Advertisers are increasingly demanding measurable results from their campaigns in order to assess their return on investment, according to Gartner.

The analyst explains that turbulence in the financial markets is resulting in greater focus on expenditure by digital media advertisers.

Research vice-president Andrew Frank comments: “Companies contemplating an economic downturn are likely to make adjustments to their marketing return-on-investment models.”

However, he notes that short-term campaigns should remain popular among marketers.

These could include product promotions, low-risk strategies and those where the cost is intrinsically linked to the success of the campaign, he adds.

Gartner proposes that there is now a niche market for specialists who are able to bridge the gap between advertising networks unwilling to compromise and their clients who are demanding more structured results.

The organisation recently observed that social networks are now so popular that they can no longer be ignored in terms of their marketing potential.