Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – August 2021

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

The overarching spending trend across key digital advertising channels in August was maintaining the status quo. Increases in overall spending ranged from just 1% for Paid Search to 4% for Retail Media and 5% for Paid Social ads. In each channel, roughly one-third of Skai accounts increased budgets compared to July.

Ad prices also did not deviate much from the previous month, with the average cost-per-click (CPC) down 1% for Paid Search and up 3% for Retail Media. The cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for Paid Social ads rose 6% for the month. Here, the share of accounts seeing prices increase at least 10% ranged from 22% for Retail Media to 25% for Paid Search to as high as 30% for Paid Social.

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 – August 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 July to August.

• 34% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in August versus July, compared to 32% who spent -10% or less (+2% differential)
• 6% of accounts spent +50% or more in August versus July, compared to 4% of accounts spending -50% or less (+2% differential)

Paid Search CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in paid search advertising decreased 1% from July to August.

• 25% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in August versus July, compared to 30% who paid -10% or less (-5% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in August versus July, compared to 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+2% differential)

Social Advertising spending

Overall, spending in social advertising increased 5% from July to August.

• 35% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in August versus July, compared to 46% who spent -10% or less (-11% differential)
• 12% of accounts spent +50% or more in August versus July, compared to 12% of accounts spending -50% or less (0% differential)

Social Advertising CPMs

Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising rose 6% from July to August.

• 30% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in August versus July, compared to 34% who paid -10% or less (-4% differential)
• 6% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in August versus July, compared to 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+5% differential)

Retail Media spending

Overall, spending in retail media advertising increased 4% from July to August.

• 40% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in August versus July, compared to 32% who spent -10% or less (+8% differential)
• 10% of accounts spent +50% or more in August versus July, compared to 6% of accounts spending -50% or less (+4% differential)

Retail Media CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising rose 3% from July to August.

• 22% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in August versus July, compared to 30% who paid -10% or less (-8% differential)
• 1% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in August compared to July, versus 0% of accounts paying -50% or less (+1% 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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