Digital spend on DTC down, but not accurate

KEY TAKEAWAY: For those of you who follow data Kantar Media has reported on the breakdown of DTC spending but keep in mind that these numbers are NOT accurate as it only represents paid media.

So what do we know..

1ne: TV is still the largest bucket for DTC spending because that’s where the “glory” is.

2wo: Digital spending only 8% and flat versus last year, but does not take into account bundling, social media (which is larger part is free) and development on websites and content on websites.

Are these numbers accurate? No. For example, I have seen several clients spend more money on digital other than paid media. Using Twitter, for example, may or may cost money depending if it’s an ad, sponsored or just someone Tweeting headlines.

I have seen the biggest increases in digital on product websites and new product websites after initial website have launched. So why has digital declined in paid media? Simple, click fraud is way up and a lot of brands have finally started to analyze their search spending to find that it can be substantially cut.

Moving Forward..

Digital marketers who simply post ads on websites are going to continue to be disappointed with the results. Bill Drummy, at Hearbeat Digital, taught me a long time ago that testing ads and optimizing them leads to better metrics, but not many agencies have the staff, time or budgets to do this.

DTC marketers need to focus on their product websites as the number one action of patients, after seeing a DTC TV ad, is going online for more information. They also need to focus on metrics that matter like bounce rates, avg page views and time on site versus raw visitors.

Originally published at worldofdtcmarketing.com on April 3, 2017.