Have you ever wanted to see the exact ad types your competitors use and how they allocate their advertising budgets? Our latest study answers this question.

We examined the advertising trends of almost 1,000 domains across various industries. Our goal is to help you benchmark your own ad strategy.

By partnering with AdClarity, we researched ad types, ad channels, and ad spend to help you plan with a competitive edge.

This article follows the first installment in this series—Using Competitor Ad Spending Data for Benchmarking.

For now, we’ll focus on different types of digital ads and how their popularity fluctuates across domains and industries.

If you want more detailed data on competitor ad types, you can explore in-depth advertising campaign breakdowns with AdClarity here.

Types of Digital Ads

First, let us define the digital ad types found in social media, display, and video advertising channels. The following formats were included in the analysis:

• Banner: A combination of text and images in a portrait, landscape, or square format. Appears in the display, social, and video channels.
• Carousel: Combines a series of texts, images, or videos into one ad on a cycle. Appears in social and display advertising.
• HTML5 Animated: An interactive display ad with animated text and images or video that attract attention through motion.
• HTML5 Static: A static display ad with still images and text.
• In-stream video: A video ad that appears within other videos on social networks.
• Promoted account: An ad resembling a normal post on a platform such as X, paid for by the advertiser to promote the account.
• Video: A video ad that might appear on platforms like YouTube or streaming services.
• Video Masthead: A video feature that allows advertisers to place their ads in prominent positions, such as the YouTube home screen, across multiple devices.

Our Methodology

We investigated three channels for digital advertising:

• Social (social video and display ads)
• Video (desktop, mobile, and in-app video ads)
• Display (desktop, mobile, and in-app display ads)

We studied these ad types published by 956 domains from the top players in 13 industries in the US, covering January 2021 to May 2023. This timescale allowed us to observe trends over an extended period.

You can read more about our methodology in the first blog of the series: Using Competitor Ad Spending Data for Benchmarking.

Digital Ad Spending by Industry

In our previous findings, the Retail industry led total ad spend at $443.4M per month. This was 95% more than the second-biggest spender, Streaming Services, over the selected period:

Digital Ad Spending by Channel

When we break spending down by channel, we see right away how popular social media was across the industries, with an average adoption rate of 51%:

Social Media Ad Spending Distribution

Among social publishers, Facebook was the most popular and it attracted almost $2.5B in total spend:

This amounted to over three-quarters of total social ad spend, with Instagram as a distant second:

AdClarity classifies YouTube as a video platform, but if we add YouTube to this list, it eclipses Instagram in total spend but remains over $1B behind Facebook:

A pattern emerges when looking at ad spend over time. Social media spending remained above 40% of the total at all times. But the levels of spend on video and display changed quite dramatically:

Interestingly, though, spending on video and display returned to around the level at which they started on this timescale by May 2023.

Social media was the most popular channel for the Fashion, Food Delivery, and Online Education industries. It was least popular for Home Décor, Pets, and Retail.

The SaaS, Travel, and Pets industries used video heavily, while Media and Dating didn’t rely on it as much.

Dating, Retail, and Home Décor favored display advertising, but Fashion and Food Delivery did not.

You can explore YouTube and Facebook as publishers more deeply in the AdClarity app and view specific advertisers and campaigns on each platform over time.

Popular Ad Types by Industry

Next, let’s look at ad spending by ad type across the same 13 industries. The chart below highlights how common HTML5 Static ads were, especially in the Retail and Travel industries:

Streaming Services were the most likely to use banner ads, but overall display ad popularity was low. Banner ads are now more commonly used in apps or on social media platforms rather than on traditional websites.

Average Digital Ad Lifetime

We also analyzed the average length of time each ad type stayed live. Display banners lasted the longest, at an average of 135 days. In contrast, video ads stayed live for around 53 days, indicating a need for more frequent creative updates.

Carousels and in-stream videos on social media stayed live for only 10-11 days. This short duration might indicate that advertisers didn’t spend enough time researching and testing those ads.

Videos in particular are usually more expensive to create than other media formats, so it’s crucial that the content they are presenting is thoroughly researched before including them in a social media advertising campaign.

The longer lifetime of banner ads suggests that they were relied upon for broader reach in brand campaigns rather than, for example, product-specific launches. The findings indicate that they are good for long-term advertising, particularly for well-known brands that want to maintain their brand awareness.

Videos can drive short-term campaign impact when immediate sales results are needed.

Looking Closer with AdClarity

This study’s findings can help you benchmark social media advertising against your industry’s top advertisers. You can compare overall spend levels and preferred ad types for a more informed strategy.

For a deeper analysis, AdClarity lets you explore specific competitors, their campaigns, and their creative assets. You can see your competitor’s ad spending by media type, publisher, channel, and more.

With AdClarity’s advertising insights, you can plan your own spend and media mix more effectively. You can also adjust your marketing strategy as needed. For example, you might view the top banner ads from major brands like Spotify over time, like this:

You can then assess the structure of specific ad campaigns to uncover brand strategy, product releases, and seasonal spending through the “Top campaigns” widget:

AdClarity also provides estimations for impressions and spend, which helps you approximate a competitor’s CPM. For example, here’s what that looks like for an ad from Nike:

You might find that some brands, such as Tiffany & Co., spend most of their advertising budget on video, especially when influencers like Beyoncé are involved:

Whatever competitive advertising details you need, AdClarity can help. Try it today to get planning for advertising success tomorrow—you can find it within Semrush’s Advertising Toolkit. It’s also available to purchase as a standalone application within Semrush App Center.

Share

Most popular pages