Media Plans Provide Clues on The Power of Social - Bonnie Kintzer

Every year as a marketing and media services company we monitor clientplanning trends as well as how those mirror trends in the greater marketplace Recently I shared our observation that with our clients social has increasingly become the quotsparkquot within the media mix of choice That not only is social in the mix a majority of the time amp8211 it is driving it We39ve long believed that this is an indicator of what is going on in the marketplace at large Social as a whole has been busy proving itself and growing in favorSo in Online Media Daily last week we were fascinated to spot a few affirmations in research released by Strata the agency media software and processing firm owned by Comcast This research showed that social has finally overtaken search and is expected to soon eclipse display as the quotfocusquot by most media planners at agencies when developing client media plans After all with their hands on many of the purse strings it is with this group that social has had to prove itself This idea of social quotfocusquot in planning is exactly what we have been seeing in the strong social orientation of all our plansquotSocial media has surpassed search and is poised to overtake online display advertising as the No 1 source of digital media planning and buying as far as planning preference or intent to include according to the latest edition of a quarterly survey of US advertising agencies The survey amp8230 found that 69 of agency executives now consider social the quotfocusquot of their digital ad spending up 32 over the past year and now a close second behind display 71 as the dominant digital mediabuying platform in the minds of agency executivesquotThese are important stats amp8211 illustrating a market shift we39ve all been feeling over the past couple years Planner preference absolutely has long been an indicator in our industry For the better part of the last decade charts like this have shown that when asked their preference at the outset of a planning season planners tend to point to email search and display as top choices For example eMarketer has long published such a chart essentially ranking planners39 media type choices and their intentions for the year ahead It39s a handy chart because in some ways it39s a predictor of likely industry spend and revenue trending for the coming year by media type for all of us We take notice of these rankings because agencies have so much influence over spendingThe Path to Media Preference is Paved with IntentionsBut with digital as we know once a media plan is established that39s just the beginning We go to work optimizing it amp8211 shifting placements allocations and dialing in the mix based on performance So if we are in the planning position what we ultimately see over the course of the year sways how we answer questions about our intentions and where we plan to place our bets in the following yearThe main reason that any given media type rises up on this type of ranking amp8211 is because it delivers This quotdeliveryquot may amount to brand visibility share of voice click or other conversion volume when it comes to display Or direct response performance and efficient cost per conversions when it comes to email and search amp8211 old favorites by planners charged with those goals and metrics So why is social climbing for preferenceWe like social because when thoughtfully executed it allows marketers to pursue awareness and performance objectives all at once It allows a brand to extend a mix amp8211 by working a core social concept across platforms threading it all together And certainly as it pertains to women whose lives are increasingly not only more social but more crossplatform amp8211 the ability to leverage a cohesive socially driven mix is appealing When it comes to women we are expecting a lot out of social in all its varietiesBut as Social Matures So Must the AnalysisTo really get a clear picture of what39s happening with social spend trending amp8211 we39ll need to get a bit more granular When referencing or ranking any media type the specific methods do matter We39ve gradually seen this same improved breakout on industry charts and spending reports for display search and all media types in the mix The same needs to happen for social As we all become better acquainted with social approaches we will need the detailAs an industry over time as we think about these stats on what planners are choosing amp8211 and quotsocialquot rising to overshadow display search email and others amp8211 it is important to know which methods are achieving what and what kind of place they are earning on planning budgets as a result This is all part of social proving its value and maturing as an approachBonnie Kintzer is Chief Executive Officer of Womenamp8217s Marketing Inc the authority on how women consume media Womenamp8217s Marketing Inc services more than 300 clients in the beauty fashion and health space by delivering the best integrated advertising solutions in digital print and outofhome Bonnie has built a distinguished career in the media world with a strong focus on revenue creation and reengineering Bonnie can be reached at bkintzerwomensmarketingcomRead all Bonnie39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at The W FactorCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Media Plans Provide Clues on The Power of Social - Bonnie Kintzer

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