Marketing cost analysis | Data tutorial for advertising in the epidemic.

COVID-19 has entered people’s attention since December 2019, and the epidemic has lasted for four months. So how much has the epidemic affected the advertising industry in these four months? Today, I start with the advertising data and analyze the impact of the advertising costs brought about by the epidemic in detail. It can also be called a marketing cost analysis with data.

ADCostly is an advertising average cost trend display tool. Through this tool, you can view the average cost of a specific day. Here you will use this tool for detailed analysis.

CPC, CPM, CTR data analysis

First let’s check the average advertising situation from January to March 2019. According to the picture data, we can see that the CPC situation in the first quarter of last year was very stable, which fluctuated between $ 0.33 and $ 0.53. The CTR situation reached a maximum of 1.32% and a minimum of 0.85%; the first in 2019 The quarterly CPM fluctuates between $ 3.5 and $ 6.23. This is the data situation in the first quarter of 2019. Let’s take a look at the data situation affected by the epidemic in 2020.

According to the picture in the first quarter of 2020, we can see that the data fluctuation is very large. CPC fluctuates between $ 0.61 and $ 0.05, but it is clearly in a downward trend; the lowest CTR is 0.89%, the highest is 1.51%, and the CTR is the same as last year. The comparison is not large; CPM is obviously in a state of big ups and downs like CPC, but the overall trend is in a downward trend, with the highest being $ 7.76 and the lowest being $ 0.57.

It can be seen that CPC and CPM are generally in a downward trend. Such an unexpected situation may make many advertisers have a large amount of surplus funds. At the same time, because of insufficient display volume, clicks are insufficient, which is far from meeting the advertising expectations. effect. I believe this is something that many advertisers don’t want to happen, but the data does show it.

Geographical distribution data analysis

Next we compare the distribution of national costs. First of all, the main CTR of advertising in the first quarter of 2019 was distributed in South and North America, and the distribution of data in other regions was more moderate. 

In the first quarter of 2020, the region with the highest CTR became Tunisia, which relatively diluted the data for the Americas. Moreover, the cost distribution is relatively flat this year, and there is no large gap, which shows that the impact of COVID-19 on all countries is similar.

Audience data analysis

As shown in the figure, we can see the ratio of men and women in the first quarter of 2019. In terms of CTR, there are more girls than boys, which is 0.2% higher, and in the age distribution, the audience is between 13-17 years old. Is very prominent, they are a large part of the source of advertising spend.

The male-to-female ratio in the first quarter of 2020 has had the opposite effect as in 2019.The CTR of boys has surpassed that of girls, and in the age distribution, the audience of 13-17 years of age has also been diminished, and the number of users aged 65+ has begun to increase dramatically .

Maybe this also reflects the impact on people during the epidemic. People can’t go out, so the time spent using mobile devices at home has increased, and data for all ages has increased. However, the CTR of students has declined, maybe they are taking online courses.

Top Campaign data analysis

First, let’s take a look at the Top 1 campaign in the first quarter of 2019. Its page views reached 10202M, its CTR was about 0.5, and its Top 2 campaign page views reached 4137M. It seems that the advertising data in the forefront is still very good.

Then let’s compare the Top campaign situation in the first quarter of 2020. We can clearly see that the top 1 pageviews are only 1845M, which is almost twice as much as the same period last year. The campaign located in the Top 1 Perhaps last year it could only be ranked third, and the CTR also rose significantly, reaching about 2%. Obviously he spent more money to achieve this effect.

5 suggestions to survive your outbreak

1. Keep an eye on the above indicators at all times. The average cost situation is a weathervane. We can have a good benchmark for our own advertising investment. We can also close up or increase investment in time. The above analysis is from the perspective of Facebook. Of course, we also have many channels, such as Instagram, Messenger, etc., but the same purpose, we can see the corresponding data situation using ADCostly. Of course ADCostly does more than that, more features may help you.

2. Budgets should not be reduced during the depression. Budget reduction during the depression is the first response but not necessarily the correct response. In 1973, the oil crisis broke out. For two consecutive years, companies that had reduced their budgets had their performance declined in 1975. However, the performance of companies that did not reduce their budgets increased. By 1977, companies that had not reduced their advertising budgets almost doubled their performance compared to before the oil crisis. The performance of those companies that had reduced their advertising budgets did not increase by more than 50%. opened. After some research, the Journal of Management Review found that the companies that have significantly increased market share are those that increase their marketing budgets and marketers.

3. Don’t blindly cut prices. Excessive price reduction promotions will make consumers think that your product is not worth the price, it will reduce the charm of the brand, and it will be difficult to attract loyal consumers. Maintain the goodwill of the brand, do a good job of user care and operation, when the depression passes, they will return.

4. Participate in social events to enhance the consumer’s goodwill for the brand. The purpose of an enterprise is, of course, commercial success, but in public events, it is often an important moment that reflects the social value of the enterprise. At this time, participating in social activities from the heart, within your ability (not intentionally), will give consumers a good impression and enhance the brand’s image in consumers’ hearts, which is itself communication.

5. The enemy retreats and I do more with less. In the hot market, competition between brands is often fierce. Of course, competition in advertising and marketing is also fierce. Capture the market between brands is like a war of attrition. It takes a lot of effort to grab a small part of the market from competitors. In the depressed years, competition between brands has obviously decreased. At this time, when most of the competing products have given up marketing, and you still maintain it, it is easy to grab the opponent’s market.

Summary: Don’t just look at your eyes, you must have vision

There is a famous experiment in the history of psychology, in which Wat Mischer and his students put some 4-year-old children in a cruel dilemma. These children can choose whether they want a small reward that they can get at any time-a cookie, or wait 15 minutes in a test-filled environment and then get a bigger reward-two cookies.

Some children successfully withstood the 15-minute test because of their ability to turn their attention away from attractive rewards.

After 10 or 15 years, there will be a big difference between children who have resisted temptation and those who have not. Children who have resisted temptation have more control over cognitive tasks, especially effective redistribution of attention. When they were young, they were less likely to get drugs. A huge difference in intelligence levels also emerged: Children who showed greater self-control at the age of 4 received higher scores on intelligence tests.

In my opinion, reducing the advertising budget during the recession is a temptation at the moment. Significantly reducing the budget to gain the immediate benefits is like immediately receiving a reward for a biscuit. But to resist this temptation, there is still a strategic and planned advertising And marketing, like children who survive the temptation and eventually get more rewards, they will eventually win consumers. Of course, in this process, you must always pay attention to the average indicator situation. If there is an economic pressure that you cannot bear, you must close it in time. After all, investment must be cautious.