Programmatic advertising is on the rise and, with that, a growing need to boost audience planning and targeting strategies, according to new research.
Eyeota’s second Annual Index Report, highlights audience data expenditure across regions and advertiser sectors in 2016.
Some regional highlights include:
• Audience data demand and usage have surged 34% year-over-year (YoY) in Europe
• Campaigns using audience data have also doubled, driven by FMCG/CPG and Retail brands, which ran the most campaigns in the region
• Globally, audience data spend for video campaigns doubled in 2016, with Europe seeing a 12% jump
• Finance was the sector that spent the most on audience data in 2016 in the UK, with Commercial Banks leading the spend; Automotive and Retail were the 2nd and 3rd highest spenders in the sector
According to the Annual Index, audience data demand and usage have surged 34% year-over-year (YoY) in Europe. Campaigns using audience data have also doubled, driven by FMCG/CPG and Retail brands, which ran the most campaigns in the region. Finance and Automotive brands also contributed to the growth as they remained top spenders of audience data.
With more than 3.5 billion unique profiles across APAC, EMEA and the Americas, Eyeota is the global leader in audience data. The Eyeota Annual Index provides a much-needed glimpse into how advertisers are using data and which audience segments work well for specific advertiser sectors. Publishers gain further insights into the most sought-after data segments and the types of advertisers purchasing them.
While Europe saw an overall increase in audience data spend, there were other major trends across the region. Globally, audience data spend for video campaigns doubled in 2016, with Europe seeing a 12% jump. Europe’s top sectors included Finance, Automotive and Retail, which overtook Electronics & Computers as the third highest-spending advertiser sector.
Nevertheless, Electronics & Computers audience data spend almost tripled during end-of-year sales, compared to the average quarterly spend in Europe. In addition, this advertiser sector had the highest growth rates in The Netherlands and Italy, which saw a 3x YoY and 2x YoY growth overall, respectively. Germany saw a significant lift in audience data spend (49%), driven by Commercial Auto and Retail Brands creating more targeted campaigns.
Kevin Tan, CEO, Eyeota, said:
“As programmatic pushes data-driven marketing to new heights, audience data will play an even more important role in campaign success. The Eyeota Annual Index Report emphasises the importance of utilising audience data to improve ad and content relevancy. By highlighting audience data trends across all advertising sectors and regions, the Index provides both brands and publishers with the insights they need to drive successful campaigns.”
Global Audience Data Growth
Globally, advertisers across all sectors continued to increase their audience data purchases YoY while Finance, Electronics & Computers and Retail were the three sectors that spent the most. Notably, Internet & Telecom experienced the strongest growth, more than doubling its audience data spend in 2016. Demographic segments had the most demand, with a growing appeal for Inferred, Look-alike segments, with B2B data demand following closely.
Audience data spend for video campaigns doubled in 2016, with the highest growth in the U.S., the UK and Australia. Mobile campaign spend jumped 2.6x as Retail and Internet & Telecom brands increased their demand for Demographic, Location-based and Ethnic Group data segments. Further, certain segment themes, such as Household & Parenting, Sports & Fitness, Media & Entertainment, Finance, Travel & Leisure and Electronics & Computers, were popular across all markets and advertiser sectors.
Looking Ahead
As audience data usage continues to grow on a global level, certain advertiser sectors, data segments and regions will stand apart from the rest. FMCG/CPG, Retail, Electronics & Computers and Finance will drive audience data demand growth in 2017, with B2B, Sociodemographic, Interest and Intent segments high on the list. In addition, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Italy, Japan and Latin America will grow in audience data usage.
Demand for audience data on mobile and video will continue to rise as consumers increasingly turn to their mobile devices to consume media and video content; specifically, demand will grow among Automotive and Retail brands targeting these users.
Globally, Millennials will grow as a targeted demographic. Parents and Families will continue to be in high demand. Enterprise decision makers and IT professionals will continue to capture significant Electronics & Computers B2B demand. Brand Affinity and Product Ownership segments will continue to carve out more budget. Inferred, modelled Demographic segments will continue to gain traction. Generally, targeting strategy of mixing broad reach segments with niche highly specific segments will increase in popularity.
Eyeota’s 2016 Annual Index Report provides deep audience data trends that empower brands to connect and engage with audiences on a personal level, while providing publishers with insights into the popularity of certain data segments and the types of brands that purchase them. By understanding how different advertiser sectors use data and which segments are successfully, brands can improve outreach strategies, enhance customer engagement and drive results.
For more information or to access the full report, visit http://bit.ly/2nWaIJw.
Methodology
Eyeota’s 2016 Annual Index Report includes internal data reflecting the audience data expenditure of over 2,400 brands for more than 11,000 campaigns in 60+ countries. Actual advertisers are kept anonymous but categorised into 12 advertiser sectors. Eyeota’s proprietary Sector Spend Index and Price Index track how much brands are investing in audience data, expenditure growth and preference for different types of audience profiles.