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Reference Data edition 1, January 13th 2012:

DIGITAL MARKETING LANDSCAPE IN BELGIUMCurrent investments and trends for the future

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In this Reference Data report…

BUDGET & ALLOCATIONI

SATISFACTION & 2012 PLANSII

DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGESIII

APPENDIXIV

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Total & Digital Marketing budget

150 K TOTAL MARKETING BUDGET (ONLINE & OFFLINE)

On average, 20% of the total marketing budget is invested in digital marketing initiatives. Total (and therefore online as well) marketing budgets

tend to be smaller among pure B2B players and companies operating in Flanders. Finally, the larger the company, the higher the budget (although the share of online marketing tends to drop among large industry players).Q1 : How much is the total marketing budget (online, print, TV, outdoor, etc.) of your

company for 2011?Q2: What percentage of your total marketing budget do you spend on digital marketing?N = 150 | Filter: none

20%

80%

Spent on digital marketing Spent on offline marketing

TOTAL MARKETING

BUDGET 2011

DIGITAL MARKETING

BUDGET 2011BUDGET SHARE

ALL COMPANIES € 150.000 € 30.000 20%TARGET GROUP B2C € 750.000 € 150.000 20%B2B € 37.500 € 13.125 35%Other € 150.000 € 30.000 20%LOCATION Flanders € 150.000 € 30.000 20%Brussels / Wallonia € 400.000 € 100.000 25%SIZE Small (1-50) € 37.500 € 13.125 35%Medium (51-250) € 250.000 € 62.500 25%Large (250+) € 750.000 € 131.250 18%

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Evolution digital marketing budget

As mentioned before, digital marketing budgets are higher in B2C, companies in Brussels / Wallonia and

companies with 250+ employees. On average, budgets grew with 5,5% in 2011 (compared to 2010) and the

same growth rate is to be expected in 2012.

Q1 : How much is the total marketing budget (online, print, TV, outdoor, etc.) of your company for 2011?Q2: What percentage of your total marketing budget do you spend on digital marketing? Q1 and Q2 used to calculate the digital marketing budget 2011Q3: To what extent has the digital marketing budget for 2011 changed compared with 2010? Q3 used to estimate the digital marketing budget 2012 (based on 2011 budget)Q4: To what extent will the digital marketing budget alter in 2012 compared with 2011? Q4 used to estimate the digital marketing budget 2012 (based on 2011 budget)N = 150 | Filter: none

All companies B2C B2B Other Flanders Brussels / Wallonia

Small (1-50) Medium (51-250) Large (250+)€ 0

€ 10,000

€ 20,000

€ 30,000

€ 40,000

€ 50,000

€ 60,000

€ 70,000

€ 80,000

€ 90,000

€ 100,000

€ 110,000

€ 120,000

€ 130,000

€ 140,000

€ 150,000

€ 160,000

Budget growth 2012 Budget growth 2011 Digital marketing budget 2010

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Digital marketing budget allocation

30 K DIGITAL MARKETING BUDGET SPENT ON

MAIN DMU DIGITAL MARKETING Marketing 51% (Senior) management 30% Communication / PR 13% IT 0% HR 0% Other department 6%

Classic websites

Social presence

SEO

E-mail marketing

SEA

E-commerce sites

Web analytics

Banner advertising

Social media monitoring

Social ads

Mobile sites

Mobile apps

Mobile ads

Mobile games

22%

12%

11%

11%

8%

6%

6%

5%

5%

4%

4%

3%

1%

0%

Who is the main decision making unit when it comes to digital marketing initiatives?

4FTE’s on average involved in digital marketing initiatives(strategy, planning, execution, follow-up)

The main areas of investment are (1) corporate websites (brand and product sites included, (2) social presence !, (3) SEO optimization

and (4) e-mail marketing. Mobile is pretty much unexplored territory for most Belgian companies.

Digital marketing is in the hands of the marketing department or management (especially among small enterprises).

Finally, on average there are 4 people working full-time on digital marketing within their company.

Q1 : If you could invest EUR 100 in the following forms of digital marketing, how would you divide up this EUR 100? Q2: Which department in your company takes the most decisions about your digital marketing strategy?Q3: How many employees work on digital marketing (strategy, budget management, coordination, implementation and follow-up) in your company?N = 150 | Filter: none

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Overview digital marketing actions

Compared to the budget allocation ranking we see higher positions for web analytics and e-mail marketing, meaning most companies invested more in these areas in the earlier stages of their digital marketing efforts. Nowadays, we see an investment

shift to search engine marketing (seo/sea) and social presence. Mobile marketing is still fairly new for most companies, but more than 2 in 5 are considering “doing something” on mobile (mainly optimizing their site for mobile).

Classic websites

Web analytics

E-mail marketing

SEO

Social presence

SEA

Banner advertising

Social media monitoring

E-commerce sites

Social ads

Mobile sites

Mobile apps

Mobile ads

Mobile games

96%

82%

75%

70%

62%

54%

53%

46%

33%

27%

15%

15%

7%

2%

3%

11%

11%

18%

14%

10%

9%

17%

10%

15%

17%

11%

5%

2%

4%

11%

7%

18%

19%

12%

25%

22%

32%

49%

38%

35%

19%

3%

4%

5%

6%

17%

25%

11%

35%

26%

19%

36%

53%

77%

Done In progress In consideration No interest

Q : Where does your company stand with regard to the following forms of digital marketing?N = 150 | Filter: none

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Overview digital marketing actionsB2C versus B2B

Classic websites

Web analytics

SEO E-mail marketing

Social presence

Banner advertising

Social media

monitoring

SEA E-commerce

sites

Social ads Mobile sites

Mobile apps

Mobile games

Mobile ads0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%B2C B2B

Q : Where does your company stand with regard to the following forms of digital marketing? (% done reported)N = 150 | Filter: none

The main gap between B2C and B2B companies when it comes to the uptake of digital marketing forms are the following: e-commerce integration (33% lower in B2B), web bannering (32% lower in B2B), social media monitoring

(22% lower in B2B) and social presence (20% lower in B2B).

% done reported

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Overview digital marketing actionsSplit company size

Classic websites

Web analytics

E-mail marketing

SEO Social presence

Banner advertising

SEA Social media

monitoring

E-commerce

sites

Social ads Mobile apps

Mobile sites

Mobile ads Mobile games

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%Small (1-50) Medium (51-250) Large (250+)

All companies (large and small) are investing in their website (larger companies do tend to integrate more e-commerce elements into it), web analytics, e-mail marketing and SEO. Smaller companies tend to be slightly more present on social channels, whereas

larger companies invest more in classic banner ads. Larger companies are more into online conversation monitoring.

Q : Where does your company stand with regard to the following forms of digital marketing? (% done reported)N = 150 | Filter: none

% done reported

9

In this report…

BUDGET & ALLOCATIONI

SATISFACTION & 2012 PLANSII

DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGESIII

APPENDIXIV

10

Satisfaction digital marketing initiatives

Web analytics(n=122)

Classic websites(n=143)

Social media monitoring(n=68)

SEO(n=104)

SEA(n=80)

Social presence(n=92)

Social ads(n=41)

E-commerce sites(n=50)

E-mail marketing(n=111)

Banner advertising(n=78)

13%

13%

10%

10%

13%

11%

6%

4%

3%

52%

50%

52%

47%

44%

40%

49%

42%

42%

39%

25%

20%

28%

31%

25%

27%

32%

32%

32%

36%

7%

14%

10%

11%

18%

20%

15%

18%

18%

21%

3%

4%

2%

1%

2%

5%

2%

4%

3%

Very satisfied Satisfied Neutral Not satisfied Not at all satisfied

It’s quite surprising that most Belgian companies aren’t that happy with the effectiveness of their digital marketing initiatives, even with the most commonly adopted forms such as their corporate web presence, web analytics and SEO. Based on more in-

depth analysis, there is no specific segment (in terms of size, customer audience, region) which is more (dis)satisfied.

% TOP 265%

62%

62%

57%

56%

51%

49%

48%

46%

41%

Q : To what extent are you satisfied with the effectiveness of the following forms of digital marketing in your company?N = 150 | Filter: only for the digital marketing initiatives currently implemented. Note: mobile sites, mobile ads, mobile games and mobile apps excluded because of low counts (<25).

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2012 investments digital marketing

Social presence

SEO

Classic websites

E-mail marketing

Social media monitoring

SEA

Web analytics

Social ads

Mobile sites

E-commerce sites

Banner advertising

Mobile apps

Mobile ads

Mobile games

6%

5%

9%

4%

3%

2%

3%

2%

4%

6%

3%

49%

45%

41%

42%

43%

35%

33%

33%

31%

25%

23%

21%

17%

3%

35%

45%

43%

47%

47%

51%

59%

53%

49%

55%

61%

56%

59%

62%

6%

4%

7%

6%

4%

7%

4%

6%

5%

4%

9%

5%

7%

6%

3%

3%

5%

6%

11%

10%

7%

15%

16%

28%

Far more More As much Less Far less

Top 2 Leaders (*) Diff

55% 59% 3%

50% 44% -6%

49% 51% 2%

46% 37% -9%

46% 59% 13%

37% 46% 10%

36% 34% -2%

35% 44% 9%

35% 39% 4%

31% 32% 0%

24% 24% 0%

24% 20% -5%

19% 24% 6%

4% 0% -4%

Despite mixed feelings in terms of satisfaction, companies understand the importance of digital marketing. Social presence is a key area of investment with 55% planning to invest more in social media in 2012. Lead generation via search engines (seo) and e-mail marketing are strategic pillars in their digital marketing plans as well. Companies that claim to be leading in terms of digital marketing are planning to

invest significantly more in social media monitoring and social / mobile advertising.Q : To what extent is your company planning to invest more or less in the following forms of digital marketing in 2012? N = 150 | Filter: none(*) Leading = the respondents who reported to be (far) ahead in terms of digital marketing compared to their main competitors (n=46)

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Digital marketing focus quadrant

NICHE

These are areas that are quite unexplored by Belgian companies: there

is a low uptake and investments don’t seem to increase significantly in the near

future.

RUNNER-UPS

Few companies are currently adopting these digital marketing techniques, but

many companies see potential in them in the near future. If companies keep

investing in them and they turn out to deliver added value / ROI, these

initiatives might evolve into certainties.

CERTAINTIES

These are digital marketing initiatives which have been adopted by most

Belgian companies. Moreover, most companies are planning to invest more into these areas, meaning these actions

will remain the foundations for their digital marketing plans.

MATURE

These are digital marketing actions which are used quite common among Belgian

companies. Companies will keep investing into these areas, but allocated

budgets won’t increase that much anymore.

2012

inve

stm

ent i

nten

tion

Currently implementedQ currently implemented : Where does your company stand with regard to the following forms of digital marketing? (% we do it at the moment reported)Q 2012 investment intention: To what extent is your company planning to invest more or less in the following forms of digital marketing in 2012? (% more + far more reported)N = 150 | Filter: none

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%Classic websites

E-commerce sites

Banner advertising

Web analytics

SEO

SEA

E-mail marketingMobile sites

Mobile apps

Mobile games

Mobile ads

Social ads

Social presence

Social media monitoring

Currently implemented

2012

hig

her i

nves

tmen

t int

entio

n

Digital marketing focus quadrant

Runner-ups

Niche

Certainties

Mean all items

Mean all items

Mature

Bubble size = current budget allocation

Q currently implemented : Where does your company stand with regard to the following forms of digital marketing? (% we do it at the moment reported)Q 2012 investment intention: To what extent is your company planning to invest more or less in the following forms of digital marketing in 2012? (% more + far more reported)N = 150 | Filter: none

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In this report…

BUDGET & ALLOCATIONI

SATISFACTION & 2012 PLANSII

DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGESIII

APPENDIXIV

15

Digital marketing challenges

Hard to generate insights from the huge quantity of

company data

Hard to determine ROI digital marketing

Hard to find / keep people with digital marketing

expertise

Hard to obtain budget for digital marketing

Hard to find competent 3rd parties for digital

marketing

Hard to stay abreast of latest digital trends

2%

9%

4%

4%

5%

3%

43%

36%

35%

31%

24%

23%

25%

17%

35%

23%

29%

21%

28%

30%

23%

35%

36%

40%

2%

7%

3%

7%

6%

13%

Agree entirely Agree Neutral Dont agree Dont agree at all

% TOP 2

45%

45%

39%

35%

29%

25%

One of the main challenges for Belgian companies in the coming years is the ability to turn a vast amount of company data into insights. Measuring the return of investment on digital marketing remains an issue among companies: 45% agrees that ROI calculations are hard

to determine. Finally, 4 out of 10 companies have difficulties finding or keeping people with proficient digital marketing skills

Q : To what extent do you agree with the following statements?N = 150 | Filter: none

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Digital marketing outsourcing

82%

18%

Outsourcing digital marketing Not outsourcing digital marketing

82% IS OUTSOURCING DIGITAL MARKETING

Classic websites

Banner advertising

SEO

SEA

Mobile apps

E-commerce sites

Mobile sites

Social ads

E-mail marketing

Web analytics

Social media monitoring

Social presence

62%

48%

45%

44%

41%

37%

35%

30%

27%

21%

20%

10%

More than 4 out of 5 Belgian companies are outsourcing at least 1 digital marketing activity (with an average of 3,4 outsourced activities).

The main outsourced activities are website creation / maintenance, bannering and search engine marketing. Scanning the social landscape and setting up a presence is relatively more done in-house. Only 1 in 5

consults an external party for web analytics purposes.

digital marketing activities outsourced on average3,4

Q : Which of the following forms of digital marketing are outsourced to an external party, whether partially or entirely (e.g. a digital agency, advertising agency, etc.)?N = 150 | Filter: none

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Outsourcing reasons and plans

Insufficient internal resources

Insufficient internal knowledge

Access to new insights / ideas

Access to latest trends / best practices

Faster execution

Higher flexibility

Cheaper to outsource

Avoid internal politics

Other reason

56%

52%

50%

42%

24%

17%

7%

4%

3%

DIGITAL MARKETING MATURITY(*)OUTSOURCE REASONS (far) behind Same level (far) aheadInsufficient internal knowledge 63% 53% 40%Insufficient internal resources 63% 55% 51%Access to new insights / ideas 33% 52% 63%

(*) Self-reported compared to main competitors

Definitely not

Probably not

Maybe maybe not

Probably

Definitely

0%

6%

22%

40%

33%

4%

19%

44%

30%

4%

Not outsourcing digital marketing Outsourcing digital marketing

The main reasons why Belgian companies outsource their digital marketing initiatives is the lack of internal resources and

expertise (especially among companies that are less mature when it comes to digital marketing). Even when there are in-

house resources, companies still like to call upon external parties to get access to the latest trends and new ideas.

Hence, the strong intentions of most companies to keep outsourcing their digital marketing actions.

CURRENT REASONS FOR OUTSOURCING DIGITAL MARKETING PLANNING TO OUTSOURCE DIGITAL MARKETING IN THE FUTURE

Q1 :What are the main reasons why you call upon external parties for your digital marketing activities? Max 3 answers possible. N = 123 | Filter: if currently outsourcingQ2 :In the future will you call (more frequently) on external parties for your digital marketing activities? N = 150| Filter: none

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In this report…

BUDGET & ALLOCATIONI

SATISFACTION & 2012 PLANSII

DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGESIII

APPENDIXIV

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• Objectives study• Give an overview of the digital marketing landscape in Belgium in terms of

budget, resource allocation, satisfaction and plans for 2012.• Understand the evolution in the different domains of expertise

• Target group• Responsible for digital marketing initiatives (budget allocation, schedule,

supplier selection, coordination of initiatives) within their company• Geographical scope: Belgian companies

• Sample information• Data collected through online survey• Field work conducted between 2 – 30 November 2011• Sample size: 150 respondents responsible for digital marketing within their

company• Error margin of results: +/- 7,8%

Methodology

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• By digital marketing we mean:

• Search engine optimization (seo, improving your position in organic search results)• Search engine advertising (sea, paying search results, e.g. Google Adwords campaigns)• Banner advertisements• Websites (company, product and mini websites)• E-mail marketing• Social media (monitoring software, presence on social media, advertising on social

media)• Mobile (advertising, mobile applications)• Online games• …

Definition of digital marketing

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Company and respondent profile

COUNT COLUMN N % COUNT COLUMN N %GOOD OR SERVICES COMPANY SIZE Products 41 27% Small (1-50) 73 49%

Services 68 45% Medium (51-250) 34 23%

Both 41 27% Large (250+) 43 29%B2B OR B2C ESTIMATED TURNOVER 2011 Consumers 36 24% EUR -50K 9 6%

Other companies 58 39% EUR 50-99K 4 3%

The public sector 4 3% EUR 100-250K 4 3%

We have several client groups 52 35% EUR 250-500K 4 3%COMPANY TYPE EUR 500K-1M 9 6%

A Belgian company without branches 57 38% EUR 1-5M 15 10%

A Belgian parent company with several branches 47 31% EUR 6-10M 5 3%

A branch of a Belgian parent company 2 1% EUR 11-25M 10 7%

A branch of a foreign parent company 44 29% EUR 26-50M 3 2%LOCATION IN BELGIUM EUR 51-100M 9 6%

Flanders 98 65% EUR 101-250M 2 1%

Brussels 47 31% EUR 251-500M 4 3%

Wallonia 5 3% EUR 501-1000M 2 1%MAIN TRADING AREA EUR +1000M 6 4%

Belgium only 69 46% I prefer not to say 64 43%

Benelux only 24 16% SECTOR Europe 23 15% Goods / production Industry 14 9%

Europe and North America 0 0% Public administration 5 3%

Broader than Europe and North America 2 1% Construction 6 4%

Worldwide 32 21% Distribution 14 9%DEPARTMENT RESPONDENT Hotel and catering 2 1%

(Senior) management 21 14% Transport 3 2%

IT 9 6% Telco & ICT 18 12%

Marketing 86 57% Finance / insurances 14 9%

Communication / PR 23 15% B2B service provider 16 11%

HR 0 0% Health care and social services 7 5%

Other department 11 7% Culture recreation and other personal services 9 6%

Media / publishing 13 9%

Other 29 19%

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Contacts for the press:

Anja CappelleManaging Director The Reference0475 92 88 9709 234 05 36

Vicky Van DaeleMarcom0468 11 70 5009 234 05 36

Gianni CooremanDigital strategist0494 52 17 7609 234 05 36