(Promo) Whether it’s pushing an e-mail to a targeted list or luring people to a special-interest Web site, online tactics have never been put to greater use by brands.
Of the 263 marketers polled in Promo’s 2007 interactive trends survey, 49% expect their online spending to grow in 2007. And where is the money going? To e-mail, e-mail newsletters, banner ads and online promo-letters, banner ads and online promotions
“The first question I’m hearing from clients is ‘What’s going to be the online part?’ ” says Dan Mannix, CEO of LeadDog Marketing Group, a New York promotion agency.
Granted, not everyone is increasing their budgets—they will remain flat for 35%. And some firms are unable to compute return on investment.
But there’s no doubt that brands take new media far more seriously than take new media far more seriously than they once did. For example, 65% now develop their online plans as part of an overall promotional marketing strategy.
“We are being brought to the table early on,” notes Jennifer Johnson, head of digital for New York-based OgilvyAction. “I can’t think of a recent project that we weren’t in on at the very beginning. The [interactive] channel is part of the mix.”
In line with that, only 17% develop online plans after setting overall strategy. And even fewer create these plans separately.
For her part, Johnson also sees interactive budgets rising, “but not hugely, maybe 5% to 10%.” She adds: “We’re not part of the inner circle yet. TV still reigns.”
That seems to be supported by stats showing minimal diversion of money from other channels. Of those increasing online budgets, 15% are taking dollars from traditional media like TV and print. That number is less than half of what it was in last year’s survey, but the 2006 study had a different methodology so the results might not be comparable. And 6% are siphoning the money from traditional sales promotion (i.e., coupons/FSIs and offline games). Finally, 13% are spending more on interactive without spending more on interactive without taking money from anywhere.
Their media of choice?
A whopping 73% use e-mail and 61% send out e-mail newsletters. Further down the list, 45% design banner ads, and 37% work on various kinds of online promotions—games, contests, sweeps, Webisodes and mobisodes.
The numbers are slightly different when it comes to spending. E-mail was cited as the top online budget item by roughly 56% of our readers. And e- mail newsletters headed the list for 45%
But the so-called Web 2.0 media may be getting starved. Podcasts were rated as the top budget item by only 3.8% (tied with promotions on shared-video Web sites like YouTube). The lowest-ranking medium? Mobile phone lowest-ranking medium? Mobile phone video at 1.5%.
For more detailed results from the Promo 2007 interactive trends survey, visit http://promomagazine.com/lp/specialreports/follow_money.
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