According to European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) research released today, the internet is continuing to prove the medium of choice for advertisers as they seek to maximise ad spend budgets.
The research found that 81% of advertisers claim that their allocated online ad spend has grown in 2008 and predict that it will continue to do so over the next couple of years (+16% in 2009 and +17% in 2010).
Eighty two percent of advertisers who have seen an increase in their online spend admitted it is coming directly from the likes of print media (40%), TV (39%) and increasingly DM (32%) budgets.
This is backed by the fact that three quarters (73%) state that they are increasing their use of online as an advertising medium whilst 31% of advertisers claim their use of TV is decreasing and 40% cite a decrease in the use of newspapers.
The results of the survey – conducted online with senior marketing executives across UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and the pan-Euro sector – also reveal that online is playing an increasingly important role in overall advertising strategies, with 38% of advertisers now regarding online as essential (vs. 17% in 2006).
More than half (55%) of those questioned plan to increase their brand advertising budget over the next couple of years, while 40% of advertisers now view the internet as very important in influencing purchase decisions (up from 30% in 2006), in generating sales (46% vs. 31%) and in increasing customer loyalty (23%).
As regards online advertising formats, according to 80% of respondents, their search spend is predicted to increase in the next two years while 59% will be investing more money into display.
According to the research, advertisers are currently allocating an average of 11% of their online ad spend budgets at a pan-regional rather than country level. On average pan-regional advertisers have also seen a higher year-on-year growth rate in their online advertising spend in 2008 than their local counterparts (24% vs.21%).
The latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe revealed that in 2007 the European online advertising market was worth €11.2 billion, up four billion euros from €7.2 billion in 2006 (see Online Advertising In Europe Grows 40% To €11 billion in 2007).
Investment bank Cowen recently lowered its estimate for US online ad market growth to 16% year on year, from its previous projection of 19% (see US Online Ad Market To Grow 16%).
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