BBC reveals digital marketing spend
The BBC spends £1.6m a year on digital marketing, according to an FOI request published today at whatdotheyknow.com. The request asked:
"I would like to know how much money the BBC has spent on Internet marketing from 2009-2010:
- Which Internet marketing methods do the BBC currently use? (e.g SEO, PPC, etc)
- How much has been spent on each of these methods between 2009 - 2010?
The BBC replied that:
Most of the BBC's digital marketing activity is delivered at little or no direct cost. Examples of this include:
- Twitter feeds
- Reflecting Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) principles in the design of our web pages
- Marketing messages on our own site which assist user navigation
But there are some things it pays for:
Occasionally, we use paid-for digital marketing inventory where it is especially able to reach particular discrete groups - eg youth audiences, or children. The two principal forms of paid-for marketing we use in the digital space are paid search marketing, and digital display advertising (ie, banners, buttons, Media Placement Units). In 2009/10, the BBC's Marketing department spent:
- c. £1.4m on digital display advertising
- c. £220k on paid search marketing
There may also be small amounts of "digital marketing spend across the BBC which are funded by the individual production areas."
Interesting that the BBC doesn't appear, therefore, to employ any sort of SEO firm.
They have also paid for editorial training in SEO, though it was a pretty tiny amount.
I am assuming that this excludes BBC Worldwide, it seems a lot of people I talk to don't know about the difference between the two. BBC WorldWide I know employs digital agencies to help with marketing (as a commercial body it would be daft not to).