Darwin On Media: It’s An Evolution.

According to a recently released Pricewaterhouse Coopers report, online advertising spending in the United States will surpass television advertising spending for the first time in 2017. The win is set to be a slight win, but a win nonetheless. It is projected that next year online ad spending will hit $75.3 billion, whereas TV ad spending will bring in $74.7 billion. Even more interesting, it is projected that the gap will continue to widen over the next few years; by 2020, web advertising will rake in an estimated $95.3 billion, with U.S. TV ads grabbing around $81.7 billion. This means that by 2020, U.S. internet advertising is expected to beat television ad spending by over 16%. Much of the thrust of this shift is coming from online video and streaming services. By 2020, online video and streaming services are projected to grow from a $6.4 billion business (this year) to $10.4 billion. Traditional television is projected to remain relatively flat, as consumers continue to look for alternatives (and easily find them). Another large portion of this growth in digital spend will continue to come from mobile, which is actually seeing more rapid growth than online video and streaming. As more folks in the U.S. ditch their desktops and laptops and more frequently use their mobile phones to search the web, paid search advertising on mobile, in particular, is seeing significant gains. So does this mean TV is dead? Far from it. Does this mean that TV is dying? Not at all. What this means is that media marketing is evolving. And it also means that if you’ve been avoiding digital media advertising, you’re doing so at your own detriment. It’s now more important than ever to diversify your media schedules, and incorporate both television and digital marketing into your marketing plan, especially when targeting millennials and/or Gen X’ers. That :30 spot that you’re running locally on broadcast TV or cable – run that same spot on YouTube. Or maybe investigate Pandora Radio’s video options or pre-roll opportunities online in your target areas. Not using paid search? Make sure that your business, at a minimum, is utilizing Google AdWords alongside your traditional media plan. And if all of this sounds like gibberish to you, reach out to a proven marketing partner to help you navigate through it. Not currently advertising digitally? Want to know more? Drop us a line – suits@fruchtman.com. We’d love to talk shop, and see how we might be able to help grow your business.