Insights into the trends of electronic product information flow delivery

Core summary:

▶ Overview of overall advertising in IT consumer electronics

In 2018, the market size of information flow advertising exceeded 100 billion yuan. Due to its high nativeness and low user interference, it is favored by advertisers. It is expected that information flow advertising will continue to maintain rapid development in the next few years.

The proportion of online sales of IT consumer electronics products has continued to increase, and the demand for Internet advertising by IT product advertisers has continued to rise in recent years since 2014. At the same time, 5G technology is expected to drive a new round of sales growth in IT consumer electronics (such as communications) products in recent years.

▶ Insights into IT consumer electronics information flow advertising data

Although the number of IT consumer electronics advertisers decreased in the first half of 2019, the number of days of advertising and the investment index increased steadily, reflecting the increase in the budget and advertising volume of individual advertisers, and the increased recognition of information flow advertising.

Advertisers: The number of advertisers is expected to show an upward trend in Q3, and the investment index will increase steadily.

Media: The head effect is significant, and the investment is mainly concentrated in two major media: Baidu app and Toutiao.

▶ Analysis of the development trends of IT consumer electronics information flow advertising

Advertisers: Empower IT consumer electronics advertisers through information flow delivery: 1) Targeted delivery of tags to attract offline stores and promote purchase conversions; 2) Facilitate advertisers’ reach to the user groups with consumption upgrades in lower-tier cities, and algorithm-based information flow content recommendations to increase the signing rate while controlling delivery costs.

Media: We need to more accurately understand the user purchasing demand cycle and shorten the user electronic product update cycle through evaluation, new product upgrades and other publicity.

Under the trend of product and effect integration, IT consumer electronics advertisers are expected to pay more attention to the form of information flow advertising.

Overview of advertising placement for IT consumer electronics advertisers

1. The scale of information flow advertising in China’s online advertising market

The growth rate of information flow advertising remains high, and its share continues to rise

In 2018, the information flow advertising market size reached 109.04 billion yuan, and is expected to exceed 250 billion yuan in 2020. The market share of information flow advertising in China's online advertising segment has also continued to rise, accounting for 22.5% in 2018 and is expected to reach 35.8% in 2021.

iResearch analyzed that information flow advertising has the characteristics of nativeness and precise reach, which can better balance commercial effects and user experience, and is relatively easy to standardize and scale. From a long-term perspective, with the transformation of many advertising forms into information flows, information flow advertising still has a large room for growth.

2. Analysis of information flow delivery data of advertisers in the whole industry

The number of advertisers and investment index both increased in the first half of the year compared with the previous period

Nativeness, efficient matching, and low user interference are typical characteristics of information flow advertising. Although information flow delivery originated from social media, advertisers' delivery budgets have gradually extended to search, information, video and other media. Advertisers from various industries are placing more and more ads in the form of information flow ads, not only showing an upward trend in quantity, but also with their overall investment index continuing to climb. Especially in Q3 2019, the investment index continued to hit new highs. The number of advertisers will increase significantly in the last month of the quarter, which may be related to the fact that the marketing industry often impacts consumption at the end of the quarter.

3. Analysis of overall advertising demand of IT product advertisers

The demand for Internet advertising by IT product advertisers has continued to rise in recent years.

In recent years, the growth rate of total retail sales of IT products (including video products, consumer electronics, large appliances, small appliances, IT and office products, communication products, etc.) has slowed down, and in 2018 the growth rate turned negative for the first time. Advertisers' demands are concentrated on new product launches, holiday promotions, and strengthening of brand image. On the other hand, with the deepening development of the Internet environment and the continuous maturity of the e-commerce market, IT products, as typical consumer upgrade products, are purchased online by an increasing number of consumers.

Based on the above dual internal and external factors, the share of Internet advertising by IT product advertisers has shown a clear upward trend since 2014. Among them, the information flow input index accounts for about 24% of the proportion of online advertising. Compared with advertisers in other industries, the information flow input ratio of IT product advertisers still has a lot of room for improvement.

4. The core role of IT consumer electronics advertising

Advertisers and media parties each have multiple roles

Typical IT consumer electronics advertisers include communication products (mainly mobile phones), computers (mainly laptops) and consumer electronics products (including home appliances), referred to as 3C products (Communication, Computer, Consumer Electronics). As consumers’ preference for online shopping gradually deepens, e-commerce platforms have become one of the most typical media for advertising.

Secondly, since electronic technology products often involve professional terms and multi-dimensional comparisons, vertical evaluation websites have attracted a lot of consumer attention and naturally become typical media for advertising. At the same time, since the top comprehensive media covers a large number of high-quality target user groups, it has also become a typical media for delivery.

5. Online advertising behavior of IT consumer electronics advertisers

With the trend of brand-effect integration, their willingness to place information flows will be further enhanced

Unlike game and e-commerce advertisers who have a clear preference for information flow delivery (information flow delivery accounts for more than 70%), the ratio of information flow delivery to other online advertising forms of IT consumer electronics advertisers is basically maintained at 3:7 or 4:6. IT consumer electronics advertisers include home appliances, mobile phones, computers and other digital products, and the advertisers are mainly brands that are well-known to the public. Although such brand advertisers usually need rich media advertising to strengthen their brand image, under the trend of brand and effect integration, more advertisers have further demands for improving and tracking conversion effects.

As information flow delivery platforms represented by integrated media cover a wider range of target groups and achieve deeper and more precise reach, IT consumer electronics advertisers' willingness to deliver information flow will further increase.

Advertising trends of IT consumer electronics information flow advertisers

1. The number and proportion of information flow placements by IT consumer electronics advertisers

The number of advertisers in IT consumer electronics showed a relatively stable upward trend in Q3

There are many types of IT consumer electronics products, and the peak sales seasons vary among subcategories. For example, mobile communications and computers are usually affected by the start of the school year at colleges and universities, and have peak seasons in months such as March and September. In the home appliance category, sales of air conditioners, refrigerators, etc. increase in summer, while sales of water heaters, etc. increase in winter.

So overall, the number of IT consumer electronics advertisers in the first half of 2019 is still fluctuating, but the number of advertisers in the third quarter of 2019 showed a relatively stable upward trend. It is expected that in the fourth quarter, stimulated by major e-commerce activities and year-end promotions, the number of IT consumer electronics advertisers will further increase.

2. Analysis of information flow delivery of TOP10 IT consumer electronics advertisers

Advertisers are classified into various categories, with home appliances accounting for 40%

Among advertisers who place information flow advertisements in comprehensive media, the top 10 advertisers are still mainly home appliances, accounting for 40%, and the rest are digital products and communication products.

iResearch analyzed that as home appliances continue to penetrate the third- and fourth-tier cities, there is a strong demand for information flow delivery through integrated media, and some well-known brand manufacturers have begun to allocate budgets in this regard. At the same time, in addition to traditional electronic products such as mobile phones and computers represented by Huawei and Dell, non-essential electronic products such as Coolpad projectors and DJI drones have also begun to try information flow advertising. This reflects that in the context of consumption upgrading, IT consumer electronics advertisers who conduct information flow advertising are more diverse and are more satisfied with the advertising effects.

3. Preference of media type for IT consumer electronics information flow advertising

The head effect is significant, and the advertising is mainly concentrated in two major media

Among the top 5 media for IT consumer electronics information flow advertising, the head effect is significant, and the advertising is mainly concentrated in two major media, namely Baidu APP and Toutiao. Both of them far surpass other media in terms of the number of advertisers and investment index, becoming the absolute first tier. Both of the above media have strong information distribution attributes and cover a wide range of user groups, with an average daily coverage of more than 100 million users.

According to iResearch, before purchasing IT consumer electronics products, users often check review posts and information pages to compare the performance, price, reputation and other factors of different brands or product models. It is this consumption habit that prompts advertisers to prefer information distribution media when placing ads.

Creative advertising ideas for IT consumer electronics

1. Examples of creative materials for IT consumer electronics information flow advertising

The material elements are composed of three parts: the main product image, text, and background.

Development Trends of Information Stream Advertising in IT Consumer Electronics

1. Observation on the empowerment of IT consumer electronics information flow advertising

Targeted label delivery to attract offline stores and promote purchase conversion

Among advertisers of IT consumer electronics information flow advertising, there is a higher demand for home appliances, especially kitchen appliances.

According to iResearch Consulting Group’s survey data, 85% of kitchen appliance consumers said that their consumption concept is more focused on experience, and they prefer to experience the product in person rather than simply accepting advertisements. The information flow advertising format uses multi-dimensional user tag targeting to reach interested users within a suitable geographical range with low user interference. On the one hand, it accumulates user data through incentives, and on the other hand, it guides consumers to offline stores to complete experiential consumption.

Help advertisers reach the consumer groups in lower-tier cities

With the overall development of social economy, the consumption power of the population in lower-tier cities and towns has been further released, and they also have a demand for consumption upgrades for IT consumer electronics products. However, there is a part of this group who are surrounded by the mobile Internet environment but have not formed the habit of paying in advance for online shopping. Unlike the population in first- and second-tier cities who prefer well-known brands, the second-tier e-commerce model (i.e., cash on delivery to promote items) has become their first choice. Information flow advertising, which is mainly delivered through major information platforms, helps advertisers such as "cash on delivery single product output" to effectively reach the lower-end target groups.

At the same time, such advertisers rely on the signing rate and have higher requirements for conversion. The typical algorithm logic of information flow advertising (search + user interests, social relationships, geographic location, etc.) can effectively increase the signing rate while controlling the cost of delivery.

2. Observation on the advertising materials of IT consumer electronics information flow

Novel title + product display is relatively common, and the title becomes the main focus

As physical necessities of life, IT products need to display information including product appearance, product configuration, product price advantages, product promotion activities, etc. in order to attract consumers to make actual purchases. Except for the short-term activities, the rest of the promotional elements are fully equipped when the new products are launched, and the adjustment and rendering space are relatively limited, so horizontal and vertical comparison methods are mostly used to highlight the advantages.

Therefore, when IT products are delivered in information flow, they usually use "high-end" promotional pictures or videos that are easier to attract users' attention, combined with novel title copy to attract users' attention, thereby driving sales conversion.

3. Observation of the advertising scenarios of IT consumer electronics information flow

Understand the user demand cycle and promote actual conversion of e-commerce

Compared with other daily necessities such as food, beverages, and clothing, IT electronic consumer products have higher unit prices and relatively lower purchase frequencies. As a form of advertising that is strongly driven by results, information flow advertising needs to pay more attention to the actual conversion of user purchases.

Therefore, in order to enhance the effectiveness of information flow advertising and further bring about sales conversion, advertisers and media should focus on the following aspects: 1) Accurately grasp the user's purchasing demand cycle and push advertisements at the right time; 2) Stimulate user purchasing desire and shorten the electronic product update cycle through content promotion such as reviews and new product upgrades.

Author: Cucumber Morning News

Source: Qinggua Media