Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – May 2021

Spending and Pricing Trends Across Paid Search, Social Advertising, and Retail Media

Historically, the second quarter of the year has been a period of relative calm for online advertisers. After an extremely ahistorical 2020, that calm seems to have returned. Ad spending and ad prices across digital channels were either flat or up slightly, with Retail Media moving the most with an overall spending increase of 9% compared to April, and 45% of Skai accounts spending at least 10% more than in the previous month in the channel.

Retail Media spending was bolstered by a 20% increase in the Beauty & Personal Care category, while Paid Search saw strong month-over-month spending growth in both Travel & Tourism (+33%) and Home & Garden (+14%). These trends appear consistent with a combination of seasonality coupled with the ongoing recovery from the pandemic and were balanced out by spending decreases in Search and Social categories related to food delivery as diners begin to venture out more and more after 15 months away.

How do you measure up? Check out these benchmarks to see if your programs are on par with your industry peers or if you’re ahead or behind the curve.

This is a continuation of our monthly paid media snapshot series. As with any benchmark, your mileage may vary, but we hope this provides a bit more context for you as a marketer as you navigate the ups and downs of your program’s performance.

Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – May 2021

Methodology note. For the purpose of these monthly benchmarks, only Skai accounts with spend above a minimum threshold for the previous three months are included in this analysis.  

Paid Search spending

Overall, spending in paid search increased 1% from April to May.

• 42% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in May versus April, compared to 24% who spent -10% or less (+18% differential)
• 11% of accounts spent +50% or more in May versus April, compared to 4% of accounts spending -50% or less (+7% differential)

Paid Search CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in paid search advertising rose 4% from April to May.

• 38% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in May versus April, compared to 20% who paid -10% or less (+18% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in May versus April, compared to 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+2% differential)

Social advertising spending

Overall, spending in social advertising dropped 3% from April to May.

• 39% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in May versus April, compared to 41% who spent -10% or less (-2% differential)
• 12% of accounts spent +50% or more in May versus April, compared to 11% of accounts spending -50% or less (+1% differential)

Social advertising CPMs

Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising decreased 1% from April to May.

• 39% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in May versus April, compared to 30% who paid -10% or less (+9% differential)
• 4% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in May versus April, compared to 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+3% differential)

Retail Media spending

Overall, spending in retail media advertising increased 9% from April to May.

• 45% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in May versus April, compared to 27% who spent -10% or less (+18% differential)
• 12% of accounts spent +50% or more in May versus April, compared to 4% of accounts spending -50% or less (+8% differential)

Retail Media CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising rose 4% from April to May.

• 36% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in May versus April, compared to 22% who paid -10% or less (+14% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in May compared to April, versus 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+2% differential)

Check out more resources from Skai

Come back next month for the most up to date data. Until then, you can dive into more of our research via our Quarterly Trends Reports hub.

And please visit the Skai blog and Research & Reports page for ongoing insights, analysis, and interviews on all things related to digital advertising.

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