The pandemic has broadened the impact of digital technology on all businesses as people sheltered at home and did their shopping and other business transactions online. While many brick-and-mortar shops closed, many other businesses survived and even flourished by pivoting to an online platform.
As vaccines are being rolled out and restrictions lifted for fully vaccinated people, the habit of online engagement will stay, according to experts. Consumers have become used to the convenience of first checking their options online before deciding and going to a physical business. Many will even continue to do their purchasing online for convenience.
To continue to reach the market, businesses need to stay online, as well. Digital advertising and marketing are basic needs today and in the future for businesses across various industries. Everything, from food and beverage, retail, banking, to insurance marketing strategies, will benefit from a strong online presence and a sustained, aggressive virtual campaign with a targeted audience.
The State of Digital Advertising and Marketing
Oberlo cites 2020 data from WebStrategies Inc. forecasting that 46 percent of the total global advertising expenditure in 2021 will be for online marketing. It also expects online advertising expenditure to be more than double of television advertising expenditure this year.
eMarketer states that the global figure for digital advertising expenditure was $335.60 billion for 2019 and $378.16 for 2020. eMarketer forecasts $455.30 billion for 2021, $524.31 billion for 2022, $585.96 billion for 2023, and $645.80 billion in 2024.
Data from Statista show that digital advertising expenditure in the United States was $132.46 billion in 2019 and rose to $152.25 billion in 2020. Statista forecasts that it will continue to rise to $191.01 billion in 2021, $220.93 billion in 2022, $250.18 billion in 2023, and $278.53 billion in 2024. That represents more than 100 percent growth in five years.
According to Statista, the U.S. figures comprise about 53 percent of global digital advertising expenditure. The survey covered the various formats of digital advertising on laptops, desktops, tablets, mobile phones, and other Internet-connected devices.
The Importance of Mobile Marketing
According to Oberlo, businesses must recognize the value of mobile marketing because DataReportal states that as of January 2021, 66.6 percent of the total global population or 5.22 billion people are mobile phone users. That represents an increase of 1.8 percent or 93 million new mobile phone users from January 2020. Among Internet users with mobile devices, 96.6 percent use smartphones. Consumers spend 80 percent of their digital time on their mobile devices.
In the U.S., 56 percent of the total number of organic search engine visits as of the first quarter of 2020 were on mobile devices as reported by Statista. In 2020, there were 211 million of those mobile phone searches, and in December 2020 alone, 94.48 percent of those were on Google. Digital marketing expenditure on Google search is worth it because data from BrightEdge show that 68 percent of online engagements begin with a search, of which 53 percent are organic while 15 percent are paid.
According to expert observers, more mobile users are shopping, gaming, and streaming video on their phones. Advertisers and marketers are responding with more innovations. Data from Marketing Charts show that 64 percent of marketers intend to spend more on mobile marketing in 2021. Statistics from eMarketer predict that mobile digital marketing and advertising spending in the U.S. will reach $156.38 billion in 2023.
Social Media Marketing
Even during the worst of the pandemic in 2020, when the media industry decreased its overall online advertising expenditure by 9.3 percent and the entertainment industry decreased its overall online advertising expenditure by 6.9 percent, eMarketer highlights that the media industry still put 9.3 percent more of their marketing spending on video ads and the entertainment industry put 13.1 percent more of the marketing spending on the same format.
According to Marketing Charts data, 90 percent of marketers intend to invest in mobile platforms and online video, with most planning to increase their spending in 2021. Seventy percent intend to allocate bigger budgets for online video and 54 percent expect marketing expenditure to increase on YouTube, considered to be the most popular video-sharing platform worldwide.
TikTok is another online video platform that is recently the fastest growing. In 2020, it grew by 75 percent within nine months and now has a global base of 3.78 billion users. In 2021, according to WARC, 44 percent plan to increase their advertising expenditure on TikTok.
Facebook is still extremely popular and has a base of 2.14 billion social media users. Almost all or 98.84 percent of Facebook’s income comes from ads placed on its platform. In the third quarter of 2020, its income from advertisers was $7.8 billion, a 29 percent increase from the same quarter in 2019.
Digital marketers must also look into other social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. They must identify whether their target market congregates on these platforms or not. Rather than investing in all platforms, it is more effective to target a campaign toward the platform where the intended market is. Sustained engagement with the market in that platform will give the brand top-of-mind retention and build a relationship of trust and confidence.
Digital advertising and marketing work for all businesses spanning different industries. It works for large and small companies alike. No business can do without digital advertising and marketing today and in the coming years.