Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

From the beginning, marketers have used the Internet for direct response advertising. But will this format deliver returns on branding campaigns? Many marketers plan to shift some of their online budgets to branding this year but they’d like to see improved metrics to measure their ROI on this effort.

Nonprofit organizations can be forgiven if they don’t make marketing a top priority. Many of these entities are focused on delivering goods and services to their constituents and profit isn’t part of the game plan. But in a challenging economic climate, nonprofits might find themselves competing for donations and clients. Developing and executing a good marketing strategy could lead to improved operations for these enterprises.

Consumers are now carrying around smartphones, tablets and laptops. Marketers may be wondering about the best way to optimize their ads on mobile devices to reach their target audiences. New research shows that consumers are turning to these devices for different purposes and as a result, marketers may need to adjust their ad strategy.

If consumers are going to continue turning to their mobile devices for information and entertainment, marketers will find a way to be there as well. eMarketer analysts regularly study the emerging mobile market. While these analysts see the growth rate leveling off for ad-supported mobile content revenue models, they also predict that the ad dollar volume will rise impressively through 2015.

Regulation of the distribution of content via the Internet as well as targeted online advertising has been making headlines lately. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are considering legislation to stop online piracy but their efforts were met with highly visible protests by key industry players like Wikipedia last week. Similarly, bills circulating in Congress that propose to regulate targeted advertising are also facing strong headwinds.

Marketers continue to realize strong results from their paid search investments. In 2011, global spending in this marketing channel increased 21%. And for 2012, analysts are predicting an equally strong year as marketers, especially in key industries, compete for consumer attention online.