Paid Marketing Statistics to Help You Plan for 2018

Are you prepared for the digital marketing industry growth this coming year has in store? Have you planned and laid out your 2018 strategy? Better question: Have you outlined your paid marketing strategy for 2018?

Paid Marketing Statistics 2018 Strategies Need

Paid marketing is something everyone, from the smallest business to the largest, needs. You can utilize one of the many social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and send out sponsored posts, a search engine like Google and use Google AdWords, their paid advertising program, to get in front of your audience, or the myriad of other paid marketing options at your disposal.

As you plan, make sure to read up on statistics that are sure to guide where you invest your money. As a helper, from mobile SEO to influencer marketing, here are some paid marketing statistics to help you plan for 2018.

Social Media

 

Whatever your industry, your audience will undoubtedly be found on social media. Ask any social media marketing agency, and they’ll say that whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram, social media is where they are and where you need to connect with them. As such, he are some things you should know:

• There were 2.80 billion global social media users in 2017, equaling 37% penetration.
• There were 2.56 billion global mobile social media users in 2017, equaling 34% penetration.
• When asked to select their most important platform, 55% of marketers chose Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 18%. 67% of marketers also plan on increasing their Facebook marketing activities.
• 86% of social marketers regularly use Facebook ads, while only 18% use Twitter ads.
• Facebook reported advertising revenue of $9.16 billion in the second quarter of 2017, a 47% increase over the same quarter last year.

Mobile

Mobile SEO is of utmost importance nowadays. Like social, if you don’t have a mobile presence, you don’t stand a chance, especially if your competition does and ends up taking the lion’s share of your business. So, why do you need a mobile presence? Because:

• Mobile will account for 72% of US digital ad spend by 2019.
• Google drives 95% of all US paid search ad clicks on mobile.
• In 2017, mobile devices accounted for 61.9% of Google’s paid-search clicks – up from 53% in 2016.
• Mobile now makes up around 87% of the Facebook's overall ad revenue, up from 84% in second-quarter 2016.

Local

Local and mobile SEO go hand-in-hand because most people who own a smartphone use it to scour the web for nearby locations to eat, watch movie, or simply hang out. This section is especially important if you own a brick and mortar business, so pay close attention:

• 75% of people who find local, helpful information in search results are more likely to visit the physical stores.
• Location targeted mobile ad spend will grow from $12.4 billion in 2016 to $32.4 billion in 2021.

Video

Something else a digital marketing agency will tell you is that video — especially live video — is exploding. In other words, grab a camera (or smartphone) and start recording!

• 60% of marketers use video in their marketing and 73% plan on increasing their use of video.
• 50% of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope, and 50% want to learn more about live video.
• 4X as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it.

Influencer

Influencer marketing is something that few brand pursue, but those that do see great rewards. Here’s why:

• 70% of teenage YouTube subscribers say they relate to YouTube influencers more than traditional celebrities.
• Advertisers that implemented Influencer Marketing in 2016 received $11.69 in Earned Media Value (EMV) on average for every $1.00 they spent.

General Statistics

What better way to wrap up our 2018 prep than with a batch of general digital marketing growth statistics? Enjoy!

• The top five paid advertising methods used by B2B marketers are SEM (66%), print or other offline promotion (57%), traditional online banner ads (55%), promoted posts (52%), and social ads (51%).
• The effectiveness for the top five paid advertising methods used by B2B marketers are SEM (55%), promotional posts (48%), social ads (45%), print or other offline promotion (31%), and traditional online banner ads (29%).
• The top 3 ranking ads earn 41% of clicks.
• When consumers are ready to purchase, 65% of them will click on a paid ad.
• Consumers visiting a site through a paid ad are 50% more likely to buy than an organic visitor.

Final Thoughts

Don’t let your competition get the upper hand; call up your go-to digital marketing agency and start planning for the new year! If you’re unsure what to focus on, here are some of the areas you want to pay special attention to:

• Social media is where your audience is
• Mobile SEO is extremely important in the mobile-first world we live in
• Local SEO is equally important, especially if you have a physical location
• Actually, pay attention to all areas of SEO
• Video is hot and you need to start recording
• Influencers are the people your audience listens to