Survey of corporate advertising managers on how to measure advertising effectiveness, 2020 edition

XICA Co., Ltd. has conducted the 17th installment of its original advertising survey and research report, "212 Edition: Survey of 2020 corporate advertising and promotion personnel on methods for measuring advertising effectiveness," and is now announcing the results.

This research report compares the results of the same survey, which has been conducted continuously since 2018, and summarizes the changes that have occurred among companies in the area of ​​advertising effectiveness measurement over the past three years.

Summary of survey results

The need for advanced, cross-disciplinary analytical methods continues to grow

When asked about the analytical method they would like to use in the future, roughly half of the respondents chose "analysis using technologies such as statistical models, AI and machine learning." Compared to past surveys, this percentage has increased for three consecutive years, suggesting that the need for advanced analytical methods is still expanding.

As for the types of analysis they would like to undertake in the future, "comprehensive cross-domain analysis of online advertising*1 and offline advertising*2" and "comprehensive analysis that includes external influencing factors in addition to online and offline advertising" were selected by the highest percentage of respondents over the past three years, indicating a continuing expansion in the need for cross-domain analysis.

In addition, the percentage of people who do not conduct data analysis has been decreasing for three consecutive years, indicating that data analysis for measuring advertising effectiveness is continuing to become more widespread and sophisticated.

The percentage of people who cited "lack of manpower" and "lack of analytical knowledge" as challenges in engaging in analysis was the highest in the past three years, suggesting that there is a demand for solutions that can help secure marketing personnel and supplement data analysis know-how.

*1: Internet advertising refers to advertising placed on the internet, and includes listing ads, video ads, email ads, and SNS ads.
*2: Offline advertising refers to advertising that does not involve the Internet, and includes television commercials, radio, newspapers, magazines, flyers, etc.

Summary of survey results

1. Analytical methods used to measure advertising effectiveness

We surveyed advertising and promotion personnel who conduct data analysis to measure advertising effectiveness about the analytical methods they use, and obtained the following results.

When asked about the analytical method they are currently using, the most common answer was "making decisions based on the previous year's data on past advertising expenditures (58.8%)." Meanwhile, when asked about the analytical method they would like to use in the future, roughly half of the responses were focused on analysis using technologies such as statistical models, AI, and machine learning (49.7%).

These results suggest that although there is a high demand for advanced analytical methods, they are not being put into practice.
*For issues in carrying out analysis, see "3. Issues in carrying out analysis."

We also compared the results of past surveys for "analysis methods currently being used" and "analysis methods desired to be used in the future," and obtained the following results.

The percentage of people who chose analysis using technologies such as statistical models, AI, and machine learning as the analysis method they would like to use in the future has increased for three consecutive years, indicating that the need for advanced analysis methods is still expanding.

2. Status of integrated analysis

We investigated the extent to which cross-sectional analysis is being practiced in a wide range of areas, including internet advertising, offline advertising, and external factors (such as seasonality), and obtained the following results.

When asked about the analysis they are currently undertaking, the most common answer was "analyzing online and offline advertising by category (44.3%)," with the majority of respondents still analyzing by category.

On the other hand, when asked about the type of analysis they would like to undertake in the future, the most common answer was "comprehensive analysis that includes external influencing factors in addition to online and offline advertising (36.8%)." This suggests that although there is a high demand for cross-disciplinary analysis, it is not being put into practice.

*For issues in carrying out analysis, see "3. Issues in carrying out analysis."

We also compared the results of past surveys with the analyses we would like to undertake in the future, and obtained the following results.

As for the types of analysis they would like to undertake in the future, "comprehensive cross-domain analysis of online and offline advertising (30.2%)" and "comprehensive analysis that includes external influencing factors in addition to online and offline advertising (36.8%)" were chosen by the highest percentage of respondents over the past three years, indicating a continuing expansion in the need for cross-domain analysis.

Additionally, the percentage of those who do not conduct data analysis (21.7%) has been decreasing for three consecutive years, indicating that data analysis for measuring advertising effectiveness is continuing to become more widespread and sophisticated.

3. Challenges in tackling the analysis

We investigated the challenges that arise when analyzing data to measure advertising effectiveness, and obtained the following results.
In this survey, the top three challenges cited were "lack of manpower (52.4%)," "difficulty in collecting data (47.6%)," and "lack of analytical knowledge (31.0%)."

Of the top three, "lack of manpower" and "lack of analytical knowledge" were cited by the highest percentage of respondents over the past three years, suggesting there is a demand for solutions to help secure marketing personnel and supplement data analysis know-how.

4. Why should you conduct an integrated analysis?

We investigated the reasons for conducting cross-disciplinary analysis, including online advertising, offline advertising, and external influence factors, and obtained the following findings:

"To grasp the overall return on investment of each advertising initiative (70.0%)" was the most common answer for the third consecutive year.

Past survey results are available at the following URL:

2018 Year Edition
https://xica.net/xicaron/advertising-effectiveness-survey-2018/

2019 Year Edition
https://xica.net/xicaron/advertising-effectiveness-survey-2019

Survey overview