The Industry Measure, formerly known as TrendWatch Graphic Arts, released the latest edition of its annual Internet design and development market-survey report. Respondents included staffers of ad, PR and interactive agencies, Web design and development companies, graphic design firms and corporate Internet departments.
The results of the survey confirm that online media remains strong, with 33% of respondents reporting excellent, improved business conditions since the previous summer. According to 30% of respondents, this improvement will continue over the next 12 months. These findings further validate the marketing strategies of stock-licensing agencies that are investing in Internet-focused products and services.
Web site maintenance, expansion and upgrades have outpaced new site design. Maintenance projects were cited as the top sales opportunity by 43% percent of Internet creatives responding to the survey. This suggests that images that are currently popular online will remain popular in the coming year, with image buyers looking to supplement existing pages with more of the same type of imagery.
Internet Design & Development #11 also offers insight on Internet creatives’ use of stock photography. Nearly three quarters of Internet design and development companies said they purchase royalty-free imagery on a monthly basis, with average royalty-free spending estimated at $560. Though The Industry Standard did not distinguish between traditional and micro-payment purchases, Richard Romano, senior analyst and the author of this report, says the distinction will be integrated into all future reports.
Survey respondents included 215 U.S.-based agencies, with 71 responses to stock-buying questions. According to Romano, The Industry Standard typically contacts 5% to 10% of the total market. This survey was mailed to 2,500 companies. Using these numbers as basis, total responses represent a 0.008% market sample at best.
Yet Romano says that The Industry Standard has honed a methodology that generates the highest-quality results from a limited pool of respondents. Established in 1996 and purchased by Reed Business Information in 2000, the company maintains an exclusive specialization in the graphic-arts markets. Its methodology focuses on what Romano calls “representativeness,†as opposed to response rates or totals. “We survey a cross-section of agencies, Web developers and designers, and corporate designers of all sizes. Given the overlap of companies with some of the other surveys we conduct — design and publishing, for example — we also have cross-checking mechanisms in place,†he adds.