29 Jan If Google & Facebook take 66% of your digital advertising budget, where will you spend the rest?
That’s right, just 2 media conglomerates will take two thirds of your digital spend in 2018. According to a recent global report commissioned by Salesforce, the Google product suite including YouTube and the Facebook suite including Instagram, will between them clean up global digital ad spend for at least the next 3-5 years.
The two media giant’s appeal lies in their immense data strength and the growing popularity of video content. Having survived “crisis” after “crisis” over recent years and with Government sanctions the only feasible barrier to further growth, I doubt they will be too worried over in Palo Alto.
The operational appeal for the marketer (and moreso their media agencies) is also evident. Why burn through precious resource hours reviewing hundreds of independent digital media options when you can hit your scale, engagement & efficiency objectives with two phone calls? Call it lazy or call it efficient, it doesn’t matter, because it is happening and the numbers don’t lie.
What should you spend your other 33% on?
You could burn some of those resource hours on evaluating other publisher’s proposals and do some more digital advertising. But almost always it is going to be less efficient, less targeted or less measured than the two Goliaths.
We advocate spending it more wisely and invest in building a valued experience for all those prospective customers that Google & Facebook’s algorithms have sent your way. The worst that could possibly happen is that the traffic they drive to your site don’t convert into brand advocates or buyers.
- So spend that last third of budget on:
- Testing & learning of content, messages and behaviours
- Using data to supply tailored recommendations
- Creating content that inspires, educates or entertains
- Building up your subscriber & knowledge base
- Experimenting with new owned digital platforms
Eventually you will be in a position whereby the size and influence of your own digital audience rivals that of traditional media owners. Then your business will be less reliant on these two media conglomerates for new customers.
You need to ensure that your digital marketing investment works for your business not just your agency.