Digital ad spend has been on the up for some time now, but it has just hit a new milestone in the US, where digital now accounts for more than half of all ad sales.
Advertisers will spend in excess of $106bn on digital ads in 2018, according to a new report from Magna, with search giant Google and social site Facebook leading the way. The two platforms now represent a staggering 58% of the ad market and the pivot towards digital is likely to see that figure increase even more.
Digital ad spend has increased by 16% during the last year as advertisers divert more of their budgets into engaging content to connect with younger and older audiences who are using smartphones. The lower cost of these ads compared to traditional outlets has also been a key factor in their growing popularity.
As more enterprises invest more money into search ads and social media, the power of digital grows stronger.
“The development of these new digital marketing tools creates new demand,” Magna’s Executive VP of Global Market Intelligence Vincent Letang said. “It’s new money growing the advertising pie.”
Transparency and analytics are pressing challenges for advertisers, but digital provides brands with a treasure trove of metrics that enable them to deliver personalised ads to users depending on gender, age and other interests. –
“Digital is a lot more sophisticated at delivering those metrics,” eMarketer’s Principal Analyst Paul Verna said.
Digital ad spend shows no sign of slowing down as it is tipped to rise by 11.8% in 2019.
