advertising market is burgeoning in the US, marketers around the world aren’t quite as convinced of this channel’s effectiveness, with 45% rating it extremely or very effective, roughly on par with streaming audio (44%).

To some extent these results align with confidence in ROI measurement. Although historically social media has been considered a difficult channel for revenue attribution, this study finds a leading 61% of marketers “extremely” (29%) or “very” (32%) confident in their ability to measure social media ROI. Close behind are search (59%), online and mobile display (57%) and online and mobile video (56%), while the least confidence is placed in podcast ROI measurement (49%).

Other Survey Highlights:

  • Almost two-thirds (64%) of marketers expect their annual budgets to grow this year in spite of 69% admitting that economic conditions have had an extreme or significant impact on their planning.
  • Slightly more than half (52%) are solely focused on reach/frequency as opposed to both reach/frequency and ROI (48%) when it comes to their cross-media measurement approach.
  • Six in 10 marketers believe it’s important to understand cross-platform reach in measuring whether their campaigns reach their intended audiences.
  • Only about one-quarter (23%) of marketers strongly agree that they have the quality audience data necessary to get the most out of their media budgets.
  • Some 62% of marketers globally rely on multiple measurement solutions to arrive at cross-media measurement.
  • A majority (56%) plan to increase their investments in marketing technology this year, although about 1 in 4 (24%) plan to cut their spending.
  • Customer acquisition is the most important marketing objective this year, taking over from brand awareness, which was most important last year.

About the Data: The results are based on a December 2022 survey of 1,054 global marketing professionals working with annual marketing budgets of at least $1 million across the Auto, Financial Services, FMCG, Technology, Health Care, Pharmaceuticals, Travel, Tourism, and Retail Industries.

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