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2013 Update: Assessing Local Digital Sales Forces
Having digital-only sales rep on staff lifts attitudes, increases understanding of digital products and increases digital revenues for traditional media companies. But competition is stiff to hire digital reps: Pureplay companies are offering 50% more base pay than traditional media companies. That’s the conclusion of our latest survey of 220 sales executives at radio, TV, newspaper, yellow pages and pureplay companies. Hiring of digital-only reps is back on the upswing, with 62% of media companies reporting that they have at least one on staff – up from 48% in 2011.
Total votes: 0Local Online Media: 2012 Revenue Survey
Annual Analysis: Benchmarking Local Online Media
Who's enjoying the biggest share of the $24 billion spent online by local businesses this year? This 50-page annual report includes 37 charts and graphs chronicling what's happening in local media's quest to conquer the digital frontier. It includes details not only revenues but also profitability for more than 6,000 Internet pureplay companies and traditional media digital ventures.
2013 Local Promotions Forecast
Wondering why so many companies are rushing to sell marketing services to SMBs? It’s because local advertisers have fallen deeply in love with promotions and “owned media.” Our latest report, “2013 Local Promotions Forecast,” details how advertisers are carving dollars from other budgets to invest in quick-reward marketing programs like discounts, coupons, contests, and loyalty programs. This year, local businesses are likely to spend a whopping 81% more on local promotions than they will on classic advertising – something that’s never happened before.
What SMBs Spend on Digital Marketing Services
Banner ads and search engine advertising aren’t enough anymore. Small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) are snapping up a smorgasboard of services, from basic website hosting to SEO, social media and reputation management. This 17-page report takes a deep dive into the phenomenon of the Internet’s transformation from an advertising medium to an advertising utility.
Borrell Budgeting Advice September 2012
In this memo to subscribers and clients, Gordon Borrell outlines our local online advertising is forecast for 2013 and lists the fastest-growing (and slowest) in digital sales so far this year. The memo details YTD digital advertising growth rates for 43 local media companies, as well as our forecast for online ad spending in 2013 by formats (video, banners, email, etc.). It also offers detail on our new Digital Marketing Regions (DMRs), with benchmarks based on the results of more than 1,600 companies to help clients determine their market potential. Two appendices and an Excel download include the full list of DMRs and the counties included in each of the 513 regions, plus the ad-spending levels.
2012 Real Estate Advertising Outlook: The Long Road Home
Real Estate advertising will be a $23.7 billion category this year, down 16% from 2011. While virtually all media are suffering, expenditures on online media continue to grow, rising 15%. This year, 55% of all real estate advertising, or $13 billion, will be spent on online media. This 33-page report includes 24 charts and tables and is our annual outlook on the industry.
Online Co-Op Advertising
Co-op advertising has finally filtered into the digital media space to the tune of $1.7 billion in available dollars. Brand managers are offering programs for local retailers, subsidizing everything from banner ads to website development that help promote the brand. If you’re wondering how to tap into that lucrative stream or what small and medium businesses (SMBs) are doing with digital co-op, this is the report to read.
2012 Automotive Advertising Outlook: A Rosy Future (for Some Media)
In our annual outlook, we estimate automotive advertising to hit $31 billion this year, about 14 percent of an increase over 2011. The biggest gainer? You guessed it, digital media. In fact, digital media will account for almost 90 percent of all automotive advertising growth this year as dealers and manufacturers drive more spending toward streaming video commercials, targeted social media ads and mobile. This 37-page report is our annual review of trends in both new and used car sales and the latest fluctuations in spending by manufacturers, dealers, dealer groups and private-party sellers.
Benchmarking Local Online Media: 2011 Revenue Survey
Our 10th annual report documents offers benchmarking detail spanning more than 5,700 local media companies in the U.S. and Canada. Are yellow pages companies making the transition? How are Angie’s List, Groupon, Yelp and Craigslist and independent hyperlocal sites doing in the local online pureplay space? What should you be making in digital revenues if you’re a newspaper, cable system, TV station or radio station? Our 43-page report has it all – including two appendices listing 2011 and 2012 online ad spending for 210 markets.
Total votes: 2Political Advertising: The Flood of 2012
This year will be the most expensive campaign year ever, at a whopping $9.8 billion, 40% higher than the last presidential campaign year. While other estimates are much lower, they fail to take into account , but about 13,000 state and local contests that will bring a bonanza of ad revenue for local media companies. Tallying the money spent on online media, direct mail, outdoor, radio and TV, 2012 political contests offer a big shot in the arm to media companies. The 20-page report shows “hotspot” markets across the U.S. and estimates market-by-market advertising levels for 210 localities and for each state.
2012 Recruitment Advertising Outlook
There’s big change in the air for online recruitment advertising – a category that saw consistent double-digit growth for the past 15 years. With the economy still struggling against a straightjacket, there just aren’t that many jobs to advertise. And with so many candidates out there, recruiters barely need to advertise anyway. Basic media spending on recruitment advertising flattened out last year at $9.4 billion. We’re expecting that to fall 5.3 percent, to $8.9 billion this year. This 42-page annual report examines the recruitment landscape and offers deep detail on jobs and ad spending.
Assessing Local Digital Sales Forces - Jan '12
The rush is on to hire and train great AEs who can drive digital sales. But the big question is, how should they be paid, and how should multimedia sales staffs be organized? This 27-page report sheds light on what’s happening with the army of 81,000 local ad-sales reps in the U.S. as local media companies retool for the digital age. It includes 14 charts detailing the size of the various sales forces across traditional media and pureplay Internet companies, how many are “digital ready,” and their managers’ evaluations on their levels of effectiveness.
Main Street Goes Social: SMBs Give A Big Thumbs-Up To Social Media - Jan '12
Local businesses have arrived en masse at the Social Media cocktail party. The sluggish economy has constricted their ad budgets, and posting messages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter not only feels good, but also feels free. But it’s not. This report takes a deep dive into the attraction of social media to small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) and gauges their current levels of spending, forecast to double in 2012 and again in 2013.
Budgeting for 2012: Local Online Advertising Forecasts and Key Growth Opportunities
Our latest report, “Budgeting for 2012: Local Online Advertising Forecasts and Key Growth Opportunities,” points to two amazing phenomenon. First, traditional media companies are gaining online share over pureplay Internet companies. And second, in a few short years, the vast majority of what we know as "online" will be served up on mobile devices. We are forecasting 18% growth next year as local online advertising goes from $15.7 billion to $18.5 billion in 2012. This report details the categories and formats pegged for growth, as well as individual market estimates.
Borrell Associates-Presslaff Interactive Deals and Coupons Survey
Gain an understanding of the national results of the consumer and advertiser study. Receive valuable insights into consumer and advertising spending. Compare figures to your market to see how you compare to what's occurring across the US.
Main Street Goes Mobile - Aug' 2011
Main Street has gone “mobile,” adopting the latest new-media phenomenon at an alarming rate. Research indicates that half of all SMBs are hoping to jump on the mobile marketing bandwagon this year, driving combined spending on mobile advertising and promotions (including the ever-popular “deals”) over $1.2 billion this year. This 26-page report details the burst of interest by local businesses in using mobile devices to lure customers with proximity advertising, coupons and SMS offers. It offers 27 charts that show current and forecast trends for household penetration of mobile devices (including smartphones and tablets) and rich detail on local-business spending on mobile advertising and promotions.
2011 Local Automotive Advertising Outlook
Automotive advertising is finally on the rebound. Our annual look at this important ad segment pegs it at $22.6 billion this year, running about 7 percent ahead of last year. Our 2011 Local Automotive Advertising Outlook examines trends in new-car sales (down), used-car sales (up) and the underlying mechanics causing dealers to shift their spending toward channels like online media and cinema advertising. The report, which includes 20 charts and graphs, dives deeper into the online phenomenon, showing that auto dealers are the most aggressive local advertisers on the web, and that they’re likely to carry that mentality over to mobile media.
2011 Real Estate Advertising Outlook
The downturn in the housing industry has forged deep changes in the way real estate professionals spend their ad dollars. Market indices point to a slow recovery in home sales, but the advertising recovery has already begun. Expenditures are forecast to increase 8 percent this year, to $21.8 billion. The most-favored medium is online, where agents, brokers, builders and mortgage lenders will plow $8.9 billion. That makes real estate the second-largest online advertising category. Our 56-page annual outlook examines housing trends, shifts in advertising between traditional print, online, broadcast and other channels, and takes a deep dive into what agents are doing – and thinking – about online marketing.
2011 Online Recruitment Marketing Outlook: Are the Jobs Ever Coming Back?
Despite the dearth of available jobs, recruitment marketing continues to grow – up an estimated 5.8% this year for all marketing expenditures and up 18.6% for online advertising. More than any other advertising category, recruitment has undergone the greatest transformation. Human resources professionals last year spent 57% of their advertising budgets on online media, principally to buy job postings or to access resume databases. That’s the largest share devoted to online for any advertising category. This report, “2011 Online Recruitment Marketing Outlook: Are the Jobs Ever Coming Back?,” represents our annual analysis of this important segment.
Benchmarking Local Online Media: 2010 Revenue Survey
Our 9th annual, "Benchmarking Local Online Media: 2010 Survey," is out, delivering eye-popping insights on local online media revenues. Sites that focus on a particular category of content have begun to dominate the landscape, and many local operations that are the most successful are generating millions of dollars by selling a myriad of products beyond just banners. This industry paper analyzes revenue from nearly 4,600 local interactive operations and provides appendices listing market-by-market online ad spending by format, including spending on local coupons.
2011 Outlook: SMBs Become Everybody's New Best Friend
Local media companies looking for greener pastures have turned to Main Street shops, hoping to find gold. In our survey of 2,872 small and medium size businesses (SMBs), we found that they plan to increase their ad budgets 4.5% this year, but their online budgets 29%. The biggest gainers: email and social media advertising, including spending on their own websites. While 86% of SMBs reported having a website last year, that’s expected to go to 91% in 2011 – meaning there are very few left without a web presence.
How Unique is Unique?: Gauging the (Actual) Size of Local Web Traffic
Everybody’s trying to reach a local audience these days, but our new report finds that hyperlocal might also mean hypersmall. The big attraction to “local” comes from the fact that local websites hold more value because their site visitors make the vast majority household purchases within a few miles of their homes. Our new report digs into a few disturbing aspects of local site traffic, including data that show that the unique visitor-to-actual-people ratio is nearly 4 to 1.
Ad Networks and Agencies: The Next Wave in Display Advertising
After years of unfulfilled promise, local ad networks have reached maturity. Stories of CPMs doubling and large “spot” buys mean that the floodgates have begun opening for networks that offer targeted banners down to local websites. It may mean a bonanza for local media managers, many of whom operate sites with half their inventory unsold. The biggest beneficiaries are likely to be newspaper, TV and yellow pages websites, which control 80% of all local banner advertising, as well as the ad networks themselves.
"Disruptive Technology and Local Media"
Since 2001, Borrell Associates has been a pioneer in scrutinizing local media and the impact of disruptive technology on its ad revenues. In 2003, its landmark report on the subject, done in conjunction with then Harvard Assistant Professor Clark Gilbert, a protégé of Clay Christensen, was released. The report was a major wake-up call to the country’s local media giants. A 2007, condensed reprint of “Disruptive Technology and Local Media” is available for free.
