Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – March 2022

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

March ushered in increased ad spending for most Skai advertisers. Overall spending in retail media and paid search increased by 13% and 7% over February, respectively. Nearly half of paid social advertisers increased budgets by at least 10%, and 22% outspent last month by at least 50%, but it wasn’t enough to move the needle on total spending in the channel, which dropped by 3%.

Ad prices were mostly stable from month to month, with the price of a click dropping just 1% in paid search and 3% in retail media. The cost of one thousand impressions in paid social was 2% less than last month. Between 35% and 45% of advertisers saw ad prices stay mostly unchanged, depending on the channel.

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 – March 2022

Methodology: For this analysis, only Skai accounts with spend above a minimum threshold for the previous three months are included in these monthly benchmarks. Please note that the selection criteria used here are different from the Skai Quarterly Trends Report, which can sometimes lead to different results from the two analyses.

Paid Search spending

Overall, spending in paid search increased 7% from February to March.

• 53% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in March versus February, compared to 20% who spent -10% or less (+33% differential)
• 12% of accounts spent +50% or more in March versus February, compared to 4% of accounts spending -50% or less (+8% differential)

Paid Search CPCs

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

• 33% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in March versus February, compared to 25% who paid -10% or less (+8% differential)
• 4% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in March versus February, compared to 2% of accounts paying -50% or less (+2% differential)

Social Advertising spending

Overall, spending in social advertising dropped 3% from February to March.

• 47% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in March versus February, compared to 35% who spent -10% or less (+12% differential)
• 22% of accounts spent +50% or more in March versus February, compared to 8% of accounts spending -50% or less (+14% differential)

Social Advertising CPMs

Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising decreased 2% from February to March.

• 43% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in March versus February, compared to 22% who paid -10% or less (+21% differential)
• 9% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in March versus February, compared to 3% of accounts paying -50% or less (+6% differential)

Retail Media spending

Overall, spending in retail media advertising increased 13% from February to March.

• 58% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in March versus February, compared to 20% who spent -10% or less (+38% differential)
• 18% of accounts spent +50% or more in March versus February, compared to 3% of accounts spending -50% or less (+15% differential)

Retail Media CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising decreased 3% from February to March.

• 32% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in March versus February, compared to 26% who paid -10% or less (+6% differential)
• 2% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in March compared to February, versus zero 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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