The majority of marketing decision-makers are investing more than 10pc of their budgets online, according to a major new survey of online spending
The quarterly State of the Net bulletin from Amas, in association with the Irish Internet Association, shows that Ireland is beginning to follow the US and UK markets, where online advertising and promotional spend is experiencing explosive growth.
A total of 268 marketing managers with responsibility for marketing budgets participated in the survey, the first of its kind in Ireland, and revealed that 56pc of marketing professionals spend more than 10pc of their budget online.
The survey found that email campaigns are the most popular form of online advertising, and value for money and measurement are the top reasons why marketing professionals use the online medium more and more.
Newer forms of online advertising are gaining traction, with 20pc of marketers using blogs and social networks as part of their campaigns.
“Marketing budgets are on the move and digital campaigns are favoured by marketing executives because they are highly cost-effective and accountable,” Aileen O’Toole, managing director of Amas explained.
“The survey shows that online’s gain has been at the expense of traditional media. Almost half (47pc) of the sample said they had moved spend from direct mail, while 44pc said they had switched from press to online.
“With advertising budgets already under pressure from the economic downturn, online’s growth is a double whammy for traditional media companies,” O’Toole said.
By John Kennedy
