Lending, insurance and credit card advertising lead growth in digital financial services spending
The Canadian financial services industry increased its spending on digital advertising by nearly 19% in 2012, according to a March report from Kantar Media, pushing total digital ad investments for the vertical over $150 million.
The fastest-growing segments were lending and insurance advertising. Lending advertising more than doubled, and insurance advertising rose by just over 80%, though both came from small bases and remain the smallest pieces of the financial ad spending pie in the country. Credit card spending was up 45.1% and makes up more than a quarter of the digital financial ad market.
The top spender in the industry was Toronto-Dominion Bank, which increased outlays by 34.4%, according to Kantar, to nearly $19.2 million. Capitol One and American Express, neither native to the Canadian market, rounded out the top three in terms of spending, though AmEx actually decreased digital spend since 2011. Bank of Montreal, in fourth place for 2012 spending levels, just ahead of RBC Financial Group, increased spending by nearly 81% last year.
Kantar also broke out where advertisers are directing ad dollars, based on the products advertised. Credit cards, the biggest slice of the market, tended to be advertised on general interest or entertainment sites, or other sites not directly related to finance. General consumer banking advertising followed a similar pattern, though with a higher incidence of advertising on investing-related sites.
For higher-consideration products like investing or retirement accounts, financial services advertisers relied most on publishers focusing on business, finance or investing.
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