Reality check for mobile and social media

Hong Kong - Despite the hype on mobile and social media, marketers in Asia will focus on corporate websites, email campaigns , search engine optimization and behavioural targeting as the key digital marketing strategies in the coming year, according to results from an annual digital survey.

The fifth annual marketing and advertising industry survey conducted by Asia Digital Marketing Association (ADMA) revealed social network advertising, consumer generated advertising, video sharing, rich media advertising, viral campaigns and corporate or brand blogging are emerging digital strategies that are just beginning to get on marketers' radar.

Digital marketing strategies that are lowest in their priority list are mobile device advertising, widgets and gadgets, podcasting webinars, text message promotions and online games.

David Ketchum (pictured), chairman for the ADMA said, the study gives a reality check between all of the hype about Twitter, mobile applications and other leading-edge techniques.

"But when you look at actual statistics even though budget on digital is increasing, advertisers still primarily use fairly basic online tools," he said.

Despite budgets being slashed in tough times, the survey revealed 58% of marketers expect to spend more in digital this year in direct response to the current global financial crisis with 95% of all respondents allocate budget towards digital marketing.

Small firms with less than 50 employees are more likely to allocate a significantly larger proportion to digital marketing than larger firms.  

When it comes to purchasing online ad campaigns, most respondents prefer to use PPC, CPC or CPM. Larger companies and those with larger marketing budgets are significantly more in favour of PPC or CPC while media owners significantly prefer CPM more than agencies and advertisers.

The report also highlighted the use of corporate blogging with 25% of respondents have plans to launch a blog this year that will see agencies and media owners taking the lead.

"Agencies and media companies are racing ahead of their clients with more interesting and effective use of new trends such as blogging or social media," Ketchum added.

"The survey conclusively shows that digital marketing is now mainstream."

While digital is definitely not the largest compared to traditional media ad spend depending on the countries in Asia Pacific ranging from 3% to 20%, media planners and marketers will certainly not consider digital as a new media channel.

Ketchum said the vast majority of marketers and advertisers are active online and the overall sentiment is that digital is a solid, measurable place to invest in troubled economic times.

Among the reasons for marketers hesitant to invest in digital marketing are lack of experience and understanding of the use and benefits of digital marketing and it is not yet part of the companies' corporate culture.

For those who spend less than 10% of their budget online, 26% were not convinced of the benefits of digital marketing and 24% do not find digital marketing suitable to reach its target audience.  

The survey was conducted online by Aha! Research with more than 300 marketers and advertisers in Asia, in conjunction with the Direct Marketing Association of Singapore, the Vietnam Marketing Association, the Mobile Marketing Association, the Hong Kong Direct Marketing Association and the Hong Kong Institute of Marketing.

Original Article:
http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/11769