Digital Marketing Snapshot

Deferred spending was the biggest story in Q3 across the Paid Search and Paid Social channels, with search making a strong rebound from Q2 and social coming back from a July marked by some advertiser boycotts.

Ecommerce advertisers maintained the high level of monthly ad spending that they had established by the end of Q2, while automated features that control tactical campaign decisions at scale continue to gain traction across channels.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Total paid search spending jumped 17% from June to July, as many advertisers considered the first month of the new quarter as a clear demarcation from the pandemic effects of Q2 and reinvested in the channel accordingly.
Total monthly spending across Paid Social ads got back on track in August after two months marked by advertiser pushback on social justice issues. Compared to July, spending increased 24% in August.
Advertisers spent 43% more on the Ecommerce channel in September as they did in April, even as spending levels leveled off somewhat during the Prime Day-less summer.
Looking at unfiltered Skai data, Paid Social spending in the Law & Government category has increased 4X since April, with CPMs more than doubling.
THE SEARCH "SHELF"
Total paid search spending jumped 17% from June to July, as many advertisers considered the first month of the new quarter as a clear demarcation from the pandemic effects of Q2 and reinvested in the channel accordingly.
FACEBOOK BOYCOTT REBOUND
Total monthly spending across Paid Social ads got back on track in August after two months marked by advertiser pushback on social justice issues. Compared to July, spending increased 24% in August.
THE SUMMER OF ECOMMERCE
Advertisers spent 43% more on the Ecommerce channel in September as they did in April, even as spending levels leveled off somewhat during the Prime Day-less summer.
VOTING FOR MORE SOCIAL ADS
Looking at unfiltered Skai data, Paid Social spending in the Law & Government category has increased 4X since April, with CPMs more than doubling.
SPOTLIGHT ON

SHOPPABLE ADS

Spending growth on product-specific ads in the Social and Search channels once again outperformed the rest of the channel in both cases, and last year gives us clues as to how each channel will build on that in Q4.

AUTOMATION

Particularly in the long-term, adoption of publisher and platform features that help marketers execute tactical decisions at scale has grown significantly.
CORE TRENDS