As we do after every quarter, it’s time to dive into what happened in Q2 across digital advertising’s three biggest channels: Search, Social, and Ecommerce with the Skai Quarterly Trends Report (QTR).
Q2 2020 was unlike any quarter in recent memory and the metrics reflect that instability. We also have some interesting trends to share as advertisers attempted to stay efficient through less than ideal circumstances.
Skai’s Quarterly Trend Reports include many proprietary insights about what’s happening in the digital advertising industry on a macro level. These insights are drawn from an analysis of nearly $7B in annualized marketer spend, over 800 billion ad impressions, and 12 billion clicks.
How to access Skai’s Q2 2020 quarterly trends charts and analysis
You can read the key takeaways from Q2 later in this post, but if you want to dive deeper:
- Download the report to learn more about what happened in Q2 and the implications for marketers.
- Watch the Q2 2020 QTR webinar replay hosted by our Senior Director of Marketing Research, Chris “Coz” Costello. Not only does he walk you through the metrics, but he provides expert commentary and analysis to bring the numbers to life.
- Visit the Quarterly Trends Research Hub for even more in-depth analysis and access to previous reports.
- Check out the QTR interactive infographic where you can explore the numbers yourself for more granular insights.
Q2 2020 Key Takeaway #1 – Paid Search and Social Advertising down, but climbing back.
Many advertisers either slowed or paused their online marketing efforts at the beginning of the pandemic in Q2, but are starting to show signs of recovery that may put budgets on track to reach pre-COVID-19 levels by the end of the year.
Q2 2020 Key Takeaway #2 – Shoppable Ads were a bright spot for Q2.
Across channels, product-specific shopping ads saw robust spending growth in the second quarter of 2020 despite the challenges of COVID-19. The entire category of Ecommerce Ads increased, while spending on these product-specific ads in both the Search and Social channels was up in Q2 compared to last year, even as total spending on Search and Social declined over the same period.
Q2 2020 Key Takeaway #3 – Advertisers who kept spending saw efficiencies.
Ad costs dropped as marketers paused, slowed, or otherwise modified spending which created an opportunity for those remaining to buy more impressions at a lower cost.
Q2 2020 Key Takeaway #4 – The use of automation grows during the pandemic.
Practitioners leaned on publisher automation to help them navigate the challenges they faced during Q2 in order to make every ad impression count.
Learn more about digital advertising’s Q2 2020 metrics and trends
You have many ways to go deeper into the numbers:
- Download the Skai Q2 2020 Quarterly Trends Report
- Watch the webinar replay
- Visit the Quarterly Trends Research Hub
- Check out the QTR interactive infographic
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