Advertisers Demand B2B
Following a brand safety scare in early 2017 that caused digital advertising to plummet, advertisers intentionally shifted their focus to B2B sites—valuing their transparency, safety, and curated content—which led to a 12% year-over-year increase in direct placements and a 6% overall rise in digital spend in the B2B advertising space during the first half of 2017.
B2B Sites are a Safe Haven for Brands
What do digital advertisers prioritize when deciding where to buy placements?
While return on investment has always been the main priority for advertisers, it has faced stiff competition from transparency, safety and efficacy in recent months.
This can be attributed to the brand safety scare which sent shockwaves through the digital ad landscape in late March, early April.
It forced advertisers to take a deeper look into exactly where their brand was being placed.
The key takeaway for many, was that they couldn’t.
The only clear part of the market was that there was a lack of clarity and transparency. Advertisers felt adrift at sea, and decided to take the necessary steps to ensure their brand was safe.
Brand Safety
Digital advertising plummeted across the board in April, as brands deliberated on how best to proceed.
The market bounced back in May, and brands decided that B2B sites were the safest choice.
More brands ran on B2B sites in May and June than any month prior.
The most telling part is that this was an intentional move by brands.
As you can see, in the months prior to April, the number of brands placing programmatic outweigh the number of brands placing direct. This flips in the following months, however, with more and more brands looking to place on B2B sites.
How has this affected the B2B market?
The number of advertisers placing direct on B2B sites has increased by 12% year over year in the first half of 2017. Programmatically, the numbers of brands remained steady.
Overall, digital spend in the B2B space has increased 6% year over year.
But why are advertisers moving towards the B2B space?
In the wake of concerns around brand safety, B2B sites are in an interesting position. With advertisers across the spectrum valuing both specific demographics and curated content, there really is no better place to advertise.
As the market is beginning to return to the mean, the onus now falls on to publishers, to prove their unique value proposition to potential clients.
Brands clearly value the B2B space – publishers can leverage that for bigger buys.
Related
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B2B advertisers are increasingly shifting their ad budgets from print—which, despite a 20% year-over-year decline and fewer brands advertising, still accounted for $9.75 billion in 2016—to digital platforms, with significant growth in high-CPM native, video, and email ads in early 2017, prompting publishers to pivot from shrinking print markets to expanding digital offerings to capture market share.
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