Digital marketing in 2024: rising ad costs amid declining traffic. The Contentsquare report highlights new challenges for brands.
Moscow, November 23, 2023 — The years 2022 and 2023 have been challenging for digital marketing: inflation, price wars, and increasing advertising costs. What can we expect in 2024?
The Contentsquare “Digital Experience Benchmark Explorer Report 2024” shows that brands are investing more in advertising but receiving less website traffic. In 2023, the number of visits declined while ad spending increased, raising the cost per visit by 9.4%. Another concerning trend is the rise in user frustration on websites. In 2023, 39.6% of sessions were affected by frustration due to slow page loads, unresponsive interfaces, and confusing user journeys, reducing the value of visits by 15.0%.
Key findings from the report:
- Growth in mobile traffic share (+3.87%): users increasingly prefer mobile devices to access the internet.
- Traffic sources: direct traffic, organic search, and paid search remain the main channels. paid social media saw growth (+12%).
- Session duration: desktop users spend more time per session. session duration on desktop slightly increased, while mobile remained stable.
- Conversion rates: direct and paid search channels show higher conversion rates. overall, conversion rates declined. paid social media has the lowest conversion rate.
Key takeaways for 2024:
- Mobile optimization: the growing share of mobile traffic and stable session duration suggest mobile interfaces are effective for quick interactions.
- Marketing focus: the importance of SEO and brand awareness is reinforced by the continued dominance of direct and organic search traffic.
- Conversion optimization: stable conversion rates in paid search indicate strong user purchase intent.
- Engagement vs. efficiency: increased session duration on desktop may indicate deeper content engagement, while stable mobile session duration reflects efficiency.
