Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – October 2021

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

Spending and pricing were mixed from September to October across digital channels, and even within channels. More social accounts cut spending month-over-month than increased spending, but overall, spending rose by 6%, as nearly half of accounts that boosted social budgets did so by at least 50%. For retail media and search, the opposite was true, as a greater share of advertisers increased monthly spend, but total investment for each channel was flat, dropping by 1%.

The biggest story for ad prices across channels was a 10% decrease in average cost-per-click, as lower-priced shopping campaigns started to ramp up into the holiday season, bringing down the overall average. Overall, clicks cost 4% less for retail media advertisers in October, while social advertisers paid 4% more for impressions.

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 – October 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 dropped 1% from September to October.

• 36% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in October versus September, compared to 33% who spent -10% or less (+3% differential)
• 9% of accounts spent +50% or more in October versus September, compared to 6% of accounts spending -50% or less (+3% differential)

Paid Search CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in paid search advertising decreased 10% from September to October.

• 26% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in October versus September, compared to 31% who paid -10% or less (-5% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in October versus September, compared to 1% of accounts paying -50% or less (+2% differential)

Social Advertising spending

Overall, spending in social advertising increased 6% from September to October.

• 35% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in October versus September, compared to 41% who spent -10% or less (-6% differential)
• 16% of accounts spent +50% or more in October versus September, compared to 7% of accounts spending -50% or less (+9% differential)

Social Advertising CPMs

Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising rose 4% from September to October.

• 31% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in October versus September, compared to 30% who paid -10% or less (+1% differential)
• 6% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in October versus September, compared to 2% of accounts paying -50% or less (+4% differential)

Retail Media spending

Overall, spending in retail media advertising dropped 1% from September to October.

• 43% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in October versus September, compared to 34% who spent -10% or less (+9% differential)
• 13% of accounts spent +50% or more in October versus September, compared to 6% of accounts spending -50% or less (+7% differential)

Retail Media CPCs

Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising decreased 4% from September to October.

• 31% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in October versus September, compared to 24% who paid -10% or less (+7% differential)
• 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in October compared to September, versus 0% of accounts paying -50% or less (+3% 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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