Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – January 2022

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

With the holiday season now behind us, spending and pricing increases from that season have begun to recede. Both retail media and paid search spending declined by over 20%, while paid social outlays were down by 12%, which is largely consistent with their smaller overall increase in the fourth quarter.

A majority of advertisers saw ad prices decline from December to January, led by paid social, where 82% of Skai accounts had cost per thousand impressions (CPM) drop by at least 10%. Average cost per click (CPC) was down at least 10% for for nearly two-thirds of retail media advertisers and over half of accounts in paid search. 

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 – January 2022

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 dropped 21% from December to January.

• 38% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in January versus December, compared to 41% who spent -10% or less (-3% differential)
• 13% of accounts spent +50% or more in January versus December, compared to 12% of accounts spending -50% or less (+1% differential)

Paid Search CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in paid search advertising decreased 13% from December to January.

• 21% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in January versus December, compared to 52% who paid -10% or less (-31% differential)
• 4% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in January versus December, compared to 2% of accounts paying -50% or less (+2% differential)

Social Advertising spending

Overall, spending in social advertising dropped 12% from December to January.

• 29% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in January versus December, compared to 57% who spent -10% or less (-28% differential)
• 16% of accounts spent +50% or more in January versus December, compared to 27% of accounts spending -50% or less (-11% differential)

Social Advertising CPMs

Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising decreased 21% from December to January.

• 9% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in January versus December, compared to 82% who paid -10% or less (-73% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in January versus December, compared to 14% of accounts paying -50% or less (-11% differential)

Retail Media spending

Overall, spending in retail media advertising dropped 22% from December to January.

• 30% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in January versus December, compared to 57% who spent -10% or less (-27% differential)
• 12% of accounts spent +50% or more in January versus December, compared to 23% of accounts spending -50% or less (-11% differential)

Retail Media CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising decreased 8% from December to January.

• 12% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in January versus December, compared to 63% who paid -10% or less (-51% differential)
• 2% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in January compared to December, versus 1% 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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