marinsoftwareThe State of Digital Advertising 2018Key Findings
Social takes the lead. Nine out of 10 respondents are investing in paid social media in 2018,
beating the next most popular channel (YouTube/Google Display) by over 10 percentage
points. Marketers now see the need to position social as a key channel in their online cus-
tomer acquisition strategy.
Search and social are the fastest growing channels. The vast majority of advertisers ex-
pect to increase spend in 2018, led by social (70%) and followed by search (65%).
Bridging search and social is the top challenge for advertisers. With the rise of Facebook,
linking together search and social advertising is the most cited challenge for both search
and social advertisers.
Closing the knowledge gap remains a challenge. The survey found that many advertisers
don’t feel they have the expertise required to deliver successful social campaigns, partic-
ularly when it comes to attributing ROI. Nevertheless, investment in paid social remains
strong as advertisers recognize the importance of evolving their social capabilities to meet
changing consumer expectations and media habits.
Here comes Amazon. The majority (85%) of respondents believe Amazon and its digital
advertising options will impact their business in 2018. Conversely, only 1 in 5 advertisers
viewed the e-commerce giant and its digital advertising options as a competitor they’re
unlikely to advertise on.
Video is increasingly important but creates a new set of challenges. Brands can no longer
repurpose existing video content in a world of vertical video. Thirty-four percent of adver-
tisers said that creating quality content is their top challenge with respect to video.
About the Report
Marin’s State of Digital Advertising report is based on a global survey of over 500 B2B and B2C advertising
professionals across the retail, automotive, travel, and fnance sectors. Their companies range from $40 million
to over $1 billion in annual sales with an average annual digital advertising spend of more than $2.4 million.
Survey results were collected in April 2018.
The State of Cross-Channel
marinsoftwareThe State of Digital Advertising 2018Social takes the lead as the most popular form of digital advertising
Search has long been considered a vital advertising channel for online conversion. However, advertisers now
also realize the increasing importance of social. Nine out of 10 advertisers surveyed are investing in paid social
media in 2018, proving that social has been defnitively embraced by marketers as a key advertising channel in
their online customer acquisition strategy.
Figure 1: What paid digital advertising channels does your company currently use
Other DisplaySMS/MMSYouTube / GoogleDisplayPaid social
46%49%
78%
90%
88%
92%
93%
86%
55%
60%
42%
42%
39%
46%
52%
47%
77%
81%
80%
75%
Automotive
(manufacturer/
dealership)
Financial
90%
Mobile In-App
58%
64%
65%
60%
45%
58%49%46%78%Global
Retail / consumer
packaged goods
/ e-commerce
Travel, tourism,
leisure, and
hospitality
76%
Paid Search (SEM)
79%
83%
71%
71%
76%。