Investments in online advertising in Italy in 2018-2019, by type

In Italy, 44 percent of investments in temporary campaigns of online advertising were spent to raise awareness about brands, a survey from 2019 revealed. On the contrary, companies setting up always-on campaigns aimed at higher conversion rates (52 percent of the investments). As far as advertising formats were concerned, banners were reported to be more effective for conversion. Another 92 percent of top-spending companies in online advertising used video content to improve brand awareness among consumers.

Assessing the performance of video campaigns

It is not easy to assess how successful a video advertising campaign could be. However, the same survey suggested that the number of completed views was a useful benchmark. In fact, 38 percent of companies stated that the number of users who watched an entire video helped to value the brand awareness, while 31 percent thought that such indicator helped to assess the brand consideration, i.e. the consumer would not just recognize a brand, but possibly even choose it for future purchases.

KPIs in social media

Aside from specific advertising campaigns, the traditional key performance indicators of branded entertainment were considered, too. In 2018, close to 71 percent of Italian companies releasing branded content measured the engagement on social media. This consisted in the increase of likes, number of fans and times a post was shared over a specific period.