With everyone professing the virtues of Search, I’d like to take a different view (as is my nature) and go on record stating that now is a GREAT time for cpm-based Display advertising. Why am I going against the grain on this one? Since you asked, I’ll tell you. But before I make my case, let me state that as an agency we have no bias towards any one type of media. We always recommend paid search before display advertising. But if you are suffering from a contraction in daily searches for your brand or products (as we are seeing across the board since 10/08), you probably need more reach, engagement, leads or sales. So here’s something to think about.
First, this recession has forced advertisers to scale back on all forms of advertising and it’s widely reported that display advertising (banners, rich media) has been hit much harder than search, leaving a lot of unsold inventory.
Second, while Cost Per Action (CPA) deals are still competitive (maybe even more so today given the increasing focus on accountability) there is a lot of unsold inventory that is price on Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM). Consequently, it has created a big opportunity to buy cpm media at much lower rates than in the past. This has also been documented in recent months by many sources. The price of display media is faling faster than the bubble teams in the NCAA.
Third, the drop in demand for display ads allows those who are advertising to have a much larger share of voice, and receive much more attention than in the past. I don’t have any stats to back this up, but it stands to reason. If you are the ONLY bank or car maker advertising, you have a pretty good chance of delivering your message now that there is much less competition and clutter.
Fourth, display media is cheaper and you now get greater visibility with your ads, you should see better performance. It may not translate into immediate leads or sales (remember we’re still in a dark and scary place) but those who are in the market today and tomorrow are more likely to be influenced by your ads. And that is the reason you advertise.
So if you are maximizing ROI from search and need more reach to make your numbers, look at display advertising. P.S. – if you add display on top of search you’ll see a 20-30% improvement in conversion rates from Search. So make sure you account for that when you are doing your display media planning.
Comments…. Questions….? To quote the beloved Kramer (Seinfeld, not Mad Money) “Am I crazy or am I so sane that I just blew your mind?”
