Spending and Pricing Trends Across Paid Search, Social Advertising, and Retail Media
The holiday season began in earnest in November across digital channels. One out of five paid search advertisers increased their spending by 50% or more compared to October. Not to be outdone, one in three retail media advertisers upped budgets by at least half. Paid social spending was more mixed, with 36% of accounts decreasing monthly spending, compared to 46% who spent more.
Paid social ad prices spiked by 22% in November, with nearly three-quarters of accounts seeing their CPM rise by at least 10%. For retail media and paid search, the price of a click increased by at least 10% for about half of advertisers.
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 – November 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 37% from October to November.
- 48% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in November versus October, compared to 26% who spent -10% or less (+22% differential)
- 20% of accounts spent +50% or more in November versus October, compared to 5% of accounts spending -50% or less (+15% differential)
Paid Search CPCs
Overall, the average cost of a click in paid search advertising rose 12% from October to November.
- 46% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in November versus October, compared to 19% who paid -10% or less (+27% differential)
- 5% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in November versus October, compared to 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+4% differential)
Social Advertising spending
Overall, spending in social advertising increased 16% from October to November.
- 46% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in November versus October, compared to 36% who spent -10% or less (+10% differential)
- 21% of accounts spent +50% or more in November versus October, compared to 10% of accounts spending -50% or less (+11% differential)
Social Advertising CPMs
Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising rose 22% from October to November.
- 72% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in November versus October, compared to 12% who paid -10% or less (+60% differential)
- 16% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in November versus October, compared to 2% of accounts paying -50% or less (+14% differential)
Retail Media spending
Overall, spending in retail media advertising increased 30% from October to November.
- 62% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in November versus October, compared to 21% who spent -10% or less (+41% differential)
- 33% of accounts spent +50% or more in November versus October, compared to 5% of accounts spending -50% or less (+28% differential)
Retail Media CPCs
Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising rose 7% from October to November.
- 52% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in November versus October, compared to 13% who paid -10% or less (+39% differential)
- 7% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in November compared to October, versus 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+6% 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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