Digital has important benefits over other media, says Freestyle's Alan Cooper. Credit crunch, downturn, slowdown and the dreaded 'recession'- words that have become familiar to marketers over the past few months.
Just as the online industry was reporting record levels of advertising spend - £1.7bn in the first six months of 2008, a 21% year-on-year rise - the IPA was pouring cold water on the overall ad market. Its Bellwether report showed that only 12% of UK companies reported an upward revision of marketing budgets in the third quarter, while 35% reduced ad spend. Even advertising guru Sir Martin Sorrell has said that the current climate will continue well through 2009 and we have all witnessed the disintegration of the banking system in the last few months.
The message is clear. Yes, there is a storm coming. But here at Freestyle Interactive we suggest you strap on your wellies and waterproofs instead of your lifejacket - jumping overboard never did anyone any good - and put your marketing money online to make it work harder than it can in any other media. Digital has a number of important benefits over other media in these dark times, ones that should get the budget signed off by the FD:
- It is more measurable, trackable and ROI accountable than any other medium. You can show the FD that what is put in [in some channels such as search and affiliate] can be directly linked to what comes out in sales.
- In tough times consumers spend more time researching purchases. The major channel for this is now online. If you want to continue selling and promoting, you must be where the consumer is found.
- It can actually make your other efforts work harder. There is great Thinkbox / IAB research on this phenomenon - http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/ConWebDoc.1167
- Rich media advertising allows you to turn your brand marketing into a highly measurable effort, making sure that your 30 second ad in the Corrie break continues life online, creating engagement with users [if done properly] and even tapping into the social space.