We’ve already seen that digital will overtake everything in our previous article 2016 The Year That Video Took Over, but now we can look at the spending forecasts and see how digital is king.
In a forecast by WPP’s GroupM, the world’s largest ad buyer, digital will be capturing 77 cents of every incremental ad dollar this year. (1) That’s an increase from 72 cents last year and is monumental considering the amount spent on digital has always been less than TV, which makes up far less of every incremental dollar. Their forecast is even predicting that TV will drop from 21 cents of each new ad dollar to a mere 17 cents.
Digital has been at the top of university spending for a few years now, and continues to stay there. Digital spending will only increase from now on, since digital has always been created by and for this age group. In 2015, the U.S. education industry spent 120 million dollars, with an increase to 135 million this past year. By the year 2020, digital is expected to hit 194 million from universities alone. (2)
It’s still a bit too early to see where this year ends up in terms of ad spending, but it is certainly the year of digital and if not this year, then very soon, digital will overtake TV completely and not slow down. This isn’t to say that TV is a dying medium though, now it just needs to be incorporated with digital, as a separate outlet to tell more of the story.
Ad growth is good, since our world is in a slightly questionable time for advertising. Even though the growth is slowing, it’s still increasing. However, after a year with the Olympics, an election, as well as Brexit, this year will hopefully be calmer and see a healthy growth in the markets. In terms of total ad growth, last year was at 524 billion dollars globally spent on advertising, with this year at a 4.4% increase to 547 billion. Through video, emails, social media and among other medias, digital is set to be everywhere—which is why now is the time to really invest into seeing what digital can do for you.
The growth that you’re seeing isn’t just for the big names either. Small businesses have the unique opportunity in today’s age of digital advertising to reach markets that were previously impossible. YouTube and Facebook are great purveyors of digital advertising and these platforms are accessible by just about anyone. As for these smaller brands, it’s easy to take notice from what the big leagues are doing through their videos and use the same tactics (just don’t go plagiarizing them). Digital stories with strong branding strategies can connect to your audience and propel consumers to try your brand for a spin.
Whether you’re in higher education, run a large corporate business or a small local business, digital advertising offers endless and accessible possibilities. With the right strategy, brands can increase awareness exponentially using one great idea. Take a look at the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign that ran for 10 years and was fueled entirely by consumer-generated media! (4) Sometimes less is more, but if adding a little to your marketing budget could lead to increased growth for your brand, needless to say, it’s worth it.
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