Merkle (www.merkleinc.com),
a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency,
has released its Q1
2019 Digital Marketing Report (DMR). The full report analyzes key
trends in paid search, organic search, display, and social, providing
insights into major players like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Merkle is
hosting a complimentary
webinar on Thursday, April 25 at 2 p.m. ET to further discuss these
findings.
Top takeaways from the report include Facebook spend, excluding
Instagram, dipping into negative territory for the first time in the
history of the DMR, declining by 2% since Q1 2018. Facebook continues to
derive meaningful growth from Instagram, however, which saw a 44%
increase in ad spend year over year for the quarter and now accounts for
19% as much spend as Facebook for advertisers active on both platforms.
Additionally, paid social spend growth continues to outpace traditional
display advertising, growing 24% year over year compared to 12% for
display advertising.
Paid search spending growth slowed for the fifth straight quarter, as
Google spend growth decelerated to 16% year over year and spend across
Bing and Yahoo declined 3% in the same period. Google Shopping was once
again the primary driver of click growth, as spend for the format
increased more than 40% year over year for the second straight quarter.
Part of this expansion can be attributed to the growth of variations of
the ad format, such as Showcase Shopping Ads and Local Inventory Ads.
“Our quarterly Digital Marketing Report continues to showcase important
learnings for marketers,” said Erin Hutchinson, senior vice president of
marketing at Merkle. “The report breaks down valuable data from the key
media platforms and provides valuable lessons from some of the most
impactful updates these platforms saw in Q1. As the marketing landscape
continues to evolve, our team at Merkle is committed to ensuring our
clients have thoughtful analysis and insight into the trends impacting
their business.”
Additional insights from the report include Google’s continued
domination of organic search visit share, particularly on mobile
devices. However, DuckDuckGo has seen the strongest growth, with visits
increasing 54% overall and 78% on mobile devices year over year.
Outside of traditional search, Amazon advertisers saw sales attributed
to both Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands more than double year
over year, as spend grew 19% and 77% for those formats respectively.
Sponsored Products accounted for 85% of all Amazon spend, with over half
of spend coming from placements other than the top of search results.
About Merkle
Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance
marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique,
personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more
than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit
organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their
customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and
analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding
consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its
combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer
relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology
drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 7,000
employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 21
additional offices in the US and 33 offices in Europe and APAC. In 2016,
the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network. For more information,
contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.
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