Global year-over-year paid search and Facebook social ad budgets increased 19% and 81% respectively with revenue growth outpacing spend
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San Francisco (October 15, 2014) – Kenshoo (www.Kenshoo.com), the global leader in predictive marketing software, today released a new infographic, Skai Search and Social Snapshot: Q3 2014, illustrating continued investment and growth in paid search and social advertising. Paid search generated 19% year-over-year (YoY) spend growth, 22% revenue growth, and an all-time high click-through rate as marketers continue to rely on this channel to drive consistent returns; social ad spend on Facebook continued its rapid growth (81% YoY) as new ad types, structural changes, and audience targeting capabilities helped drive up click-through rates (148% YoY) and revenue (162% YoY).
Among the key findings in the research:
- Search ad spend increased 19% YoY and 3% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ)
- Search click-through rate increased 23% YoY driving an 11% increase in clicks
- Social ad spend on Facebook increased 81% YoY and 13% QoQ
- Social click-through rate on Facebook skyrocketed 148% YoY and 86% QoQ
“As evidenced by the continued increases in spend and performance, marketers increasingly see the value in leveraging paid search and social to create powerful complementary campaigns,” said Aaron Goldman, chief marketing officer of Skai. “Marketers running their campaigns through Skai benefited greatly with significant gains in click-through rate and revenue compared to this time last year.”
Supplementing the global data analysis, Skai published infographics detailing regional insights for paid search in the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) regions, with unique data for select countries in each region. Among the findings:
- In the U.S., mobile devices accounted for 32% of search spend and 36% of clicks
- In the U.K., mobile devices accounted for 38% of search spend and 39% of clicks
- In Australia, mobile devices accounted for 37% of search spend and 44% of clicks
Earlier this year, Skai and DataPop unveiled their inaugural Search and Social Commerce Index showing retailers are missing opportunities to better brand and merchandise via social commerce, with only 1.7% of products posted on social commerce properties.
“Paid search continues to deliver results as a mature and trusted channel, and utilizing it as a source of intent data to inform social advertising has emerged as a proven best practice for campaign optimization. Similarly, social advertising has shown a positive impact on paid search when utilized in tandem and we’re continuing to invest heavily in social on its own merits as a strong performance marketing channel,” said Price Glomski, executive vice president, product for PMG. “The Skai platform simplifies cross-channel campaign management and optimization, helping ensure we get the best possible return on our marketing investments.”
Skai’s innovations and industry-leading technology solutions have garnered it significant recognition. Skai has been named a repeat winner in the Facebook Innovation Competition for the online sales category for Intent-Driven Audiences and Demand-Driven Campaigns, the sole leader in The Forrester Wave™: Social Advertising Platforms, Q4 2013, the sole leader in The Forrester Wave, Bid Management Platforms, Q4 2012, the winner for Best Use of Social Media in the US Search Awards, the winner for Best PPC Management Software in the European Search Awards, and the #1 Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing Supplier to the Internet Retailer Top 1000.
Visit Kenshoo.com/Search-Social-Snapshot to download Skai Search and Social Snapshot: Q3 2014 or Skai.com/SearchGlobalTrends to download the regional infographics.
Methodology
Search and social results are based on five quarters of performance data from over 6,000 Skai advertiser and agency profiles across 17 vertical industries and 51 countries, spanning the Google, Bing, Baidu, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Japan, and Facebook ad networks. Only accounts with five consecutive quarters of stable data from July 2013 through September 2014 were included in the analysis. The resulting sample includes more than 400 billion impressions, 5.5 billion clicks and $3.5 billion (USD) in advertiser spend.
About Skai
Skai is the global leader in predictive marketing software. Brands, agencies and developers use Skai Search, Skai Social, Skai Apps, Skai Local, Skai SmartPath, Skai Halogen, and Skai Anywhere to direct more than $200 billion in annualized client sales revenue through the platform. Skai is the only Facebook strategic Preferred Marketing Developer with native API solutions for ads across Facebook, FBX, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Yahoo Japan, Bing, Baidu and CityGrid. Skai powers digital marketing campaigns in more than 190 countries for nearly half of the Fortune 50 and all 10 top global ad agency networks. Skai clients include CareerBuilder, Expedia, Facebook, KAYAK, Havas Media, IREP, John Lewis, Resolution Media, Sears, Starcom MediaVest Group, Tesco, Travelocity, Walgreens, and Zappos. Skai has 24 international locations and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Arts Alliance, Tenaya Capital, and Bain Capital Ventures. Please visit www.Kenshoo.com for more information.
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