Chris "Coz" Costello
Senior Director of Marketing Research @ Skai
Spending and Pricing Trends Across Paid Search, Social Advertising, and Retail Media
In September, advertisers increased and decreased monthly spending in roughly equal proportions across all key digital channels, resulting in very little change in aggregate. Paid Social spending was up 4%, Paid Search rose 3% and Retail Media spending was flat compared to August.
Almost half (49%) of Paid Social accounts registered an increase in CPM of at least 10% versus the previous month, which may explain the relatively stronger growth in that channel. By comparison, the price of a click increased by at least 10% for 31% of Paid Search accounts, and 29% of Retail Media accounts.
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 – September 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 3% from August to September.
- 31% of paid search accounts spent +10% or more in September versus August, compared to 35% who spent -10% or less (-4% differential)
- 7% of accounts spent +50% or more in September versus August, compared to 5% of accounts spending -50% or less (+2% differential)
Paid Search CPCs
Overall, the average cost of a click in paid search advertising did not change from August to September.
- 31% of paid search accounts paid +10% or more per click in September versus August, compared to 21% who paid -10% or less (+10% differential)
- 4% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in September versus August, compared to no accounts paying -50% or less (+4% differential)
Social Advertising spending
Overall, spending in social advertising increased 4% from August to September.
- 41% of paid social accounts spent +10% or more in September versus August, compared to 41% who spent -10% or less (0% differential)
- 15% of accounts spent +50% or more in September versus August, compared to 12% of accounts spending -50% or less (+3% differential)
Social Advertising CPMs
Overall, the average cost of a thousand impressions in social advertising rose 4% from August to September.
- 49% of paid social accounts paid +10% or more per thousand impressions in September versus August, compared to 22% who paid -10% or less (+27% differential)
- 6% of accounts paid +50% or more per thousand impressions in September versus August, compared to 3% of accounts paying -50% or less (+3% differential)
Retail Media spending
Overall, spending in retail media advertising did not change from August to September.
- 36% of retail media advertising accounts spent +10% or more in September versus August, compared to 40% who spent -10% or less (-4% differential)
- 11% of accounts spent +50% or more in September versus August, compared to 5% of accounts spending -50% or less (+6% differential)
Retail Media CPCs
Overall, the average cost of a click in retail media advertising rose 3% from August to September.
- 29% of retail media advertising accounts paid +10% or more per click in September versus August, compared to 19% who paid -10% or less (+10% differential)
- 3% of accounts paid +50% or more per click in September compared to August, versus no 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.
