Conventional wisdom says that businesses use digital advertising to move products and sell services. But as the marketing/advertising norms continue to morph, we see that changing. It’s not that we’re no longer using digital ads to move product any longer, it’s that we’re increasingly relying on digital advertising to brand, to shape public opinion, and to build top of mind awareness for brands.
Branding will be the primary objective of 42% of US digital ad spending this year, forecasts eMarketer, a slight increase from 40.9% last year but well below the 48.5% share previously forecast for 2017.
Nevertheless, objectives vary widely by industry, with CPG and consumer product digital ad spend heavily weighted towards branding (65% share) and travel to direct response (72% share).
sources: eMarketer and MarketingCharts