Contrary to prevailing doom-and-gloom predictions for the advertising industry, a recent survey by the Association of National Advertisers says 68% of advertisers will either increase spending or retain current levels during the next 12 months. The survey results also highlight the trend toward social networks and other Web-based marketing activities, adding weight to predictions of continuous growth in uses of images online.
The ANA is the only trade organization that unites client-side marketing, advertising and creative executives. Respondents to this survey included 1,200 attendees of the organization’s annual “Masters of Marketing” conference in October.
A third of the respondents (33%) said they planned to reduce spending in response to the recent financial market crisis. However, 27% said they would spend more, and another 33% said they would retain spending levels, while reallocating the marketing mix. The remaining 8% said they would keep the status quo.
Many marketers view brand-building activities as the path to growth amid economic uncertainty. Over half of the ANA survey respondents (56%) think brand-building is an investment, and an additional 21% think it is an unaccountable but necessary expense.
According to 17% of respondents, the traditional 30-second television commercial remains popular among branding tactics that offer growth opportunities. However, newer media channels are increasing outpacing traditional marketing methods.
The top brand-building method, said 28% of ANA marketers, is integrating social media into the marketing mix. Grassroots and viral public-relations activities—such as those targeting bloggers and users of social networks—are second on the list, with 19% of respondents viewing them as a growth opportunity. Internet advertising is the top brand-building method for 16% of survey respondents.
In contrast, newspaper and magazine ads are favored by only 7%, as is direct marketing. Radio is popular with only 5% of ANA marketers.
Close to half of the survey respondents do not identify a specific social-media Web site as a growth-driving vehicle: 32% do not have any preference and 12% like all such Web sites. Of the Web sites mentioned, YouTube had the largest following (20% of ANA survey respondents), followed by Facebook (18%) and Linkedin (10%). Despite their popularity, MySpace and Twitter scored relatively low with advertisers, at 6% and 3%, respectively.