For almost two years, advertising budgets have been shifting spend more toward digital advertising and less toward traditional advertising platforms, like television. Because of this shift of budget, analysts predicted digital advertising would eventually permanently surpass television. Contrary to this prediction, however, it looks as if digital advertising isn’t doing what advertisers hoped it would.
According to the most recent Standard Media Index (SMI), which tracks ad spending across 80 percent of agencies in the U.S., October saw a 10 percent increase in television spend over the last year, which makes it TV’s best month since January 2014. SMI’s chief commercial officer believes that advertisers may have over-invested in digital and haven’t seen the return on investment that they were hoping for, causing them to shift money back into TV.
Digital did still see growth (a 34 percent increase) during the month of October, but it is not coming at the expense of the television budget as it has been in the past. All four major broadcast networks plus Telemundo and Univision saw an increase in ad spending over last October. Pharmaceuticals led the increase of spending with 46 percent over last October. Fast food and automotive also saw a good increase of 21 percent.
It is increasingly apparent that there is not just one solution for advertising. Neither digital nor TV can do it on its own anymore. The market is so fragmented nowadays that it takes multi-pronged, multi-platform campaigns to really make an impression on the inundated consumer.
Robertson & Markowitz Advertising and Public Relations excels at analyzing a company’s goals to develop a detailed advertising plan that encompasses all the major platforms that are best to reach a specific target audience. For inquires, please call 912-921-1040.