Online advertising in 2009: The view from the top

The findings reveal that whilst the online advertising market may experience a small dip in 2009, there are key measures advertisers can take to protect themselves from the advertising downturn.

The survey was carried out amongst 23 National IABs and 12 corporate members from 3rd-14th November by InSites Consulting. IAB Europe is the only representative voice for the European interactive industry, representing over 5000 companies from 23 countries and so the opinions of these leading figures provides an early indication of how the market might look next year.

Rather than being worried about declining market size, our respondents see the economic downturn as an opportunity for online advertising to prove itself and come out even stronger.

They believe that Internet is the ideal ‘total media’ solution for difficult economic times – allowing for PR, branding and marketing in a highly targeted way, combining creativity with opportunities for customer engagement.

Expectations for 2009

As broadband Internet speeds become the norm across Europe advertisers are increasingly grasping the opportunity to use video and multi-media applications in their online campaigns to engage with the audience.

Our respondents said that the more creative the campaign, the greater the emotional response from the viewer

and therefore the better the results. Respondents also underline the value of integrated campaigns and expect that social media will grow in importance.

A key challenge for the coming year will be to prove the effectiveness of online as a medium that really works. An industry standard measurement of ROI continues to evade online advertising and this is something that IAB Europe and the EIAA joint initiative, The Measurement of Interactive Audience (MIA) is working to address.

How to survive online advertising in 2009

Our Executive have shared their suggestions for the best ways to survive what everyone agrees will be a tough year for advertisers in every medium. For online advertising particularly, their advice is:

1. Plan campaigns that develop a relationship with the viewer – these tend to be the most successful

2. For cost-effectiveness and ROI, identify and focus on your target audience – and use all the behavioural targeting tools the Internet offers you to reach them

3. Use new formats, video, social media and good creative ideas to position your brand as innovative

4. Integrate with other media where you can to get the most from your budget

5. Try, test and optimise until you get it right.

Alain Heureux, IAB Europe President and CEO says “Together the Executive team of IAB Europe have unrivalled expertise and knowledge of the online advertising industry. Our survey revealed that whilst they expect 2009 to be tough right across the advertising industry, they are totally committed to online advertising and believe it will more than hold its own next year. We’ll be sharing more guidance, best practice and insight throughout the coming months to support our members working in this dynamic and innovative industry.”

Source: www.iabeurope.eu