Affiliate Marketing grew by 38.2% in 2009
Figures released yesterday in the IAB’s Adspend Study showed that internet ad spend grew by 4.2% in 2009 to over £3.5billion, surpassing industry forecasts and showing the resilience of the online sector in a year when overall adspend fell.
Affiliate Marketing in particular experienced strong growth, rising by 38.2% to £72.6million now accounting for 10% of online adspend. In other related sectors, paid search grew by 9.5% to reach £2.15 billion, representing 60.7% of all online ad spend. Within display advertising, online video was the real success story as spend saw a 140% increase year on year, with pre- and post-roll advertising generating £28.3 million.
The resilience of the industry is very apparent in this report, records show that internet advertising expenditure registered growth every year during the noughties. From £153 million in 2000 to £3.5 billion, UK online advertising has shot up by 2,200%.
Eva Berg-Winters, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said:
“Ten years ago online was a new medium with high expectations, but backed by little commercial reality. Since then it has matured to become an integral part of our lives, which marketers have learned to trust. “Online is now far more sophisticated in responding to advertising needs. It delivers measurable benefits to brands which have prompted continued investment through the downturn.”
So what are the key drivers for growth?
Advertiser confidence – According to LinkShare’s recent survey of marketing professionals over two thirds (69%) of respondents agreed budgets will see an increase over the year – a positive sign for the industry as a whole. Over half of respondents believed 2010 would bring more performance based marketing, with 34% saying there would be a greater emphasis on measurement and ROI and 25% thought there would be an increased focus on targeted campaigns rather than mass-marketing techniques.
More people online – According to data from the UK Online Measurement Company (UKOM) and Nielsen, the UK’s active online user base had grown from 35.5 million in February 2009 to 39.7 million in February 2010 (representing an increase of 4.4 million active internet users in just 12 months.)
Social media – Facebook now accounts for 20% of all time spent online in the UK and our survey of marketing professionals showed that almost three quarters (74%) said social media would have the most influence on digital marketing campaigns this year.
All in all, some great news for the Affiliate Marketing industry!
Penny Mather, Marketing Manager
