Online marketing — The case of Macedonia

Online marketing is identified as one of the key drivers of European digital economy. Recent studies have shown that advertising is not adding direct value for the advertisers only, but it creates significant additional indirect value and jobs while boosting innovation and creativity. In Europe online advertising has grown dramatically. It is expected that online advertising revenues will surpass television advertising in 2016. Online marketing in Macedonia is still in its nascent stage. It significantly lags behind countries in the region and far behind the developed countries in the European Union at all possible parameters. Online marketing ad spend in Macedonia is still very low. It is estimated to be 3% to 4% of total ad spending. The reasons why Macedonia's online marketing use is still very low, in spite of the relatively high level of Internet penetration and solid infrastructure, are numerous and multifaceted: distorted market forces, lack of official independent company that measures internet traffic, lack of knowledge on online marketing of Macedonian companies, legal framework etc. Policy makers in Macedonia could address the most important obstacles to increased use of online marketing by designing and implementing specific policy instruments and carrying out existing strategies in this area.