Latest Ipso Reid study shows a shift towards Digital Media by Marketeers

Research firm Ipsos Reid has been polling marketing professionals annually for the past nine years – an overall pool of roughly 3,000 marketers and people from their ad agencies. In the latest numbers released this week, Ipsos reported a trend continuing from previous years: marketers are thinking about significantly reducing the amount of money they spend on media such as print, direct mail, radio and television and shifting that spend into Digital Media.

A separate study is showing that Marketing will spend more IT dollars in the area of Marketing Automation Tools to support the new marketing methods.

Social selling is one of the hottest buzzwords in the technology market. Unfortunately, social selling is usually misunderstood as navigating the sales process. While technology can help, social selling is about building stronger relationships with potential buyers, based on an authentic sense of empathy and a deep understanding of the problems they face.


Even if they don’t use social technology, good salespeople already know that creating a connection with the client is essential for success. This is why salespeople spend so much time establishing a personal relationship, not just selling their product.

Another study suggests that Sales will also spend more of IT dollars in Salesforce Automation Tools as well.

Organizations that are embracing Social Selling and Digital Media marketing and managing it effectively are seeing real results with a rapid return on investment. Failure to do so may mean loss or revenue and market share. 

Take a well established Canadian woman's wear brand. They target the 30 year old but everyone I ask has no resonance with the brand. Well their stock price has dropped by 50% and they really do not take customer service or Digital Media into account. However, a brand appealing to teens and the 20s has huge resonance with their customers because they are all about customer service and have resonating Digital Media tactics in place.

This mix of Traditional + Digital + Customer Service + Social is key to driving shareholder value.

Lets look at Rogers (RCI). They have the rights to Hockey Night in Canada, own half of MLSE (along with Bell) and all I have been getting from them is hockey and hockey and more hockey. Their $199 NHL GameCentre LIVE™ has some innovative features (camera angles, MyReplay

and Inside premium content) for the hockey fan but they are doing

an excellent job of using Traditional + Digital + Customer Service + Social is key to driving sales of this product. Pay close attention as this will be the new norm for television as it crosses across the digital divide. 

How marketers intend to change spending, on a constant budget

Online: +74 per cent

Social media: +72 per cent

Mobile: +69 per cent

E-mail: +24 per cent

Out of home (billboards, transit posters, etc.): –9 per cent

TV: –24 per cent

Radio: –27 per cent

Direct mail: –31 per cent

Print: –39 per cent

Where online marketing spending is going to increase

59 per cent: Branded content

58 per cent: Online video

56 per cent: Search

42 per cent: Display (such as banner ads) purchased through programmatic or real-time (automated) bidding

27 per cent: Display purchased through a cost-per-impression model

Where social media marketing spending is going to increase

70 per cent: Facebook

70 per cent: Twitter

59 per cent: YouTube

43 per cent: LinkedIn

37 per cent: Instagram

22 per cent: Pinterest

15 per cent: Google+