What are CMOs’ Most Important Media Channels?

More data, new technologies, daily digital advancements – these all contribute to more empowered consumers with access to more channels on which to research and purchase. As the world continues to shift online, CMOs are doing the same, prioritizing digital media more so than other traditional channels.

According to a Nielsen CMO report, 82% of CMOs were expected to hike their budgets in the next year for an overall increase of 49%.  The trend is only expected to climb this year as brands spend more on digital.

The top channels CMOs prioritized as being very important or extremely important include:

• Social media – 79%
• Search – 73%
• Online video – 63%
• Email – 59%
• Mobile Video – 56%
• Online Display – 55%

With CMOs prioritizing spend on these channels, how confident are they that they are able to accurately quantify ROI?  Only 26% of respondent reported that they are either very confident or extremely confident.  The rest are not so sure they are hitting the mark.  Almost half (48%) stated they are only somewhat confident and the rest (28%) had very little confident in their ability to accurately measure digital ROI.

With the rising importance of digital channels, CMOs are continuing to spread their spend across both digital and traditional media.  Currently, 19% of CMOs spend 80% or more of their advertising budget on digital channels and on the other end of the scale, 22% spend less than 20% and 30% spend between 20-39% on digital advertising channels.

Traditional Media Channels

While digital channels are gaining ground, traditional channels are by no means forgotten. In particular, more than 51% of respondents ranked linear television as either highly or extremely important. Other traditional channels included print, direct mail, radio and out-of-home.

Traditional and digital media channels were also ranked together for a more complete view. 

Omnichannel Marketing

To reach customers and prospects across all phases of the customer journey, marketers must focus on using all channels in tandem, or at least a mix of channels most suited to the brand’s audience. Consumers may use one channel for inspiration, another channel for research, and yet another channel for purchases.

Here’s a look at some statistics showcasing highlights of different channels.

Social Media Advertising Statistics

• Social networks are the biggest source of inspiration for consumer purchases with 37% of consumers finding purchase inspiration through the channel.
  
• Emarketer estimated that the ad spending on social video in the US increased by 38.1% during 2018, reaching $7.85 billion.
• Social media is the most relevant advertising channel for 50% of Gen Z and 42% of millennials.
• Non-customers are three times more likely than customers to visit retailers from social media ads.
• 50% of consumers said that seeing user-generated content would increase their chances of buying products through a brand’s social media. 49% said that easy payment systems (like Amazon Pay) would increase their chances of buying through social media.
• Posts with links to more information are the most preferred type of content on social media. 30% of consumers said that it’s the content they like to see most from brands on social. 18% preferred graphics and images, while 17% would like to see produced video. (Sprout Social)

Email Marketing Statistics

• 73 percent of millennials prefer communications from businesses to come via email. (HubSpot)
• More than 50 percent of U.S. respondents check their personal email account more than 10 times a day, and it is by far their preferred way to receive updates from brands. (HubSpot)
• Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (HubSpot)

• 59% of respondents say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions. (HubSpot)
• >59% of marketers say email is their biggest source of ROI. (HubSpot)

• Cart abandonment emails are most effective after one hour(SaleCycle)
• 51% marketers agree that email segmentation is the most effective technique for personalization in email marketing. (Ascend2)
• Welcome emails are incredibly effective: on average, 320% more revenue is attributed to them on a per email basis than other promotional emails. (WordStream)
• Consumers who purchase products through email spend 138% more than those that don’t receive email offers. (WordStream)
• Email subscribers are 3x more likely to share content on social media than leads who came through another channel, according to QuickSprout.

Direct Mail Marketing

• Direct mail pulls a higher response rate than any digital direct marketing medium. Its response rate ranges from about five to nine times greater than that of email, paid search, or social media. (ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)

  

   

• Direct mail response rate was 4.9% for prospect lists in 2018. This is significantly higher than in 2017 and the highest since the report started in 2003. (Source: ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)
• In 2018, the direct mail response rate for house lists was an incredible 9%. This is also the highest number for house lists since the report started and is nearly double from the previous year. (Source: ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)
• 76% of consumers trust direct mail when they want to make a purchase decision. In fact, consumers trust traditional advertising channels more than digital channels when making a purchase. (Source: MarketingSherpa)

Online Advertising Statistics

• Native advertising was the fastest-growing advertising segment, with 35 percent growth between 2017 and 2018. (eMarketer)
• Native ads receive 53 percent more views than traditional display ads. (Sharethrough)
• Native advertising increases purchase intent by 18 percent. (Forbes)
• The average Facebook user clicks on eight advertisements per month. (Hootsuite)
• Mobile ad campaigns are five times more effective than online advertisements. (Mobile Marketer)
• Appearing in mobile search ad results can increase brand awareness by 46%. (Wordstream)
• 64% of consumers will click on a Google ad when they are looking to buy items online. (Lyfe Marketing)

Campaign Objectives

A marketer’s media mix ultimately boils down to campaign objectives and what the brand is trying to achieve.  In Nielsen’s research, CMOs were asked to rank the importance of five primary objectives including brand awareness, customer acquisition, loyalty, advocacy and churn.

Customer acquisition was cited by 93% of respondents as either extremely important or very important,  This was followed by brand awareness at 81% and customer loyalty at 76%.

In today’s fast-paced environment in which consumers are in control and have more options than ever, the ultimate deciding factor should be based on meeting consumer expectations wherever they are and whenever they prefer. Delivering relevant and personalized experiences across channels ensures new customer, brand loyalty and steady revenue streams.

Learn how Porch Group Media can help you get to know your customers better and reach them across channels to boost your marketing success. Contact us to get started!