The year is coming to a close. For many, 2009 has been a tumultuous year with a global recession and credit crunch affecting all areas of business. However, eMarketing is one of the few sectors to weather the storm. Despite the economic crisis, total online marketing spend is expected to rise to $24.5 billion (4.5% growth) by the end of 2009, while spend on traditional media, such as newspapers has radically declined. This stands testament to the measurability and ROI of eMarketing. Along with the growth, we have also seen evolution. 2009 has been the ‘Year of the Business Blog,’ social media advertising has come of age with targeted capabilities, and marketing software is now as critical as accounting software (check out BrandsEye and Idea Bounty for your marketing software solutions). Judging by the 2009 growth figures and the projected figures for the years to come, it looks as though we are in for a wild ride:
From eMarketer: US Online Advertising Spend April 2009
- Total online marketing spend is expected to rise to $24.5 billion (4.5% growth) by the end of 2009.
- After this year’s incremental $1.1 billion gain, eMarketer projects online ad spending will continue to reach new heights each year through 2013.
- The Internet’s share of total media ad spending is rising by at least 1 percentage point every year.
- Going forward, eMarketer estimates a degree of online ad spending recovery in 2010, as the economic crisis starts to ease up with a 9.4% increase. This will likely be due to two main elements: a gain in search spending, as consumers open up their wallets and click more on commercially focused search ads; and more brand marketers seeing online video advertising as a mainstream method for enhancing their overall campaigns.
- Online holiday season sales will reach $30 billion (excluding travel) in 2009, up 5.4% over 2008. Although this is tepid growth compared to the double-digit rates seen for most of this decade, it is a strong improvement over last year’s 5.7% decline and signals a brighter outlook.
- The US consumer electronics industry is ready to start growing again in 2010. Following an estimated 7.7% decline in revenues between 2008 and 2009, to $165 billion, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) forecasts a slight uptick (up 0.6%) in 2010, to $166 billion in revenues.
So clearly there has been growth in the industry, but it is important to determine where the growth is and what tactics in online marketing are being employed:
From Techcrunchies.com: Popular online marketing strategies for 2009 (October 2009)
Search engine marketing and email marketing are two evergreen online marketing tactics. Here are the most popular online marketing tactics ranked by the percentage of respondents who have used them through 2009 in the European market:
- Search : 64%
- Email : 46%
- Display : 41%
- Video advertising : 35%
- Affiliates : 26%
- Behavioral targeting : 25%
- Ad networks : 25%
- Demographic targeting : 15%
- Direct response : 15%
- Sponsorship : 13%
- Classified advertising : 8%
Finally, let’s take a look at the future. Here are research group Forrester’s predictions on the future of online marketing growth in its relative disciplines:
From Forrester.com: Interactive Marketing Spend (May 2009)
Categories that are expected to grow the most are:
Search Marketing : $31.6 Billion (15% annual growth)
Display Advertising: $16.9 Billion (17% annual growth)
Social Media Marketing: $3.1 Billion (34% annual growth)
Email Marketing: $2.1 Billion (11% annual growth)
Mobile Marketing: $1.3 Billion (27% annual growth)
Clearly eMarketing is destined for greatness. With exponential growth, even under the most dire of circumstances, online marketing has continued to show resilience and ROI. 2009 has shown growth, but the research above indicates that the future is even brighter. So what are you waiting for? Start planning your eMarketing strategy today!
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Muti
Some excellent points, I see you are also a follower of the great team at eMarketer.com.
I keep quoting the figure that they published that showed Internet advertising exceeding TV spend as a proportion of Marketing budgets for the 1st half of 2009.
Really exciting times to be in this industry.
Posted by TradeME on 2009/12/01